Over my decades of studying Arabic, living in the Arab world and playing Arab music, I've long been fascinated by the custom that some Arabs have in addressing people with whom they have a particular relationship. A teacher will call his student 'professor,' and a mother will call her son 'Mama.'
Below is a link to a great blog post by "Ginger Beirut" about this practice in Lebanon. While this article focuses the parental version of this practice, I've heard it elsewhere. For instance, a very distinguished musician friend of mine jokingly calls his music student "Maestro." So does the student then refer to his revered teacher as Father of missed notes - Abu Nashaz? Or is this practice just a one way street; is it to be used only by social superiors toward their inferiors?
Who's the daddy here? - great blog post on this practice from Ginger Beirut.
If anyone has insight into this practice, please comment!
I don't have an explanation for you, but I can report with confidence that Persians do the same thing, so the practice is not confined to one language family.
ReplyDeleteDharlene, that's amazing I had no idea Persians did that too!
ReplyDeleteAbu Nashaz - Hahah I love this
ReplyDeleteReading through your previous comments at http://www.gingerbeirut.com/whos-the-daddy-here I figured one would simply provide an answer for your query among those readers, but that didn't prove to be simple at all. It's interesting, nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteWell, as an Arab myself, the nicknaming of those who are around you and/or of any relation to you (be that by blood, place, race, profession etc.) is a kind of a claymore: it's used both ways as an endearment term and a putdown throughout the Mid-Rim region; Turkey, and modern so-called 'State of' Israel. Persians do not have it, though as Dharlene stated above: they have similar 'cutism' for small babies and young'uns alike.
I shall begin thus by calling it an 'adultification' of those of a young age— which is quite missing the point. Also, when one places too much stress on too thin a point like having a nickname to call someone/anyone with, they will get nada at the end of the day. This has nothing to do with age/blood-relation for a start.
The terms vary from the provocative, insult-like putdowns to double-entendre sheer mockery. Ammo, for example (Arabic: عمو also spelled in Arabizi/Arablish as 3mmo), can mean many things. It's the Arabic word for 'uncle' forthrightly, and mainly one who comes from the father's side. Arabic culture is steeply imbibed in revering the male figure (i.e. the head of the family; the provider, courageous one, fighter, you name it), and when one takes a look at this terminology in the Levant area of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt they'd find it to have so many alterations of the same, simple one word.
Weird as it may sound, Arabs do not take notice of this lingual chasm at all during their daily speeches. Ammi (possessive use) and Ammo (non-possessive) are still —to them at least—two worlds apart.
C'td.
The early beginnings of the use of this "dichotophonology" can be traced to 8th-Century Iraq. Ammi (عمي) was used by an apprentice kid who's learning a vocation at the hands one one respected 'Maâlem' (معلم). The kid was sent by his father to learn a profession in the trust that that master would treat his kid as one of his/or his brother's. There's where the term 'uncle' came from.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say that these kids were abused as homosexuality saw a stagnant height at the time of the Abbasid Khaliphatdom especially in Iraq and that term became almost extinct/archaic until it was re-exhumed by the populace as a token for those early days/
On from that early start of the use of the word 'amm' (no 'i') it witnessed so many slanguage changes to mean almost anything it's being put to use for. To wit, I will give you some few examples:
-Iesh ya ammi! (What's this/that, uncle!) - This can refer to anything new being depreciated in the word 'ammi' which can mean that the one spoken to has new-found riches, new clothes, is getting a new car... such claims the speaker that they are now better, or far more mock-worthy than they were before getting these. Rich people are the butt of all jokes throughout the Arab world.
-Hala ammi! (Hello, uncle!) - Mocular use popular around Jordan and is very sarcastic to use for anyone (be they male or female; when the word ammi is male-use only). It came from some popular cartoon, drawn by a Palestinian caricaturist called Imad Hajjaj.
-Ya ammi! - (O'Uncle!) - Usually followed by a sigh as an exasperative of having nothing to do in regards to a particular situation. In Egypt, for example, they shorten it as just 'ya amm!' and it means 'let go of it! take it off your heart! forget it!' etc.
Oddly enough, the first example can also mean the same as that of the last one ('iesh ya ammi!'). Some people look down at this as a form of enviousness and the phrase is fastly followed by a funny retort of 'amma i-debabb' (blinded you may be, like a blind bear!') to thwart it off as a possible jinx threat. Weird but true.
C'td.
Other examples:
ReplyDeleteBaba/papa/babi/abouyah/aboy/boyah: Father. It's used in almost every Arab-speaking country (Saudi Arabia included). This is an offensive use, except when a child is called by his father. Arabs do so because it's their way of always wanting to make their children remember who's in charge, or sometimes it means a term of very intimate endearment.
Mama/mami/mamma/yamma/ommi: Mother.
Again, used by everyone who's anybody. But, even male youths use this female term to slang-bang each other with forcing the possibility of a mother curse (koss ommak) but without saying it.
Achoya/a5oy/yachoy/yachi/chawei: Brother.
Not offensive in most usages, but sometimes when a fight is in the offing, it is used to end it by addressing the one spoken to as a 'brother' to usually shut him up. The main use is—of course—of that of the English word 'bro'/'bradah' etc. Heavy slang is here.
Ochti/o5ty/yachti/chaweiti: Sister.
Singular and is also used in the plural sense. This is where most of the fun is. The Levantine people use this as one of the most deprecating terms of addressing among male youths. To call someone your sister can be very popular in Egyptian circles as well, and it does not have any offensive back-lash to it whatsoever.
