Luwati language

Luwati (Al-Lawatia, Arabic: اللواتية‎, romanized: al-lawātiyya; also known as Khoja, Khojki, Lawatiyya, Lawatiya, or Hyderabadi) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by 5,000 to 10,000 people known as the Lawatiya (also called the Khojas or Hyderabadis) in the country of Oman. In total it has been estimated there are 20,000 to 30,000 Lawatiya people.[3] Despite the various names, the Lawatiya refer to the language as Khojki.[4] It is considered an endangered language because a portion of the Lawatiya do not speak Luwati, and it is not continuously passed down to younger generations.[4]

Lawati
Lawatiyya
Region	Oman (walled quarter of Muttrah, facing the old harbour; Muscat and other cities)[1]
Native speakers	30,000 (2012)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Zone Sindhi Lawati
Writing system	None
Language codes
ISO 639-3	luv
Glottolog	luwa1238
ELP	Luwati[2]

Geographic distribution and status

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. Luwati also bares similarities with other languages such as Sindhi, Kachichi, Gujarati, Hindustani and Persian.[5] As with other languages located in Oman, Luwati is influenced by the Omani dialect of Arabic.

Originating from the Pakistani province of Sindh,[5] the Luwati language has had a presence in Oman for nearly four centuries.[6] 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.[6]

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.

Phonology

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.[7]

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i	ɪ		ʊ	u
Close-mid	e		ɘ		o
Mid			ə
Open-mid	ɛ
Open			a

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Plosive	p pʰ b		t̪ t̪ʰ d̪		ʈ ʈʰ ɖ		k kʰ ɡ	q
Affricate						t͡ʃ t͡ʃʰ d͡ʒ
Implosive	ɓ			ɗ		ʄ	ɠ
Nasal	m			n		ɲ	ŋ
Trill				r
Fricative		f		s z		ʃ	x ɣ		ħ ʕ	h
Approximant						j	w
Lateral approximant				l

Writing system

Luwati no longer has a writing system and is only a spoken language.[4]

References

1. Lawati at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Endangered Languages Project data for Luwati.
3. Valeri, M. "Identity Politics and Nation-Building under Sultan Qaboos". Sectarian Politics in the Persian Golf. 179.
4. Al Jahdhami, S. "Minority Languages in Oman". Journal of the Association for Anglo-American Studies. 4: 105–112.
5. Asani, A. "The Khojkī Script: A Legacy of Ismaili Islam in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 3: 439–449.
6. Valeri, M. "High Visibility, Low Profile: The Shiʿa in Oman under Sultan Qaboos". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 42: 251–268.
7. Salman, Amel; Kharusi, Nafla S. (2012). "The Sound System of Lawatiyya". Journal of Academic and Applied Studies. 2 (5): 36-44.