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#1 |
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The Sharp end
Posts: 2,928
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Was chatting to a friend of mine who used to live in Oman and has a smattering of Arabic the other day. Was talking Khanjars and got to discussing the pronunciation.
I always say 'Can-Jar' She says it should be 'Cun-ja' What about Jambiya? I tend to say 'Jam-beea' Others I know say 'Jam-bye-a' So where do you all stand on these important questions? ![]() |
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#2 | |
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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![]() ![]() Salaams, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Nashville
Posts: 314
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Khanjar is a Persian word and we have always pronounced it Khanjar, never Khunjar.
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#4 |
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,857
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Interesting.
As a transliteration from a different script, I would imagine that both words would be pronounced phonetically, which seems to be the case from what Ibrahim has written, with any variation in vowel pronunciation being a product of region, however, one letter does puzzle me, and that is the "R" in khanjar. Is this letter rolled, or is it flat? |
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#5 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The Sharp end
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#6 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND
Posts: 2,731
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The Sharp end
Posts: 2,928
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LOL, right!
So you see why I made a thread of this? I'd have expected like Alan says for the translation to be phonetic, but it apparently isn't? At least not when it comes to Oman ![]() Which seems strange as the 'Khanjar' is the national knife of Oman. Why not simply have a unique spelling for Oman that reflects it's unique pronuciation? Unless the pronunciation is variable as Ibrahiim suggests? But that is not what my friend and Stu's are seeming to be saying. My friend who lived out there for many years, was quite 'well connected' (to say the least) and she was adamant that I was pronouncing it incorrectly and that it is 'cun-ja' only. Now as AJ says, I always thought that it was of Persian origin, which got me wondering if there was a phonetic difference between the translation to Arabic "خنجر" and to 'English' at which point I started thinking about 'Jambiya' decided I was rambling and started this thread! |
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#8 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,712
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kukri is even worse!
kukri,khukri,khukuri,khukhuri,kookrie, cookairie, khukrie,kukhri, kukry, gurkha head removal chopper knife, etc, etc. Still I guest the prounonciation all sounds similar.for them! ![]() So not so bad after all! just the spelling that gos crazy! ![]() Spiral |
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#9 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Kuwait
Posts: 1,340
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Are we here looking for how its pronounced by accents?
In classical Arabic, Khanjar is pronounce as Khanjar and Khenjar. Like AJ, I used to think its a Persian word that has been adopted by Arabic, but according to Lisan al Arab, it is Arabic. The R at the end is not a silent letter, every single voice is pronounced. When it comes to accents, I dont know how Omani's say it but Yemeni's and some Saudi's call it Khengar. As for Jambiya, it is pronounced Janbiya or Ganbiya (atleast thats how I heard some Yemeni's pronounce it). Jambiya is a false term but hey, its not the only false term we collectors use. |
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#10 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,287
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True dat !
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