Well today was an interesting day.
After going to the doctor for a check-up and doing a little Arabic work etc., etc. I decided that I need to get a run in before dinner :).
I then proceeded to run down to the gym, again a distance of about two miles, made it down to the gym, and then hopped onto the treadmill for a mile run, followed by a bit of ab work. I would have run farther, but I decided to cut it short after 1 mile to make it home on time for dinner.
After finishing on abs (around 100 crunchs and 60 cycles), I bolted from the gym and headed home at a good clip. I made it there in under 20 minutes, not a bad time for me, but when I was turning to corner to my home street, I discovered that the wallet and keyring which I had taken with me (for no apparent reason), were longer present on my person. After calling up the gym and visiting there, I concluded that they were not there and proceeded to re-trace my steps over all 2.whatever miles of sidewalk and grass that I had run. Neither of them were anywhere to be found. I can only conclude that that either (a) I dropped them at some indeterminate point on the sidewalk and they were stolen or (b) I dropped them on a particular small, wooden bridge where they must have fallen into deep, murky water, never to be seen again. Sigh. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I have come to terms with these facts and decided to press on doing everything I have been doing anyway. After all, what would life's triumph's be without it's disappointments and frustrations? So long as I learn from the experience I suppose it was all for the better, and in the end one cannot escape the fact that I came out of it all with another very good cardio work out under my belt :).
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Work-Out Log: 3 May 2010
Well after a busy day of job hunting, lackadaisical Arabic study, and napping, I decided at about 9:15 PM that it was time to work out (despite the fact that the gym I frequent closes at 11:00 PM), so I hoped out of my computer chair with all the gusto of my inner ninja, knocked back the last of my whey protein, and headed onto the gym. I was dropped of by my father, so that I would have the chance to run home and thus get in my cardio. All told I started really working out around 9:50. Today was biceps, shoulders, and forearms day for me but this formula required a little emendation on my part. I burned through my first two sets of biceps very well. I did 50 lbs on seated bicep curls 4 times without assistance, a new personal best, and also managed to do 125 lbs on seated, assisted preacher curls four times, also a new best. I did very well on the assisted behind the head press (I would have used the bar had I known where it was, lol), and finished strong on wide-grip bicep curls and shoulder shrugs. At this point I noticed that the time was past 10:30, so I decided to skip forearm curls and French presses and save forearms for tomorrow. I beat a hasty retreat to the treadmills where, however, I barely had time to warm-up before the clock struck eleven (due to a knee injury about five months back I have to warm up very carefully when I run). I managed to weigh myself before this happened, and found out that (according to the Lifestyle Family Fitness approved scale, anyway) I come in at just over 211 lbs. Contradictory though these goals are, I want to get down to below 200 lbs on my body weight, while at the same time increasing my max bench press to 315 and also increasing my bicep curls and leg press, before I fly out to Washington on June 10 (and then to Oman June 12). I started the run back to my place from the gym, a span of a little over two miles, at around 11:05, and I got back at about 11:23. Not bad, considering I do terrible running outside (I'm a treadmill kind of guy) and I stopped briefly at a convenience store to buy some gum at the 1 mile mark (turns out they were closed lol). The run was easy, much easier than yesterday (probably because I did it at 3:30 in the afternoon yesterday) and the night was so calm, so peaceful. Unfortunately I was fixated on getting home ASAP, but had I had the time I would have really enjoyed the quite of the night. There's nothing like a good, hard run to clear a cluttered mind.......
Al Mo3ajam: The Arabic Urban Dictionary
As the readers (chirp chirp) of this blog may or may not know, Arabic today is distinguished by a marked diglossia-- a word made of Greek roots, meaning literally "two tongues." And if we keep in mind that in ancient times (and still in the speech of some people today) "tongue" could mean language, then the meaning of "diglossia" is apparent: it describes a language that in fact consists of two different languages, usually a higher variety used for writing, news broadcasting, sermonizing, oratory, etc. and a lower variety which is used for all other matters or affairs. Arabic is a prime example of this phenomenon, as the written language, when spoken quickly, would be unintelligible to one who knew only a dialect, and vice versa. Complicating the matter is the fact that they are many more dialects of Arabic than there are Arabic countries, and due to the vagaries of international contact and the ways they have evolved many of these dialects are unintelligible to one another.
About a year ago a Saudi computer student decided that this was a ridiculous situation, and attempted to do something about it. He created a website called المعجم -- Al Mo3jam or "the lexicon." It is more or less an Arabic version of the website "Urban Dictionary", where Arabs (or anyone who speaks some Arabic) can go to create new definitions for words or phrases particular to their dialect which might cause problems to a speaker of High Arabic attempting to speak or understand that dialect. This site is mostly in Arabic but also features entries in French and English.
