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{{Short description|Sayhadic language spoken in Yemen}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Sabaic
| states           = [[Yemen]]
| region           = [[Arabian Peninsula]]
| extinct          = 6th century
| familycolor      = Afro-Asiatic
| fam2             = [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
| fam3             = [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]]
| fam4             = [[South Semitic languages|South Semitic]]?
| fam5             = Southwestern?
| fam6             = [[Old South Arabian|Sayhadic]]
| script           = [[Ancient South Arabian script|Ancient South Arabian]]
| iso3             = xsa
| glotto           = saba1279
| glottorefname    = Sabaic
| linglist         = xsa
| map              = 
| mapcaption       = 
| era              = 1200 BC - 6th century
| ethnicity        = [[Sabaeans]]
| imagecaption     = Votive stele with Sabaic inscription addressed to the main Sabaean deity [[Almaqah]], mentioning five other South Arabian gods, two reigning sovereigns and two governors: "Ammī'amar son of Ma'dīkarib dedicated to Almaqah Ra'suhumū. With 'Athtar, with Almaqah, with dhāt-Ḥimyam, with dhât-Ba'dân, with Waddum, with Karib'īl, with Sumhu'alī, with 'Ammīrayam and with Yadhrahmalik." Alabaster, c. 700 BC, Yemen, area of Ma'rib (?).
| image            = Panel Almaqah Louvre DAO18.jpg
| altname          = Sabaean
| dia1             = [[Himyaritic language|Himyaritic]]? {{†}}
| dia2             = [[Razihi language|Razihi]]?
| dia3             = [[Rijal Alma language|Rijal Alma]]?
}}

'''Sabaic''', sometimes referred to as '''Sabaean''', was a [[Old South Arabian|Sayhadic]] language that was spoken between c. 1000 BC and the 6th century AD by the [[Sabaeans]]. It was used as a written language by some other peoples of the ancient civilization of [[South Arabia]], including the [[Himyarites|Ḥimyarites]], Ḥashidites, Ṣirwāḥites, Humlanites, Ghaymānites, and Radmānites.<ref>{{cite book |first=Andrey |last=Korotayev |author-link=Andrey Korotayev |title=Ancient Yemen |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1995 |url=https://www.academia.edu/32711023 |isbn=0-19-922237-1 |archive-date=2023-11-29 |access-date=2017-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129175115/https://www.academia.edu/32711023 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sabaic belongs to the South Arabian [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] branch of the [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]] language family.{{sfn|Kogan|Korotayev|1997}} Sabaic is distinguished from the other members of the [[Old South Arabian|Sayhadic]] group by its use of ''h'' to mark the [[grammatical person|third person]] and as a [[causative]] prefix; all of the other languages use ''s<sub>1</sub>'' in those cases. Therefore, Sabaic is called an ''h''-language and the others ''s''-languages.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book |last1=Nebes |first1=Norbert |last2=Stein |first2=Peter |chapter=Ancient South Arabian |editor-first=Roger D. |editor-last=Woodard |title=The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |date=2008 |isbn=9780511486890 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511486890 |pages=145–178 |url=http://e-learning.tsu.ge/pluginfile.php/5868/mod_resource/content/0/dzveli_armosavluri_enebi_-ugarituli_punikuri_arameuli_ebrauli_arabuli.pdf}}</ref> Numerous other Sabaic inscriptions have also been found dating back to the [[Sabean colonization of Africa]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=22gaTnnU-F0C&dq=sabean+yeha&pg=PA88 |title=The Athenaeum |date=1894 |publisher=J. Lection |pages=88 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Radner |first1=Karen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPGxEAAAQBAJ&dq=sabean+yeha&pg=PA352 |title=The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East: Volume V: the Age of Persia |last2=Moeller |first2=Nadine |last3=Potts |first3=Daniel T. |date=2023-04-07 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-068766-3 |pages=353 |language=en}}</ref>

Sabaic is very similar to [[Arabic]] and the languages may have been mutually intelligible.<ref>Robin, C. J. (2010). [https://www.academia.edu/37659418/_Langues_et_%C3%A9critures_dans_Routes_dArabie_Arch%C3%A9ologie_et_histoire_du_royaume_dArabie_s%C3%A9oudite_sous_la_direction_de_Ali_Ibrahim_Al_Ghabban_B%C3%A9atrice_Andr%C3%A9_Salvini_Fran%C3%A7oise_Demange_Carine_Juvin_et_Marianne_Cotty_Paris_Louvre_%C3%A9ditions_et_Somogy_%C3%A9ditions_dart_2010_pp_118_131 Langues et écritures]. In A. Al‐Ghabban (Ed.), Routes d’Arabie. Editions du musée du Louvre. Pp. 123–124.</ref> {{clarify|The source cited actually notes differences in definite article and verb morphology, which would have prevented spoken mutual intelligibility, the statement that the languages may have been mutually intelligible is an interpretation not supported directly by the source.Additionally, The original french source says "assez proche," meaning "fairly close," not "very similar." Translating it as "very similar" exaggerates the closeness.|date=November 2025}}

