# Shihhi Arabic

Shihhi Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة الشحية, romanized: Al-Lahjah Al-Shihhiyya, also known as Shehhi, Khasabi, Musandam Arabic, or Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic) is a variety of Arabic primarily spoken in the Musandam Governorate of Oman and Ras al Khaimah emirate of UAE. It has been suggested that Shihhi Arabic has two main dialect groups, known as "inland" and "coastal". The Al Shehhi, Al Hebsi, Al Dhuhoori and Al Shemaili tribes speak it.

## Phonology
### Consonants

| | | Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Dental/Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal |
| | | Labial | plain | emph. | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | | | | | | |
| Stop/ Affricate | voiceless | | t | tˤ | | (tʃ) | k | q | | ʔ |
| Stop/ Affricate | voiced | b | d | dˤ | | d͡ʒ | (ɡ) | | | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | sˤ | | ʃ | | χ | ħ | h |
| Fricative | voiced | | z | | | | | ʁ | (ʕ) | |
| Tap | Tap | | | | ɻ ~ ɽ | | | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | l | (wˤ) | ɻ ~ ɽ | 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* In some dialects *ġ has been replaced by a pharyngealized glottal stop [ʔˤ].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 | 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 |
| /a/ [æ] | [ɐ] | in closed syllables |
| /a/ [æ] | [a] | when occurring after a pharyngeal or glottal consonant |
| /a/ [æ] | [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 |
| /u/ [u] | [ɔ] | when preceded by a pharyngeal or velarized consonant |
| /iː/ [iː] | [ɨː] | when preceded by /q/ |
| /iː/ [iː] | [iːᵊ] | offglide, when followed by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant |
| /iː/ [iː] | [ᵊiː] | onglide, when preceded by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant |
| /eː/ [eː] | [ɘː] | when preceded by /q/ |
| /eː/ [eː] | [ɪː] | when preceded by /b/ |
| /eː/ [eː] | [iː] | when preceding or following /j/ |
| /eː/ [eː] | [eːᵊ] | offglide, when followed by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant |
| /eː/ [eː] | [ᵊeː] | onglide, when preceded by a velarized/pharyngealized consonant |
| /aː/ [æː] | [æː] | when in neutral environments or open syllables |
| /aː/ [æː] | [aː] | when after a glottal stop /ʔ/ |
| /aː/ [æː] | [ɑː] | within the position of a velarized/pharyngealized consonant or /ɻ/ consonant |
| /oː/ [ɔː] | [ɔː] | as the standard realization |
| /oː/ [ɔː] | [oː] | when preceded be a labial, alveolar, or palatal consonant |
| /oː/ [ɔː] | [ʊː] | when preceded by /ɻ/ |
| /uː/ [uː] | [ʊː] | in free variation |
| /uː/ [uː] | [oː] | within the position of a velarized/pharyngealized consonant |