The section of Omani Arabic currently hosts 9 entries, though in fact I intend to personally expand this section significantly. For now let me translate the nine articles currently found under the Omani Arabic section:
http://ar.mo3jam.com/dialect/Omani
سَبلَه
sablah
سَبله كلمة عمانية محلية وتعني " المظلة الكبيرة " والتي غالبا ما تكون مصنوعة من سعف النخيل أو الأسبلتو. وقد يرجع أصل الكلمة إلى " السَبل" وهو إنزال جفن العين لتغطية العين. وقديماً، كان لكل ولاية عمانية مجلس عام يُسمى بال " السبلة العمانية " وهو المجلس
اللذي تتناقش فيه قضايا المجتمع المحلي وتغطى جميع الإشكاليات بين الأفراد
خلا نروح نجلس تحت السبلة
الشمس حامية، قوموا نروح تحت السبلة
وابوي مطر، ركضوا تحت السبلة
Translation: "Sablah" is a local Omani word and means "a big gazebo" and which, predominantly, is what is produced from the fronds of the palm tree or the Aspoloto (?). The origin of this word goes back to "Al sabl" and this is the lowering of the eyelid to the covering of the eye. And in olden times, every Omani province had aa general Majlis (council) which was called "The Omani Sabla." And this was the Majlis which discussed/debated local social conflicts and covered all of the problems between individuals.
Examples:
Let's go and sit under the Sablah.
The sun is hot, get up and let's go under the Sablah
Because of the rain (I am translating "Abuuwi" as "because of" because this makes sense here, but as far as I know this is the Palestinian way of saying "my father"), they ran under the Sablah.
خاشوقه
khashojah (probably khashoqah in Oamn--CJ)
خاشوقه أو خاشوجه كلمة ذات أصل تركي بمعني شوكة.
و الشوكة هي اداة تستخدم لتناول الطعام.
تستخدم الكلمة بالعراق و المناطق الساحلية بدول مجلس التعاون.
يا ولد جيب الخاشوقه
ابا خاشقه اكلبها الماكرونه
Translation:
Khashuqa or khashuga is a word whose orgins are Turkish, and which means "fork." (And) the "fork" is a utensil which you use to eat food (lol?).
The word is used in Iraq and the coastal regions in the area of the common sitting room (Majlis).
Examples:
Hey boy, bring the khashuqa(fork!)
aba khashuqa aklabha al makaruni--Not really sure what to make of this one.
مقمشة
moqamshah
المقمشة هى الكلمة المرادة ل " ملعقة " في سلطنة عمان. ونطقة المقمشة نفسه يختلف من منطقة إلى آخرى في السلطنة. ففي الشمال تنطق " مقمشة " و في الساحل الجنوبي تنطق " قفشة
".
عطيني المقمشة
قربي مقمشة
كِل المهلبية بمقمشة
Translation
The moqamshah is the commonly expressed word for "spoon" in the Sultanate of Oman. And the pronounciation of "moqamshah" itself differs from one region to another in the Sultanate. In the North, it is pronounced "moqamshah" and the the southern coast it is said as "qafsha."
Examples
Give me the moqamshah (spoon).
Bring me (closer) the mogamshah (spoon).
All of the pudding is in the moqamshah (spoon).
كشمه
kashma
كلمة ذات أصل هندي و تعني نظاره.
و الكلمة لا تزال تستخدم من قبل الافراد الذين ولدو قبل ١٩٧١ ميلاديه
وين كشمتي . ما اقدر اقرا الكتاب
Translation: An English translation is given with this article.
Kashma is a word of Indian origins that means glasses. This word is mainly used by people who were born before 1970.
Example
I can not read the book, were is my kashma
القاشع
Qasha3
القاشع هو سمك السردين المجفف. وتستخدم الكلمة بكثرة في المناطق الساحلية من السلطنة نظرا لكثرة إستخدام سمك السردين.
الغداء اليوم قاشع
ريحة القاشع واصلة أخر البلاد
Translation:
The "qaasha3" is dried sardine fish. And the word is used alot in the coastal areas of the Sultanate, given the frequent use of sardine fish (there).
Examples:
Lunch today is "qaasha3" (dried sardines).
The smell of qaasha3 (dried sardine) reaches the end of the country.
طس
ts (Tass--CJ)
بمعنى " اذهب " غير انها تستخدم عند الضجر !
طس باللي مايحفظك
Translation:
"Tass" means "Go!" (and) is not used except in anger!
