Luwati language

The Luwati language is superficially similar to Kutchi, but retains sounds found in other Sindhi languages and Saraiki but that have been lost from Kutchi.{{cn|date=November 2019}} Luwati also bears similarities to other languages such as Sindhi, Gujarati, Hindustani and Persian.{{Cite journal|last=Asani|first=A|title=The Khojkī Script: A Legacy of Ismaili Islam in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=3|pages=439–449}} As with other languages located in Oman, Luwati is influenced by the Omani dialect of Arabic.

Originating from the Pakistani province of Sindh, the Luwati language has had a presence in Oman for nearly four centuries.{{Cite journal|last=Valeri|first=M|title=High Visibility, Low Profile: The Shiʿa in Oman under Sultan Qaboos|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|year=2010|volume=42|issue=2|pages=251–268|doi=10.1017/S0020743810000048|s2cid=163083793}} The language and people were first mentioned historically by the Omani historian Ibn Ruzayq. The Lawatiya appeared to have settled in Oman in waves of immigration from Sindh between 1780 and 1880 bringing the language with them. A number of historians assign an Arab pedigree to the Luwatis. The Luwati speakers inhabited the Arabian Peninsula until their displacement during the 8th century C.E. Others assert that the Luwati speakers originate in Hyderabad. The Luwatis entered Muscat as prosperous merchants and insularized themselves, for the most part, in Sūr al-Luwātiyya in Muttrah, preserving their language.{{Cite journal|last=Ahmed|first=Al-Ismaili|date=2018|title=Ethnic, Linguistic, and Religious Pluralism in Oman: The Link with Political Stability|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0058|journal=Al Muntaqa|volume=1|issue=3 |pages=58–73|doi=10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0058 |jstor=10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0058 |url-access=subscription}}

Luwati is a minority language found in Oman specifically in the capital of Muscat as well as in the coastal towns of Saham, Barka, Khabura, and Musana. It is spoken by 5,000 to 10,000 people.{{cn|date=November 2019}}

Luwati phonology is simpler than that of Sindhi, having lost the breathy-voiced consonants and simplified the vowel system. All of the implosives, however, are retained.{{cite journal |last1=Salman |first1=Amel |last2=Kharusi |first2=Nafla S. |title=The Sound System of Lawatiyya |journal=Journal of Academic and Applied Studies |date=2012 |volume=2 |issue=5 |page=36-44 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230722483}}

Some consonants are restricted to borrowings, especially from Arabic and Persian,

/x, ɣ, q, ħ, ʕ, z/.

Luwati no longer has a writing system and is only a spoken language. Its script was used by Nizari Ismailis in Punjab, Sindh, and Gujarat to produce a religious corpus.{{Cite journal|last=Ahmed|first=Al-Ismaili|date=2018|title=Ethnic, Linguistic, and Religious Pluralism in Oman: The Link with Political Stability|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0058|journal=Al Muntaqa|volume=1|issue=3 |pages=58–73|doi=10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0058 |jstor=10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0058 |url-access=subscription}}

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{{Languages of Oman}}

{{Western Indo-Aryan languages}}

Category:Endangered Indo-European languages

Category:Languages of Oman

Category:Western Indo-Aryan languages

Category:Sindhi language

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