Oman Languages

Oman

Languages

Oman Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Research Strategies Record Finder Online Learning
Record Types
Census Church Records Civil Registration Colonial Records Compiled Genealogies Emigration & Immigration	Military Records Online Records Religious Records
Oman Background
Arabic Word List Gazetteers History Jurisdictions	Languages Maps Naming Customs Social Life & Customs
Local Research Resources
Archives & Libraries Societies

Description

Arabic is the official language of Oman.

There are several dialects of Arabic spoken, all part of the Peninsular Arabic family:

• Dhofari Arabic - also knowns as Dhofari & Zofari - spoken in Salalah and the surrounding coastal regions
• Gulf Arabic - spoken in parts bordering the UAE
• Omani Arabic - spoken in Central Oman

Other main languages spoken in Oman include:

• English - widely spoken in the business community
• Baluchi
• Urdu
• Bengali
• Hindi
• Malayalalam

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Alphabet

Pronunciation

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Dictionaries

• Nicholas Awde & K Smith, Arabic dictionary : [Arabic-English ; English-Arabic], London : Bennett & Bloom, 2004 - Available at WorldCat
• Hamdi A Qafisheh, NTC's Gulf Arabic-English dictionary, Lincolnwood, Ill. : NTC Pub. Group, 1997 - Available at WorldCat
• William Foxton, Dictionary of English baluchi and omani arabic, Muttrah : Oriental Printing Press, 1980 - Available at WorldCat
• Thomas John Lee Mayer, English-Biluchi dictionary, Lahore : Sheikh Mubarak Ali, 1975 - Available at WorldCat
• Shānulḥaq Ḥaqqī, Oxford English- Urdu dictionary, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2003 - Available at WorldCat
• James Sykes, English and Bengali dictionary, Charleston, SC : BiblioBazaar, 2008 - Available at WorldCat
• Rupert Snell, Essential Hindi dictionary : Hindi-English/English-Hindi, Blacklick, OH : McGraw-Hill, 2011 - Available at WorldCat

Online Dictionaries

Language Aids

• Henry Mercier, Arabic grammar, Rabat : Éditions La Porte, 1963 - Available at WorldCat
• Richard Davey, Coastal Dhofari Arabic : a sketch grammar, Brill - Available at WorldCat
• Clive Holes, Gulf Arabic, London ; New York : Routledge, 2011, 1990 - Available at WorldCat
• Grammar of Omani Arabic - Available at WorldCat