Example:
Go (away) from that which does not preserve (benefit) you.
hehehe if you click on this one you get a message in Arabic telling you that it's not appropriate for young children and in order to preserve a "family friendly" atmosphere at al mo3ajam you will have to be registered to see it. You've been warned!
سنبول
sanbool
هذه الكلمة تعني فتحتة الشرج, او القضيب
اغسل سنبولك بعد التبول
Translation:
This word means the opening of the anus, or of the penis.
Example:
Clean your "sanbuul" after urinating.
I LOLed! haha
About a year ago a Saudi computer student decided that this was a ridiculous situation, and attempted to do something about it. He created a website called المعجم -- Al Mo3jam or "the lexicon." It is more or less an Arabic version of the website "Urban Dictionary", where Arabs (or anyone who speaks some Arabic) can go to create new definitions for words or phrases particular to their dialect which might cause problems to a speaker of High Arabic attempting to speak or understand that dialect. This site is mostly in Arabic but also features entries in French and English.
The section of Omani Arabic currently hosts 9 entries, though in fact I intend to personally expand this section significantly. For now let me translate the nine articles currently found under the Omani Arabic section:
http://ar.mo3jam.com/dialect/Omani
سَبلَه
sablah
سَبله كلمة عمانية محلية وتعني " المظلة الكبيرة " والتي غالبا ما تكون مصنوعة من سعف النخيل أو الأسبلتو. وقد يرجع أصل الكلمة إلى " السَبل" وهو إنزال جفن العين لتغطية العين. وقديماً، كان لكل ولاية عمانية مجلس عام يُسمى بال " السبلة العمانية " وهو المجلس
اللذي تتناقش فيه قضايا المجتمع المحلي وتغطى جميع الإشكاليات بين الأفراد
خلا نروح نجلس تحت السبلة
الشمس حامية، قوموا نروح تحت السبلة
وابوي مطر، ركضوا تحت السبلة
Translation: "Sablah" is a local Omani word and means "a big gazebo" and which, predominantly, is what is produced from the fronds of the palm tree or the Aspoloto (?). The origin of this word goes back to "Al sabl" and this is the lowering of the eyelid to the covering of the eye. And in olden times, every Omani province had aa general Majlis (council) which was called "The Omani Sabla." And this was the Majlis which discussed/debated local social conflicts and covered all of the problems between individuals.
Examples:
Let's go and sit under the Sablah.
The sun is hot, get up and let's go under the Sablah
Because of the rain (I am translating "Abuuwi" as "because of" because this makes sense here, but as far as I know this is the Palestinian way of saying "my father"), they ran under the Sablah.
خاشوقه
khashojah (probably khashoqah in Oamn--CJ)
خاشوقه أو خاشوجه كلمة ذات أصل تركي بمعني شوكة.
و الشوكة هي اداة تستخدم لتناول الطعام.
تستخدم الكلمة بالعراق و المناطق الساحلية بدول مجلس التعاون.
يا ولد جيب الخاشوقه
ابا خاشقه اكلبها الماكرونه
Translation:
Khashuqa or khashuga is a word whose orgins are Turkish, and which means "fork." (And) the "fork" is a utensil which you use to eat food (lol?).
The word is used in Iraq and the coastal regions in the area of the common sitting room (Majlis).
Examples:
Hey boy, bring the khashuqa(fork!)
aba khashuqa aklabha al makaruni--Not really sure what to make of this one.
مقمشة
moqamshah
المقمشة هى الكلمة المرادة ل " ملعقة " في سلطنة عمان. ونطقة المقمشة نفسه يختلف من منطقة إلى آخرى في السلطنة. ففي الشمال تنطق " مقمشة " و في الساحل الجنوبي تنطق " قفشة
".
عطيني المقمشة
قربي مقمشة
كِل المهلبية بمقمشة
Translation
The moqamshah is the commonly expressed word for "spoon" in the Sultanate of Oman. And the pronounciation of "moqamshah" itself differs from one region to another in the Sultanate. In the North, it is pronounced "moqamshah" and the the southern coast it is said as "qafsha."
Examples
Give me the moqamshah (spoon).
Bring me (closer) the mogamshah (spoon).
All of the pudding is in the moqamshah (spoon).
كشمه
kashma
كلمة ذات أصل هندي و تعني نظاره.
و الكلمة لا تزال تستخدم من قبل الافراد الذين ولدو قبل ١٩٧١ ميلاديه
وين كشمتي . ما اقدر اقرا الكتاب
Translation: An English translation is given with this article.
