How Languages Represent their Respective Cultures

Greeeeeeeeetings to my beloved readers!

I have a beautiful fascination for languages. I think most people I know have said the same thing. Sadly, though, while I know or am studying several different languages, I know only two different scripts: Pashto, Urdu, Persian, Arabic = Arabic script; English, Spanish, and French = "English" script. (No, I'm currently not studying French, but I will be picking it back up soon, ka khairee.) This is why I look forward to learning Hebrew, Hindi/Sanskrit, and Japanese. Maybe Chinese as well, but we shall see, ka khairee.

Anyway, so my Arabic teacher wasn't able to make it to our first class due to some unjust circumstances, and so we had a substitute. The substitute, as much as everyone feared him, turned out to be this amazing and pleasant gentleman full of knowledge and wisdom, carrying with him a deep passion for the language he teaches (Arabic). Pashtuns often say that Pashto isn't just a language; it's a culture as well. You don't just speak Pashto, we say; you live it as well -- you practice it as well. Some other time, ka khairee, I will give you some examples of Pashto phrases that represent Pashtun culture. Here, my mind is fresh on a couple of Arabic phrases that represent the Arab culture (or cultures) really well. Or at least the wisdom behind these phrases, anyway.

 Ahlan wa sahlan

This is an expression the English equivalent of which is "welcome!" or "Hi!" It's a form of greeting. In Arabic, ahl means "family," and sahl means "easy." Altogether, the phrase means: "Welcome! You are now a part of our family, and may everything be easy for you." [If someone got a better way of explaining it, please do.]

Marhaba: This word, too, means "welcome." Its root letters (r, h, and b) mean "space." In many cultures, including the Arab one, when someone enters the room or space you're sitting in, you get up and offer them your space, and when they refuse, you insist they take it; they don't have a choice. So marhaba means, "You are here, and my space now belongs to you. It is my honor to give it to you."

Both expressions above are intended to welcome the person such that she/he becomes a part of you, one of you. How beautiful is that!

Dhunn

In Arabic, to say, "He thinks" or "He believes," you say, yadhunnu (يظن). Interestingly, the Arabic word for "doubt" is dhun (ظن). So when you use yadhunn, you are really saying, "He believes this to be the case, but doubts inside him persist." The reason I love this word now is that it acknowledges the possibility of one's being wrong, one's opinion being not the only one--the possibility that everything you believe is wrong, that everything you know could be wrong, that everything you are can be wrong. How powerful is that!

Saas
The Arabic term for "politics" is siyaasiyyah (سياسية). There's history behind it, but to make a long story short, I shall tell you only this much: It is related to saas (ساس), which means something like "leading" and "leadership" and the like. And guess why I think it's important that the world know this :D Well, in Urdu, the word for mother-in-law is saas! haha? No, not really. My theory, unconfirmed yet and possibly wrong but I'm sticking to it till I'm proven wrong, is that the word makes perfect sense because, despite the claim that women are oppressed (yes, many women actually are oppressed, and, no, it's never all of them, or even most, I assert), women do hold positions of power in their communities. The mother-in-law in many societies makes the final decisions. I think that's enough to make my point, though I'll be happy to elaborate if need be.

Some other interesting terms and their explanations as far as I know now are:

- qalb (قلب), which means "heart" in Arabic, comes from the same word that means, "to turn." Wanna guess why?

- anf (انف), Arabic for "nose," comes from anfah (انفة), which means "pride." Hmm... I wonder why!

That's all for now.

Remember that this powerfulness is not unique to Arabic. I discuss it here just because these words and the class discussion we had on them are fresh in my mind, so I figured I could share the knowledge. I will share similar things in other languages, especially Pashto (my native language, yes! :D), another time.