A Word You Never Heard in Your Mother Tongue

Arabic has many dialects, varying from one Arab country to another and even throughout each country. In Egypt, dialects differ from the north, Fallaheen, to the south, Saiidi, and from the east, Bedouin, to the west, Siwi. Cairene Arabic, or Masry, is the most common and understood dialect, not only in Egypt but in all Arabic-speaking countries.

I come from Luxor, in the south of Egypt where people speak the Saiidi dialect. Since I grew up in an urban area, my dialect is quite plain compared to those of rural areas. During my college’s years, I learned to talk in a more neutral way, similar to the Cairene dialect mainly because most of my roommates and friends were from the north and didn’t understand my Saiidi dialect. I can understand most of the southern and northern Egyptian dialects; however, I found it difficult to follow someone speaking in Bedouin, either that of Sinai or Siwa.

I thought I could understand anyone who speaks in Saiidi until I visited my mother and sitti (my grandmother) in Aswan a few days ago. After my brother and I said goodbye to them, sitti said to me: "Leh karbaneen?" For a moment, I thought I didn't hear her right. I asked her to repeat and she did but I still didn't get it. Actually, this time, I heard it: "Leh garbaneen?" which means something like: why are you in a rash? I immediately realized I’d misheard her because we simply didn't have an itchy rash. I turned to my brother and whisperingly asked: “What is she saying?” He instantly repeated it and explained to me, in Arabic, that it meant "Why are you in such a rush?" I looked back at sitti and told her that we had to catch the train which was departing in half an hour.

Racing to the Aswan railway station, I asked my brother if that was a common word. He answered that it was more common in villages and wondered what I would do if I went to sitti’s home village where people speak like that all the time. I told him I would feel like an alien. When I was back home, I didn't settle down until I’d called my sister and asked her whether she understood what "karbaneen" meant. She right away told me the meaning. It seems like it is just me who isn’t fully immersed in the language in my hometown and its surroundings.

I've been away from home for most of the last two years and most of my interactions have been with non-Egyptians which was something I always aspired to. However, this doesn't justify my ignorance. I need to keep in closer contact with the people in my local community. And I definitely need to spend more time with sitti and learn more from her before it's too late. I need to learn from her, not only about vernacular vocabulary but also about our family's history and about my mother which might help us find out how to approach my mother and her dementia.

How about you? Have you come across a word you never heard in your mother tongue for the first time? What was it? What did it mean? How did you feel at that moment?