Kashma is a word of Indian origins that means glasses. This word is mainly used by people who were born before 1970.
Example
I can not read the book, were is my kashma
القاشع
Qasha3
القاشع هو سمك السردين المجفف. وتستخدم الكلمة بكثرة في المناطق الساحلية من السلطنة نظرا لكثرة إستخدام سمك السردين.
الغداء اليوم قاشع
ريحة القاشع واصلة أخر البلاد
Translation:
The "qaasha3" is dried sardine fish. And the word is used alot in the coastal areas of the Sultanate, given the frequent use of sardine fish (there).
Examples:
Lunch today is "qaasha3" (dried sardines).
The smell of qaasha3 (dried sardine) reaches the end of the country.
طس
ts (Tass--CJ)
بمعنى " اذهب " غير انها تستخدم عند الضجر !
طس باللي مايحفظك
Translation:
"Tass" means "Go!" (and) is not used except in anger!
Example:
Go (away) from that which does not preserve (benefit) you.
hehehe if you click on this one you get a message in Arabic telling you that it's not appropriate for young children and in order to preserve a "family friendly" atmosphere at al mo3ajam you will have to be registered to see it. You've been warned!
سنبول
sanbool
هذه الكلمة تعني فتحتة الشرج, او القضيب
اغسل سنبولك بعد التبول
Translation:
This word means the opening of the anus, or of the penis.
Example:
Clean your "sanbuul" after urinating.
I LOLed! haha
Translation of an Arabic Wikipedia Article: Omani Arabic
Well Wikipedia may not always be the best source of info but I always find it a good source of new vocabulary (since you can just go onto any given article which has an Arabic double to find out what the words mean. Occasionally I find my vocabulary, etc. up to scratch to read the entire thing. This recently happened in an article of some interest to me, the Arabic article on the Omani dialect of Arabic. Since learning as much about Omani Arabic as possible is a big priority for me, I was very excited to see that the article seemed to have a good deal of material, not found at all in the two-line English article.
After actually translating the article, I was somewhat disappointed with the amount of actual information to be gained from it. Never the less, it proved a good exercise in my Arabic reading ability and I did learn a bit about the geographical distribution of the dialects in Oman.
So without further ado, here is the article in Arabic and my rather literal translation.
اللهجة العمانية
خارجة عن اللهجة الخليجية واللهجات العربية الأخرى وكلماتها متغيرة كليا ومعانيها مختلفة وهي لهجة عريقة توارثها الاجيال حتى وقتنا الحاضر، كما أن اللهجة العمانية تختلف من منطقة إلى أخرى وأحيانا من ولاية إلى أخرى.. فاللهجة بالمنطقة الشرقية تختلف عن الباطنة
وتختلف عن مسندم ووتختلف عن الداخلية وتختلف عن لهجة اهل ظفار.
تعتبر لهجة اهل مسقط - المسقطية - هي اللهجة المفهومة عند الكل ،لأن أغلب البرامج
والمسلاسلات التلفزيونية تعرض بهذه اللهجة...كما أنه اهل مسندم لكونهم بقرب من الفرس فإنهم قد تأثروا بهم فهناك بعض الكلمات الفارسية يستخدمونها في حديثهم باللغه العربية لذلك تكون غير مفهومة لمن لا يفهم الفارسية..ولهجة أهل ظفار قريبة من لهجات اليمن.. كما أن لهجة الشرقية ومحافظة البريمي تكون مفهومة عند اهل الإمارات...
واللهجات العمانية، غنية بكثير من التنوع في الظواهر الصوتية، ولكون اللهجات العامية بشكل عام، ما هي إلا تطور عن اللغة العربية الفصيحة، فكثيرا ما نجد للظواهر الصوتية في اللهجات العامية أصولا عربية فصيحة، مثال ذلك، قلب ضمير المخاطبة إلى شين، مثال:قلت لش، أي قلت لك، حيث تذكر المصادر أن هذه الظاهرة كانت موجودة عند بعض القبائل العربية.
ومن الظواهر الصوتية الشائعة أيضا تسهيل الهمزة، والتسهيل قد يكون بحذف الهمزة أو بقلبها إلى صوت آخر، مثلا كلمة :رأيت، تنطق في اللهجة العمانية، ريت، حيث تقلب الهمزة
إلى صوت ممال بين الألف والياء.
من الظواهر الصوتية أيضا، ما يسمى بالجيم القاهرية، وتشيع هذه الظاهر في ولايات المنطقة الداخلية من عمان، كولاية نزوى وبهلا وإزكي وغيرها.
