Greeting, Congratulating and Commiserating in Omani Arabic

Abstract

Three categories of politeness formulas are investigated in (northern) Omani Arabic under the headings of greeting and parting routines, congratulating, and condoling. Although there is considerable overlap with Classical and pan-Arabic usage, Omani Arabic exhibits its own linguistic routines and patterns in all of the above areas. These include special formulas for entering and leaving houses, characteristic greeting exchanges and expressions on the occasion of religious festivals and the arrival of rain. 'Home-grown', specifically Omani, terms are used by all lectal groups but more especially by the old, who are less open to pan-Arabic influences in this regard than the younger generation. Among the old, women tend to be more linguistically conservative than men, who at times appear to eschew overtly dialect forms. In contrast, young women may consciously differentiate their usage from that of older women and seem to be more open to pan-Arabic expressions than young men. In spite of external pressures towards linguistic change, Omani Arabic usage in this area remains relatively stable with the exchange-structures (if not the actual formulas) being maintained by all lectal groups except in the case of several marginal categories.