== Script ==
Sabaic was written in the [[South Arabian alphabet]], and like [[Hebrew]] and [[Arabic]] marked only consonants, the only indication of vowels being with [[Mater lectionis|matres lectionis]]. For many years the only texts discovered were inscriptions in the formal Masnad script (Sabaic ''ms<sub>3</sub>nd''), but in 1973 documents in another minuscule and cursive script were discovered, dating back to the second half of the 1st century BC; only a few of the latter have so far been published.{{sfn|Kogan|Korotayev|1997|p=221}}

The South Arabian alphabet used in [[Yemen]], [[Eritrea]], [[Djibouti]], and [[Ethiopia]] beginning in the 8th century BC, in all three locations, later evolved into the still-in-use [[Geʽez script]]. The [[Geʽez|Geʽez language]] however is no longer considered to be a descendant of Sabaic or of [[Old South Arabian|Sayhadic]];<ref>Weninger, Stefan. "Ge'ez" in ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica'': D-Ha, p.732.</ref> and there is linguistic evidence that Semitic languages were concurrently in use, being spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia as early as 2000 BC.<ref>Stuart, Munro-Hay (1991). ''Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity'' page 57. Edinburgh: University Press.</ref>

Sabaic is attested in some 1,040 dedicatory inscriptions, 850 building inscriptions, 200 legal texts, and 1300 short graffiti (containing only personal names).<ref name="ReferenceA">N. Nebes, P. Stein: Ancient South Arabian, in: Roger D. Woodard (Hrsg.): ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004</ref> No literary texts of any length have yet been brought to light. This paucity of source material and the limited forms of the inscriptions has made it difficult to get a complete picture of Sabaic grammar. Thousands of inscriptions written in a cursive script (called ''Zabur'') incised into wooden sticks have been found and date to the Middle Sabaic period; these represent letters and legal documents and as such includes a much wider variety of grammatical forms.

== Varieties ==
*
* '''Sabaic''': the language of the kingdom of [[Sheba|Saba]] and later also of [[Himyar|Ḥimyar]]; also documented in the kingdom of [[Dʿmt|Da'amot]];<ref>A. Avanzini: ''Le iscrizioni sudarabiche d'Etiopia: un esempio di culture e lingue a contatto.'' In: ''Oriens antiquus'', 26 (1987), Seite 201–221</ref> very well documented, c. 6000 inscriptions
** '''Old Sabaic''': mostly [[boustrophedon]] inscriptions from the 9th until the 8th century BC and including further texts in the next two centuries from [[Ma'rib]] and the Highlands.<ref name="Avanzini 2006 253–260">{{cite journal|last=Avanzini|first=A|title=A Fresh Look at Sabaic|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|date=April–June 2006|volume=126|issue=2|pages=253–260|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/509855185|access-date=2013-09-20}}</ref>
** '''Middle Sabaic''': 3rd century BC until the end of the 3rd century AD. The best-documented language.<ref name="Avanzini 2006 253–260" /> The largest corpus of texts from this period comes from the [[Awwam]] Temple (otherwise known as Maḥrem Bilqīs) in Ma'rib.
*** '''[[Amir (Arabia)|Amiritic]]'''/'''Ḥaramitic''': the language of the area to the north of Ma'īn<ref>{{cite journal|first=Peter |last=Stein |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft |title=Materialien zur sabäischen Dialektologie: Das Problem des amiritischen ("haramitischen") Dialektes |trans-title=Materials on Sabaean Dialectology: The Problem of the Amirite ("Haramite") Dialect |volume=157 |pages=13–47 |date=2007 |language=de}}</ref>
*** '''Central Sabaic''': the language of the inscriptions from the Sabaean heartland
*** '''South Sabaic''': the language of the inscriptions from [[Radman, Yemen|Radmān]] and [[Himyar|Ḥimyar]]
*** '''"Pseudo-Sabaic"''': the literary language of Arabian tribes in [[Najran|Najrān]], [[Haram (Yemen)|Ḥaram]] and [[Qaryat al-Faw|Qaryat al-Fāw]]
** '''Late Sabaic''': 4th–6th centuries AD.<ref name="Avanzini 2006 253–260" /> This is the monotheistic period when Christianity and Judaism brought Aramaic and Greek influences.
[[File:Rabibum Yakhdaf.jpg|thumb|Bronze plaque, written in Sabaic. A dedication from Rabibum Yakhdaf 𐩧𐩨𐩨𐩣 𐩡 𐩺𐩭𐩳𐩰]]
In the Late Sabaic period the ancient names of the gods are no longer mentioned and only one deity [[Raḥmānān]] is referred to. The last known inscription in Sabaic dates from 554 or 559 AD.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> The language's eventual extinction was brought about by the later rapid expansion of Islam, bringing with it [[Classical Arabic]] (or ''[[Mudhar|Muḍarī]]'' Arabic), which became the language of culture and writing, totally supplanting Sabaic.