وهناك أيضا قلب الجيم ياء، وهذه الظاهرة تشيع عادة في كلام البدو، وتوجد أحيانا هذه الظاهرة عند غير البدو، وقد لاحظت هذه الصفة عند بعض أهالي ولاية إبرا.
ومن الظواهر الصوتية أيضا قلب القاف إلى الجيم القاهرية، وهذه الظاهرة أيضا تشيع في كلام البدو عادة.
ومن الظواهر الصوتية قلب القاف إلى كاف، وتوجد هذه الظاهر في ولاية بهلا.
هذا وتوجد بعض الدراسات التي تناولت مجال اللهجات العمانية، على سبيل المثال، رسالة ماجستير في لهجة ولاية الحمراء، كما توجد دراسة حول لهجة ولاية صحار، وتوجد دراسة حول لهجة قريات، وتحتلف الدراسات المذكورة من حيث الجوانب التي تناولتها بالتحديد من اللهجة.وهذه الدراسات يمكن التوصل إليها من خلال مكتبة جامعة السلطان قابوس.
وتحت هناك فقرة صغيرة مبينة ان ليس عندها اي علاقة مع بقية المقالة فوقها
لاتختلف اللهجة العمانية عن أخواتها لهجات شبه الجزيرة العربية..فكل تركيبة أو أسلوب فيها له نظير في اللهجات الأخرى العربية.... وهناك مجموعة من اللهجات ربما تكون المجموعةالعمانية إذ يفهم العمانيو بعضهم البعض رغم اختلاف لهجاتهم.
وتقترب بعضها إلى الفصحى وهي لهجات غنية بالقاموس اللغوي. وهناك من ألف فيها أمثال الشيخ سعيد الحارثي ومحمود بن حميد
الجامعي....
And the translation (again, very literal):
The Omani Dialect
The Omani dialect differs from the (Arabian) Gulf dialect (of Arabic) and the other Arabic dialects and its words change entirely and their meanings differ. (And) It is a dialect, deep-rooted of heritage for generations until our present time. Just as the Omani dialect differs from one region to another and sometimes from one province to another…the dialect in the eastern region (name of a province in Oman) differs from the interior, and the dialect of Masandam differs from the Dakhalyi (dialect), which differs from the dialect of the people of Dofar.
The dialect of the people of Muscat—Muscati—is the understood dialect to all, because the most predominate of TV serial programs are presented in the dialect….for the people of Musandam, due to their geographical proximity to Persia, may be influenced (by Persia), for there are Persian words which they use in their speech in the Arabic language. Thus (their Arabic) is not understandable to someone who does not understand Persian. And the dialect of the people of Dofar is close to the dialect of Yemen, just as the dialect of the East (a province) and the province of Barimy is understood by the people of the (United Arab) Emirates.
The Omani dialects are very rich in the diversity of their phonological phenomena, and in general, the Omani dialects are nothing except an evolution of the eloquent Arabic language (id est al fuS7a—High Arabic). Frequently what we find in the Omani dialects for phonological phenomena are rooted in High Arabic, for example, the transformation of the attached pronoun to “shin”, for example “qult lish” i.e. “qultu laki” (I said to you(feminine), where it is remembered that the source (sources) (of this change) are that this phenomenon was found amongst some of the Arabic (Bedouin) tribes.
And also from among the common phonological phenomena are the easing (lightening?) of the “hamza” (the letter representing the glottal stop in Arabic, as the dash in the English “uh-oh”, which may be found in any and all positions in Classical Arabic words) and this easing may exist in the elision of the Hamza or its change to another sound, for example a word: “ra2aytu” (“I saw”, the 2=hamza), which is said in the Omani dialect (and one should add, almost all Arabic dialects—CJ) “rayt”, where the Hamza changes to a middling sound between the Alif (long “a” sound) and the “Yaa2” (long “I” sound, as in Spanish).
And from the phonological phenomena also, is what is called the “Cairene ‘Jiim’” (the letter “Jiim” is usually pronounced as a sound somewhat similar to the English “j” in most Arabic dialects, but in the dialect of Cairo this is famously pronounced as the letter “g” in the word “graft”--CJ), and this phenomenon often occurs in the provinces of the area of the Daachliy in Oman, such as the state of Nizwa, and Bahala, and Izki, and others besides these. And there is also the change of the “Jeem” (to) “Yaa2”, and this phenomenon usually appears in the speech of the Bedouin, and this phenomenon is sometimes found amongst non-Bedouin people, and sometimes this characteristic is observed of some of the peoples of the state of Ibra.
