Phonology
Unlike other South Arabian languages, in Mehri the 'emphatic' consonants are not simply ejectives, but may also be pharyngealized as in Arabic. It is possible therefore that Mehri attests to a transition from proto-Semitic ejective consonants to the pharyngealized emphatics found in many of the Semitic languages of Asia. The consonant inventory is as follows:
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palato- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stops | Voiced | b ~ pʼ | d ~ tʼ | dʒ ~ tʃʼ | (ɡ) | |||||
| Aspirated | tʰ | kʰ | ʔ | |||||||
| Emphatic | tˁ ~ tʼ | kʼ | ||||||||
| Fricatives | Voiced | ð | z | ʁ ~ q | ʕ | |||||
| Tenuis | f | θ | s | ʃ | χ | ħ | h | |||
| Emphatic | θ̬ˁ ~ θʼ | s̬ˁ ~ sʼ | ʃ̬ˁ ~ ʃʼ | |||||||
| Laterals | Voiced | l | ||||||||
| Tenuis | ɬ̠ | |||||||||
| Emphatic | ɬ̬ˁ ~ ɬ̠ʼ | |||||||||
| Nasals | m | n | ||||||||
| Rhotic | r/ɾ | |||||||||
| Semivowels | w | j | ||||||||
Voiced obstruents, or at least voiced stops, devoice in pausa. In this position, both the voiced and emphatic stops are ejective, losing the three-way contrast (/kʼ/ is ejective in all positions). Elsewhere, the emphatic and (optionally) the voiced stops are pharyngealized. Emphatic (but not voiced) fricatives have a similar pattern, and in non-pre-pausal position they are partially voiced.
The difference in place of the laterals is not clear. It may be that the approximant is denti-alveolar, like the alveolar occlusives, and the lateral fricatives apical, or it may be that the latter are palato-alveolar / alveolo-palatal. These fricatives are typically transcribed ś etc.
/ɡ/ is only found in Arabic loans. It is not clear if the rhotic is a trill or a tap.
Read more about this topic: Mehri Language