Omani Arabic (also known as Omani Hadari Arabic) is a

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Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

spoken in the

Al Hajar Mountains The Hajar Mountains ( ar, جِبَال ٱلْحَجَر, Jibāl al-Ḥajar, ''The Rocky Mountains'' or ''The Stone Mountains'') in northeastern Oman and also the eastern United Arab Emirates are the highest mountain range in the eastern Arabia ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

and in a few neighboring coastal regions. It is the easternmost Arabic dialect. It was formerly spoken by colonists in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

, but these days, it mainly remains spoken on the island of

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

. The Gwadari Arabic, a variant of Omani Arabic is also spoken in

Gwadar Gwadar ( Balochi/ ur, ) is a port city with located on the southwestern coast of Balochistan, Pakistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. Gwadar is the 100th largest city of Pakistan, according to the 2017 ...

, a former Omani colony.

Phonology

Consonants

* Velar fricatives can be heard as uvular sounds , in the Muscat dialect. * can also be heard as palatalized sounds among the Muscat dialect. * can be heard as an allophone of , but is rarely phonemic. * As for most manidialects, Standard Arabic is replaced with the velar stop , while is available in some Omani dialects, mainly Bedouin. * The speakers of

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...

Salalah Salalah ( ar, صَلَالَة, Ṣalālah) is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar. Its population in 2009 was about 197,169. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city ...

and some Batina varieties (e.g. the center of Sohar city), as well as other sedentary dialect speakers, pronounce as , while the Bedouin dialect speakers pronounce as . and this variable has been a hallmark for distinguishing Bedouin and Hadari (urban) Arabs for centuries.

Vowels

* can be heard as when preceding or any non-emphatic consonant. It is heard as back after emphatic sounds, and can then be heard as when shortened. Its long equivalent , is heard as after emphatic sounds. * can be heard as in medial position and as in shortened positions. *Sounds are often realized as near-close back sounds . can sometimes be heard as or after emphatics.

References

Arabic languages Arabs in Oman Mashriqi Arabic Peninsular Arabic Languages of Oman {{Arabic-lang-stub

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

See also

References