And also from among the phonological phenomena is the change of the “Qaaf” (a letter representing a deep, uvular plosive “k” not found in any Western languages--CJ) to the “Cairene Jiim”, and this phenomenon also often appears in the speech of the Bedouin. And (also) from among the phonological phenomena is the change of the “Qaaf” to the “Kaaf” (=K), and this phenomenon is found in the state of Bahala.
(“This”—I just cannot figure out what the purpose of this word is) And there are some studies which have been presented (in) the domain of the Omani dialects, for instance, a masters thesis on the dialect of the province of Hamra, just as there is a study about the dialect of the state of Sahar, and there is also to be found a study on the dialect of Kireat, and the before mentioned studies differ (I believe there is a typo in this word—should read “ta5tallif” not “ta7tallif”--CJ) in regards to the sides (views) which they present about the demarcation of the dialect. And these studies may be obtained through the office of Sultan Qaboos University.
And underneath is this little paragraph which appears to have a nebulous relation, at best, to the rest of the article………
The Omani dialect does not differ from her sisters the (other) dialects of the Arabian Peninsula, for every expression or phrase in it is observed in the other (Arabic) dialects. And there is a group of dialects which may be the Omani group since the Omanis understand one another despite the differences of their dialects. And they are (all) close to High Arabic and they are dialects rich in the linguistic dictionary. And there are thousands of examples of it of the Shaykh Sa’iid Al-Harathi and Mahmoud bin Hamiid Al Jama’i.
Comments:
This article frustrated me at several points. The usage of "fa" to connect seemingly unrelated ideas seemed to defy translation to some extent, and my awkward usage of "for" (perhaps because of the alliteration with "fa"? I honestly don't know....) is evidence of this. Also the I found the information presented to be somewhat frustrating. It offered some general comments on the phonology of Omani Arabic, but absolutely nothing I hadn't heard before, except for the interesting bits about the geographical distribution of the different pronunciations. All in all not what I was expecting but I am glad that I did it. Also getting those studies from the Sultan Qaboos uni is now officially on my to do list.....
After actually translating the article, I was somewhat disappointed with the amount of actual information to be gained from it. Never the less, it proved a good exercise in my Arabic reading ability and I did learn a bit about the geographical distribution of the dialects in Oman.
So without further ado, here is the article in Arabic and my rather literal translation.
اللهجة العمانية
خارجة عن اللهجة الخليجية واللهجات العربية الأخرى وكلماتها متغيرة كليا ومعانيها مختلفة وهي لهجة عريقة توارثها الاجيال حتى وقتنا الحاضر، كما أن اللهجة العمانية تختلف من منطقة إلى أخرى وأحيانا من ولاية إلى أخرى.. فاللهجة بالمنطقة الشرقية تختلف عن الباطنة
وتختلف عن مسندم ووتختلف عن الداخلية وتختلف عن لهجة اهل ظفار.
تعتبر لهجة اهل مسقط - المسقطية - هي اللهجة المفهومة عند الكل ،لأن أغلب البرامج
والمسلاسلات التلفزيونية تعرض بهذه اللهجة...كما أنه اهل مسندم لكونهم بقرب من الفرس فإنهم قد تأثروا بهم فهناك بعض الكلمات الفارسية يستخدمونها في حديثهم باللغه العربية لذلك تكون غير مفهومة لمن لا يفهم الفارسية..ولهجة أهل ظفار قريبة من لهجات اليمن.. كما أن لهجة الشرقية ومحافظة البريمي تكون مفهومة عند اهل الإمارات...
واللهجات العمانية، غنية بكثير من التنوع في الظواهر الصوتية، ولكون اللهجات العامية بشكل عام، ما هي إلا تطور عن اللغة العربية الفصيحة، فكثيرا ما نجد للظواهر الصوتية في اللهجات العامية أصولا عربية فصيحة، مثال ذلك، قلب ضمير المخاطبة إلى شين، مثال:قلت لش، أي قلت لك، حيث تذكر المصادر أن هذه الظاهرة كانت موجودة عند بعض القبائل العربية.
ومن الظواهر الصوتية الشائعة أيضا تسهيل الهمزة، والتسهيل قد يكون بحذف الهمزة أو بقلبها إلى صوت آخر، مثلا كلمة :رأيت، تنطق في اللهجة العمانية، ريت، حيث تقلب الهمزة
إلى صوت ممال بين الألف والياء.
من الظواهر الصوتية أيضا، ما يسمى بالجيم القاهرية، وتشيع هذه الظاهر في ولايات المنطقة الداخلية من عمان، كولاية نزوى وبهلا وإزكي وغيرها.
