| Shihhi Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Native to | United Arab Emirates, Oman |
| Speakers | 38,000 (2020) |
| Language family | Afro-Asiatic
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ssh |
| Glottolog | shih1239 |
 | |
Shihhi Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة الشحية, romanized: Al-Lahjah Al-Shihhiyya, also known as Shehhi, Khasabi, Musandam Arabic, or Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic) is a variety of Arabic primarily spoken in the Musandam Governorate of Oman and Ras al Khaimah emirate of UAE. It has been suggested that Shihhi Arabic has two main dialect groups, known as "inland" and "coastal". The Al Shehhi, Al Hebsi, Al Dhuhoori and Al Shemaili tribes speak it.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | emph. | |||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
| Stop/ Affricate |
voiceless | t | tˤ | k | q | ʔ | ||||
| voiced | b | d | dˤ | d͡ʒ | (ɡ) | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | sˤ | ʃ | χ | ħ | h | ||
| voiced | z | ʁ | (ʕ) | |||||||
| Tap | ɻ ~ ɽ | |||||||||
| Approximant | l | (wˤ) | j | w | ||||||
- Sounds /ɡ, ʕ/ are mainly heard in loan-words.
- /ħ/ may be heard as a voiced glottal when before voiced consonants.
- The retroflex /ɻ/ may have four different allophones; as a flap when in intervocalic positions, as an alveolar when before front vowels, or as an alveolar tap or trill when in word-medial position following a consonant.
- In some dialects *ġ has been replaced by a pharyngealized glottal stop .<ref>Shockley, Mark. Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic in Context: A Proposal for an Expanded Typology of Southeastern Arabian Dialects. Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 69, Issue 1, Spring 2024, Pages 657, https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgad026
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː |
| Mid | eː | (o) oː |
| Open | a aː | |
| Phoneme/Sound | Allophones | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| /i/ | when in closed syllables | |
| /a/ | as the standard relisation, when in neutral environments or open syllables | |
| in closed syllables | ||
| when occurring after a pharyngeal or glottal consonant | ||
| when within the vicinity of the velarized or pharyngealized, or uvular consonants | ||
| /o/ | , | in free variation |
| /u/ | in free variation | |
| when preceded by a pharyngeal or velarized consonant | ||
| /iː/ | when preceded by /q/ | |
| offglide, when followed by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant | ||
| onglide, when preceded by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant | ||
| /eː/ | when preceded by /q/ | |
| when preceded by /b/ | ||
| when preceding or following /j/ | ||
| offglide, when followed by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant | ||
| onglide, when preceded by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant | ||
| /aː/ | when in neutral environments or open syllables | |
| when after a glottal stop /ʔ/ | ||
| within the position of a velarized/pharyngealized consonant or /ɻ/ consonant | ||
| /oː/ | as the standard realization | |
| when preceded be a labial, alveolar, or palatal consonant | ||
| when preceded by /ɻ/ | ||
| /uː/ | in free variation | |
| within the position of a velarized/pharyngealized consonant |
See also
Notes
- ^ Shihhi Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- Shockley 2024
- ^ Bernabela, Roy S. (2011). A phonology and morphology sketch of the Šiħħi Arabic dialect of əlǦēdih (Oman). Leiden University.
External links
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