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Dr Miranda Morris FBA

Dr Miranda Morris' research interests focus on the six unwritten Semitic languages of southern Arabia and Soqotra, known as the Modern South Arabian Languages (MSAL), and the fast-disappearing knowledge systems and cultural practices of their speakers.
Portrait picture of Dr Miranda Moriss FBA
Fellow type
UK Fellow
Year elected
2026
Honours
PhD, FBA
Subjects
Africa, Asia and Middle East
Sections
Africa, Asia and the Middle East

Summary

Miranda J. Morris is an independent researcher from St. Andrews. Her interests focus on the unwritten Semitic languages ‒ Soḳoṭri, Hobyōt, Bǝṭaḥrēt, Śḥerɛ̄t, Mehri and Ḥarsūsi, known as the Modern South Arabian Languages (MSAL), and the fast-disappearing knowledge systems, areas of expertise and cultural practices of those who speak them.

She has lived and worked with MSAL-speaking communities in Southern Arabia and the Soqotra Archipelago over some fifty years, and has worked on a variety of development projects in the region: in Southern Oman, for the Office of the Minister of Dhofar, the Ministry of Health, and the Planning Committee for Development and Environment; in Oman and Yemen, for the Darwin Initiative UK; the Global Environment Facility (GEF); the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the European Union (EU), and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE).

She is currently working on a collection of ethnographic texts in Hobyōt, and lexicons of the Bəṭaḥrēt, Hobyōt and Śḥerɛ̄t languages.

Current post

Independent Researcher

Recent publications

Harvesting the Sea in Southeastern Arabia. Volume II. Lexicon. Cam

Morris, Miranda, Erik Anonby and Janet C.E. Watson (eds) - Published in 2026

Bibliography of the Modern South Arabian Languages. Kervan – International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies 29

Morris, Miranda J. and Fabio Gasparini. - Published in 2025

Harvesting the Sea in Southeastern Arabia. Volume I: Regional

Janet C.E. Watson, Miranda J. Morris and Erik Anonby (eds) - Published in 2025

Ethnographic Texts in the Baṭḥari Language of Oman. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz;

Morris, Miranda - Published in 2024

Oral Art of Soqotra: A collection of island voices, three volumes.

Morris, Miranda (with Ṭanuf Salim Di-Kišin) - Published in 2021

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