The dialect used in the western Yemeni highlands, known as Central Sabaic, is very homogeneous and generally used as the language of the inscriptions. Divergent dialects are usually found in the area surrounding the Central Highlands, such as the important dialect of the city of [[Haram (Yemen)|Ḥaram]] in the eastern al-[[Al Jawf Governorate|Jawf]].<ref>Rebecca Hasselbach, Old South Arabian in Languages from the World of the Bible, edited by Holger Gzella</ref> Inscriptions in the [[Haramic|Ḥaramic]] dialect, which is heavily influenced by North Arabic,{{clarify|date=May 2025|reason=Ancient North Arabian, or Classical Arabic?}} are also generally considered a form of Sabaic. The [[Himyarites]], whose [[Himyaritic language|spoken language]] was Semitic but not South Arabian, used Sabaic as a written language.<ref>Norbert Nebes and Peter Stein, op. cit</ref>

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels ===
[[File:Ancient Blocks With Sabaean Inscriptions, Yeha, Ethiopia (3146498586).jpg|thumb|Ancient stone slabs with Sabaic inscriptions found at [[Yeha]], [[Ethiopia]]]]
Since Sabaic is written in an [[abjad]] script leaving vowels unmarked, little can be said for certain about the vocalic system. However, based on other Semitic languages, it is generally presumed that it had at least the vowels ''a'', ''i'', and ''u'', which would have occurred both short and long ''ā'', ''ī'', and ''ū''. In Old Sabaic, the long vowels ''ū'' and ''ī'' are sometimes indicated using the letters for ''w'' and ''y'' as [[Mater lectionis|matres lectionis]]. In the Old period this is used mainly in word-final position, but in Middle and Late Sabaic it also commonly occurs medially. Sabaic has no way of writing the long vowel ''ā'', but in later inscriptions, in the Radmanite dialect the letter ''h'' is sometimes infixed in plurals where it is not etymologically expected: thus ''bnhy'' ('sons of'; constructive state) instead of the usual ''bny''; it is suspected that this ''h'' represents the vowel ''ā''. Long vowels ''ū'' and ''ī'' certainly seem to be indicated in forms such as the personal pronouns ''hmw'' ('them'), the verbal form ''ykwn'' (also written without the glide ''ykn''; 'he will be'), and in [[enclitic]] particles -''mw'', and -''my'' probably used for emphasis.<ref>Rebecca Hasselbach, in ''Languages from the World of the Bible'' (ed. by Holger Gzella), pg. 170</ref>

=== Diphthongs ===
In the Old Sabaic inscriptions the Proto-Semitic [[diphthongs]] ''aw'' and ''ay'' seemed to have been retained, being written with the letters ''w'' and ''y''; in the later stages the same words are increasingly found without these letters, which leads some scholars (such as Stein) to the conclusion that they had by then contracted to ''ō'' and ''ē'' (though ''aw'' → ''ū'' and ''ay'' → ''ī'' would also be possible)

=== Consonants ===
Sabaic, like [[Proto-Semitic]], contains three [[sibilant]] phonemes, represented by distinct letters; the exact phonetic nature of these sounds is still uncertain. In the early days of Sabaic studies, Sayhadic was transcribed using Hebrew letters. The transcriptions of the alveolars or postvelar fricatives remained controversial; after a great deal of uncertainty in the initial period the lead was taken by the transcription chosen by Nikolaus Rhodokanakis and others for the [[Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum]] (''s'', ''š'', and ''ś''), until A. F. L. Beeston proposed replacing this with the representation with s followed by the subscripts 1–3. This latest version has largely taken over the English-speaking world, while in the German-speaking area, for example, the older transcription signs, which are also given in the table below, are more widespread. They were transcribed by Beeston as ''s<sub>1</sub>'', ''s<sub>2</sub>'', and ''s<sub>3</sub>''. Bearing in mind the latest reconstructions of the Proto-Semitic sibilants, we can postulate that ''s<sub>1</sub>'' was probably pronounced as a simple [s] or [ʃ], ''s<sub>2</sub>'' was probably a [[lateral consonant|lateral]] [[fricative]] [ɬ], and ''s<sub>3</sub>'' may have been realized as an [[affricate]] [t͡s]. The difference between the three sounds is maintained throughout Old Sabaic and Middle Sabaic, but in the Late period ''s<sub>1</sub>'' and ''s<sub>3</sub>'' merge. The subscript n did not start appearing until after the Early Sabaic period.<ref name="Avanzini 2006 253–260" /> The Middle Sabaic Haramitic dialect often shows the change ''s<sub>3</sub>'' > ''s<sub>1</sub>'', for example: ''ˀks<sub>1</sub>wt'' ("clothes"), normal Sabaic ''ks<sub>3</sub>wy''.<ref name="Andrey Korotayev 1997, Pg.223">{{harvp|Kogan|Korotayev|1997|p=223}}</ref>

