tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22052731314318566202024-03-12T20:00:28.794-07:00Exploring Oman's Linguistic Treasuresاللغةُ صفةُ الأمّةِ في الفرد ، وآيةُ الانتسابِ إلى القوم، وحكاية التّاريخِ على اللسان فمن أضاع لُغتَه فقد تاهَ عن أمّته ، وفقد نسبَه ، و أضاع تاريخَه - مازن المبارَكOmani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-67011961480048957862020-07-04T04:49:00.002-07:002020-07-04T04:52:25.057-07:00Maltese<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Maltese is the
happy child of a marriage between Arabic and Italian. What makes me intrigued
to learn about a language is when two or more cultures decide to marry and give
birth to a new language. Just like </span><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://linguisticsoman.blogspot.com/2012/01/cypriot-maronite-arabic-descendants-of.html" target="_blank">Cypriot MaroniteArabic.</a></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Geographically,
Malta is a European island off the coast of Libya, Tunisia and Italy. Being in
this unique location, it is no wonder that it was influenced by its neighbors’
cultures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">What comes to
your mind when you think of Semitic languages? A distinct alphabet, writing
from right to left and probably the Middle East? Well, Maltese is a Semitic
language that decided not to go by a lot of these rules. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Malta is the
only EU country that has a Semitic official language. What makes Maltese a
unique language is that it is the only Semitic language written in Latin script
and therefore from left to right, even though a lot of the words come from
North African Arabic. <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.visitmalta.com/en/language" target="_blank">Visitmalta.com</a></span><span style="color: red;"> </span>states, <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“</span></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">The influence of the Arabs who made the Islands home from
the 9th to 13th centuries is clear in the Maltese language whose roots are
closely akin to Arabic. Place names and numbers are the most obvious examples
of Arabic influence on the language.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span lang="EN-US">And being less than
200km away from Sicily, it was influenced by its language too. In fact Maltese
belongs to the <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siculo-Arabic" target="_blank">Siculo-Arabic</a></span><span style="color: red;"> </span>language family. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Check out <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d556rxtZy8o&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">this video</a></span> that teaches Maltese numbers, they’re so similar to Arabic:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Video posted on YouTube by <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCavJVSxd7QWnmnemc6uomoQ" target="_blank">TheHuSkY1984</a></span></span></div>
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Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-74597285412127572592016-04-03T12:20:00.000-07:002016-04-03T13:14:08.807-07:00The Birth of a New Language<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s not uncommon for linguists to discuss the importance of
preserving endangered languages. Language is the vehicle in which a diverse and
tremendous amount of human knowledge is transferred. Allowing languages to
die without documenting them is like watching a massive library burn down right in front of our eyes
while we're hand folded. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The beauty of language, however, is that it is dynamic. If
one dies, others keep adapting and changing. People borrow and coin new words
depending on their needs. But who would have thought that we’d witness the
birth of a completely new language in the second half of the twentieth century?
Well that’s exactly what happened in a tiny Australian village. Carmel O'Shannessy, </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a linguist
from the University of Michigan has been studying this relatively newly born
language since the early 2000s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In this remote aboriginal Australian village, the younger
generation has developed a language of its own! According to the news, this
new language called <span style="color: #333333;">Walpiri rampaku</span></span> (or light <span style="color: #333333;">Warlpiri</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">) </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">is only spoken by people under 35. <span style="color: #333333;">O'Shannessy</span> even suggests that in a few years this new
language might threaten the survival of strong Warlpiri (which is the language
spoken by the older generation in the village). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A new language born in the
1970s? Who would have imagined! </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Check out </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 18.4px;">Carmel O’Shannessy's profile for more details <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~carmelos/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span>
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Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-14137480252291878592014-03-21T06:14:00.000-07:002014-03-21T06:34:14.750-07:00The Harsusi language in Oman: another treasure slipping away?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOkKtU84NjtZ3Od22K_cjhg_dWBr-AxDaJVT7aI_glHkqteKdA8Wh3pbBnaaR_HxIqjPrdxlGjimPoalwVe5XLdaEQIFmCu18wLN8AHZmxDn24CE5b198-lHIFqZhNP2bUUyq_PEZI-lP/s1600/harsusi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOkKtU84NjtZ3Od22K_cjhg_dWBr-AxDaJVT7aI_glHkqteKdA8Wh3pbBnaaR_HxIqjPrdxlGjimPoalwVe5XLdaEQIFmCu18wLN8AHZmxDn24CE5b198-lHIFqZhNP2bUUyq_PEZI-lP/s1600/harsusi.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture by <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr Andrew Spalton</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oman has yet to offer another
linguistic treasure to the world- the Harsusi language. The language is spoken
in Jiddat-Al Harasis in Al Wusta <span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;">Governorate</span>. I attended a talk organised by the Historical Association of Oman a few weeks ago about Harsusi. The talk was delivered by Domenyk Eades
from the University of Salford in the UK. Harsusi is one of
a few Modern South Arabian languages spoken in Oman along with Mehri and
Jabbali and some others. It is a Semitic language and the UNESCO classifies it as
being ‘definitely endangered’. According to the UNESCO there are about 3000
speakers but <a href="http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0314" target="_blank">updated statistics suggest even fewer numbers today- hardly 600-1000 speakers</a>. Harsusis are generally also speakers of Arabic. They’re
Bedouins (nomads) and many of them, according to Eades, have only settled in villas
in the year 2004. Before that, they were constantly travelling and were living
a far from modern lifestyle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The phonological inventory of the
Harsusi language is unusual. Eades gave us an insight on some sounds of the
language which could be biologically difficult to produce even by speakers of Arabic
- a ‘cousin’ language. The sounds sounded so ancient to me that the idea of the
language still being spoken until today is incredibly fascinating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eades and a group of other
linguists from the UK are racing against time to document Harsusi and other Modern
South Arabian languages spoken in Oman. As the numbers of speakers shrink at a
rapid pace, we can only hope that the intricacies of the language are saved and
the knowledge is passed on for the future generations. Having settled in the
early 2000s only, one can only imagine that the knowledge and wisdom the Harsusis
have is valuable and it would be a great loss to see it slip away without doing anything.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-74303932883443713442012-12-28T10:26:00.002-08:002012-12-28T10:30:24.324-08:00The Google Translate plague<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.webster.edu/%7Ebarrettb/gifs/plagiarism.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.webster.edu/%7Ebarrettb/gifs/plagiarism.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit to <a href="http://www2.webster.edu/%7Ebarrettb/materials/plagiarism.htm" target="_blank">Webster University</a></td></tr>
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One of the most
frustrating things you face when you teach English is seeing students
plagiarise. The irony, however, is that plagiarism might be
underestimated as a technique when considering what happens in some
classrooms. But first, let's stop and ask, what is plagiarism? What
do you need to be able to plagiarise? Some skills are surely
involved. One skill that comes to mind is the ability to use a search
engine as a tool for research on a given topic. As minor as it may
sound, it's still considered a skill. A plagiariser is usually
expected to use the search engine for its primary purpose: to search
for information. What skills are required in this action of
searching? I would say at least, the ability to select (hopefully
critically) information from a specific source and not the other. The
plagiariser chooses that specific piece of writing over the other to
'steal' because they can see that perhaps it is the most relevant to
their topic or the closest to their linguistic abilities. Even though
they are misused, those are still skills. In other words, regardless
of the obvious fact that this is still considered an academic offence,
there is nevertheless, a certain level of critical thinking in the process.
