Vanishing voices = vanishing knowledge

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:

“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?” (Rymer,NationalGeographic Magazine, July 2012).

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.

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”.

Kumar decides to sing in Arabic ...

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).

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. Notice 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.

Labourers in the Gulf (from Alriyadh )

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 blog post about pidgins I mentioned Kumar, the Indian worker who wrote a poem in Gulf pidgin. 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.

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 Gulf News. 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.

Having a song in Gulf pidgin means that the attitudes toward this language are likely to change. It could take long, but if Kumar gets more creative people will start to accept him eventually. Media is a powerful tool and this song portrays a labourer away from his 'typical' appearance but 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?

When Arabic Marries Greek: Cypriot Maronite Arabic

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 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 previous blog post about pidgins which is based on a hierarchical relationship between master and slave/servant. Here, I mean a less hierarchical relationship between members of both communities.

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 Maronite community in Cyprus who migrated from Lebanon during the 1100s. Only about 1300 speakers of CMA remain today mostly in the village of Kormakiti.

Tsiapera (1964) 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.

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, here.

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. 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.

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. A portray of a truly beautiful linguistic mosaic.

أنا مافي معلوم كلام واجد عربي

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 pidgin 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'. 

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.

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^th - 19^th 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.

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.

Some parts of the world where pidgins and creoles are spoken (from: APiCS) 

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 creoles. There are countries that recognise creoles as official languages such as Haiti and Papua New Guinea, which have Haitian Creole and Tok Pisin, respectively, as one of their official languages.

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.

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. 

Many Arabic 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. I don't see that it's a threat for the simple reason 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. 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. 

Gulf Arabic in Omani FM stations: Who said anything about having a fake accent?!

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. 

GCC map.

Before I go into what I found, let me just briefly explain the situation in Oman. Oman is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which includes six Arab states: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman. If you check the foundations and objectives 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 ghutra and iqal as their headdress, except Omanis who dress in kuma or mssar (turban) instead. 

The different headdresses in Oman and the GCC.

Omani headdresses. Left: man has a kuma on. Right : man has a  msar (turban) on his head.

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 Gulf Arabic, 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.

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 yallah goolu waray ('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.

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 yallah goolu waray which is yallah qoolu waray? 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'?!  

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?

We are the world, we are the linguists! Linguists of the world stand united...

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).

Thank you professors and students of linguistics in Budapest for coming up with this creative way to appreciate linguistics and linguists. Great performance! 

This is dedicated to all linguists in the world :)

There comes a time
When we heed a certain call,
When linguists must come together as one. 
There are people speaking,
They bind and c-command;
It's grammar, the greatest gift of all.

We can't go on 
Pretending day by day
That we know our language works in the brain.
We are all a part of 
God's linguist family,
And the truth, you know, grammar's all we need.

We are the world,
We are the linguists,
We are the ones who make a brighter day 
By making theories.
There's a choice we're making
By forming hypotheses 
And we'll describe a language 
Just you and me. 

Send them a research group
So they'll know that someone cares 
And their data will be thoroughly explored.
God has shown us 
By turning stone to bread 
That even a linguist must be fed.

We are the world,
We are the linguists,
We are the ones who make a brighter day 
By making theories.
There's a choice we're making
By forming hypotheses 
And we'll describe a language 
Just you and me. 

When you're criticized 
There seems no hope at all,
But if you just believe 
There's a usage-based approach.
Well, well, well, well, let us realize 
That debates will always come 
Even though we stand together as one.

We are the world,
We are the linguists,
We are the ones who make a brighter day 
By making theories.
There's a choice we're making
By forming hypotheses 
And we'll describe a language 
Just you and me.

Andaman Islands linguistic treasures, documented just before extinction

The BBC recently reported that Professor Anvita Abbi 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. 

It took Professor Abbi 6 years to compile the dictionary of the 4 endangered languages in the Island which are the Bo, Khora, Jeru and Sare 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 last speaker 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. 

Professor Abbi with Boa Sr, the last speaker of the Bo language.

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. 

The original article about Professor Abbi's great achievement can be accessed here.