A major classificatory division of the Arabic vernaculars spoken throughout much of the Arab world is that of the socially-based Sedentary (S) versus Bedouin (B) division. In studies of the Omani dialect area these terms are used to distinguish between the speech of the traditionally settled populace concentrated in and around the mountainous interior of the country (S type), and that of the nomadic and recently settled communities of the deserts (B type). However in some transitional regions the distinction between these dialects is blurred, as the spoken Arabic in these regions contains characteristics of both types.
The present contribution examines important structural features of the spoken Arabic of al-Darīz and places the findings within the broader Omani typological context. It is shown that although the dialect exhibits some characteristics of accommodation to the speech of nearby Bedouin communities with respect to certain phonological features, the dialect of al-Darīz retains most of the distinctly S-type features which characterize the traditionally settled communities in and around the mountain region to the north of the country. This is in striking contrast with the situation in the town of al-Mintirib, which is located to the south of al-Darīz. The speech of the sedentary population of al-Mintirib has acquired most of the features which characterize the speech of the surrounding B populace. The differences in the speech of the population in the two towns can be explained by the contrasting socio historical circumstances in which the dialects of each town has developed
