Shihhi Arabic

Shihhi Arabic
Native toUnited Arab Emirates, Oman
Speakers38,000 (2020)
Language codes
ISO 639-3ssh
Glottologshih1239

Shihhi Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة الشحية, romanized: Al-Lahjah Al-Shihhiyya, also known as Shehhi, Khasabi, Musandam Arabic, or Ruʾus Al Jibal Arabic) is a dialect of Arabic primarily used in the Musandam Governorate of Oman and the Ras Al Khaimah emirate of the United Arab Emirates. It has been suggested that Shihhi Arabic has two main dialect groups, known as "inland" and "coastal". The Shihuh, Habus, Al Dhuhoori and Al Shemaili tribes have traditionally used the dialect.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental/Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
plain emph.
Nasal m n
Stop/
Affricate		 voiceless t tˤ (tʃ) 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, tʃ/ are exclusively 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.
  • In some dialects *ġ has been replaced by a pharyngealized glottal stop [ʔˤ].

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].
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
[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
[oː] within the position of a velarized/pharyngealized consonant

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Shihhi Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ 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
  3. 1 2 Bernabela, Roy S. (2011). A phonology and morphology sketch of the Šiħħi Arabic dialect of əlǦēdih (Oman). Leiden University.
  4. ↑ 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