Culture & Language: Learning One is Learning Both (Arabic Week 17)

When I first began learning a language, I had no intent of really learning the culture behind it. I figured everything would be pretty straight forward and equivalent to English. Obviously, that isn't the case. As you learn a language, there is certain indications about the culture itself that you have to learn to really interact.

My first experience of this was when I began learning the appropriate way to start a conversation with somebody using Chinese. A common phrase, "你好吗?" is closely related to, "How are you?" There was a time that hunger was a very serious issue in China. This issue led so much that a common greeting was instead inquiring that the person you were talking to had eaten for the day. Previously, a more common phrase to use was, "你吃了吗?" which is, "Have you eaten yet?" If somebody approached me on the street in the U.S. and asked me that out of no where, I'd likely be a little skeptical; are you about to ask me out to eat? This common phrase from the older generations in China is a way of showing your concern for the well-being of somebody you are talking to.

Another interesting aspect of other languages is the order of your name. In China, your name is commonly referred to as <Last Name> <First Name>. I always like to consider the values of the country when looking at this situation. When it comes down to who you are, you put your family first.

In a more grammatical sense, the explanation is likely that it is common to start with a larger group and then go to a smaller subsection. Instead of saying, "I am from Iowa City, Iowa, U.S." I would say, "I am from U.S., Iowa, Iowa City" For a lot of people I'm sure this seems completely backwards, why would I say something that way? Honestly, it makes more sense to start with the general area. You may not know where Iowa City or Iowa is located so until I mention the U.S. you are completely clueless as to where I am talking. On the other hand, when I start with the general area you are more clear of the location prior to hearing the exact place.

With regards to Arabic, there is a lot of religion that goes with the phrases. Here is a list of common phrases and their literal translations:

Hello (Peace be upon you)
السلام عليكم
Hello (Peace upon you as well)
وعليكم السلام
Response to how are you: (Good, praise to Allah)
كويس الحمد لله
Response to offering you to do something: (If Allah wills it)
إن شاء الله

At first this may seem to concern people, the whole language is driven by religion!? What about English? We always say things like, "Bless your" or "God bless you" and it never is a very big deal. When tragedy strikes a certain person or location, we say, "Pray for <blank>". There are certain words that originated from religion as well. "Holiday" can easily be rooted back to "Holy Day" yet we use "Happy Holidays" as a way to refrain from any religious conflicts.

Overall, one theme that can be seen in a lot of languages is how you pay respect to your family. It took me a little time when I first began Chinese to realize that having a brother wasn't good enough. There are different words for siblings that are either older or younger than you. There are different words for you dad's and your mom's parents. This is seen in a lot of other languages as well, distinguishing somebody by either their age or their side of the family.

Another interesting aspect of languages is how some of them are related. Would you believe that one of the easiest languages is actually rooted from one of the hardest? Due to historical conquests, there are around 8,000 Spanish words that have Arabic origin. This week I am going to go over some of those words in both Spanish and Arabic to show how nearly 600 years of separating cultures can still have very similar sounds.I will start each one with the Spanish word, followed by the original Arabic word.

Until next time.