The most common language in the Arabian Peninsula today is Arabic. In pre-Islamic Arabia, linguistic diversity was more common, as attested by tens of thousands of pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions, with many languages being spoken in different regions and periods of time. The majority of, and the core indigenous languages of pre-Islamic Arabia were all Semitic languages, including the Ancient North Arabian languages, Ancient South Arabian languages, and Arabic (being a Central Semitic language). The pre-Islamic phase of the Arabic language is known as Old Arabic. Some other Semitic languages, including Northwest Semitic languages, are attested, including Aramaic and Hebrew. Other languages, more sparsely, have also been documented, likely as a result of trade and travel with nearby regions. For example, a brief occupation of South Arabia by the Ethiopian Aksumite kingdom led to the presence of a few Ethiopic inscriptions attested in South Arabia.
While Arabic is dominant in the Arabian Peninsula today, some modern South Arabian languages, though endangered, survive, with several hundred thousand speakers across Yemen (including Socotra) and Oman. The most common one is Mehri, which has over 250,000 speakers as of 2024.
List of languages spoken The languages of pre-Islamic Arabia were as follows:
West Semitic languages
Ancient South Arabian languages Sabaic Minaic Qatabanic Hadramautic Awsanic Ancient North Arabian languages Dadanitic Taymanitic Thamudic (broad term for a family of unrelated writing systems)
Central Semitic languages
Arabic
Northwest Semitic languages
Aramaic Hebrew
South Semitic languages
Ethiopic Other Semitic languages
Qatrayith
Iranian languages
Middle Persian
Other languages (via trade and contact)
Greek Latin
See also
Languages of the Roman Empire Warfare in pre-Islamic Arabia
References
Citations
Sources