The exact nature of the emphatic consonants ''q'', ''ṣ'', ''ṭ'', ''ẓ'' and ''ḍ'' also remains a matter for debate: were they pharyngealized as in Modern Arabic, or were they glottalized as in [[Ethiopic]] (and reconstructed Proto-Semitic)? There are arguments to support both possibilities. In any case, beginning with Middle Sabaic the letters representing ''ṣ'' and ''ẓ'' are increasingly interchanged, which seems to indicate that they have fallen together as one phoneme. The existence of bilabial fricative ''f'' as a reflex of the Proto-Semitic ''*p'' is partly proved by Latin transcriptions of names. In late Sabaic ''ḏ'' and ''z'' also merge. In Old Sabaic the sound ''n'' only occasionally assimilates to a following consonant, but in the later periods this assimilation is the norm.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The minuscule ''Zabūr'' script does not seem to have a letter that represents the sound ''ẓ'', and replaces it with ''ḍ'' instead; for example ''mfḍr'' ("a measure of capacity"), written in the ''Musnad'' script as ''mfẓr''.<ref name="Andrey Korotayev 1997, Pg.223" />

=== Sabaic consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Plosive]]
!{{small|voiceless}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|q}}?
|
| rowspan="3" | {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{grapheme|ʾ}}
|-
!{{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
|
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|
|-
!{{small|emphatic}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|tˀ}} {{grapheme|ṭ}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|kʼ}} {{grapheme|ḳ}}?
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Fricative]]
!{{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|θ}} {{grapheme|ṯ}}
| {{IPA link|s}} {{grapheme|s<sub>3</sub> /s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{grapheme|s<sub>1</sub> /š}}
|
| {{IPA link|x}} {{grapheme|ḫ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ħ}} {{grapheme|ḥ}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
!{{small|voiced}}
|
| {{IPA link|ð}} {{grapheme|ḏ}}
| {{IPA link|z}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɣ}} {{grapheme|ġ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ʕ}} {{grapheme|ˀ}}
|
|-
!{{small|emphatic}}
|
| {{IPA link|θˀ}} {{grapheme|ẓ}}?
| {{IPA link|sˀ}} {{grapheme|ṣ}}?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
|
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
!{{small|voiceless}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɬ}} {{grapheme|s<sub>2</sub> /ś}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!{{small|voiced}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!{{small|emphatic}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɬˀ}} {{grapheme|ḍ}}?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Semivowel]]
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|j}} {{grapheme|y}}
|
|
|
|
|}

== Grammar ==

=== Personal pronouns ===
As in other Semitic languages Sabaic had both independent pronouns and pronominal suffixes. The attested pronouns, along with suffixes from Qatabanian and Hadramautic are as follows:
{|class="wikitable"
! style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"| &nbsp;
! style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"| Pronominal suffixes
! style="background:#ffdead;"| Independent pronouns
|-
! style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"|
! style="background:#ffdead;"|Sabaic
! style="background:#ffdead;"|Other languages
! style="background:#ffdead;"|Sabaic
|-
| rowspan="5" style="background:#ffdead;"| [[Singular number|Singular]]
| style="background:bisque;"|First person
| -''n''
| &nbsp;
|''ʾn''
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|Second person m.
| -''k''
| -''k''
|''ʾnt''; ''ʾt''
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|Second person f.
| -''k''
| &nbsp;
||&nbsp;
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|Third person [[Masculine|m.]]
| -''hw, h''
| -''s<sub>1</sub>w(w), s<sub>1</sub>''
| ''h(w)ʾ''
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|3rd Person [[Feminine|f.]]
| -''h, hw''
| -''s<sub>1</sub>'', -''s<sub>1</sub>yw'' (Qataban.), -''ṯ(yw)'', -''s<sub>3</sub>(yw)'' (Hadram.)
|''hʾ''
|-
| rowspan="3" style="background:#ffdead;"| [[Dual (grammatical number)|Dual]]
| style="background:bisque;"|2nd Person
| -''kmy''
|''ʾtmy''
|&nbsp;
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|3rd Person com.
| -''hmy''
| -''s<sub>1</sub>mn'' (min.), -''s<sub>1</sub>my'' (Qataban.; Hadram.)
|''hmy''
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|3rd Person m.
| &nbsp;
| -''s<sub>1</sub>m(y)n'' (Hadram.)
|&nbsp;
|-
| rowspan="5" style="background:#ffdead;"| [[Plural]]
| style="background:bisque;"|1st Person
| -''n''
|&nbsp;
|&nbsp;
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|2nd Person m.
| -''kmw''
|&nbsp;
| ''ʾntmw''
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|2nd Person f.
|&nbsp;
|&nbsp;
|&nbsp;
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|3. Person [[Masculine|m.]]
| -''hm(w)''
| -''s<sub>1</sub>m''
| ''hmw''
|-
| style="background:bisque;"|3. Person [[Feminine|f.]]
| -''hn''
| -''s<sub>1</sub>n''
|''hn''
|}

No independent pronouns have been identified in any of the other South Arabian languages. First- and second-person independent pronouns are rarely attested in the monumental inscription, but possibly for cultural reasons; the likelihood was that these texts were neither composed nor written by the one who commissioned them: hence they use third-person pronouns to refer to the one who is paying for the building and dedication or whatever. The use of the pronouns in Sabaic corresponds to that in other Semitic languages. The pronominal suffixes are added to verbs and prepositions to denote the object; thus: ''qtl-hmw'' "he killed them"; ''ḫmr-hmy t'lb'' "Ta'lab poured for them both"; when the suffixes are added to nouns they indicate possession: '''bd-hw'' "his slave").The independent pronouns serve as the subject of nominal and verbal sentences: ''mr' 't'' "you are the Lord" (a nominal sentence); ''hmw f-ḥmdw'' "they thanked" (a verbal sentence).