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What is happening in many
English classrooms in Oman is beyond horrific, though. And I mean
horrific in the sense that not much critical thinking is involved in
their plagiarism style. If many of them are going to abuse academic
integrity anyway, then to my horror, I at
least wish that they'd do it with some element of critical thinking. At
least, I might be relieved to know that their researching ability
is alright and that they can actually critically select
what they want to 'steal'.
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Yet unsurprisingly,
whenever there is a writing task in an English class, I see uneasy
faces. It's not difficult to understand where their frustration comes from, since many
public schools <span style="font-weight: normal;">graduates</span>
that are enrolled in higher education are much below standard in both
English and study skills. They struggle, and that's understandable.
Yet the big challenge in many Omani classrooms is to get the students
to feel motivated enough to work hard and submit a genuine piece of
work regardless of the kind and number of mistakes in it. What many of
them fail to realise, is that they're in a classroom to actually
learn and not just gain points in a competition to go on to the next
level. It may sound uneasy for some, but if we don't accept that we
have gaps that need to be filled or rather amended, our education
system would keep running out of breath while trying to catch up with
the better educational systems around the world. Hence, we will never be
satisfied with the standard of public schools graduates.
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I started my post with a
rather strange appreciation of the skills needed to plagiarise. The
reason is because a lot of students do not even bother about
all skills mentioned. So if they don't use those skills and they
don't produce their authentic work, then what do they do? They simply
go to this tool which was created for great purposes, none of which I
am sure is to help students cheat: <a href="http://www.translate.google.com/" target="_blank">www.translate.google.com</a>
. They simply paste their Arabic text in there and get a ready made
piece of writing in English.
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The messily-translated
chunks of language submitted can be outrageous but hilarious at the
same time. And I say it's messy because as a machine translator it
translates things literally in terms of meaning and discards any
grammatical rules of the second language most of the time; it simply
follows the word order of the translated language. The effect, my
respected readers, can be speechless, as you realise. One student for
instance, typed all the Arabic he wanted to express and clicked to
translate it into English. Apparently the student wanted to translate
the word 'feather' (singular) to English. Note that the Arabic word
for feather and badminton (the sport) is the same. The student ended
up submitting something that is along the lines of 'the badminton of
the bird'...which is <i>interesting </i>if you think about it; but maybe in a
fictional text rather than non-fictional prose? </div>
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I pause and take a deep
breath while I mentally try to convince myself that these mistakes
are interesting according to the descriptivist views of linguistics
(it's a survival mechanism). Can it get
any worse? Until this plague ends and this will only happen once
treated from its very roots, I'll keep scribbling with my red pen on
students' work a big O and a slash that crosses between two small
circles to signify: 0%.
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Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-77238030235615876652012-07-18T14:18:00.000-07:002012-07-18T14:42:41.175-07:00Vanishing voices = vanishing knowledge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: medium;">One
of the notable efforts in bringing the world's attention to dying
languages is National Geographic's Vanishing Voices Project. What
linguists are trying to do in this project is to highlight what the
world would be missing if those languages are gone; for language is
not merely sounds that make sense to a certain community. Instead,
they could carry deep knowledge that can unlock scientific secrets.
Interesting questions similar to the ones raised in the Vanishing
Voices article comes to ones mind when thinking about the
consequences of losing languages at this rapid pace:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">“</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: medium;">Does
each language have boxed up within it some irreplaceable beneficial
knowledge? Are there aspects of cultures that won’t survive if they
are translated into a dominant language? What unexpected insights are
being lost to the world with the collapse of its linguistic variety?”
(</span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/07/vanishing-languages/rymer-text" target="_blank">Rymer,NationalGeographic Magazine, July 2012</a></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: medium;">).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: medium;">Take
the Jabbali language in the southern part of Oman for example. The
wide plant vocabulary it carries only reflect its speakers wide
knowledge of plants and their uses. If transferred wisely, this
knowledge could prove useful in many ways. Plants were once part
of the Jabbalis daily lifestyle; I'm not sure if this is still practised today but I do believe that the knowledge they've acquired
from this contact remains to an extent and could be used before it 'vanishes'. Similarly, the speakers of Kamzari (also spelled 'Kumzari')
in the northern part of Oman might have a lot to tell us about living by the sea.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
month's issue of National Geographic Magazine discusses three
endangered languages; Tuvan, Aka, and Seri in Russia, India and
Mexio, respectively. Tuvan was apparently saved from extinction and
is no longer threatened. If this means anything, then it certainly means that
efforts to save languages can be fruitful. Yet if nothing is done
about 'vanishing voices' then I can't help but quote Harrison's last
words in the following clip, “The transmission of knowledge [will be] disrupted”.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-11359239708959188952012-02-06T04:42:00.000-08:002012-02-07T11:48:12.768-08:00Kumar decides to sing in Arabic ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="text-align: left;">During the last few decades, the discovery of oil in the Arabian Gulf paved the way for a booming economy since the 1970s. This economic boom resulted in a huge influx of immigrants from the Indian Subcontinent. Usually the main motivation for their immigration and leaving behind their families is to find a better living in these oil-rich states. There are around 17 million Asian immigrants in the GCC today working mainly in the labour force (Al-Jazeera, 2005).</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/G7X8zInEHH0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Al-Jazeera produced an interesting documentary a few years ago (above) about this labour force and the possible future of the region. The word 'tsunami' in the title of the film suggests that it's meant to be a wake up call. The documentary suggests that one day it will be difficult to ignore the fact that the labour force is part of the GCC's society as they shape the demographics of the region and bring in their cultural and linguistic influences. While diversity adds to societies in general, in a place that has less readiness to accept all it's outcomes, it could cause major issues. The linguistic future of the region of course, is very important to consider as well because in the Arab World identity is often defined by language. However if any linguistic change is to take place then it is usually very slow and gradual. A shift from Arabic to pidgin in the GCC seems unlikely in the near future. N<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">otice that the Indian-Qatari person in the documentary, who lived in Qatar for decades does not speak in pidgin. This is true for many others who have lived in the GCC long enough to affiliate with its culture. This suggests that Gulf pidgin is likely to be lost over time by its speakers as they acquire a more complex form of Arabic.</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: lime;"><br />
