Three Arabic Fishing Songs from the Musandam Peninsula

The coasts of the Arabian Peninsula are home to fishing communities with rich and diverse oral traditions. While various other types of texts have been recorded, fishing songs in this region have received little attention. The present study seeks to fill this gap through documentation of three Arabic fishing songs from the Musandam Peninsula of eastern Arabia, at the meeting point between the main body of the Gulf and the Batinah coast of northern Oman. The chapter opens with a description of the Musandam Peninsula and the languages spoken there. It reviews oral traditions of the Gulf and reflects on their enduring importance, with a focus on fishing songs. After introducing the research context and the consultant, the body of the study presents and analyses three songs: Ayāllā ‘O God’, Xəbbāṭ ‘little kingfish’, and Lā ramētə ‘I will not give it up’. The study concludes with reflections on the purpose, musical and literary structure, and dialectal patterning of the Arabic in these songs within the wider regional context.