== Nouns ==

=== Case, number and gender ===
Sayhadic nouns fall into two genders: masculine and feminine. The feminine is usually indicated in the singular by the ending –''t'' : ''bʿl'' "husband" (m.), ''bʿlt'' "wife" (f.), ''hgr'' "city" (m.), ''fnwt'' "canal" (f.). Sabaic nouns have forms for singular, dual and plural. The singular is formed without changing the stem, the plural can however be formed in a number of ways even in the very same word:
* Inner ("Broken") Plurals: as in Classical Arabic they are frequent.
** ''ʾ''-[[Prefix]]: ''ʾbyt'' "houses" from ''byt'' "house"
** ''t''-[[Suffix]]: especially frequent in words having the ''m''-prefix: ''mḥfdt'' "towers" from ''mḥfd'' "tower".
** Combinations: for example ''ʾ''–prefix and ''t''-suffix: ''ʾḫrft'' "years" from ''ḫrf'' "year", ''ʾbytt'' "houses" from ''byt'' "house".
** without any external grammatical sign: ''fnw'' "canals" from ''fnwt'' (f.) "canal".
** w-/y-[[Infix]]: ''ḫrwf'' / ''ḫryf'' / ''ḫryft'' "years" from ''ḫrf'' "year".
** Reduplicational plurals are rarely attested in Sabaic: ''ʾlʾlt'' "gods" from''ʾl'' "god".
* External ("Sound") plurals: in the masculine the ending differs according to the grammatical state (see below); in the feminine the ending is -''(h)t'', which probably represents *-āt; this plural is rare and seems to be restricted to a few nouns.
The [[Dual (grammatical number)|dual]] is already beginning to disappear in Old Sabaic; its endings vary according to the grammatical state: ''ḫrf-n'' "two years" (indeterminate state) from ''ḫrf'' "year".

Sabaic almost certainly had a case system formed by vocalic endings, but since vowels were involved they are not recognizable in the writings; nevertheless a few traces have been retained in the written texts, above all in the [[construct state]].<ref>Hierzu: P. Stein: ''Gibt es Kasus im Sabäischen?'', in: N. Nebes (Hrg.): ''Neue Beiträge zur Semitistik. Erstes Arbeitstreffen der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Semitistik in der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft vom 11. bis 13. September 2000'', S. 201–222</ref>

== Grammatical states ==
As in other Semitic languages Sabaic has a few grammatical states, which are indicated by various different endings according to the gender and the number. At the same time external plurals and duals have their own endings for grammatical state, while inner plurals are treated like singulars. Apart from the [[construct state]] known in other Semitic languages, there is also an indeterminate state and a determinate state, the functions of which are explained below. The following are the detailed state endings:

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|
!Constr. state
!Indet. state
!Det. state
|-
!rowspan="3"|Masculine
! Singular
| -∅
| -''m''
| -''n''
|-
! Dual
| -∅ / -''y''
| -''n''
| -''nhn''
|-
! External plural
| -''w'' / -''y''
| -''n''
| -''nhn''
|-
!rowspan="3"|Feminine
! Singular
| -''t''
| -''tm''
| -''tn''
|-
! Dual
| -''ty''
| -''tn''
| -''tnhn''
|-
! External plural
| -''t''
| -''tm''
| -''tn''
|}

The three grammatical states have distinct syntactical and semantic functions:
* The Status indeterminatus: marks an indefinite, unspecified thing : ''ṣlm-m'' "any statue".
* The Status determinatus: marks a specific noun: ''ṣlm-n'' "the statue".
* The Status constructus: is introduced if the noun is bound to a genitive, a personal suffix or — contrary to other Semitic languages — with a relative sentence:
** With a pronominal suffix: ''ʿbd-hw'' "his slave".
** With a genitive noun: (Ḥaḑramite) ''gnʾhy myfʾt'' "both walls of Maifa'at", ''mlky s<sub>1</sub>bʾ'' "both kings of Saba"
** With a relative sentence: ''kl <sup>1</sup> s<sub>1</sub>bʾt <sup>2</sup> w-ḍbyʾ <sup>3</sup> w-tqdmt'' <sup>4</sup> s<sub>1</sub>bʾy<sup>5</sup> w-ḍbʾ<sup>6</sup> tqdmn<sup>7</sup> mrʾy-hmw<sup>8</sup> "all<sup>1</sup> expeditions<sup>2</sup>, battles<sup>3</sup> and raids<sup>4</sup>, their two lords <sup>8</sup> conducted<sup>5</sup>, struck<sup>6</sup> and led<sup>7</sup>" (the nouns in the construct state are italicized here).

