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al-Tanahmir: the Himyaritic speech remnant

التنحْمير — بقايا اللسان الحميري

Al-Hamdani's register of the peninsula's tongues records that the highland Himyar and Ja'da keep 'something of tanahmir' — Himyaritic speech — eliding consonants: 'bi-bn Ma'am' for 'bi-bn al-'amm', 'simmi'' for 'isma''. He counts Kinda and Hamdan the most eloquent of the south, says Mahra's speech resembles the 'ajam's, and names Nahj, Abyan and Dathina the purest — the earliest detailed witness to Old Himyaritic surviving on fourth-century tongues 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
Abbasid Fragmentation
Region
Arabia
Review
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Literature

Overview

Tanahmir is a feature in the speech of some people of Yemen, recorded by al-Hamdani in Sifat jazirat al-Arab. 2

What al-Hamdani records

He says that the speech of Saru Himyar and Ja'da contained "something of the tanahmir". They drew out their speech and elided sounds, saying "bi-ibn ma'm" for "bi-ibn al-amm" (with the son of the paternal uncle), and "simma'" for "isma'" (listen). 2

The eloquence of the tribes

He counted Kinda, Hamdan, and some of the Sadaf as the most eloquent people of Hadramawt and its environs. He said that Mahra resemble non-Arabs in their speech, and that Nahij, Abyan, and Dathina were the most eloquent. 2

Its significance

This page is considered the earliest detailed testimony to the survival of traces of the old Himyaritic language in the speech of the people of the fourth century. 2

People and things also explored

Aljamia (aljamiado: Spanish written in Arabic script, and its literature)· Arab naming of children after plants· The wise sayings attributed to Ali· Poetry attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib· The delegation of Banu Tamim and the boasting contest· Ka'b ibn Zuhayr's pardon and recitation of Banat Su'ad· Khuza'a's appeal to Medina· Salim ibn Umayr's mission to kill Abu Afak

Sources

  1. Sifat Jazirat al-Arab of al-Hamdani (Müller ed.) , p. 117
  2. Sifat Jazirat al-Arab of al-Hamdani (Müller ed.) , p.117
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Tanahmir: the Himyaritic speech remnant”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/al-tanahmir-himyari-speech/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Aljamia (aljamiado: Spanish written in Arabic script, and its literature)

Aljamia is the Spanish form of the Arabic al-'ajamiyya ('non-Arabic'), a term the Muslims of al-Andalus used for the Romance dialects of their northern neighbours, dialects coloured with Arabisms introduced from the 9th century by Mozarab emigrants. In the later Middle Ages the word came to mean Spanish written in Arabic script, and the literature in that script is called aljamiado.