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</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s.alriyadh.com/2008/07/11/img/110500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://s.alriyadh.com/2008/07/11/img/110500.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Labourers in the Gulf (from <a href="http://www.alriyadh.com/2008/07/11/article358216.html" target="_blank">Alriyadh</a> )</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">But what if speakers of pidgin began using it for more complex functions of language such as expressing through singing, would the society start accepting it more? Would it put an end to linguistic discrimination and gradually lead to a better linguistic understanding, or would they still insist that it's 'broken' Arabic? Perhaps if there is more input from pidgin, people might start thinking of it as a dialect one day. In my <a href="http://linguisticsoman.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post.html" target="_blank">blog post about pidgins</a> I mentioned Kumar, the Indian worker who wrote a poem in Gulf pidgin. <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">If for a moment we take fictional Kumar to mean the collective Asian labour force in the GCC, then guess what? Kumar is no longer satisfied with his poetry talents, he's into singing now! Yes, Kumar decided to go further and sing a song in pidgin, which to many people it's still 'bad' Arabic. </span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Apparently there is a hit Indian song that has versions in different languages and one of them is Gulf pidgin. The theme of the song portrays Kumar as being treated unjustly by his sponsor. Indeed the song is to make a multilingual statement just like it was suggested by <a href="http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/media/a-multilingual-musical-statement-1.965159" target="_blank">Gulf News</a>. A statement in a language that is not native to him, means that a wider audience can understand the message he's trying to convey. And it could be an attempt to try and get his voice to the many sponsors in the GCC. Below is the song's video.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wffg-C2egS4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="text-align: left;">Having a song in Gulf pidgin means that the attitudes toward this language are likely to </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; text-align: left;">change. It could take long, but if Kumar gets more creative people will start to accept him eventually. </span><span style="text-align: left;">Media is a powerful tool and this song portrays a labourer away from his 'typical' appearance </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; text-align: left;">but </span><span style="text-align: left;">as a shiny-talented person who could qualify for Bollywood . This can change the way people perceive labourers and their language. When the poems were just written texts, it was up to the reader to come up with their own version of 'Kumar' and usually (I would imagine) it was a character that is stigmatised for its weak Arabic. If Kumar continues to perform in Gulf pidgin for generations then it could be a turning point in his life and certainly the life of Gulf pidgin; because as much as the labourers' language can be stigmatised, as much as Bollywood stars are marvelled at. Yes, Bollywood movies are very popular in this part of the world and Kumar knows it. Who knows what other talents he'd express in pidgin next?</span></div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-45783512232216783932012-01-12T07:45:00.000-08:002012-01-12T07:58:41.561-08:00When Arabic Marries Greek: Cypriot Maronite Arabic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">A marriage between two languages that leads to the birth of a new language is fascinating. The product of such a contact usually leads to an interesting cultural hybrid which is a reminder of the similarity between people who were once upon a time 'different'. When cultures assimilate and blend <span style="text-align: left;">beautifully they give humanity yet another evidence of the possibility of coexistence. What I mean by contact here is not the kind of contact that I discussed in my </span><a href="http://linguisticsoman.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">previous blog post about pidgins</a><span style="text-align: left;"> which is based on a hierarchical relationship between master and slave/servant. Here, I mean a less hierarchical relationship between members of both communities.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unsurprisingly, Arabic came in contact with many languages across the world. This goes back to the time when Arabic was a lingua franca during the Islamic Golden Age. While sometimes the product of contact is a load of loanwords, it is less common to see the birth of a new language as a product of language contact. However, one of the peculiar cases of Arabic being in contact led to the birth of a new language. It appears that there is a dialect of Greek Arabic, called Cypriot Maronite Arabic (CMA), spoken by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maronites" target="_blank">Maronite</a> community in Cyprus who migrated from Lebanon during the 1100s. Only about 1300 speakers of CMA remain today mostly in the village of Kormakiti.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/597099" target="_blank">Tsiapera (1964)</a> refers to this language as a 'dialect' of Lebanese Arabic. I prefer to use the term 'language' instead, because while Arabic speakers might find some words intelligible, the large Greek vocabulary along with the Latin and Turkish influences, could make CMA unintelligible by many Arabic speakers. However, it's not so difficult to understand the gist of what is being said in CMA if one is familiar with Levantine Arabic. Tsiapera also discusses the structure of the language at different linguistic levels and it appears to be similar to Arabic in some areas but also very similar to Greek in many other areas.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">My attention was brought to this language when I listened to the BBC's report on CMA and other endangered languages in the Middle East, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/tvandradio/2011/12/111219_xtralanguages.shtml" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Like many minority languages spoken around the world, CMA made it to the UNESCO's endangered languages list. The UNESCO classifies it as one of the severely endangered languages in the world. <span style="text-align: left;">Unfortunately, this means that a whole culture is in danger of extinction. Once again a language is endangered because linguistic diversity isn't as practical today. In the case of CMA, the language is being dominated by Greek because it's the language of the wider community. The following video is the first part of a series of videos which show the efforts of young members of the Maronite community in Cyprus to re-nourish the vitality of the language of their parents which they have not had the chance to acquire.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ODysXq1fS6Q?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">I must say how fascinating it is to hear bits of Arabic spoken in a Lebanese fashion in what seems to the 'Arabic ear' at first glance as a chaotic attempt to speak Arabic! It's as though this linguistic orchestra stands as a witness of a historical assimilation of cultures and identities<b>. </b>A portray of a truly beautiful linguistic mosaic.</div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-46367770742864215832011-12-25T17:40:00.004-08:002023-10-06T18:10:12.537-07:00أنا مافي معلوم كلام واجد عربي<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: #073763;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;">I'm sure the title sounds familiar to many readers. It's very common to hear this kind of language in this part of the world. I've often heard comments about the use of this language, and how “it ruins Arabic”. I've been told off by people from an older generation when I used it, they'd ask me in a criticising tone, “why do you speak to them in broken Arabic? You should speak to them normally so that they'd pick up proper language”. Before I knew what this language is all about, I used to reply to their comments with “I can't help it, really. I do it unconsciously”. The general attitude toward this language is, I feel, quite negative. People don't like to hear a distorted form of Arabic. But this 'distorted' form of Arabic is actually a language on its own, not Arabic. It's a <i>pidgin</i> language (pronounced like 'pigeon' as in the bird). There are many views on where the name 'pidgin' comes from, but I think the most popular view is that it comes from a Chinese mispronunciation of the English word 'business'. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://jeannekolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/pidgeon_messenger_1156801.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://jeannekolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/pidgeon_messenger_1156801.jpg" width="261" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Another belief about the word 'pidgin' is associated with pigeons since at some point they were used to send messages hence in a way facilitate communication, just like pidgins.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;">Simply put, a pidgin is a simplified language that is born as a result of two languages being in contact for some time, and where there is no interlanguage common to both speakers, yet there is an urging need to communicate. This could be a result of limited relations between the speakers of the two languages; like sellers and buyers in the market for example or more typically relationships which involve power hierarchy such as the one between master and servant. The slave trade which took place during the 16</span><sup style="color: #073763;">th</sup><span style="color: #073763;"> - 19</span><sup style="color: #073763;">th</sup><span style="color: #073763;"> centuries was an important cause for the development of many pidgin languages which are based on the languages of the European colonisers. Slaves that were taken from their homelands to different parts of Europe did not speak the language of their European masters, nor did the Europeans speak any of the African languages spoken by the slaves. And there was no other common language between the two sides either. This situation provides typical ingredients for the birth of a pidgin.