Shihhi Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة الشحية, romanized: Al-Lahjah Al-Shihhiyya, also known as Shehhi, Khasabi, Musandam Arabic, or Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic) is a variety of Arabic primarily spoken in the Musandam Governorate of Oman and Ras al Khaimah emirate of UAE.[1] It has been suggested that Shihhi Arabic has two main dialect groups, known as "inland" and "coastal".[2] The Al Shehhi, Al Hebsi, Al Dhuhoori and Al Shemaili tribes speak it.
/ħ/ may be heard as a voiced glottal [ɦ] when before voiced consonants.
The retroflex /ɻ/ may have four different allophones; as a flap [ɽ] when in intervocalic positions, as an alveolar [ɹ] when before front vowels, or as an alveolar tap or trill [ɾ, r] when in word-medial position following a consonant.[3]
In some dialects *ġ has been replaced by a pharyngealized glottal stop [ʔˤ].<ref>Shockley, Mark. Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic in Context: A Proposal for an Expanded Typology of Southeastern Arabian Dialects. Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 69, Issue 1, Spring 2024, Pages 657, https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgad026