Meanwhile, to refer to one male with 'your sister' (ochtak) can be erm catastrophic, let alone the other more devastating one (immak/ommak: your mother), to boot. As one saying here goes 'necks... would start to fly' upon the utterance of such slurs.
Sidi/sidna (male, plural: our)/ siti/sitna (female, plural): Master (M.o.F.).
Used mainly as a calling nickname regardless of the callee's financial status or social background. This has olden roots from the Ottoman Empire days when high-rank officers used to be called each by his/her rank.
Variations are: basha/bashawat (male, plural) biekbasha/bieh/biek/bakawat (male, plural), hanim/chanom/hawanim (female, plural).
Rafiq: Comrade.
Was popular at the height of the communist days of the United Arab Republic (the union of Syria and Egypt into one communist state). Now used mainly in Syria, Lebanon, and some parts of Palestine.
Variations are: rafiqi (possessive noun), rafiqna (plural possessive).
C'td.
Habibi/habib/habbab/haboub/habibna/habib il kil/habib albi (ibn khalou la albi)/habibo (habibo la bibo)/habibit albi (fem. use)/habibti (fem. use mocular)/habibit albi etc.: Dear/Lover/Love/Bruv/Brover etc.
ReplyDeleteMy love let's put it at that... is what everyone calls everybody with in the MENA region. Habayib/habayibna is the collective plural use of this term and some extend it to include the Arabic word for 'my heart' (albi/kalbi/galbi/jalbi) with it. This is both +/- term used as a denouncement and/or endearment of the spoken to. Same-sounding terminologies can also be found in India, Pakistan, and Iran.
Rasi/taj rasi: The Crown of My Head.
Rare, but is used in the Levant area quite often between gangsters and underground criminals. The original full term is '3ala rasi' which can be also (insert an elongated sigh here) be used as +/-. I just heard one guy greet someone here with it. It's used as a generic term of greeting.
Variations are so many, and here wordplay comes so thick you can cut it with a knife: rasou la rasi (Head of my head)/ ala ras aboy (on top of my father's head)/ya rasi (My head)/ala ras rasi (on top of the head of my head)/ala rasi karasi (rhyming slang of chairs -karasi- which is often used in the Levant), etc.
Eouini/3uoini/Eini/3ini: My Eyes.
Iraqi in origin, but it swept the region after the advent of television in the Arab region in the late 50's-early 60's. British people have 'burrowed' this slang term and use it nowadays as 'the pupil of my eye', etc.
Variations: bobou eini (pupil of my eye/s)/eioun eniayah (Egyptian; means the eyes of my eye and is mainly—but generically otherwise— used everywhere else, thanks to popular gyppywood films)/Ein abouy/abouk/ommi/ommak (eye of my/your father/mother: same use as baba/mama popular in the Gulf region and Iraq).
Maâlem/maâlemi (possessive use)/ya maâlem/maâlemna (plural)/maâlem il kil/kol: Master.
Same as mentioned above the same as Sidi is used. Lebanese people use this as well as Syrians and Jordanians all too often... it's basically what you call every grownup male with. Example? "Iesh ya maâlem! Tali3? Trans: Hey sir, are you free? Addressed to, say an über-mustachioed, smelly taxi-driver asking his highness to drive you somewhere.
Variations of this are too many to care to count. Some use very high-faluting and resounding titles of government employees to add to the sarcasm of it all. Here, I shall mention a handful of these popular around my own country; Jordan: Siyadtak (Your Excellency), Niyaftak (Your Eminence), 3otouftak (Your Highness), Dawltak (Your President-ness?) etc.
Doktor/Daktarah/Dakatrah (plural, male use): Doctor.
Professions now? Hell yeah! Muhandis/Handasah (Engineer: called mostly by Egyptians as a term of acknowledging the addressee regardless of their educational background/academic achievements), Mudir/modeer (Principal/General Manager: this is used by both the underground and the above-ground world as an addressing term. But, for criminals it means a revering term for those with a criminal brain), Shiek/shieki (possessive)/shieknah (possessive, plural) (A mosque-leader or shiek imam. However one sees this terminology used nowadays with terrorists being heralded by the media as the bane of the world, Arab Muslims still use it to call their loved ones, and those who usually sport a beard even when they aren't necessarily religious people), K'bir/kabeer/abu-kabeer (respectful term of male addressing) etc.
C'td.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAddendum:
ReplyDeleteThere is also this one 'Abu El-Shabab' which is used by everyone throughout the Levant. Shabab means 'young ones/youth' and it's a way to call a young male even if sometimes used to also call a tomboyish female.
H.H.
Oops, seems that one of the comments that I did write here got the Censoring Banner. It was just a comment about nothing but language and it happened that Arabs do use a lot of slang as well. Good thing I didn't go farer than that.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, 'tis gewd to have interacted with yew here.
H.H.
Ya Sidi,
ReplyDeleteYes I just removed the one....perhaps I should have asked you to edit it instead of hitting the delete button. It was just one small section that was making me uncomfortable. Thank you for your comments, your prose style is great and you have great insight about the 'dad-speakers'. You are welcome here...next time I'll ask for a rewrite instead.
Haha. Ohkay, you got that 'siti.
ReplyDeleteYou know how Arabs reply to "Ya sidi"? One should say in a heartbeat... "Sidi we sidak (houwa) Allah!" meaningly, your master and mine is God/Allah.
To be honest, I was a bit diffident in trying to splurge again any comments and thoughts after the sluice was shut-dry on that comment. It isn't that I want to be lewd or write in a vagrant manner: not at all — I just wanted the readers to get a closeup look at how Arabs interact with each other on a daily basis. Be that, the good, bad, or inbetween.
Thanks for your compliments.
H.H.
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