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Salam all you Qadirans...
I noticed a few of you with Al- something for last names. Just to clear up any confusion, I thought I'd help with some pronunciation guidelines since I am semi-experienced in Arabic.
When written in Arabic, any word with Al- (referring to the article "the") in the word is written as Al-Shams (the sun). For example, if I was just transposing the letters from the Arabic to the english, Al-Shams would be written Al-Shms (Vowels are sometimes used as accents on consonants and are not present as a letter. In this case, the vowel for a short "A" sound like in cat would be an accent over the letter for "sh".)
That being the case, when pronounced, depending on the letter immediately following the Al-, the word is either pronounced Al-Something or As-Something.
For example, I've taken the liberty of using some members names here:
Samir Al Sa'eed - It would be written in text as it is displayed here. It would be pronounced like: Sameer As-sa'eed
Alia Al-Asraam - It would be written and pronounced the same since there is a vowel after the Al-.
Tabriq al-Tajeeri - It would be written in text as displayed here. It would be pronounced Tabreeq at-tajeeree.
Tarik Al Mansur - It would be written and pronounced the same.
What's the rule regarding what consonants get "doubled" in pronunciation and which don't? Here's a guide...
"Sun Letters" are those letters which double their sound with the article Al-. They're called Sun Letters because the word for sun, as translated above is "Shams" and "Shams" doubles the sh sound.
"Moon Letters" are those which do not double their sound.
Sun Letters: J, T, Th, D, Dh, R, Z, S, Sh, L, N
Moon Letters: A, B, J/G, H, Kh, Ayn (unique sound), Gh, F, K, M, W, Y
Hope that helps!
BTW, my son is named Samir. It means "beloved companion".
You vould be finding my name to your liking den.
I went with this name because it sounded Arabic. I already knew that "ibn" is "son of", so I guess I'm good on that mark, but after doing research, I'm almost sure that "Kawil" isn't even Arabic, and "Sahn" means "courtyard".
"Son of a courtyard". Sounds like a weird insult.
I overlook that stuff. It's a fantasy game, so I just wanted to point out some pronunciation rules if players wanted to follow the Arabic "rules". They certainly don't have to and your name sounds Arabic even if they aren't real words.
Now I'm wondering what (if anything) my totally made-up name means. :)
Khalil - friend
Mahmoud - praiseworthyMatruh - town in Northwest Egypt, using Al- could mean you're from a town called Matruh
Another little tidbit about Arabic Names...
For both boys and girls, your middle name is always your father's first name, which may sound weird to Westerners. Imagine a girl named: Marsha Barry Johnson.
In usage, your last name is almost never used except in official documents and whenever you want to say you're whole name. It's much more common to introduce yourself casually with your first name and middle name.
For example, in public school in Egypt, your last name is only used on the first day of class, after that it's always first name + middle name.
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Now I'm wondering what (if anything) my totally made-up name means. :)Khalil - friend
Mahmoud - praiseworthy
Matruh - town in Northwest Egypt, using Al- could mean you're from a town called Matruh
Hehe thanks! I did actually know the al- part, so I should clarify that part wasn't 100% made up. I am a WW2 nut, and Matruh was where Rommel won one of his more audacious battles against the British 8th Army.
The Khalil Mahmoud though, those were just picked because they sounded Arabic...turns out those were outstanding choices, as he is a cleric of their beloved All...er I mean Sarenrae. :)
Salam all you Qadirans...
Okay, yeah, this is fascinating and super helpful! Thanks for the primer V!
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Salaam Vector. Thank you for this pronunciation guide. It is very helpful.
I know very little about the Muslim world. And in my ignorance I hope that I am not offending anyone
I have just created a Keshite cleric of Sarenrae from Katheer in Quaddira. I have named the character
Iman Gabriel Al Katheer.
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I think the name means, “priest Gabriel of Katheer.”
I am still working on the character background.
Major thanks veector! The naming info is certainly going to come in handy.
edit-There's a priest of Abadar somewhere in the Campaign Setting named al-Abadar I think. I need to try and find that again.
