Shihhi Arabic

Shihhi Arabic
Shihhi Arabic
Native to	United Arab Emirates, Oman
Speakers	38,000 (2020)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Peninsular Shihhi Arabic; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ssh
Glottolog	shih1239
	[image reference needed]

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.^[1] It has been suggested that Shihhi Arabic has two main dialect groups, known as "inland" and "coastal".^[2] The Al Shehhi, Al Hebsi, Al Dhuhoori and Al Shemaili tribes speak it.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/Alveolar		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
		Labial	plain	emph.	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal		m	n
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless		t	tˤ			k	q		ʔ
Stop/ Affricate	voiced	b	d	dˤ		d͡ʒ	(ɡ)
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	sˤ		ʃ		χ	ħ	h
Fricative	voiced		z					ʁ	(ʕ)
Tap					ɻ ~ ɽ
Approximant			l	(wˤ)	ɻ ~ ɽ	j	w

Sounds /ɡ, ʕ/ are mainly heard in loan-words.
/ħ/ may be heard as a voiced glottal [ɦ] when before voiced consonants.
The retroflex /ɻ/ may have four different allophones; as a flap [ɽ] when in intervocalic positions, as an alveolar [ɹ] when before front vowels, or as an alveolar tap or trill [ɾ, r] when in word-medial position following a consonant.^[3]
In some dialects *ġ has been replaced by a pharyngealized glottal stop [ʔˤ].<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

Short sounds /i, u/ when in unstressed positions are heard as a mid-central [ə].^[3]

Phoneme/Sound	Allophones	Notes
/i/ [i]	[ɪ]	when in closed syllables
/a/ [æ]	[æ]	as the standard relisation, when in neutral environments or open syllables
	[ɐ]	in closed syllables
	[a]	when occurring after a pharyngeal or glottal consonant
	[ɑ]	when within the vicinity of the velarized or pharyngealized, or uvular consonants
/o/ [o]	[ɔ], [ʊ]	in free variation
/u/ [u]	[ʊ]	in free variation
/u/ [u]	[ɔ]	when preceded by a pharyngeal or velarized consonant
/iː/ [iː]	[ɨː]	when preceded by /q/
	[iːᵊ]	offglide, when followed by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant
	[ᵊiː]	onglide, when preceded by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant
/eː/ [eː]	[ɘː]	when preceded by /q/
	[ɪː]	when preceded by /b/
	[iː]	when preceding or following /j/
	[eːᵊ]	offglide, when followed by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant
	[ᵊeː]	onglide, when preceded by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant
/aː/ [æː]	[æː]	when in neutral environments or open syllables
	[aː]	when after a glottal stop /ʔ/
	[ɑː]	within the position of a velarized/pharyngealized consonant or /ɻ/ consonant
/oː/ [ɔː]	[ɔː]	as the standard realization
	[oː]	when preceded be a labial, alveolar, or palatal consonant
	[ʊː]	when preceded by /ɻ/
/uː/ [uː]	[ʊː]	in free variation
/uː/ [uː]	[oː]	within the position of a velarized/pharyngealized consonant

Notes

^ ^a ^b Shihhi Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ Shockley 2024
^ ^a ^b 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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[e25-1] Shihhi Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)

[2] Shockley 2024

[:0-3] Bernabela, Roy S. (2011). A phonology and morphology sketch of the Šiħħi Arabic dialect of əlǦēdih (Oman). Leiden University.

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