</span></div></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">Typically, the vocabulary of pidgin languages is a mixture of the host language (in this case a European language such as English) as well as the African languages of the slaves. The grammar however, would usually follow the structure of the African languages probably because it's the way the slaves were used to combine words and their lack of understanding of the grammatical system of the European language.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/apics/images/c/c8/Creole_map1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/apics/images/c/c8/Creole_map1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some parts of the world where pidgins and creoles are spoken (from: <a href="http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/apics/index.php/The_Atlas_of_Pidgin_and_Creole_Language_Structures_(APiCS)" target="_blank">APiCS</a>) </td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">Pidgin languages are simplified in the sense that they are developed for the most basic communication needs. This means that many functions of language such as poetry, literature or news reporting cannot be expressed, or if they are used for such functions, they usually carry a humour effect. Also, because pidgins develop for functional reasons, they have no native speakers, they're born as a result of a pressing need to communicate. Some pidgins however, do develop complexity and are therefore able to function in more complex functions of language, just like non-simplified languages. They also become native languages to their speakers. When this happens, they are no longer called pidgin, instead they are called </span><i style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">creoles</i><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">. There are countries that recognise creoles as official languages such as Haiti and Papua New Guinea, which have Haitian Creole and </span><i style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">Tok Pisin, </i><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">respectively,</span><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;"> as one of their official languages.</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">In a place like Oman and certainly the Arabian Gulf, where a lot of the manual work is done by migrants, a similar situation arises. Could the large number of Asian migrants be contributing to the linguistic situation in the region? Most migrants come from a poor background and many of them are illiterate in their own languages, let alone speak other languages like Arabic or English. So naturally, they face a language barrier. What happens in a situation like this? A lot of Arabic speakers in Oman cannot speak any of the migrants' languages, while the migrants cannot speak Arabic, and they don't share a third common language to communicate in. This situation leads to the formation of a pidgin in order to facilitate communication. It probably starts as common sense or a mechanism of what I'll call 'linguistic survival' as in an instinctive need to survive a linguistic interaction in order to be able to function properly in a job or to gain a living. But with time, it becomes more of a trend, the trend becomes a habit, the habit becomes a norm and the norm stays until using it becomes almost unconscious. And I think this is the situation in Oman.</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">Most people don't realise that this is a language (I didn't before I studied linguistics). What doesn't help is that some dictionaries explain a pidgin as an 'artificial' language. I don't like the term 'artificial' here because it reminds me of machines and machine translation and perhaps computational linguistics, but not pidgin. I mean the situation of two cultures (hence languages) being in contact is very humanistic, how can it be artificial? 'Artificial' sounds as though it means that it's 'not natural', but what I see is the exact opposite: when two languages come in contact and when there is no way of conveying meaning in linguistic communication between the speakers of two languages, it is only 'natural' that a pidgin would be formed. Mixing some languages together or simplifying them does not make them artificial, I'd say. It may be a simplified form of language but it's still a language that has a structure, grammar, vocabulary and domains of use and important social factors that contribute to the identities of the people who use it. </span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">Many </span><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">Arabic </span><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">enthusiasts argue that this pidgin is a threat to the Arabic language, which they see as sacred because it is the language of the Holy Quran. </span><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">I don't </span><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;"><span>s</span><span>ee that it's a threat for the simple reason</span></span><span style="color: red; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">that it's always been and will always be the case that there are hundreds of dialects of Arabic spoken around the Arab World; this has been the case for centuries yet it didn't affect the Holy Quran or the competence of Arabic speakers. So a pidgin that functions for basic communication only, shouldn't be a threat. I don't think pidgin corrupts Arabic or that it's likely to develop into a creole because migrants don't seem to be using it with their children. </span><span style="color: #073763; text-align: left;">English, French and Portuguese are some languages which form the basis for many pidgins and creoles around the world. They didn't corrupt the main languages even though they are widely used, much more than Gulf pidgin. </span></div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-51662346663560766792011-12-14T14:44:00.000-08:002011-12-14T14:44:04.021-08:00Gulf Arabic in Omani FM stations: Who said anything about having a fake accent?!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Last summer, I was researching the language style of Omani broadcasters in a local Arabic radio station. I wanted to see whether they are as radical as I thought in their linguistic divergence from the speech of the callers. Based on what I hear in local FM stations, I hypothesized that they would be highly divergent by speaking in Gulf Arabic forms all through, while most callers would speak in more 'realistic' varieties of Arabic that we hear more commonly in Oman. I chose phonological variables which I thought are stereotypical of Omani dialects as well as being distinguishing identity markers. However, this post today is not to discuss the findings of my research, but to discuss an example from my data which made me inclined to believe that most broadcasters who speak in Gulf Arabic are probably putting on a voice and may be not speaking in the way they 'normally' do away from the microphone. </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cubiqinternational.com/communities/4/004/009/103/794/images/4549235474.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.cubiqinternational.com/communities/4/004/009/103/794/images/4549235474.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GCC map.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Before I go into what I found, let me just briefly explain the situation in Oman. Oman is a member of the <a href="http://www.gcc-sg.org/eng/index.html" target="_blank">Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)</a> which includes six Arab states: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman. If you check the <a href="http://www.gcc-sg.org/eng/index895b.html?action=Sec-Show&ID=3" target="_blank">foundations and objectives</a> of the GCC, you will notice that their bonding is not only political but also for historical, social and cultural reasons. Of course language is part of this society and culture. They use the term 'homogeneous values and characteristics' in their statement. It is this 'homogeneity' that is constantly being emphasised in the GCC through media and education and other means, which is all to serve the idea that 'Our Gulf is One' (خليجنا واحد). This homogeneity is not only to create regional nationalism and a sense of belonging to the Arabian Gulf as a whole, but over the years it emphasised the similarities between the nationals of these 6 states, including linguistic similarities. When you look at the GCC states, you will notice that indeed they are very similar in culture, except that from the outside Oman is unique. For example, GCC nationals generally all have <i>ghutra </i>and <i>iqal </i>as their headdress, except Omanis who dress in <i>kuma </i>or <i>mssar </i>(turban) instead. </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVd3Seoj9AB1K11FBiODmIwdHSRQv_t_4GQwsRWNOEPsa4GLKMZdlxLXWgna8c3vss_RvOhp7ZgExdlXtMR5m9ETYYOCzTPC-uJxt10Ljvc6quBrlLQszmUBeHWEbzNok6-LvDSmCVBfbQ/s1600/hd2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVd3Seoj9AB1K11FBiODmIwdHSRQv_t_4GQwsRWNOEPsa4GLKMZdlxLXWgna8c3vss_RvOhp7ZgExdlXtMR5m9ETYYOCzTPC-uJxt10Ljvc6quBrlLQszmUBeHWEbzNok6-LvDSmCVBfbQ/s1600/hd2.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The different headdresses in Oman and the GCC.