Oman loses an ancient voice

This week I am determined write an article on Oman, which rarely features in posts on this blog. (see Oman: no news is good news). I am pleased to say that yesterday I stumbled across an article in the Times of Oman which jumped out as material for a blog post on this little-talked-about sultanate.

Musandam is an isolated province in north-east Oman

The Omani village of Kumzar is located in the province of Musandam, just 50km away from Iran. A pretty fishing port, Kumzar boasts ancient heritage and beautiful beaches. The village also has its very own language which is sadly dying out.

In a "Question of survival for Oman’s rare language" the Times of Oman reports that Kumzari, a mixture of Indo-European languages and Arabic and the only non-Semitic language spoken on the Arabian peninsula in the past 1,400 years, is dying out due to the progressive modernisation of the isolated village, which now has satellite television and internet access. 

Whilst I admit that this little story is hardly major international news, the loss of an ancient language should not be dismissed as insignificant. Throughout history the spread of empires around the world has resulted in more remote spoken languages falling out of popular vernacular and into the archives. The spread of Islam is no exception, with Arabic becoming the dominant language throughout the Arab and swathes of the Muslim world.

Kumzar's fishing port

As a language enthusiast, I see the loss of a language as a great shame. However, as the village of Kumzar becomes more and more connected to the modernity of Muscat, I fear it is inevitable that those fluent in Kumzar will take the language to their graves without leaving its words as inheritance to future generations. It is therefore essential that Oman's historians keep a record of the language in their history books. It seems too important to forget.