Seems you guys are really enjoying this, so here's some more stuff if you're interested...
Usually adding the suffix -i to the end of place names gives the indication that whatever noun preceded that place name "belongs" to that place. For example:
Egypt, in Arabic is called Al-Misr in proper Arabic (or Al-Masr if you use the Egyptian pronunciation)
To create a last name signifying you're Egyptian, you can give a name such as Samir Al-Masri (literally Samir, The Egyptian)
Other examples:
Al-Qadiri (from Qadira)
Al-Katheeri (from Katheer)
Al-Gurati (from Gurat)
etc
Salaam Vector. Thank you for this pronunciation guide. It is very helpful.
I know very little about the Muslim world. And in my ignorance I hope that I am not offending anyone
I have just created a Keshite cleric of Sarenrae from Katheer in Quaddira. I have named the character
Iman Gabriel Al Katheer.
.
I think the name means, “priest Gabriel of Katheer.”I am still working on the character background.
I think the only name to avoid if you want to avoid offending Muslims is using the name Mohammed in any part of a character's name.
Muslims across the globe have named their sons Mohammed out of love for the prophet. I wouldn't want anyone to inadvertently offend someone.
Now a lot has been said about how many Muslims overreact with regard to this, let me explain a little.
With regard to the Danish newspaper incident, Danish newspapers were trying to prove a point in their belief in free speech above all. However, even in this country (USA) we don't tolerate hate speech. To Muslims, no matter the intent, ANY depictions of the prophet shows disrepect for him and is hateful to Muslims. Why? Because Muslims believe that Mohammed's whole mission was not to glorify himself. Is this changing the definition of what is hate-speech to be defined by the audience and community definitions, yes. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know.
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Salaam Vector. Thank you for this pronunciation guide. It is very helpful.
I know very little about the Muslim world. And in my ignorance I hope that I am not offending anyone
I have just created a Keshite cleric of Sarenrae from Katheer in Quaddira. I have named the character
Iman Gabriel Al Katheer.
.
I think the name means, “priest Gabriel of Katheer.”I am still working on the character background.
I think the only name to avoid if you want to avoid offending Muslims is using the name Mohammed in any part of a character's name.
Muslims across the globe have named their sons Mohammed out of love for the prophet. I wouldn't want anyone to inadvertently offend someone.
Now a lot has been said about how many Muslims overreact with regard to this, let me explain a little.
With regard to the Danish newspaper incident, Danish newspapers were trying to prove a point in their belief in free speech above all. However, even in this country (USA) we don't tolerate hate speech. To Muslims, no matter the intent, ANY depictions of the prophet shows disrepect for him and is hateful to Muslims. Why? Because Muslims believe that Mohammed's whole mission was not to glorify himself. Is this changing the definition of what is hate-speech to be defined by the audience and community definitions, yes. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know.
Vector Thank you for taking the time to answer my post. I suppose I should change the Al Katheer to AL Katheeri. I picked the name Gabriel for the cleric because the Archangel figures prominently in both the Christian traditions, and I believe the Muslim tradition. I seem to remember reading somewhere Gabriel dictated the Koran to Mohammed.
As for the Danish Newspaper incident, I am not sure quite what to make of it. In real life I am a photographer. My work has taken me all over the place. Some of my most memorable jobs have been working for a Student Exchange organization called the Experiment in International Living. Through them I had the opportunity and privilege of living with families in Spain Peru, China, India and New Zealand. I have also worked in Brazil Africa and Europe.
There were two universal things I found in my experiences living with families, which cut across cultures and creeds, weather Maoist Catholic Hindi or Mauri. All of them preferably would rather trade with their neighbor then fight with them. And more importantly, they all wanted to make a better life, and create a better world for their children.
I have not yet been anywhere in the Muslim world. From Morocco to Indonesia, from Turkmenistan to the Sudan, it is all a blank slate to me. Also I have had no personal experience with Muslims. So I have little or no understanding of their culture and worldview. My only exposure unfortunately has been through the lens of western media. From my own experience I know the lens of western media often distorts things and boils a complicated multifaceted situation to an us or them proposition. The world I find is a little more complicated.