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCarJDjjhXGF_udi42xJdVagNi75xry9BopHP03diwSpc_Iovf6t6_6FYBti1z9V6Sr85H7yTjNNOXpOu0WizpZYKPxM-7UFDCUuHjmem_sDIdDVxQlnGDlByo4CqBNg7_8gajZyr8m9O/s1600/y%2526y.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCarJDjjhXGF_udi42xJdVagNi75xry9BopHP03diwSpc_Iovf6t6_6FYBti1z9V6Sr85H7yTjNNOXpOu0WizpZYKPxM-7UFDCUuHjmem_sDIdDVxQlnGDlByo4CqBNg7_8gajZyr8m9O/s1600/y%2526y.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Omani headdresses. Left: man has a <i>kuma </i>on. Right : man has a <i>msar </i>(turban) on his head.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">On a linguistic level, Oman is also unique in the sense that Gulf Arabic is not as widely used in the country as in the other GCC states. Instead, a variety of Omani dialects are generally used. Even the official website of teaching <a href="http://www.gulfarabic.com/" target="_blank">Gulf Arabic</a>, suggests that Gulf Arabic is spoken “to a lesser extent" in Oman. Arabists specializing in linguistics such as Johnstone and Holes also suggest that the dialects spoken in Oman are different from the ones spoken in the other GCC states, and they classify them under a different type. The fact that Oman is politically a member of the GCC yet at the same time most Omanis do not sound like nationals of neighboring GCC countries, together with the fact that they are being constantly reminded of the similarities the people of the GCC share (or 'should' share?) combined with the importance of the GCC homogeneity, emphasizes, in my opinion, the Omani difference and puts a lot of pressure on Omanis to behave linguistically like the dominant GCC dialect which is spoken by the majority in the region. The relevance of what I just explained will be understood better as I now move on to explain what I found in my data.</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It happened when I was listening to a conversation between a caller who is a female Omani child with one of the most linguistically divergent broadcasters in my study; which means that he spoke in Gulf Arabic without attempting to speak in Omani dialects, which are the dialects in which most callers spoke. For the sake of anonymity, I will call the girl Noor. From the content of their conversation, I understood that Noor is 6 years old and about to be admitted to grade 1 in school. Noor performed for a few short sound clips for the station which were then used as sound effects for different programs on the station. For example she would say short phrases like <i>yallah goolu waray</i> ('come on, say it with me'). In all her performances, Noor would speak in Gulf Arabic. Not a single performance of Noor is done in a variety of Omani Arabic. So far so unsurprising. Nothing new. I got used to this kind of unrealistic linguistic representation on Omani Fm since I was a kid. But then something happened in the call between Noor and the broadcaster while I was listening attentively to my data, like a child watching a captivating Sherlock Holmes cartoon looking for clues, and I almost shouted: “Aha! I caught that!” when I heard it.</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Noor, the girl who performs in Gulf Arabic all the time revealed to be a speaker of a completely different dialect when she spoke to the broadcaster in a relaxed setting. Note that apparently, she knows many of the station's crew, including the broadcaster himself (I knew this because she calls them 'uncle', a polite form of address when addressing someone who's older than you in Arab culture, also because of their mentioning of previous events in which they have met in person). Noor actually speaks in a very Interior- Omani dialect, which is not close to Gulf Arabic at all. Ha! Why does she speak in an Omani variety when she is speaking casually and not performing, while she speaks utter Gulf Arabic when she performs? Why doesn't she say for instance, the more common Omani version of <i>yallah goolu waray</i> which is <i>yallah qoolu waray</i>? Is the [q] sound (uvular plosive) so hideous to the ear when spoken in non-Standard Arabic? Or is it just embarrassing to admit that we speak in a different way compared to the GCC? Are we peer pressured at all to speak like our Gulf neighbors? Obviously, the 6-year-old did not decide to speak Gulf Arabic because she understands the social meanings associated with it. Obviously she was instructed to do so by someone who works in the channel. Instructed. Unfortunately, they do not realize that she's being taught from a tender age to grow with linguistic insecurity because her dialect isn't favored; hence build a negative attitude towards the norms of her own speech. Even worse, she's taught from as early as 6 years old to fake an accent and to associate Gulf Arabic with media. It's more like an unwritten rule (actually I'm starting to think it's written) “Gulf Arabic speaks for Omani media”; especially for entertainment shows. I think Omani broadcasters working in FM stations who depend mainly on their voice to represent an Omani identity, should understand that it's okay to be different. There should be no urge to speak in Gulf Arabic and run away from reality while distancing themselves from the callers, just to sound like Arabian Gulf nationals. Why can't we be members of the GCC while still be unique? Do we have to be copies of each other to 'unite'?! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash2/187880_138124112919733_4248145_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash2/187880_138124112919733_4248145_n.jpg" /></a></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Before I drop my pen for today, I'd like to make it clear that I am not a prescriptive linguist who highly values one variety over others. In fact, in this activity specifically, I am very descriptive. I am just an observer of a phenomenon that for many years has led us Omanis, linguists and non linguists, to wonder why on earth is there a huge linguistic gap between what is really heard in Oman and what is heard in the Omani media?</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-22411526008754084542011-12-08T13:36:00.000-08:002011-12-08T13:52:11.975-08:00We are the world, we are the linguists! Linguists of the world stand united...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you think linguists are simply nerds living in the world of academia digging up books because they're mad about language, check this out; they have singing talents too! Not very catchy, but the lyrics are humorous and indeed speak the truth (although I'm not sure about the grammar part).</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you professors and students of linguistics in Budapest for coming up with this creative way to appreciate linguistics and linguists. Great performance! </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is dedicated to all linguists in the world :)</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DIol1_ktcP4" width="420"></iframe></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">There comes a time</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">When we heed a certain call,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">When linguists must come together as one. </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">There are people speaking,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">They bind and c-command;</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">It's grammar, the greatest gift of all.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We can't go on </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Pretending day by day</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">That we know our language works in the brain.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are all a part of </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">God's linguist family,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">And the truth, you know, grammar's all we need.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the world,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the linguists,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the ones who make a brighter day </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">By making theories.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">There's a choice we're making</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">By forming hypotheses </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">And we'll describe a language </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Just you and me. </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Send them a research group</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">So they'll know that someone cares </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">And their data will be thoroughly explored.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">God has shown us </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">By turning stone to bread </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">That even a linguist must be fed.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the world,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the linguists,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the ones who make a brighter day </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">By making theories.