Kumzari language explained

pronounced as /notice/

Kumzari
Ethnicity:Kumzar, Shihuh[1]
States:Oman, United Arab Emirates
Region:Kumzar, Hajar Mountains
Date:2020
Ref:e26
Familycolor:Indo-European
Fam2:Indo-Iranian
Fam3:Iranian
Fam4:Western Iranian
Fam5:Southwestern
Iso3:zum
Glotto:kumz1235
Glottorefname:Kumzari

Kumzari (Persian: کومزاری, Arabic: اللغة كمزارية) is a Southwestern Iranian language that is similar to the Persian, Achomi and Luri languages.[2] Although vulnerable, it survives today with between 4,000 and 5,000 speakers.[3] It is spoken by Kumzaris on the Kumzar coast of Musandam Peninsula (northern Oman) as well as the Shihuh in the United Arab Emirates.[4] Kumzari speakers can also be found in the towns of Dibba and Khasab as well as various villages, and on Larak Island.

Kumzari is the only Iranian language spoken exclusively in the Arabian Peninsula.

Location

The Kumzari name derives from the historically rich mountainous village of Kumzar. The language has two main groups of speakers, one on each side of the Strait of Hormuz: the Shihuh tribe of the Musandam Peninsula and the Laraki community of Larak Island in Iran. On the Musandam Peninsula, the Kumzar population is concentrated in Oman, in the village of Kumzar and in a quarter of Khasab known as the Harat al-Kumzari. In addition, Kumzari is found at Dibba and the coastal villages of Elphinstone and the Malcolm Inlets. It is the mother tongue of fishermen who are descendants of the Yemeni conqueror of Oman, Malek bin Faham (Arabic: مالك بن فهم). Based on linguistic evidence, Kumzari was present in the Arabia region before the Muslim conquest of the region in the 7th Century A.D.[5]

Phonology

Consonants

Kumzari has consonants, and all but three (pronounced as /ʔ, ʁ, ɦ/) also exist as geminates[6]

! rowspan="2"
LabialAlveolarPalato-
alveolar
PalatalVelarUvularPharyngealGlottal
Plosive/
Affricate
pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Fricativepronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Nasalpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Approximantpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/

Vowels

Kumzari has a length distinction in its vowels, with five long vowels and three short vowels. Vowels never occur in direct hiatus; rather, they are separated by either a semivowel such as pronounced as //j// or /w/, or a glottal stop (pronounced as //ʔ//).

Vowels!!Front!Central!Back
Long highpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Short near-closepronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Long midpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Short near-openpronounced as /ink/
Long lowpronounced as /ink/

External links

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: THOMAS . BERTRAM . Edmonds . BERTRAM THOMAS . The Kumzari Dialect of the Shihuh Tribe, Arabia, and a Vocabulary .
  2. Book: The History of Ancient Iran, Part 3, Volume 7. 9783406093975. Frye. Richard Nelson. 1984.
  3. Anonby . Erik J . Stress-induced Vowel Lengthening and Harmonization in Kumzari . Orientalia Suecana . 2013 . 61 . 54–58 . 1026776205 .
  4. Book: THOMAS . BERTRAM . Edmonds . BERTRAM THOMAS . The Kumzari Dialect of the Shihuh Tribe, Arabia, and a Vocabulary .
  5. Book: Anonby . Erik . Yousefian . Pakzad . Adaptive Multilinguals a Survey of Language on Larak Island. . 2011 . Uppsala University . 978-91-554-8125-4 . 1027080608 .
  6. Book: van der Wal . Anonby C. A. . A grammar of Kumzari: a mixed Perso-Arabian language of Oman . 2015-04-22 . Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University . Leiden, Netherlands . van der Wal.