The Jibbali Alphabet

Jibbali (also called Shehri / Śḥerī, ISO 639-3: shv) is the most widely spoken Modern South Arabian language, with an estimated 25,000–60,000 speakers in the Dhofar Governorate of Oman ^[1]. It belongs to the Modern South Arabian sub-group — the South Semitic branch of Afro-Asiatic descending from ancient South Arabian inscriptional languages.

The name "Jibbali" is an Arabic-derived term (from جبال, jibāl, meaning "mountains"). The community's own name for the language is "Śḥerī" or "Shehri," meaning the language of the Shehri people — the mountain-dwelling Dhofaris. Jibbali is closely related to Mehri, Hobyót, and Bathari and shares the lateral fricative /ɬ/ as a diagnostic phoneme.

Jibbali and Shehri are two names for the same language ^[2]. "Jibbali" is the Arabic-derived outsider name (from jibāl, mountains) used in academic literature and by Arabic speakers. "Shehri" (Śḥerī) is the community's own name for the language — the endonym. Both names refer to the same Modern South Arabian language spoken in the Dhofar mountains and coast of Oman.

In linguistic and ethnographic contexts, "Shehri" or "Śḥerī" is increasingly preferred as the primary name, respecting the community's self-designation. The ISO 639-3 code shv applies to both names.

The lateral fricative /ɬ/ is the most distinctive phoneme of Jibbali and all Modern South Arabian languages ^[1]. It is produced by pushing air over the sides of the tongue while the tongue tip makes contact with the alveolar ridge — creating a fricative (turbulent sound) at the sides rather than centrally. A similar sound exists in Welsh, spelled "ll" (as in "Llangefni").

The lateral fricative is absent from Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and all other Semitic branches — the primary phonological marker distinguishing Modern South Arabian from the rest of Semitic.

Its presence in Jibbali, Mehri, Hobyót, Bathari, and Soqotri suggests these languages preserve an ancient Proto-South-Semitic sound that was lost in Arabic and other branches.

Jibbali is spoken in the Dhofar Governorate of southern Oman, particularly in the Dhofar mountains (Jebel Qara, Jebel Samhan) and the coastal areas around Salalah ^[2]. Dhofar is the southernmost region of Oman, bordered by Yemen to the west.

The region is home to all the major Modern South Arabian languages: Jibbali (the largest), Mehri, Hobyót, and Bathari. Some Jibbali speakers also live in Muscat and in diaspora communities in the UK and elsewhere.

The ISO 639-3 code for Jibbali (Shehri) is shv ^[1]. The language is documented in academic grammars produced by researchers at SOAS University of London, LINCOM Europa, and the ELDP (Endangered Languages Documentation Programme).

Revitalisation efforts in Dhofar, supported by organisations like Wikitongues, aim to promote intergenerational transmission of Jibbali alongside the dominant Arabic language.

Jibbali (Shehri) has an estimated 25,000–60,000 speakers, making it the most widely spoken Modern South Arabian language ^[1]. Most speakers live in the Dhofar Governorate of Oman — in the Dhofar mountains (Jebel Qara, Jebel Samhan) and around Salalah. Some also live in Muscat, the UAE, and diaspora communities in the UK.

Despite its larger population compared to Hobyót or Bathari, Jibbali is still classified as endangered due to the dominant influence of Arabic in education, media, and public life, and declining intergenerational transmission.

Jibbali has no officially standardised writing system and is primarily an oral language ^[2]. Academic documentation uses Latin transliteration. Some speakers informally use Arabic script, and organisations like Wikitongues support documentation efforts.

No comprehensive orthographic standard, primer, or grammar textbook has been officially adopted for Jibbali.

The language has been transmitted entirely through oral means — stories, poetry, song, and everyday speech — across all generations until modern academic documentation began.

Jibbali is a living South Semitic language related to but not descended from the ancient South Arabian inscriptional languages (Sabaic, Minaic, Qatabanic, Hadramitic) ^[2]. Jibbali and the ancient inscriptional languages are cousins — both branches of Proto-South-Semitic. The inscriptional languages are now extinct; Jibbali is the living Modern South Arabian branch.

The strongest link is the lateral fricative /ɬ/ — preserved in Jibbali and represented as ś in Old South Arabian inscriptions, but lost in Arabic and other Central Semitic languages. This suggests Modern South Arabian languages preserve archaic Proto-South-Semitic phonology that Arabic lost.