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">There's a choice we're making</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">By forming hypotheses </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">And we'll describe a language </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Just you and me. </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">When you're criticized </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">There seems no hope at all,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">But if you just believe </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">There's a usage-based approach.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Well, well, well, well, let us realize </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">That debates will always come </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Even though we stand together as one.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the world,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the linguists,</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We are the ones who make a brighter day </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">By making theories.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">There's a choice we're making</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">By forming hypotheses </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">And we'll describe a language </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Just you and me.</span></span></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-26454095386284246142011-12-06T07:46:00.000-08:002011-12-06T08:08:17.276-08:00Andaman Islands linguistic treasures, documented just before extinction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The BBC recently reported that <a href="http://www.andamanese.net/AnvitaAbbi.html" target="_blank">Professor Anvita Abbi</a> at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, managed to compile a dictionary of 4 endangered languages spoken in the Andaman Islands. Most parts of Andaman Islands politically belong to India, while a small part belongs to Myanmar. Although it only captures a small angle of language, dictionaries are a good way to document the lexis (vocabulary) of an endangered language. Apparently, Andaman Islands are one of the most linguistically diverse spots in the world although many of these languages are critically endangered according to the UNESCO website. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took Professor Abbi 6 years to compile the dictionary of the 4 endangered languages in the Island which are the <i>Bo</i>, <i>Khora</i>, <i>Jeru </i>and <i>Sare </i>languages. While working on her research, Bo and Khora became extinct. Bo, an ancient language of a culture that is more than 65,000 years old died with its <u><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/04/ancient-language-extinct-speaker-dies" target="_blank">last speaker</a></u> early in 2010. The rapid rate at which languages are dying is compelling enough to try and avoid such a loss in some of the minority languages spoken in Oman. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47244000/jpg/_47244342_anvita_abbi-with-boa_cut.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47244000/jpg/_47244342_anvita_abbi-with-boa_cut.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Professor Abbi with Boa Sr, the last speaker of the Bo language.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Professor Abbi’s words, "This was my way of documenting ancient and traditional knowledge as words are cultural, archaeological, and environmental signatures of a community” should be indeed a motivation so save the left signatures of the endangered languages in Oman. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The original article about Professor Abbi's great achievement can be accessed <u><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15754058" target="_blank">here</a></u>.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-91716731562687887472011-12-02T07:57:00.000-08:002011-12-02T08:06:39.462-08:00An innovative way to save an endangered language: Possible in Oman?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><i>Lakota</i> is an endangered language spoken in the United States and some parts of Canada by Native Americans who descend from the Sioux tribes. Lakota’s situation is not very different from Jabbali, since the former has around 6000 speakers left while the latter has around 5000. It is mostly the older generation who can speak Lakota fluently.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/En-chief-sitting-bull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/En-chief-sitting-bull.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">A Lakota chief 1885 (from Wikipedia)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">However, the good news is that in an effort to save Lakota from dying, the animated cartoon </span><i style="color: #660000;">The Berenstain Bears</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">, which for decades has been aired in various languages including Arabic, is now going to be aired in Lakota. </span><a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/09/17/the-berenstain-bears-now-speak-an-endangered-language/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">That's right, The Berenstain Bears are going to be speaking Lakota</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"> as part of a project that attempts to spread the language to the younger Sioux generation in order to preserve the language. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wiki-images.enotes.com/3/35/BerenstainBears.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><img border="0" src="http://wiki-images.enotes.com/3/35/BerenstainBears.JPG" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><i>The Berenstain Bears</i> was created in 1962</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">I think this approach to save a language is innovative. Instead of accepting the fact that the language is dying hence document it, record it, and observe it from the older generation while it’s at the verge of extinction, this project attempts to preserve the language not by saving it on paper, but by teaching it to little children, and therefore the possibility of having another generation that speaks the language. In other words, this project foresees the possibility of saving a language by giving children access to another source of input of the language, which is probably more interesting and captivating to them than a conversation with an old person in their family. Consequently, this can increase their chances of acquiring the language.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">This brilliant idea makes me wonder if such a project is possible to adopt in Oman. Knowing that a language which is more or less in a similar condition to Jabbali is getting a lot of attention and effort is a motivation. What makes it impossible in Oman?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">I leave you now with the Lokata Berenstain Bears trailer:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/2nMcWnSR3nQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-6586910351377844682011-11-30T15:01:00.000-08:002011-12-01T02:23:59.754-08:00Jabbali, an endangered language in Oman: is it worth a look before it’s gone?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The fact that the Jabbali language in the south of Oman is in danger of extinction cannot be denied. The younger generation do not have the same mastery of the language as their parents, who have even less command of it compared to their own parents. The UNESCO website lists Jabbali </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(which has a different spelling variation, ‘Jibbali’) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">as a 'severely endangered' language; and only about 5000 speakers are left.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’m not sure what is being done about the situation of Jabbali, but it certainly needs a more serious stand and a stronger push. If the critical situation of Jabbali continues to be ignored and overlooked, the language will actually extinct. Some might argue that language change is unavoidable in situations where there is another language dominating a society (in this case Arabic), however while this might be true, it does not mean that an endangered language should be left to die without documenting and recording it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Jabbali, just like any language is a treasure on its own. It gives you insights to the culture of its speakers, how they think and see things, how they do things and how they live their lives in general. It is a culture on its own and losing it would be a real cultural loss in Oman. The Jabbalis for instance, have a wide plant vocabulary due to their wide use of these products of nature in their daily lives. This suggests that they have a wide knowledge of herbal healing or medicating by plants. Documenting the language can save this knowledge which can lead to the development of plant science or botany. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let’s make the most of Jabbali while it struggles to survive.</span></div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-7466906667010957312011-11-19T16:52:00.000-08:002011-11-19T16:52:26.619-08:00Do Omani broadcasters suffer from linguistic insecurity?