وهناك أيضا قلب الجيم ياء، وهذه الظاهرة تشيع عادة في كلام البدو، وتوجد أحيانا هذه الظاهرة عند غير البدو، وقد لاحظت هذه الصفة عند بعض أهالي ولاية إبرا.
ومن الظواهر الصوتية أيضا قلب القاف إلى الجيم القاهرية، وهذه الظاهرة أيضا تشيع في كلام البدو عادة.
ومن الظواهر الصوتية قلب القاف إلى كاف، وتوجد هذه الظاهر في ولاية بهلا.
هذا وتوجد بعض الدراسات التي تناولت مجال اللهجات العمانية، على سبيل المثال، رسالة ماجستير في لهجة ولاية الحمراء، كما توجد دراسة حول لهجة ولاية صحار، وتوجد دراسة حول لهجة قريات، وتحتلف الدراسات المذكورة من حيث الجوانب التي تناولتها بالتحديد من اللهجة.وهذه الدراسات يمكن التوصل إليها من خلال مكتبة جامعة السلطان قابوس.
وتحت هناك فقرة صغيرة مبينة ان ليس عندها اي علاقة مع بقية المقالة فوقها
لاتختلف اللهجة العمانية عن أخواتها لهجات شبه الجزيرة العربية..فكل تركيبة أو أسلوب فيها له نظير في اللهجات الأخرى العربية.... وهناك مجموعة من اللهجات ربما تكون المجموعةالعمانية إذ يفهم العمانيو بعضهم البعض رغم اختلاف لهجاتهم.
وتقترب بعضها إلى الفصحى وهي لهجات غنية بالقاموس اللغوي. وهناك من ألف فيها أمثال الشيخ سعيد الحارثي ومحمود بن حميد
الجامعي....
And the translation (again, very literal):
The Omani Dialect
The Omani dialect differs from the (Arabian) Gulf dialect (of Arabic) and the other Arabic dialects and its words change entirely and their meanings differ. (And) It is a dialect, deep-rooted of heritage for generations until our present time. Just as the Omani dialect differs from one region to another and sometimes from one province to another…the dialect in the eastern region (name of a province in Oman) differs from the interior, and the dialect of Masandam differs from the Dakhalyi (dialect), which differs from the dialect of the people of Dofar.
The dialect of the people of Muscat—Muscati—is the understood dialect to all, because the most predominate of TV serial programs are presented in the dialect….for the people of Musandam, due to their geographical proximity to Persia, may be influenced (by Persia), for there are Persian words which they use in their speech in the Arabic language. Thus (their Arabic) is not understandable to someone who does not understand Persian. And the dialect of the people of Dofar is close to the dialect of Yemen, just as the dialect of the East (a province) and the province of Barimy is understood by the people of the (United Arab) Emirates.
The Omani dialects are very rich in the diversity of their phonological phenomena, and in general, the Omani dialects are nothing except an evolution of the eloquent Arabic language (id est al fuS7a—High Arabic). Frequently what we find in the Omani dialects for phonological phenomena are rooted in High Arabic, for example, the transformation of the attached pronoun to “shin”, for example “qult lish” i.e. “qultu laki” (I said to you(feminine), where it is remembered that the source (sources) (of this change) are that this phenomenon was found amongst some of the Arabic (Bedouin) tribes.
And also from among the common phonological phenomena are the easing (lightening?) of the “hamza” (the letter representing the glottal stop in Arabic, as the dash in the English “uh-oh”, which may be found in any and all positions in Classical Arabic words) and this easing may exist in the elision of the Hamza or its change to another sound, for example a word: “ra2aytu” (“I saw”, the 2=hamza), which is said in the Omani dialect (and one should add, almost all Arabic dialects—CJ) “rayt”, where the Hamza changes to a middling sound between the Alif (long “a” sound) and the “Yaa2” (long “I” sound, as in Spanish).
And from the phonological phenomena also, is what is called the “Cairene ‘Jiim’” (the letter “Jiim” is usually pronounced as a sound somewhat similar to the English “j” in most Arabic dialects, but in the dialect of Cairo this is famously pronounced as the letter “g” in the word “graft”--CJ), and this phenomenon often occurs in the provinces of the area of the Daachliy in Oman, such as the state of Nizwa, and Bahala, and Izki, and others besides these. And there is also the change of the “Jeem” (to) “Yaa2”, and this phenomenon usually appears in the speech of the Bedouin, and this phenomenon is sometimes found amongst non-Bedouin people, and sometimes this characteristic is observed of some of the peoples of the state of Ibra.