== Verbs ==

=== Conjugation ===
As in other West Semitic languages Sabaic distinguishes between two types of [[finite verb]] forms: the perfect which is conjugated with suffixes and the imperfect which is conjugated with both prefixes and suffixes. In the imperfect two forms can be distinguished: a short form and a form constructed using the ''n'' (long form esp. the ''n-imperfect''), which in any case is missing in Qatabānian and Ḥaḍramite. In actual use it is hard to distinguish the two imperfect forms from each other.<ref>Details see: Norbert Nebes: ''Verwendung und Funktion der Präfixkonjugation im Sabäischen'', in: Norbert Nebes (Hrsg.): Arabia Felix. Beiträge zur Sprache und Kultur des vorislamischen Arabien. Festschrift Walter W. Müller zum 60. Geburtstag. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, Pp. 191–211</ref> The conjugation of the perfect and imperfect may be summarized as follows (the active and the passive are not distinguished in their consonantal written form; the verbal example is ''fʿl'' "to do"):

{|class="wikitable"
|-style="background:#c0f070;"
!colspan="2" rowspan="2"|&nbsp;
!rowspan="2"|Perfect
!colspan="2"|Imperfect
|-style="background:#ffdead;"
|Short form
|Long form
|-
!rowspan="5"|Singular
|1. P.
|''fʿl-k'' (?)
|&nbsp;
|&nbsp;
|-
|2. P. m.
|''fʿl-k''
|&nbsp;
|&nbsp;
|-
|2. P. f.
|''fʿl-k''
|''t''-''fʿl''
|''t''-''fʿl-n''
|-
|3. P. m.
|''fʿl''
|''y''-''fʿl''
|''y''-''fʿl''-''n''
|-
|3. P. f.
|''fʿl''-''t''
|''t''-''fʿl''
|''t''-''fʿl-n''
|-
!rowspan="2"|Dual
|3. P. m.
|''fʿl''(-''y'')
|''y''-''fʿl''-''y''
|''y''-''fʿl''-''nn''
|-
|3. P. f.
|''fʿl''-''ty''
|''t''-''fʿl''-''y''
|''t''-''fʿl''-''nn''
|-
!rowspan="3"|Plural
|2. P. m.
|''fʿl''-''kmw''
|&nbsp;
|''t''-''fʿl''-''nn''
|-
|3. P. m.
|''fʿl''-''w''
|''y''-''fʿl''-''w''
|''y''-''fʿl''-''nn''
|-
|3. P. f.
|''fʿl''-''y'', ''fʿl''-''n'' (?)
|''t''-''fʿl''-''n''(?)
|''t''-''fʿl''-''nn''(?)
|}

==== Perfect ====
The perfect is mainly used to describe something that took place in the past, only before [[Conditional sentence|conditional phrases]] and in relative phrases with a conditional connotation does it describe an action in the present, as in Classical Arabic. For example: '' '''w-s<sub>3</sub>ḫly''' Hlkʾmr w-ḥmʿṯt'' "And Hlkʾmr and ḥmʿṯt have pleaded guilty (dual)".

==== Imperfect ====
The imperfect usually expresses that something has occurred at the same time as an event previously mentioned, or it may simply express the present or future. Four [[Grammatical Mood|moods]] can be distinguished:
# [[Realis mood|Indicative]]: in Sabaic this has no special marker, though it has in some of the other languages: '''''b-y-s<sub>2</sub>ṭ''''' "he trades" (Qatabānian). With the meaning of the perfect: ''w-'''y-qr''' zydʾl b-wrḫh ḥtḥr'' "Zaid'il died in the month of [[Egyptian Calendar|Hathor]]" (Minaean).
# [[Irrealis mood|Precative]] is formed with ''l-'' and expresses wishes: '''''w-l-y-ḫmrn-hw''' ʾlmqhw'' "may [[Almaqah]]u grant him".
# [[Irrealis mood|Jussive]] is also formed with ''l-'' and stands for an indirect order: '''''l-yʾt''''' "so should it come".
# [[Vetitive]] is formed with the negative ''ʾl''. It serves to express negative wishes: ''w-'''ʾl y-hwfd''' ʿlbm'' "and no ʿilb-trees may be planted here“.

=== Imperative ===
The [[imperative mood|imperative]] is found in texts written in the ''zabūr'' script on wooden sticks, and has the form ''fˁl(-n)''. For example: ''w-'nt f-s<sub>3</sub>ḫln'' ("and you (sg.) look after").

=== Derived stems ===
By changing the consonantal roots of verbs they can produce various derivational forms, which change their meaning. In Sabaic (and other Sahyadic languages) six such stems are attested. Examples:
* ''qny'' "to receive" > ''hqny'' "to sacrifice; to donate"
* ''qwm'' "to decree" > ''hqm'' "to decree", ''tqwmw'' "to bear witness"

== Syntax ==

=== Position of clauses ===
The arrangement of clauses is not consistent in Sabaic. The first clause in an inscription always has the order (particle - ) subject – predicate (SV), the other main clauses of an inscription are introduced by ''w''- "and" and always have – like subordinate clauses – the order predicate – subject (VS). At the same time the Predicate may be introduced by ''f''.<ref>Norbert Nebes: ''Die Konstruktionen mit /FA-/ im Altsüdarabischen.'' (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz, Nr. 40) Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995</ref>

Examples:

