Jim and Gim and Al Jazeera (Al Gazeera?)

Since Arabic dialects, pronunciations, etc. get mentioned here a lot, let me call your attention to a couple of interesting guest posts over at The Angry Arab (As'ad AbuKhalil), dealing with Al Jazeera's pronunciations; first came this post by contributor Joseph,

I should note that al-Jazeera has insisted, correctly I believe, in not granting the northern and urban Egyptian pronunciation (that is erronesouly claimed as representing all “Egyptian” pronunciation when the majority of Egyptians do not uphold it) of the “jim” as “gim” entrance into its coverage (Jamal ‘Abd al-Nasir to name the most obvious example remains Jamal, and never Gamal), increasingly al-Jazeera insists not only on pronouncing the name of Qadhdhafi as Gadhdhafi or of the head of the Jordanian Mukhabarat as “Raggad” and not ‘Raqqad” but also of insisting on naming Libyan cities as “Briga” and not “Burayqa”. Does this mean that the Egyptian city of Qina should be pronounced on al-Jazeera as “Ina” for example? Why is al-Jazeera conceding on these pronunciations and not on others?"

To this Elias Muhanna (Qifa Nabki) replied:

This observation is problematic in my opinion, for a few reasons. First of all, the "gim" in place of "jim" is not limited solely to northern and urban Egyptian pronunciation but is also present in various other Egyptian dialects from around the country. It is also to be found in Omani, Yemeni, and Central Arabian dialects, and also (in certain linguistic contexts) in some North African dialects.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that there is some linguistic evidence that suggests that /gy/ was actually viewed as the "correct" pronunciation of the letter "jim" during the early Islamic period. (Phonetic descriptions by Sibawayhi and al-Khalil ibn Ahmad suggest that the letter was not pronounced as it is today in Modern Standard Arabic).

Obviously, this has nothing to do with whether or not Aljazeera is justified in deciding what kind of accents to permit... But, someone needs to stick up for the "gim"!"

In the midst of revolutionary upheavals, war and repression, this may seem a trivial discussion, but I thought it worth noting. I'm not, however, going to provoke the wrath of non-Egyptian Arabs by jumping in.

All I'll add is: when Al Jazeera starts calling itself Al Gazeera, that will get my attention.

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Another book about the Iraq War ... but this is one you've never heard of

by Leigh Pomeroy

Sometime last fall, my wife, who is a history professor at Minnesota State University Mankato, received a package in the mail. It was a book, and inside was tucked a very nice letter from a former student thanking her for being an excellent and inspiring teacher, and telling her a little about the book. In sum, the former student had been the primary translator of the book from Arabic into English. The title of the book was Inside Fallujah: The Unembedded Story.

She read the book and passed it onto me saying, "You've got to read this." And now I am.

What is striking about the book, which was written by al-Jazeera reporter Ahmed Mansour, is that it's essentially a universal story about a city and a people under siege by a foreign attacker. It could have taken place at any time in history or in any country. It could have been Jerusalem under attack by Flavius Josephus in 70, by the Crusaders in 1099 or by Saladin in 1187. It could have been a siege of a medieval English castle. It could have been the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It could have been an account of the British siege of Boston during the U.S. Revolutionary War, but with the names, details and dates changed.

It's a story of hubris and politically driven policy. It's a story of revenge. It's a story of innocent human tragedy ... on both sides of the battle.

It's a gripping book, the stuff from which great movies are made. Buy it. Read it.

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