Mehri people

Meheri
مهري
Total population
(206,600[1] [2] [3])
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Mehri, Soqotri, Arabic
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Arabs

Mehri (var. Al-Mahrah, Al-Meheri, Al-Mahri or Al-Mahra (Arabic: المهرة‎‎), also known as Al-Mahrah tribe (Arabic: قبيلة المهرة‎‎), are an ethnic group primarily inhabiting South Arabia and the island of Socotra.

Distribution

Map of Yemen showing Al Mahrah Governorate.

The Mehri are one of the largest tribes in the Al Mahrah Governorate of Yemen and in the island of Socotra. Group members are also found in other countries in the Arabian Peninsula, mainly Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Additionally, the Arab Salah clan of Al Mahrah tribe resides in the Puntland region in northeastern Somalia.[4]

According to Ethnologue, there are around 115,200 total Mehri speakers. Of those, 50,000 live in Yemen (2011), 50,800 in Oman (2000), and 14,400 in Kuwait (2000).[1] and around 71,400 Soqotri speakers in Yemen and other Arabian countries. [2] and according to Saudi officials there are around 20,000 Mehri speakers in Saudi Arabia.[3]

Language

The Mehri speak the Mehri language as their native language. It belongs to the Modern South Arabian (MSA) subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family's Semitic branch.[1]

Mehri is divided into two main dialects: Eastern Mehri (Mehriyot) and Western Mehri (Mehriyet). These idioms in turn have urban and Bedouin varieties.[1]

On the island of Socotra, the Mehri people speak the Soqotri language.

The Mehri language is most closely related to other Modern South Arabian languages such as Bathari and Socotri, the latter of which is spoken on the island of Socotra. These tongues collectively share many features with the Old South Arabian languages (Epigraphic South Arabian), as spoken by the ancient Sabaeans, Minaeans and Qatabanians.[5]

Additionally, many Mehri today speak as a second language Arabic, which is also Afro-Asiatic language.

Religion

The Mehri are predominantly Muslim adherents.[1]

Genetics

According to Y-DNA analysis by Černý et al. (2009), most inhabitants of Socotra, some of whom are Mehri descendants, belong to the basal haplogroup J*. Around 71.4% of them carry J*(xJ1,J2), which is the highest reported frequency of the paternal clade.[6]

Maternally, basal haplogroup N* likewise occurs at its highest frequencies on the island (24.3%).[6] Mitochondrial analysis by Non (2010) found that the haplogroup R0a (27.7%) is the most common mtDNA clade among the Mehri within the Mahra Governorate. The next most frequent maternal lineages borne by the Mehri are the haplogroups H (13.9%), R2 (13.9%), L2a1 (4.6%), and K (1.5%), as well as various subclades of the macro-haplogroup L(xM,N) (21.5%).[7]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mehri language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 http://www.ethnologue.com/language/sqt
  3. 1 2 http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/06/21/221859.html
  4. ↑ "Mehri (Arab Salah)". IRBC. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Kees Versteegh, C. H. M. Versteegh (1997). The Arabic Language. Columbia University Press. p. 23. ISBN 0231111525.
  6. 1 2 Černý, Viktor; Pereira, Luísa; Kujanová, Martina; Vašíková, Alžběta; Hájek, Martin; Morris, Miranda; Mulligan, Connie J. (April 2009). "Out of Arabia—The settlement of Island Soqotra as revealed by mitochondrial and Y chromosome genetic diversity" (PDF). American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 138 (4). doi:10.1002/ajpa.20960. PMID 19012329.
  7. ↑ Non, Amy. "ANALYSES OF GENETIC DATA WITHIN AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK TO INVESTIGATE RECENT HUMAN EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AND COMPLEX DISEASE" (PDF). University of Florida. Retrieved 2 November 2016.

References

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