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">Every time I tune in the radio to a local Arabic FM channel and a music program is on, I stop to ask myself, are these broadcasters directing their speech to an Omani audience? Or are they directing it to a Gulf audience in general? As a listener of such programs (and away from being an objective linguist for a second) I would say that I find the use of ‘Khaleeji’ Arabic features in their speech radical, unrealistic and sometimes unfriendly. There is hardly any consideration for the language of the caller who is usually an Omani speaking a more ‘realistic’ variety of local Arabic that is more common in the country. It surprises me that it doesn’t seem to occur to the broadcaster that speaking in such a divergent way emphasises the distance between him/her and the caller; especially in music programs where the context is meant to be relaxed and informal. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">Many would argue that this is actually the way the broadcaster speaks and that it is far from artificial; or some might argue that it is a personal choice. Indeed both arguments could be true but when you listen to the vast majority of callers speaking in a different way and that they sound very similar to each other linguistically, while the broadcaster sounds very different, one can’t help but ask, what is it that motivates the broadcasters to continue distancing themselves from the language of the local public and choose to speak in Khaleeji Arabic? Is it because Omani dialects lack prestige? Are Omani dialects embarrassing? Is it because they have linguistic insecurity? Or is it because they look up to other Gulf countries and wish to be more similar to them? Should a broadcaster ignore the way most of his callers speak and continue to speak in the way s/he chooses? Is it really a matter of personal choice, or a deeper issue that goes beyond egocentrism? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">As I listen to the FM, I'll keep wondering why there is a big gap between the linguistic reality in Oman and the public face of it which is heard through the media.</span></div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-14363817935858538052011-11-16T15:51:00.000-08:002011-11-16T15:51:43.786-08:00علم اللغويات للجميع<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div align="right"><br />
</div><div align="right"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="AR-OM" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-OM; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">لقد اختصر علي مقال للكاتب وإخصائي اللغة بيغهام، رئيس تحرير مجلة مختصة بعلم اللغة الكثير مما اريد ان اقوله عن هذا العلم وسوء فهمه وعدم وضوحه لدى الكثيرين. اختصر علي المقال الكثير من الكلمات ، فهو يحكي واقع غاليبة من درسوا علم اللغويات. انه سوء الفهم لهذا العلم وقلة المعرفة به بل وعدم الدراية بوجوده في كثير من الاحيان! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ولا يجب ان يقع اللوم هنا على من لم يسمعوا بهذا العلم، بل على اصحاب الدراسة في رأي الكاتب الذين يجدر بهم نشر ما تعلموه بصورة اكبر وبالطريقة التي يستوعبها القارئ الغير متخصص بهذا العلم. ومما يزيد من حجم الفجوة بين المتخصصين بهذا العلم والغير متخصصين به هو عدم الاهتمام به كعلم في كثير من الدول ومنها (وبشكل كبير) الدول العربية. فلا يزال الكثيرون في هذه الدول يستصغرون العلوم الاجتماعية والانسانية.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="right"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="AR-OM" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-OM; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">يسأل الكاتب في حيرة عن سبب عدم ثقافة المجتمع في علم اللغة ويخشى ان يكون المتخصصين في هذا العلم السبب في ذلك لانهم لم يجتهدوا بالشكل الكافي لايصال محتوى هذا العلم ولو بشكل بسيط الى الفرد العادي في المجتمع. اي ان الكاتب يرى ان المختصون بعلم اللغة لم ينشروا هذا العلم الى القارئ الغير متخصص في اللغة كما ينبغي. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="right"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="AR-OM" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-OM; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">يشير الكاتب الى نقطة مهمة وملهمة جدا في نفس الوقت. يقول انه اذا كان بامكان علماء الفيزياء وعلم النفس من نشر الكثير من مفاهيم علومهم للقراء الغير مختصين في هذه المجالات بحيث تصل افاكرهم وحصيلة بحوثهم الى اي فرد في المجتمع، فلماذا لا يفعلون الاخصائيون اللغويون مثل ذلك؟ كانت هذه الفكرة المحركة للكاتب والتي شجعته على بدء مجلة عن علم اللغة التي تسعى لكاتبة مقالات عن احدث البحوث في هذا العلم وشتى مجالاته الفرعية. اي ان المجلة تكتب لغير المتخصصين في هذا المجال، بحيث تصل المعلومة بشكل مبسط وبعيد عن التعقيد لمن يود ان يتعلم عن هذا العلم بغير هدف الاختصاص. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="right"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="AR-OM" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-OM; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">اسعدني قراءة هذا المقال لانه بالفعل لا يكاد المتخصص بعلم اللغة ان يقول انه كذلك حتى تتبدل الوجوه الى علامات استفام كبيرة او سوء فهم حيث يظن الكثيرون ان علماء اللغة هم بالضرورة مدرسوا لغة انجليزية او مترجمون او قد درسوا الادب الانجليزي. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>لقد جاء الاوان لبذل جهد اكبر لاعلام الافراد في المجتمع وتثقيفهم اكثر عن هذا العلم الذي يسهم في فهم ما قد يكون من اقدم الظواهر البشرية، الا وهي اللغة والتي هي في تطور دائم. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="right"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-62160217287193781642011-08-23T18:19:00.000-07:002011-12-08T04:59:24.539-08:00Jabbali in Oman: reality through cartoon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">The Omani cartoon <i>Youm oo Youm</i> indirectly contributes to linguistics in Oman in several ways. First, it is an attempt to shed light on the linguistic situation in Oman. It tries to eradicate the negative stereotypes about the Omani dialect especially since it has been used for comedy effects in other Arabian Gulf cartoons such as <i>Shaabiyat Al Cartoon</i> or even an episode from <i>Freej</i>. Second, <i>Youm oo Youm </i>tries to show the diversity of the Omani society culturally and indeed linguistically. Third and perhaps most importantly, is the episode below which portrays a man's effort and enthusiasm to save the Jabbali language, which is critically endangered in Oman.</span><br />
In the episode, Mhaat (who is himself a Jabbali) faces endless difficulties when he requests opening a Jabbali Language Centre in Oman; he faces complications of legal procedures and eventually his request is rejected.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw7T0O2f28O8R2eXMbfEVmxzMxv7-nBToOkmuI0fPgMOHXOmk1TCCTnMxqpBH6XSVziOdlrlz27Am2_qAbC' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span lang="EN-GB"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">This episode brings hope yet presents a sad reality at the same time. On the positive side, it's a relief because it shows that some non-linguist Omanis do actually realise that their country’s linguistic treasures are in danger of extinction; which means that someone knows and cares. Yet the negative side makes the main theme of the episode; which is basically that in reality decision makers don't really care. It shows how Oman’s linguistic treasures are being ignored and are left on the verge of extinction because no one would support the enthusiastic man’s idea. No one sees in it a preservation of a culture. The irony is that at the end he receives a phone call from what seems to be a Western university that is interested in his project. It is indeed disappointing to see that while there is hardly an effort made to save Jabbali or other endangered languages in Oman, academics overseas seem to show concern and interest in the situation of Jabbali.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB">Until decision makers in Oman realise that saving languages is not “useless”</span> and is just as important as learning English or French, let’s hope that Jabbali hangs on.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-44101050846189045902011-07-28T06:30:00.000-07:002011-07-28T06:30:43.327-07:00Languages Spoken in Oman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This is probably not a very reliable source but it does the job of giving an overview of the kinds of languages that are spoken in Oman:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=OM">Languages in Oman</a><br />
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Some of these languages are dying and some are extremely endangered. Language is not just spoken or written words, it carries culture and identity and if it dies, then so does the culture with all its beauty. I hope something will be done to save these exotic languages!</div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-29978379986644646242011-07-26T16:32:00.000-07:002011-12-01T13:15:57.601-08:00Arabizi: Arabic-English Code-Switching<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">The following is from the documentary <i>Arabizi, </i>which was produced by MBC in 2005. The term 'Arabizi' is used informally to mean one of two linguistic phenomena: either Romanized and 'numeralized' written Arabic which is used in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), such as in this sentence '9aba7 el 5air'. Or, Arabizi could be used to refer to the <i>code-switching</i> between Arabic and English. Code-switching can be defined as "the use by a speaker of more than one language, dialect, or variety during a conversation" (Crystal, 1999: 60). This documentary mostly discusses the latter phenomenon. <br />
<br />
