Hatha el order June 14, 2009
Posted by jewaira in Kuwait, Life, Lifestyle, Opinion.trackback
For a while now I have been struck by an extremely annoying trend and that is the peppering of our Kuwaiti dialect with English words in a completely unnecessary manner. You either speak English or Arabic.
It bothers me that this style has invaded the media as well, in both radio and television stations.
You may not be aware of it but this way of speaking is definitely a severe sign of a cultural invasion far worse than those fast food franchises that have already turned the new Kuwaiti generation into Super Size addicts.
Watching one Kuwaiti program now with several interviews, I heard at least the following English words in all of them. Why? I am sure we have equivalent Arabic words for all of these.
Here are examples of English words used in an Arabic interview:
designati (my designs)
by the way (said in between two phrases in Arabic)
mu el over (a mix)
el fashion
fashionable accessories
customizing
samples
bracelets
necklace
Asawi laha customize (another mix)
I customize ay lown (colour)
Summer
Purple
Orange
Charms
Crystals
Hatholi my favourite
cupcakes
el cookies
flavours
el basket
order
You get the picture.
Banat w bas?
Eeeee
hatha el program
Purist ?
Not purist
but the Arabic language sounds so much more beautiful when it is spoken purely and intelligently
Jewaira, the American language is such a mixture of languages, who knows where purity lies? I like the fact that our language is such a mixture of languages. Americans are a mixed-race people with a mixed language.
Languages evolve and I am not against that at all. But substituting words from another language for no reason at all seems pointless
The Indian subcontinent was a British colony from 1858 to 1947. It is therefore common to see Indians who are not only multi-lingual but also those who use English words in their everyday conversation.
Are Kuwaitis being colonized unawares by Globalization?
The Internet is helping all of us to learn and use other languages, and that is a very positive and hopeful change. As we all learn each other’s languages, we are more accepting of each other. Eventually, perhaps there will be a great melting pot of languages, with everyone mixing up languages as they talk. I love that image. Some mixed-language kids already do that. Often I hear adults do that here in America, and I love it.
Oh dear
Am I sounding quite xenophobic now?
I guess with the usage of english in our everyday life people have started thinking in english instead of arabic which resulted in them blurting out all those english words.. sometimes it comes by default..
if few words in english are bothering you, how about a whole genration who speaks english more than arabic in all situations..!!
visit bahrain, were a friend just cried coz the police man who stopped her for speeding didn’t understand her broken arabish..!!
that is sad
and something not uncommon nowadays in the Gulf.
I mean, imagine being American born to English speaking American parents (who speak fluent English but not with you) and not being able to speak English because your parents sent you to an Arabic school in the US and only spoke Arabic to you?
That is how it is with some of us
languages evolve over time and continue to do so as long as they are widely spoken Arabic and English both have that privilege and this change should be embraced as English does every year the oxford dictionary is reviewed and new words are added. That does not effect the purity of the language but only increase the number of speakers. I agree that it is only now in history that there are so many people who are part of two cultures and that makes us loose our culture but maybe this merging of cultures is the new cultural identity
Hello Scaliper
Am not against change but one should take pride in one’s origins
Well, all languages evolve over time, and borrow words from one another. English has, over time, absorbed words from Latin, French, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi and quite a few others. In many cases, current speakers will not be aware of the etymology.
The French are particularly worried that their language will become increasingly ‘polluted’ with Franglais expressions, to the point where the Academie Francaise spends a huge proportion of their time trying to invent new words for the language to replace English equivalents in common use.
One of my favourite examples of linguistic cross-pollination was seen on the Autoroute through Bilbao. Road signs in the Basque country are generally bilingual in Castillan and Euskadi (or Basque). Euskadi is totally unrelated to any other language family found in Europe, and restricted to a small geographical area since before Carthaginian times. Yet the road sign said, in Euskadi “Technologie parkie”…
Sometimes it is best to borrow indeed.
Hmmmmm, well Spanish is the biggest growing language in the world, yet English is most universaly used, yet Arabic for me sounds beautiful on the ear, yeah you should hold onto that and keep it being the prominent language for you guys of course, but as English and US business probes into new avenues then you’ll be influenced by it more!
It is a shame as languages give people their purpose in life and keep them grounded with their heritage, this is of the upmost importance!
It also help’s you guys get more involved and understanding another society and vice versa!
People always fear change, but change helps development!
I do believe that language influences one’s identity and affiliation with one’s culture which is why it is interesting for me now to observe the changes in language use for Kuwaitis in particular.
I am a supporter of learning more than one language and knowing how to use English is mandatory at this time in history and perhaps a third language if one become ambitious.
However, it is one thing to speak another language fluently and another to speak utter hodge podge.
It sounds more educated and refined to use a language properly especially in the media and in interviews.
Imagine if a British person spoke broken English or peppered their speech with words from a foreign language. How seriously would you take them?
That is what I am saying. I am not against assimilation of foreign words into one’s language over time or the borrowing of words from another language for lack of a appropriate terminology in one’s own