{|class="wikitable"
|+ At the beginning of an inscription; SVO
| ''s<sub>1</sub>ʿdʾl w-rʾbʾl''
| ''s<sub>3</sub>lʾ''
| ''w-sqny''
| ''ʿṯtr''
| ''kl''
| ''ġwṯ''
|-
| S<sub>1</sub>ʿdʾl and Rʾbʾl
|they have offered up (3rd person plural perfect)
|and have consecrated (3rd person plural perfect)
|[[Athtar]]
|complete
|repair
|-
|Subject
|colspan="2"|Predicate
|Indirect object
|colspan="2"|Direct object
|-
|colspan="6"|"S<sub>1</sub>ʿdʾl and Rʾbʾl have offered up and consecrated all the repairs to [[Athtar]]".
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Introduced by ''w''; SVO
|''w-ʾws<sub>1</sub>ʾl''
|''f-ḥmd''
|''mqm''
|''ʾlmqh''
|-
|and Awsil
|and he thanked (3rd-person sg. perfect)
|Does (stat. constr.)
|Almaqah
|-
|"and" – subject
|"and" – predicate
|colspan="2"|Object
|-
|colspan="4"|"And Awsil thanked the power of [[Almaqah]]"
|}

=== Subordinate clauses ===
Sabaic is equipped with a number of means to form subordinate clauses using various conjunctions:

{|class="wikitable"
|+ [[Independent clause|Main clause]] with ensuing [[object clause]]
! Main clause
! colspan="6"|Subordinate clause
|-
|'' w-y-s<sub>1</sub>mʿ-w''
|'' k-nblw''
|'' hmw''
|''ʾgrn''
|'' b-ʿbr''
|''ʾḥzb ḥbs<sub>2</sub>t''
|-
|"and" – 3rd p. pl. imperfect
|Conjunction – 3rd p. pl. perfect
|Attribute
|Subject
|Preposition
|Prepositional object
|-
|And they heard
|that they sent
|these
|[[Najran]]ites
|to
|Abyssinian tribes
|-
|colspan="6"|And they heard, that these [[Najran]]ites had sent a delegation to the Abyssinian tribes.
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Conditional sentence|Conditional clause]] with [[Conditional sentence|apodosis]]
! colspan="2"|Subordinate clause
! colspan="2"|Subordinate clause
|-
|''w-hmy''
|''hfnk''
|''f-tʿlmn''
|''b-hmy''
|-
|"And" – conjunction
|2. person sg. perfect
|"Then" – imperative
|Pronominal phrase
|-
|And if
|you sent
|and sign
|on it
|-
|colspan="6"|And if you send (it), sign it.
|}

==== Relative clauses ====
In Sabaic, relative clauses are marked by a [[Relativiser]] like ''ḏ-'', ''ʾl'', ''mn-''; in free relative clauses this marking is obligatory. Unlike other Semitic languages in Sabaic [[resumptive pronouns]] are only rarely found.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Free Relative clause after ''mn-mw''
|''mn-mw''
|''ḏ-''
|''-y-s<sub>2</sub>ʾm-n''
|''ʿbdm''
|''f-ʾw''
|''ʾmtm''
|-
|"who" – enclitic
|Relativiser
|3rd-person singular n-imperfect
|Object
|"and/ or"
|Object
|-
|colspan=2|who
|he buys
|a male slave
|or
|a female slave
|-
|colspan="5"|Whoever buys a male or female slave [...]
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Attributive relative clause (Qataban.) with nominal predicate
! colspan="2"|Main clause
! colspan="4"|Relative clause
|-
|''ḏn ''
|'' mḥfdn yḥḏr''
|''ḏm''
|''b-s<sub>2</sub>hd''
|''gnʾ''
|''hgr-sm''
|-
|Demonstrative pronoun
|Subject
|Relativiser
|Preposition
|Prepositional object
|Possessor
|-
|this
|the tower yḥḏr
|which
|opposite
|wall
|her city
|-
|colspan="6"|this tower yḥḏr, which stands opposite the walls of her city (is located).
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Attributive relative clause with a prepositional predicate and resumptive
|''ʾl-n''
|''ḏ-''
|''-l-''
|''-hw''
|''smyn w-ʾrḍn''
|-
|God – ''Nunation''
|Relativiser
|Preposition
|Object (resumptive)
|Subject
|-
|the God
|which
|for
|him
|heaven and earth
|-
|colspan="5"|God, for Whom the heavens and the earth are = God, to Whom the heaven and the earth belong
|}

