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Unraveling foreign words in Arabic dialects: jailbirds, thugs and kufta

There are words in Arabic that don’t look Arabic – and they aren’t. The etymology of baltagi, idda, shanta, daftar, dukkan.

Last updated 3 months ago.

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Farsi, Greek, and Turkish have influenced Arabic.

This is part 1 of a 3-part series about the etymology of foreign words in Arabic.

What does etymology mean?

In Arabic, there are several words that don’t look Arabic. In fact, they aren’t Arabic; they are foreign words and thus do not follow the rules of Semitic languages.

Etymology is very interesting, but it’s not really a very systematic science, since each word has its history. Many languages have etymological dictionaries that give the origins of words in addition to their meanings. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any such dictionary for Arabic (if you know one, please let me know).

In this series of articles, we will look at some words that are used mostly in Arabic dialects, but are not of Arabic origin. They mainly have entered Arabic via Farsi, Ottoman Turkish, and Greek.

Not only words were borrowed from other languages, but also grammatical constructions.

Let’s start with that.

The additional letter ุฌ or ู„

This grammatical construction is found in several, mostly North African-Arabic dialects, if an adjective is derived from a noun.

We call this a Nisba (ู†ูุณุจุฉ). A ู†ูุณุจุฉ has the ending ูŠู‘.

The letter ุฌ

This ending is probably taken from the Ottomans and became widespread in North Africa, but also in Iraq and parts of the Levant. It is mainly used to derive nouns for professions. Notice: In Turkish, the /ending cฤฑ is used to form nouns of occupation, etc.

For example:

1ูƒูุชุงุฌูŠุฌููŠู‘+ูƒููู’ุชูŽุฉ

Meaning: The person who makes kufta (Kรถfte); may denote as well the place where kufta is grilled. Notice: kefteji is also a Tunisian dish!

2ูุฑุงุฌูŠุฌููŠู‘+ูุฑุงุฑ

Meaning: poulterer

3ุฃูŽูˆูŽู†ู’ุทุงุฌููŠ or ุฃูŽูˆูŽู†ู’ุทู€ูŽุฌูŠุฌููŠู‘+ุฃูŽูˆูŽู†ู’ุทูŽุฉ

Meaning: deceitful person, swindler

4ุจูŽู„ู’ุทุงุฌููŠุฌููŠู‘+ุจูŽู„ู’ุทูŽุฉ

Meaning: thug (Baltagi) – see below

5ู„ูˆู…ุงู†ุฌูŠ or ู„ููŠู…ุงู†ุฌูŠุฌููŠู‘+ู„ููˆู…ุงู†

Meaning: one who is always in and out of prison; jailbird (we will get back to this word in part 2)

The ending ู„ููŠ

This is common in Egyptian Arabic.

AlgerianุฌูŽุฒุงุฆูุฑููŠู‘=ุฌุฒุงูŠุฑู„ูŠ
Ottomanุนูุซู’ู…ุงู†ููŠู‘=ุนุซู…ุงู†ู„ูŠ

The word ุจูŽู„ู’ุทูŽุฌููŠ (Baltagi)

This is also Turkish origin. It consists of two words: ุจูŽู„ู’ุทูŽุฉ and ุฌูŠ – see explanation above. This means it denotes one who is carrying a ุจูŽู„ู’ุทูŽุฉ

So, what is ุจูŽู„ู’ุทูŽุฉ? It is an axe or simply a tool to cut trees or wood. Nowadays, it denotes violence, brutality.

During the , the army had a special force which was called ุงู„ุจู„ุทุฌูŠุฉ, a word that means sapper or pioneer. When the Ottoman Empire became bigger, but also more vulnerable and less controllable, corruption started to spread among soldiers.

Thus, the word ุงู„ุจู„ุทุฌุฉ or ุงู„ุจู„ุทุฌูŠุฉ was used to denote a man or a thief who used force and violence against innocent people.

Nowadays, especially in Egypt, the term Baltagi (for a single person) or Baltagiyya is used for thug, gangster, or rowdy. Especially during the regime of , the term ุงู„ุจู„ุทุฌูŠุฉ  (Baltagiyya) was used for thugs commanded by the regime to beat people and demonstrators.

The verb ุฅูุฏู‘ู‰

It is used in Egyptian and Sudanese Arabic and means to give; also to hand; to pass (a ball). It is basically the dialect word for ุฃูŽุนู’ุทูŽู‰ (to give) in Modern Standard Arabic.

The word is perhaps of Pharaonic origin (ุฏูŠ). Since many Egyptians were working in Saudi Arabia, it is used there as well nowadays.

Watch out: in Modern Standard Arabic (as well as in Egyptian Arabic), the verb ุฃูŽุฏูŽู‘ู‰ (with ููŽุชู’ุญุฉ) means to direct, to lead, to carry out (in Egyptian Arabic).

The word ุดูŽู†ู’ุทุฉ

In several Arabic dialects, you will find the word ุดูŽู†ู’ุทุฉ used to denote a bag (ุญูŽู‚ููŠุจูŽุฉ), no matter if it is big (suitcase) or small. It is sometimes also written ุฌู†ุทุฉ and entered Arabic via Ottoman Turkish ฺ†ุงู†ุทู‡ โ€Ž(รงanta) meaning leather bag, small suitcase.

It is perhaps originally from (ฺ†ู†ุชู‡). It has also entered the modern Greek language via Turkish; the word tsรกnta  (ฯ„ฯƒฮฌฮฝฯ„ฮฑ) means bag as well.

The word ุฏูŽูู’ุชูŽุฑ

It is means notebook or register. The term is probably of Farsi origin and means book or office.

The word ุฏููƒู‘ุงู†

This word is found in several Arabic dialects and means shop or store (ู…ูŽุญูŽู„ู‘). It is perhaps of Persian origin. It also entered the Turkish language. The word dรผkkรขn means shop.


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mhd196
mhd196
7 years ago

i can give you reference (and sometimes copy) of etymology books. DO you read Arabic well?

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