The Arabic dialect spoken in the al-ʿAwābī district, northern Oman

This thesis describes the phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon of the Arabic variety spoken in the al-ʿAwābī district (northern Oman). This district played an important role in the history of the Ibadism and of Oman in general, especially in the period when Rustāq was capital of the Sultanate (c. 1600 CE). The prominence of the dialect spoken in this area finds evidence in the work Ein arabischer Dialekt gesprochen in ‘Oman und Zanzibar written by Carl Reinhardt in 1894, which constitutes the starting point of this thesis and material for comparison. Reinhardt’s work was presented as a linguistic guide to German soldiers quartered in the Sultanate and in Zanzibar, when part of East Africa was a German colony. This thesis considers the lexical and grammatical core of Reinhardt’s work and aims to reanalyse it considering the vernacular used by present-day inhabitants of al-ʿAwābī town and Wādī Banī Kharūṣ. Chapter 1 offers an overview of the linguistic situation of Oman within the Arabian Peninsula and of the al-ʿAwābī district itself, including remarks on the fieldwork site and the methodology used for this research. Chapter 2 is an account of the phonological characteristics of the dialect spoken in the district, followed by the nominal and verbal morphology (Chapters 3 and 4, respectively), and the syntax (Chapter 5) of the al-ʿAwābī district vernacular.
In addition to this core, a prominent part is dedicated in this thesis to the analysis of the rich cultural lexicon used in the district (Chapter 6): foreign borrowings, quadriliteral roots indicating plant and animal names, traditional medicine, clothing, accessories, etc., culminating in the compilation of a lexical glossary organised in roots (Annex 2). Annex 1 presents an overview of the history of the Sultanate, whereas Annex 3 inlcudes a traditional song, and local proverbs.