Susan Wicht

Alumna Teachers College Columbia University. Faith in all things multilingual.

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa نعم أقول شاف وباوع. وأشكرك على كل مثابراتك الحلوي. دايم وموفق أستاذ.

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@mardaka_ @pharyngealschwa I didn’t know that!

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa I can’t say I do. But it reminds me; have you come across چابُكْلي چابُكْلَك (and vice versa)? Used simultaneously to describe moving precariously, tentatively (feminine and masculine), and moving with a swagger (mostly feminine, clicking her heels).

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa Oh yes absolutely! All straight out of
my grandmother’s lexicon. I believe چايخانة may still be somewhat “whimsically” used by today’s younger generation.

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa I remember another خانة portmanteau: عَبَّة خانة meaning (I think) a petrol-filling station. Those terms would have been remnants of Ottoman loan words that my grandmother’s generation (b 1890-1900) used.

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa That was a type of wrestling, I think. I only ever recall my grandmother saying it, though unsure if she was referring to boxing or bodybuilding! The portmanteau زورخانة combines زور (force) and خانة (place). Another example using خانة is مايخانة / مَيْخانة (bar/watering hole).

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa Exactly. گرايب refers to relative or relatives, but further than 1st degree, eg: سعد يصيغ گرايب ليث (Saad is a relative of Laith). And then you have قغيب and قغيبي (not as an adjective of place “near”, but as a noun) to depict godfather and godmother. Go figure!

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa You guessed right my friend. 👏

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa Spot on! 🙏

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa لا هايي البنت أنجغ عبالة قيعدي بپاريس 🤣

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa لا ماغفة لهايي. 🙁

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa هماتين was mostly used in MB.

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa and همّاتَين وهَمَّينة

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa صَدِّقني كثيغ مشتاقِتلَك.

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa Echoing you 💯 my friend! عاش مِن شافك عزيزي.

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa Any time you want!!

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa I think so but I’m not 100% sure.

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa I wonder if the Arabic word بَلاء (calamity, disaster in MSA) or بَلْوِي (Baghdadi Christian dialect) are related to ابيل?

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa Correction: da-quilki (addresses female).

[Susan Wicht @SusanWicht]

@pharyngealschwa Very much so, da-qillek / da-quilku conveys “Here! Listen up.” Can express jest as much as seriousness (depending upon tone), with a touch of “this stays between you and me and the gatepost”. Thank you for your thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining linguistic gems!