== Vocabulary ==
Although the Sabaic vocabulary is found in relatively diverse types of inscriptions (an example being that the south Semitic tribes derive their word ''wtb'' meaning "to sit" from the northwest tribe's word ''yashab/wtb'' meaning "to jump"),<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mendenhall|first=George|title=Arabic in Semitic Linguistic History|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|year=2006|volume=126|issue=1|pages=17–25}}</ref> nevertheless it stands relatively isolated in the Semitic realm, something that makes it more difficult to analyze. Even given the existence of closely related languages such as Ge'ez and Classical Arabic, only part of the Sabaic vocabulary has proved able to be interpreted; a not inconsiderable part must be deduced from the context and some words remain incomprehensible. On the other hand, many words from agriculture and irrigation technology have been retrieved from the works of Yemeni scholars of the Middle Ages and partially also from the modern Yemeni dialects. Foreign loanwords are rare in Sabaic, a few Greek and Aramaic words are found in the [[Rahmanism|Rahmanistic]], Christian and Jewish period (5th–7th centuries AD) for example: ''qls1-n'' from the Greek ἐκκλησία "church", which still survives in the Arabic ''al-Qillīs'' referring to the church built by [[Abraha]]h in [[Sana'a]].<ref>The usual modern Arabic word for "church" is ''kanīsah'', from the same origin.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Old South Arabian]]
* [[Ancient South Arabian script]]
* [[Himyaritic language]]
* [[Geʽez]]
* [[Kingdom of Aksum]]
* [[Sabaeans]]
* [[Himyarite Kingdom]]
* [[Sheba]]
* [[Eduard Glaser]]
* [[Carl Rathjens]]
* [[Joseph Halévy]]
* [[Walter W. Müller]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* A. F. L. Beeston: ''Sabaic Grammar'', Manchester 1984 {{ISBN|0-9507885-2-X}}.
* A.F.L. Beeston, M.A. Ghul, W.W. Müller, J. Ryckmans: ''Sabaic Dictionary'' / Dictionnaire sabéen /al-Muʿdscham as-Sabaʾī (Englisch-Französisch-Arabisch) Louvain-la-Neuve, 1982 {{ISBN|2-8017-0194-7}}
* Joan Copeland Biella: ''Dictionary of Old South Arabic. Sabaean dialect''. Eisenbrauns, 1982 {{ISBN|1-57506-919-9}}
* Maria Höfner: ''Altsüdarabische Grammatik'' (Porta linguarum Orientalium, Band 24) Leipzig, 1943
* {{cite book|first1=Leonid |last1=Kogan |first2=Andrey |last2=Korotayev |author-link2=Andrey Korotayev |chapter=Sayhadic Languages (Epigraphic South Arabian) |title=Semitic Languages |location=London |publisher=Routledge |date=1997 |pages=157–183}}
* Anne Multhoff: ''Die sabäischen Inschriften aus Marib. Katalog, Übersetzung und Kommentar'' [The Sabaean inscriptions from Marib. Catalogue, translation and commentary] (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel 9). Verlag Marie Leidorf, Rahden (Westfalen) 2021, {{ISBN|978-3-86757-130-2}}.
* N. Nebes, P. Stein: "Ancient South Arabian", in: Roger D. Woodard (Hrsg.): ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages'' (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004) {{ISBN|0-521-56256-2}} S. 454–487 (grammatical sketch with Bibliography).
* Jacques Ryckmans, Walter W. Müller, Yusuf M. Abdallah: Textes du Yémen antique inscrits sur bois [Texts from ancient Yemen inscribed on wood] (Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain 43). Institut Orientaliste, Louvain 1994. {{ISBN|2-87723-104-6}}
* Peter Stein, ''Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen'' [Studies on the phonology and morphology of Sabaean] (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel 3). Rahden 2003, {{ISBN|3-89646-683-6}}.
* Peter Stein: Die altsüdarabischen Minuskelinschriften auf Holzstäbchen aus der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek in München 1: Die Inschriften der mittel- und spätsabäischen Periode [The Old South Arabian minuscule inscriptions on wooden sticks from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich 1: The inscriptions of the Middle and Late Sabaean period] (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel 5). Tübingen u.a. 2010. {{ISBN|978-3-8030-2200-4}}
* Peter Stein: Die altsüdarabischen Minuskelinschriften auf Holzstäbchen aus der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek in München. Band 2: Die altsabäischen und minäaischen Inschriften [The Old South Arabian minuscule inscriptions on wooden sticks from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich 1: The Old Sabaean and Minaean inscriptions] (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel. Band 10). Wiesbaden, 2023. {{ISBN|978-3-7520-0704-6}}
* Peter Stein, ''Lehrbuch der sabäischen Sprache'' [Sabaean language textbook]. 2 volumes. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, {{ISBN|978-3-447-10026-7}} (volume 1) and {{ISBN|978-3-447-06768-3}} (volume 2).
* [http://sabaweb.uni-jena.de/Sabaweb/Suche/Suche Sabaic Online Dictionary]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sabaic}}
*[http://www.mnh.si.edu/epigraphy/e_pre-islamic/fig04_sabaean.htm Az Abraha' felirat. Inscription in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Images, Transcription and Translation into English.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203105207/http://www.mnh.si.edu/epigraphy/e_pre-islamic/fig04_sabaean.htm |date=2016-02-03 }}
*[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Old_South_Arabian_inscriptions?uselang=de Wiki Commons: Old South Arabian]
*[http://csai.humnet.unipi.it/csai/html/ Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120707135129/http://csai.humnet.unipi.it/csai/html/ |date=2012-07-07 }} (Work is still in progress on Sabaic.)

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Languages attested from the 8th century BC]]
[[Category:Old South Arabian languages]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Asia]]
[[Category:Sheba]]