User talk:Alawayd

Jibbali language

Like most minority languages “Jabbali” is extremely threatened. It is a Semitic language that is spoken in Dhofar in the southern region of Oman alongside some other languages. Dhofar is known for its unique linguistic diversity more than any other region in Oman. There are about six languages spoken there. They are “Jabbali, Mahri, Soqotri, Bathari, Harsusi, and sometimes Hibyot is added to the list as a different language although is it merely considered a pidgin of “Jabbali”. The language that is spoken by a large number of people in Dhofar is “Jabbali”. It has several local names ; Jabbali, Shehri, Shhrat and Ehklot (Johnstone, 1981:introduction) and these names depend on the person who speaks it, the name of the language in this paper is “Jabbali”, Although “Jabbali” is spoken by a large number of people, it is still endangered but more likely to survive longer than the other languages in the region. There are around 143013 “Jabbali” speakers based on a statistic that was deduced from the population of Oman, particularly in Dhofar, (Oman census 2003) by counting the number of Omanis in the Wilayat (towns) where the demography of “Jabbali” is dense

Although there is almost no literature written about the history of this language, it seems that this language had been a dominant language in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula or at least a widespread language among the people there. The many vocabulary items that are found in Yemani Arabic, especially in Hadhramoot, are similar to some vocabulary items in “Jabbali”. That is also evident from the written script that is found in Yemen and the inscriptions found in some parts of Dhofar. Another evidence supporting the dominance of this language in many areas in the ancient past is that the tribes that left Yemen as a result of the collapse of the Ma’rib Dam around 532 A.D, did not face any difficulties regarding the language, so they easily became part of the community. The spread of Islam raised the importance of learning Arabic since it is the medium through which Islam is carried. Many people embraced Islam and learned Standard Arabic in the southern area of the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen and Dhofar). Consequently, the role of their language decreased gradually. The southern language disappeared from Yemen and only remained in the area of Dhofar mountains, where tribes fiercely fought the rotating governments that controlled their region e.g the Emir of Hormuz in 1261, and the Sultan of Yemen 1278. Thus, they shunned the ideologies that those governments had and became isolated in that mountainous area of Dhofar, keeping their language and culture away from “pollution”. Nowadays, “Jabbali” is merely a spoken language since it is no longer written or read. The only way that “Jabbali” speakers have to maintain their language is just through teaching it to their children informally. It is dying gradually through undergoing some cultural assimilation.