And also from among the phonological phenomena is the change of the “Qaaf” (a letter representing a deep, uvular plosive “k” not found in any Western languages--CJ) to the “Cairene Jiim”, and this phenomenon also often appears in the speech of the Bedouin. And (also) from among the phonological phenomena is the change of the “Qaaf” to the “Kaaf” (=K), and this phenomenon is found in the state of Bahala.
(“This”—I just cannot figure out what the purpose of this word is) And there are some studies which have been presented (in) the domain of the Omani dialects, for instance, a masters thesis on the dialect of the province of Hamra, just as there is a study about the dialect of the state of Sahar, and there is also to be found a study on the dialect of Kireat, and the before mentioned studies differ (I believe there is a typo in this word—should read “ta5tallif” not “ta7tallif”--CJ) in regards to the sides (views) which they present about the demarcation of the dialect. And these studies may be obtained through the office of Sultan Qaboos University.
And underneath is this little paragraph which appears to have a nebulous relation, at best, to the rest of the article………
The Omani dialect does not differ from her sisters the (other) dialects of the Arabian Peninsula, for every expression or phrase in it is observed in the other (Arabic) dialects. And there is a group of dialects which may be the Omani group since the Omanis understand one another despite the differences of their dialects. And they are (all) close to High Arabic and they are dialects rich in the linguistic dictionary. And there are thousands of examples of it of the Shaykh Sa’iid Al-Harathi and Mahmoud bin Hamiid Al Jama’i.
Comments:
This article frustrated me at several points. The usage of "fa" to connect seemingly unrelated ideas seemed to defy translation to some extent, and my awkward usage of "for" (perhaps because of the alliteration with "fa"? I honestly don't know....) is evidence of this. Also the I found the information presented to be somewhat frustrating. It offered some general comments on the phonology of Omani Arabic, but absolutely nothing I hadn't heard before, except for the interesting bits about the geographical distribution of the different pronunciations. All in all not what I was expecting but I am glad that I did it. Also getting those studies from the Sultan Qaboos uni is now officially on my to do list.....
Sunday, May 2, 2010
First Post
Introductions. Always an awkward start, but even the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step......
My name is CJ Canton, and I am a college student studying Arabic (inter alia) at Florida State University. I am a junior there, now on the cusp of my fourth acemic year (Fall 2010-Spring 2011). This April I was blessed to find out that I had been selected to recieve the Critical Language Scholarship for Arabic, a US State Department funded program which pays for US college students to travel to foreign countries where languages considered crucial to US economic, culture, political, and securty interests are spoken in order to learn them and gain a mastery of them, which should (theoretically) prove useful to the United States of America at some undetermined time in the future. Anyway, I was (apparently) selected for the advanced level of instruction, and will be sent to Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, for a period of slightly more than two months (June 12-August 13) in order to undertake an intense course of Arabic studies, apparently equivalent to one year of formal university-level instruction.
Seeing as I have been truly blessed with this wonderful opportunity, I have taken it upon myself to prepare as much as possible for this spectacular adventure which awaits me. The spring semester at college ended for me two days ago, and I now have 39 (really 38 now but as the time is now only around twelve o'clock PM 3 May, I am choosing to write this entry and perhaps the following entry as if the date were 2 May 2010) days to prepare myself. This will entail trying to learn and practice as much written "High Arabic" as I can whilst at the same time learn as much as possible about the dialect of Oman, particularly Muscat. It will also entail cobbling together the camera, clothes, and other provisions which will be necessary for the duration of my stay in Oman. For personal reasons I find that my self-confidence is highly linked to the state of my physical fitness, and so I will also be using this blog as an exercise blog (thus the title "The Run up to Muscat"). After I have arrived in Muscat I will stop posting on this blog and open up a new, "The Run Through Muscat."
There is much to do, but at the same time I find it hard to express my excitement for this opportunity in words. I have never been outside of the US in my life, and for those of you who do not know Oman is an unbelievably amazing land, a place of exquisite beauty and even mystery, as its people are known for keeping out of the headlines and even other Arabs seem somewhat in the dark about it. Although definitely part of the Arab world, Oman and particularly Muscat have always been an integral part of the naval commerce of the Indian Ocean, and being so far to the East (farther east than any other Arabic countries except for Bahrain and parts of Iraq) Muscat is something of a bridge between Arabic and Indian cultures. Although I was somewhat disappointed when I initially found out that I had been placed in Muscat (the CLS offers programs in five other countries, though the applicant had no choice in where they are assigned), now as I learn more and more about the country I would not go anywhere else if I could!
I can only ask for the help of the Almighty and whatever prayers or positive feedback my readers might offer on my behalf. Thanks for reading this first post and may God bless you.
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