Kumzari language
Southwestern Iranian language of Oman and United Arab Emirates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kumzari (Persian: کمزاری, Arabic: كمزارية) is a Southwestern Iranian language that has similarities with Farsi, Luri, Achomi and Balochi languages.[5] Although vulnerable, it survives today with between 4,000 and 5,000 speakers.[6] It is spoken by Kumzaris, part of the Shihuh, on the Kumzar coast of Musandam Peninsula (northern Oman). Kumzari speakers can also be found in the towns of Dibba and Khasab as well as various villages, and on Larak Island in Iran.
| Kumzari | |
|---|---|
| |
| Native to | Oman, United Arab Emirates |
| Region | Kumzar, Hajar Mountains |
| Ethnicity | Kumzar, Shihuh[1] |
Native speakers | 6,000 (2011–2023)[2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | zum |
| Glottolog | kumz1235 |
| ELP | Kumzari |
 The position of Kumzari among Iranian languages. The location is just south of the Persian Gulf in South Iran.[3] | |
 Kumzari is classified as "severely endangered" by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[4] | |
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-Kamazirah. 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.[7]
Alphabet
Kumzari is usually written with the Perso-Arabic script. The Kumzari alphabet has 33 letters: 28 letters from the alphabet, 3 additional letters, the lam-Alif ligature and Hamza.
- ا: الف (alif) - - / ā (no pronunciation or /aː/)
- ب: به (ba) - b (/b/
- پ: په (pa) - p (/p/
- ت: ته (ta) - t (/t/)
- ث: ثه (sa) - s (/s/)
- ج: جيم (jīm) - j (/dʒ/
- چ: چيم (gīm) - g (/g/
- ح: حه (ḥa) - ḥ (/ħ/)
- خ: خه (xa) - x (/χ/)
- د: دال (dāl) - d (/d/)
- ذ: ذال (zāl) - z (/zˠ/)
- ر: ره (ra) - r (/ɻ/)
- ز: زاي (zāy) - z (zˠ)
- س: سين (sīn) - s (/s/)
- ش: شين (šīn): š (/ʃ/)
- ۺ: ۺين (cīn): c (/tʃ/)
- ص: صاد (ṣād) - ṣ (/sˠ/)
- ض: ضاد (ḍād) - ḍ (/dˠ/)
- ط: طا (ṭā): ṭ (/tˠ/)
- ظ: ظا (zā) - z (/zˠ/)
- ع: عين (ʔayn) - ʔ (/ʔ/)
- غ: غين (ǧayn) - ǧ (/ʁ/)
- ف: فه (fa) - f (/f/)
- ق: قاف (qāf) - q (/q/)
- ك: كاف (kāf) - k (/k/)
- ل: لام (lām) - l/ḷ (/l/, /lˠ/)
- م: ميم (mīm) - m (/m/)
- ن: نون (nūn) - n (/n~ŋ/
- ه: هه (ha) - h, a, i, u (/h/, /a/, /i/, /u/
- و: واو (wāw) - w, ū, o (/w/, /uː/, /oː/)
- ي: يه (ya) - y, ī, e (/j/, /iː/, /eː/)
- لا: لام الف (lām alif) - lā (/laː/)
- ء: همزه (hamza) - ʔ (/ʔ/)
Kumzari uses the letter چ, which in Persian represents tʃ, to represent the /g/ sound. This practice is not unique to Kumzari: it is also used to transliterate Hebrew words in the Arabic script for the ג, and also in Lebanon and Greek Aljamiado. The tʃ sound in Kumzari is written ۺ, which is also used in Arabi Malayalam script for the Malayalam ഷ.
Kumzari has 8 vowels: a, ā (/aː/), i, ī (/iː/), u, ū (/uː/), e (/eː/) and o (/oː/). The short vowels a, i and u are written with the 3 harakats Fatḥa, Kasra and Ḍamma, and the long vowels with the 3 harakats followed by ا, ي and و. The long ā vowel at the beginning of a word is written آ. Short vowels a i u at the end of word are written with the 3 diacritics followed by ه. The e and o vowels are written withي and و without any diacritics.
Phonology
Consonants
Kumzari has consonants, and all but three (ʔ, ʁ, ɦ) also exist as geminates[8]
- van der Wal uses the term alveo-palatal to describe these consonants, using IPA symbols for palato-alveolar consonants rather than alveolo-palatal consonants
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 /j/ or /w/, or a glottal stop (/ʔ/).
Samples
| English | Kumzari | New Persian (Farsi) | Gulf Arabic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little | كم
kam |
كم
kam |
شوي/قليل
shwai/qaleel |
| I go to the sea | می شُم دریه
Me-shum deryeh[9] |
Standard: میشوم دَریا (از فعل شدن به معنای رفتن), romanized: Mi-shavam darya
Tehrani/Iranian: میرَم دَریا, romanized: Miram darya Bushehri: میرُم دِریا, romanized: Mirum derya |
Modern Standard Arabic: اَذهَبُ الى البَحر, romanized: aadhhabu ela albahr
Gulf Arabic (All): اَرُوح اِلبَحَر, romanized: arooh al-bahar |
| I go to the school | می شُم مدرستو
Me-shum madrasto[9] |
Standard: میروم مدرسه, romanized: Mirawam madraseh
Tehrani/Iranian: میرَم مدرسه, romanized: Miram madraseh Bushehri: میرُم دِریا, romanized: Mirum madraseh |
Gulf (All): اَرُوح اِلمدرسه, romanized: arooh el-madreseh |
| I go to the mosque | می شُم مظغث
Me-shum mosgeth[9] |
Standard: میرَوَم مسجد, romanized: Mirawam madraseh
Tehrani/Iranian: میرَم مسجد, romanized: Miram masjid Bushehri: میرُم مسجد, romanized: Mirum masjid |
Gulf (All): اَرُوح المسجد, romanized: arooh el-masjid |
| Start | یلا گو
yalla gow[10] |
Standard: شروع کنید, romanized: Mirawam madraseh
Tehrani/Iranian: شروع کن, romanized: Miram masjid |
MSA: اِبدأ, romanized: eibda'a
Gulf (All): اْبدأ, romanized: eibda'a |
| Put the fan in slow mode | پنکاو سوو یه سلو
Pankaw sov ya slow[10] |
Standard: پنکه را روی سرعت کم بگذار., romanized: Panke ra rooye sor'at-e kam bogzar
Tehrani/Bushehri/Iranian: پنکه رو بذار رو کم, romanized: Panke ro bezar roo kam |
MSA: ضع المروحة في الوضع البطيء, romanized: dae almiruhat fi alwade albati'
Gulf (Bahraini): خلي/سو البانكه على بطيء/سلو, romanized: Khalli/sow el-bankah ‘ala baṭee’ / slow |
