Chapter 3

Abstract

I am thankful to the University of Leeds and the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies for funding this research with the '110 Anniversary Scholarship.' I also acknowledge the support in publication of the book by the Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures series and Open Book Publishers. Thank you to my family in Oman, to Ikhlas, Shihha, Zalkha, Mama Sharifa, Rabʿa, Amal, Manal, Iman, Maymuna, and all the amazing women I have worked with during my PhD fieldwork and to whom this study is dedicated. Thanks to Rashid, Ikhlas's father, who agreed to record the traditional song reported in the Appendix of this work and who sadly passed away a couple of years ago. This work is entirely dedicated to Oman and the beautiful Omani people. Diachronic Variation in the al-ʿAwābī Omani Arabic Vernacular tures not only within Oman, but also with neighbouring Arabic varieties.Some fields are, indeed, more neglected than others in the literature: lexicon and syntax in primis.The lexicon found in various areas of Oman is a rich source of archaisms, classicisms, and foreign loanwords that, when combined together, create a unique system that absolutely deserves attention. It must not be forgotten that this country is characterised by linguistic diversity not comparable to any other country in the Gulf region. 1 In the field of syntax, the latest study by Bettega (2019a) is a huge step forward and we can only hope that more analysis of this kind will take place in the future.The present study aims to be a first step in this direction.Born of the urgency of expanding our knowledge of Omani Arabic, this study has two main aims: firstly, providing a linguistic analysis and description of the Omani vernacular spoken in the al-ʿAwābī district (northern Oman), based on the speech of 15 informants recruited throughout the area; and secondly, comparing these new data with the set provided by Reinhardt (1894). This comparison is deemed even more urgent in light of tracing the diachronic change the dialects of this area are currently undergoing. The process of the 'gulfinisation' of these dialects-i.e., their tendency to adapt to Gulf Arabic features-1 Twelve languages are spoken as main languages in the Sultanate: Ar-