On the dialect geography of Sabaic

Considering the almost 1500 years of epigraphic documentation of the Sabaic language, not only can historical periods be defined, but also several regional dialects. While the. existence of Sabaic dialects has long been known, the particular features of these dialects have not yet been analysed systematically; within the treatment of Sabaic grammar they have so far only played a rather marginal role. On the other hand, the importance of a detailed knowledge of dialectal characteristics is obvious: the apparent confusion of differing forms in numerous aspects of Sabaic grammar can be solved just as well in many cases by means of historical and dialectal patterns - a fact which has not been sufficiently considered in the past. The present paper attempts a first comprehensive approach to the topic on the basis of an exhaustive study of Sabaic phonology and morphology, based on the analysis of all the epigraphic evidence published so far. Regarding the middle Sabaic period, this material allows a distinction between three main dialectal areas of Sabaic: a northern region (comprising the Amirite or 'Haramic' dialect), a southern region (subdivided into Radmanite, Himyarite, and other dialects) and the central region, the last providing the bulk of the epigraphic evidence in the form of the large text corpora from Marib and the central highlands.