QUOTE OF THE DAY

From my husband the following classic:

My Omani Prince, aka MOP: "Sometimes, my English, it suck."

BTW, the picture on this post is random and had NOTHING to do with the quote of the day. I just like to post with pictures.

Omani Word of the Day: Cat

The Omani word of the day (differing from the Arabic kit-ta) is "se-nora" for "cat". Like the spanish word for lady, but pronounced SLIGHLY differently on the first syllable.

"Seh-noor-ah"

Omani Arabic Phrases: Are we laughing?

"Moo3yani NDhack?"

Actually the first sentance I was ever taught. I often say it wrong because there is a gutteral "aiyn" [sound non-existant in English] softly eununciated in the middle of the word. It is "moo" [like a cow] "aiyn" [like the arabic] "Yaa-nee" and then "nuh-duh-hak" [Arabic word for laugh].

It means, "should we laugh now?" Kind of the Omani equivelant of sarcasm, and is a very old Omani word which makes people scrunch up their faces at me, and Omani girls giggle, "where did you learn THAT????!!!!" Yes, thank you K for making people laugh at me, always.;)

Apparently Princess and BL were to say it whenever any of their old shebab were to make a joke or to say something silly that the guys thought was funny.

I honestly don't know if it is rude or not [cuz I never know with K] , but seems to make people smile, so I guess from a Westerner using it, it is not.

Omani Arabic: Word of the Day

Today I was in a line for my visa (as per usual as Oman's longest running tourist) and the wait was soooooooooooooooooo inexplicably booooooooooooooring.

This feeling of banality that anihilites the mind and senses has a special vocab word here in Oman. It is called "kroob".

My day was "kroob". Waiting to get anything done at a hospital or ministry is "kroob".

Opposite? "Shattr". This is like, "cool" or "slammin'".

Arabic Phrases: MashaAllah

"Mashallah" is an Arabic word that litterally means "thank Allah/praise Allah".

Its cultural meaning in Oman?

It is Arabic for "I love that-but don't give it the "evil eye"" lol.

When you see something beautiful you say it, to show people you aren't jealous of them or that if you are, lol, it is jealousy in a good way, where you wish more for yourself, but that they keep and increase what they have.

Islamic meaning: It means you are aware that everything comes from Allah, that Allah can give and take at any time, so what blessings one or others is/are given, one should be thankful for.

Omani Shopping Phrases

If you want to point at something and pick it up and ask what it is worth say: "Kam hatha?"

Make sure you know your Arabic numbers!

If it is too expensive say: "wagid galy!" (or you can say "wajid galy", same same).

Quote of the day, via text message

Now, dear readers, do not be alarmed, the following was sent via text message, from a dear Omani friend (or two, or four, who ALL spell the same way):

from M to OPNO: I miss ur cocking.

from other M OPNO: What did you cock today?

from R to OPNO: what did u cock for ur frends?

Oh, oh dear lol. It seems it is THE common way to spell "cook" in Oman since more than 5 people have made the same error. Now dear Omani readers, this is as funny to English readers, as me saying I like to eat "cous cous" meaning the Moroccan dish, and "crackers" meaning the saltine Biscuits, to you.

When Love Gives You WORMS

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, lol, :XD, the most romantic text message ever from an Omani husband to his British wife:

Honey, I miss ur worm hug.

He meant, "I miss your 'warm' hug."

OPNO and BritWife laugh together @ romantic spellings on text messages.

Omani Arabic-for my girl in Jordan- part 1

Oman can be grouped into different language regions with different accents. I find it fun to guess where people are from based on their clothing and accents. I love anthropology! [The map above is of the regions in Oman].

Muscati is different from the dialects near the UAE border, and the interior dialects are different from these, and the Eastern Coastal dialects are distinct, and then the Southern dialects are very similar to Yemeni except the mountain dialects which are very unique.

The sedentary dialect of Oman proper sounds closest to the dialect of Qatif and the Bahraini Shi'a (according to Kees Versteegh), while the bedouin dialect is basically the same as the speech of the bedouins of the UAE and southeastern Saudi Arabia (a sort of bedouin-Gulf hybrid, where ج is prononced ي). Southern Oman can be grouped as very similar to Southern Yemen (7adhramaut), including pronouncing جـ as [g] .

In Muscat:
The future tense formation (Gulf: with ba-; Yemen: with sha-; Oman: ba)
The present continuous (Gulf: null or with gaa3ed; Yemen: ?; Oman: null)
Interrogation (Gulf: wish(shu), shino, shu, etc.; Yemen: maa; Oman: muu [muu is interior], as well as Waish. [*In Muscat they say aish, near the UAE border they say shu*]

In Muscat jeem is geem but the qaaf is correct.

In UAE border dialects qaaf is gaaf. So Qu'ran would Guran.

One distinct feature of most Omani dialects is the feminine -ish instead of Khaleeji -ich. This is a feature shared with Yemenis. Also, kaafs don't change, as in Khaleeji i.e. tomorrow is baakar, not baachar. Also, about the phonology: Omanis use long Khaleeji vowels, and also their 'ain and Ha are very hard sounding compared to that of non-Khaleejis.

Omani dialects also have a lot of Hindustani and Farsi lexicon.

One rather extensive linguistic volume on the subject states "The modern Arabic dialects of Oman form a structurally coherent group, distinguishable from those of the Gulf littoral on the one hand, and central Arabia on the other. None the less, Omani dialects can still be clearly sub-divided into two basic types: 'sedentary' (S) and 'bedouin' (B). "There is also, according to EI2, "a 'mixed' dialect which has both S and B elements," for example, in the coastal towns of the Bāṭina region (this, as the article states, includes the speech of Muscat). The article also says that the S dialects in many ways closely resemble "those of other ancient sedentary groups living on the periphery of the peninsula (Hadhramawt and Dathīna ... the Shi'i Baḥārna of eastern Arabia)."

Also, because of the grande cultural mix here in Oman, both regional aaaaaand (add in the Irani, Baluchi, Tanzanian, Portuguese, and Hindu mixes in Oman's history), Omanis use some different words than the standard Arabic and it can be funny to the student of only-a-little-arabic to notice the difference. You'll see a bit of hindi and swahili thrown in, as well as some Bedu:)

Straight ahead: English

Alatool: Arabic

Ceda: Omani Arabic

How are you?: English

Kayf al haal?: Arabic

Chef barak!: Omani Arabic

Cat: English

KitTa: Arabic

Senora: Omani Arabic

What: English
Ma: Arabic
Waish: Omani Arabic (or shu near UAE, and mu near Salalah)


I don't understand: English
La afham: arabic
Ma a'rif: Omani Arabic


No problem: English
La mushkila: Arabic
Ma mushkila: Omani Arabic

What I lost in Translation, is my ability to speak English

When I am typing text messages I have started to writing like my Omani friends. It drives my English-speaking friends insane lol. Somewhere in the middle of translating Omani-English messages, I started thinking in the same bad grammer and spelling he he he. Some commen examples that I shall translate for ya'll:

Is it warmth there?

This mean "is it warm there?"

u ali the time make me to lugh

This means I am very funny and "all the time" make my friends "laugh"

i will tray

"I will try"

take it esay, whay yeh need it

"Take it easy, why do you need it?"

no, i am not eat

"no, I haven't eaten."

till me

"Tell me."

Is besaid me

"He's beside me"

sorry i wake up u?

"sorry, did I wake you up?"

Am tootley taird

"I am totally tired."

I had thies falling...

"I had this feeling"