Pronunciation: Khanjar and Jambiya

A. G. Maisey · 28th August 2012, 04:52 AM

Thank you.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 28th August 2012, 07:15 AM

Salaams ~ Its funny but most Europeans say canjaa.. whereas Omanis say Khunjar with a fairly strong Kh (as in the Scottish loch) at the front but a soft r...(not the rolled r) at the end ... but certainly the r is just audible. It is claimed that the word is an Arabic original absorbed and transmitted through Persia to India. The Met museum claim that the item... A dagger ...with the name of Khunjar arrived in Indian weaponry design

in the 16th Century probably via Persia. The picture being worth 1000 words please see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...t=14878:shrug:
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

AJ1356 · 28th August 2012, 09:29 AM

The reason I said Khanjar is a Persian word is because it is mentioned in Shahnameh, which was written over 1000 years ago and was the first book post Islam that was written strictly in Persian without any Arabic words but 2. It reffers to a short knife, unlike the middle eastern khanjars of today. As far is as pronounciation, we pronounce it as it is written with KH not K and pronouncing the R not RR.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 28th August 2012, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJ1356

The reason I said Khanjar is a Persian word is because it is mentioned in Shahnameh, which was written over 1000 years ago and was the first book post Islam that was written strictly in Persian without any Arabic words but 2. It reffers to a short knife, unlike the middle eastern khanjars of today. As far is as pronounciation, we pronounce it as it is written with KH not K and pronouncing the R not RR.

Salaams AJ1356 ~ I think that is entirely possible and Persia not only had a strategic interest after Islam in the region mainly through imposition of taxes in some coastal areas but had a significant presence in Rostaq and Bahla (They built the Bahla Fort pre Islam) in the Interior. I see no reason why it could not have been originally a Persian word. Seems reasonable to me.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

A.alnakkas · 28th August 2012, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJ1356

The reason I said Khanjar is a Persian word is because it is mentioned in Shahnameh, which was written over 1000 years ago and was the first book post Islam that was written strictly in Persian without any Arabic words but 2. It reffers to a short knife, unlike the middle eastern khanjars of today. As far is as pronounciation, we pronounce it as it is written with KH not K and pronouncing the R not RR.

Interesting. Well I only checked Lisan al Arab, perhaps a book specialized in Arabised words will be best? cant think of any..

Atlantia · 28th August 2012, 10:04 AM

Namaste Ibrahiim,

As you say most Europeans pronounce the word as spelt and sound the 'r' not just as 'Can-jaa' but actually 'Can-jar'.
My friend although English was discussing the correct Omani/Arabic pronunciation and she was adamant that the Omani's pronounce the word: 'Cun-ja'.
So is that 'soft' pronunciation localised to Oman or more widespread?

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 28th August 2012, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atlantia

Namaste Ibrahiim,

As you say most Europeans pronounce the word as spelt and sound the 'r' not just as 'Can-jaa' but actually 'Can-jar'.
My friend although English was discussing the correct Omani/Arabic pronunciation and she was adamant that the Omani's pronounce the word: 'Cun-ja'.
So is that 'soft' pronunciation localised to Oman or more widespread?

Salaams ~ If its written its pronounced... The Kh at the beginning is important... Kh as in Scotlands Loch..and at the end a soft r... audible but not the rolling rrr of Northumberland and Scotish dialects. Och aye rrrright?
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

mohd · 30th August 2012, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

.. If its written its pronounced... The Kh at the beginning is important... Kh as in Scotlands Loch..and at the end a soft r... audible but not the rolling rrr of Northumberland and Scotish dialects. Och aye rrrright? ..

My mother tongue is Malay so in order to correctly pronounce the Arabic words or the Malay words which were borrowed from the Arabic words I had to learn what we called as Makhaarij.

The Makhaarij of the Letters means the correct position of the organs of speech in order to produce a letter so that it can be differentiated from others. This is equally so whether the letter is a consonant or a vowel.

mohd

blue lander · 27th December 2014, 04:44 PM

Resurrecting this old thread to add another data point: Yesterday I showed my sword/knife to an elderly Mongolian man. He only spoke a few words of English but he seemed to know a thing or two about swords, he showed me some nice draw cuts with my tulwar and nearly gave me a heart attack when he bent my kaskara nearly in half (thankfully it sprung back).

I couldn't understand what he was saying but I did notice he called my curved daggers "khanjar". He pronounced it kihn-jarrr with a rolled r at the end. So they call them khanjar in Mongolia and that's how they pronounce it.

Sancar · 28th December 2014, 09:19 PM

In Turkish, we pronounce "hançer" with a strong h so the first part is exactly like in the Turkic word khan) and the scond part of the word is pronounced as in chariot and cherry, and the final "r" sound is strong.

28th August 2012, 07:15 AM	#2
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	Salaams ~ Its funny but most Europeans say canjaa.. whereas Omanis say Khunjar with a fairly strong Kh (as in the Scottish loch) at the front but a soft r...(not the rolled r) at the end ... but certainly the r is just audible. It is claimed that the word is an Arabic original absorbed and transmitted through Persia to India. The Met museum claim that the item... A dagger ...with the name of Khunjar arrived in Indian weaponry design in the 16th Century probably via Persia. The picture being worth 1000 words please see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...t=14878:shrug: Ibrahiim al Balooshi. Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 28th August 2012 at 07:49 AM.

28th August 2012, 04:52 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,045	Thank you.

28th August 2012, 09:29 AM	#3
AJ1356 Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Nashville Posts: 317	The reason I said Khanjar is a Persian word is because it is mentioned in Shahnameh, which was written over 1000 years ago and was the first book post Islam that was written strictly in Persian without any Arabic words but 2. It reffers to a short knife, unlike the middle eastern khanjars of today. As far is as pronounciation, we pronounce it as it is written with KH not K and pronouncing the R not RR.

28th August 2012, 10:04 AM	#6
Atlantia Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end Posts: 2,928	Namaste Ibrahiim, As you say most Europeans pronounce the word as spelt and sound the 'r' not just as 'Can-jaa' but actually 'Can-jar'. My friend although English was discussing the correct Omani/Arabic pronunciation and she was adamant that the Omani's pronounce the word: 'Cun-ja'. So is that 'soft' pronunciation localised to Oman or more widespread?

27th December 2014, 04:44 PM	#9
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	Resurrecting this old thread to add another data point: Yesterday I showed my sword/knife to an elderly Mongolian man. He only spoke a few words of English but he seemed to know a thing or two about swords, he showed me some nice draw cuts with my tulwar and nearly gave me a heart attack when he bent my kaskara nearly in half (thankfully it sprung back). I couldn't understand what he was saying but I did notice he called my curved daggers "khanjar". He pronounced it kihn-jarrr with a rolled r at the end. So they call them khanjar in Mongolia and that's how they pronounce it.

28th December 2014, 09:19 PM	#10
Sancar Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 79	In Turkish, we pronounce "hançer" with a strong h so the first part is exactly like in the Turkic word khan) and the scond part of the word is pronounced as in chariot and cherry, and the final "r" sound is strong.