Semitic language of southern Arabia and the island of Socotra. South Arabic belongs to the Southern Peripheral group of Semitic languages, along with Geʿez (Geʿez language), Amharic (Amharic language), Tigré (Tigré language), Tigrinya (Tigrinya language), and the other Semitic languages of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and The Sudan. Modern dialects of the language include Mahrī, Shaḥrī (Eḥkalī), Ḥarsūsī, and Baṭḥarī on the Arabian shore of the Indian Ocean and Suquṭrī on Socotra. Ḥarsūsī has been influenced by Arabic to a greater extent than have the other dialects.

Minaean, Sabaean, Qatabanian, and Ḥaḍramawtian are the four known South Arabic dialects of ancient times. The earliest South Arabic inscriptions, dating from the 8th century BCE, are in the Minaean dialect. Sabaean is the dialect of the majority of South Arabic inscriptions; the latest inscriptions are from the 6th century CE. The type of Semitic alphabet in which the ancient inscriptions are written has 29 consonant signs but does not indicate vowels.