From my very limited perspective, the Danish Newspaper incident seemed to be a bit of a tempest in a teapot. I am guessing those in the west were able to say, see they cannot control their religious zealotry; see how it drives them into a frenzy. I am also guessing in the Middle East people were saying, see how they are actively trying to defile and undermine what we hold sacred? Doesn’t that make you angry?
Well anyways enough of my prattling about politics. I just wanted to make sure the character I was creating had a little exotic flair and that the name I was choosing, was not being disrespectful. Thank you.
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I did some glossary research for the Arabian-style adventures I was (am) planning. (I make no guarantee about the correctness/accuracy of these, I'm not an Arabic speaker.) HTH.
ARABIC TERMS
1 -- wahit/wahed
2 -- ithnan/thinien/ethnien
3 -- thalatha
4 -- arbaa
5 -- khamsa
6 -- sitta
7 -- sabaa
8 -- thamaniya/thamanya
9 -- tisaa
10 -- ashra
100 -- meya
1000 -- alf
And -- wa/whe
Bathroom -- hamam/hammam
Bed -- sarier
Big -- kebir/kabier, kebirah
Bigger -- akbar
Black -- aswad
Blue -- azrak/asrag
Bread -- khubz
Breakfast -- iftar
Brother -- akh
Brown -- jauzi
Chicken -- dajaaj
City -- medina
Coffee -- kahwa
Cold -- barid/bard, baridah
Compassionate -- rahim
Creator -- khalik
Daughter -- bint
Day -- yom/youm
Dinner -- ashaa
Engineer -- mohandis
Faithful -- mu'min
Father -- ab
Fire -- nar
Fish -- samak
Gate -- bab
Glory -- baha
God -- allah
Gold (metal) -- dahab
Grandfather -- jadd
Grandmother -- jaddah
Green -- akhdar
Grey -- ramadi
He -- huwwa
Hidden/Occult -- batin
Holy -- kuddus
Hot -- harr
Iron -- hadid
King -- malik
Law/Laws -- amr/amar/amara
Library -- maktaba
Light -- nur
Lunch -- gadaa
Market -- suq
Master -- maliq/maliqa
Meat -- lahma
Merciful -- rahman
Mighty -- aziz
Milk -- haleeb
Month -- shahr
Mother -- umm
Museum -- matihaf
No -- la
Ocean -- mohit
Onion -- basal
Orange (color) -- burdukali
Peace -- salaam, salam
Purple -- urjuwani
Red -- ahmar
River -- nahr
School -- madrassa
Servant/Slave -- abd
Servant Of -- abd'ul
She -- hiyya
Silk -- harir
Silver (metal) -- fadda
Sister -- akht
Sleep -- noum
Small -- sagheer, sagheerah
Smaller -- asghar
Son -- ibn
Steward -- kalif/kalifah
Student -- talib, talibah
Summer -- Al Sa'if
Tea -- shaay
Tent -- beit shaar (house of hair)
They -- humma
Today -- al youm
Tourist -- sa'ih, sa'iha
Valley -- wadi
Vegetables -- khudra
Violet -- banafsaji
Water -- ma'a
Week -- usbuu'
White -- abyad
Yellow -- asfar
Yes -- na'am
You -- inta, inti, intu
ARABIC WORDS IN ENGLISH USAGE
Admiral
Adobe
Alchemy
Alfalfa
Algebra
Alkali
Amber
Apricot
Arsenal
Artichoke
Bard (as in barding, not minstrel)
Bronze
Candy
Coffee
Cotton
Crimson
Elixir
Ghoul
Giraffe
Guitar
Harem
Hazard
Jar
Jasmine
Lemon
Lilac
Lime
Lute
Magazine
Mattress
Mummy
Orange (fruit)
Sash
Satin
Scarlet
Sequin
Sherbet
Soda
Sofa
Spinach
Sugar
Summit
Syrup
Talisman
Tariff
Zero