To be able to code-switch one needs to be at least bidialectal or bilingual. This documentary gives an interesting insight at how and when Arabic-English bilinguals code-switch and how it became part of their identity. Usually these individuals are exposed to the cultures of both the languages they use. Many would attack this linguistic/social behaviour and suggest that it is a threat to the Arabic language and identity. Many on the other hand, would say that it is a normal product of globalization. I leave the readers to judge for themselves.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-SotOp07Fig?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SotOp07Fig"></a><br />
<br />
</div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-5383728140140077412011-07-26T16:05:00.000-07:002011-07-26T16:05:23.026-07:00Social Sciences in Oman...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Version>12.00</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>AR-SA</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<span>“The Arts’ Stream is for those who choose the easy path” would say my mathematics teacher in high school. I was in the Science Stream not because I am more interested in science; on the contrary, I’ve always been more inclined towards Arts. But anyway, that’s beside the point. My point is: this kind of attitude about arts and social sciences in general is very common in Oman and indeed the Arab World. We are constantly told that the ‘big’ sciences like medicine, engineering, IT or even business is what helps a country to grow, develop and prosper.</span><br />
<span> </span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>To me these sciences are robotic. One plus one is two, got it? Very factual and hardly opinionated. Everything is proved. And if it’s not, then there’s something wrong. Everything has to be physically proved. Solid facts and answers… is that all we need to build a strong society?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>As a person who respects other disciplines, I have nothing against these so-called “big” sciences; in fact I support and like to see Omanis who are enthusiastic about them. My point is, while these sciences are indeed important, so are the social sciences like linguistics for example. The fact that social sciences don’t always prove things does not mean that they are useless. <span> </span>In fact, that’s even more difficult because you have to look for other explanations and argue about a point. This is also useful because you get to realize that there is more than one side to everything. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>The research culture in Oman is far from blooming. People are not used to being approached with a questionnaire or a request to be interviewed, let alone to record their voice to get some spoken data. What is worse is that while they have hardly heard about the field, they judge and question your research; especially if they studied something that is regarded as highly prestigious in the society (e.g. medicine, engineering). This is like a cat that goes to another animal and asks it “why aren’t you mewing?”… Well because not all animals mew; just like not all fields do research using the same tools and methods of a doctor or an engineer. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My request is to give social sciences a chance. I know a linguist who studied the language between doctors and patients for years. He came to a conclusion that helped the patients make the most of their visits to their doctors, in the sense that they could have all their questions answered. In other words, he came up with solutions to improve the communication between doctor and patient; which in return results in a better patient-doctor consultation. Tell me that it’s not useful to society. Tell me anyone could have done that; of course not. It takes a discourse/conversation analyst to read between the lines of conversation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>I am not going to list the ways in which linguistics is useful. I will just quote the American linguistic anthropologist Benjamin Lee Whorf: <span> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.</span>” Language is one of many phenomena that we have taken for granted. </span></div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205273131431856620.post-56986686264529039502011-06-24T12:14:00.000-07:002011-06-24T12:14:19.337-07:00Linguistics in Oman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Version>12.00</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>AR-SA</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span> Linguistics. That neglected science in Oman. That forgotten science that could reveal cultural treasures It is so neglected in Oman (and the Arab World generally) that people don’t actually know what it is. But they’re not the ones to be blamed; I too, was one of them one day. It’s tempting to blame the other ‘giant’ sciences and fields like medicine, engineering, business and IT. After all, they are the most “needed” sciences for a nation to be modernized and to catch up with the rest of the world. I agree to some extent, but do take a minute and get to know linguistics, I’m sure it’ll open its arms to<span> </span>you , because every language user is a rich source of data for the field! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>People often confuse linguistics with three other fields: English Language Teaching (ELT), translation or English literature. When I hear this, I usually take the time to explain that linguistics is not any of these. And people generally feel surprised that such a science exists and they feel even more surprised that they didn’t know it before. Linguistics is the one science that studies a phenomenon that most able people take for granted: language! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Roughly speaking applied linguistics has 6 subfields which branch out into more subfields:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Phonology:<span> </span>studies the sounds of language. Ever wondered why European can’t pronounce some Arabic sounds? It’s because they don’t realize that sound in their phonological inventory. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Syntax:<span> </span>concerned with the structure of language.<span> </span>You need to know enough grammar to work with this one. It is in fact like the mathematics of language. It deals with constructing sentences using grammatical units as building blocks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Discourse: studies language in context. What that specific utterances mean in that specific context. It looks at conversation as a structured, non-random activity. How is it that people are able to know when to talk and when to stop? What do interruptions mean? What do silences mean? How significant is laughter in a conversation? It explains these things through a system, a system that has an order.<span> </span>Written language is also studied in discourse (although my impression is that the spoken language has been given more attention). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Psycholinguistics: studies how children acquire and develop language. It also studies how second language learners learn another language. What are the mental and psychological stages involved in this process? How do they learn to construct sentences? Is there any influence from their first language? <span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Sociolinguistics: deals with language and society. Do men and women speak the same? Do old and young people speak differently? It looks at social categories like gender, age, religion, ethnicity, race, education, social class, etc. and explains language use in relation to them. It is also concerned with language change, bilingualism and multilingualism, and language and identity. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Semantics: the study of meaning. It studies the different connotations of a words. It also studies the relation between words and symbols.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>There are many more branches of linguistics and this is just to give a snapshot. But to name a few:<span> </span>pragmatics, etymology, philology, historical linguistics, lexicography, evolution linguistics, and the list does not stop here. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Oman is linguistically diverse and heterogeneous. Ancient languages are spoken in Oman until today, yet they are in danger of extinction. These languages are hardly documented. Think of the cultural loss that would be lost if they are not documented and just extinct instead. Language is not simply a tool for communication nor is it just sound traveling in the air. Language tells a lot about who you are, tells a lot about the society in which it is spoken, their culture, history, present, future aspirations and politics. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>This is an informal description of linguistics and I’m not trying to market the science or claim that it is the best thing that happened to humankind. I am sharing my interest and hope to spread understanding of this ever neglected science in Oman. This blog is dedicated to linguistics and linguistically curious readers; especially in the Omani context. It’s time for linguistics to contribute to Oman just like the other flowering sciences are . It’s time for linguistics to show its face and find its place in Oman.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>Omani Linguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265841226324938575noreply@blogger.com1