Behind The Arabic Name

Behind the Name: Etymology of Arabic Names

Zina Saadi, Computational Linguist June 14, 2006

Copyright © 2006 Basis Technology Corp. All rights reserved.2

Why Are We Looking Behind the Name?

BackgroundGeographical backgroundProfessional affiliation

Linguistic Software SolutionIdentify and generate more rules for name matching

Name derivation: (Hamd -->> Hamd, Hamed, Hamad, Hammoud, … )Stem matching: Qantara -->> Qantar -->> (Qantarji, Qantary) Persian taa: (Farhat -->> (فرحت ,فرحات

Identify name boundariesOrthographic corrections: <<-- (Aitmimoun ,آيتميمون ) Ait ,آيت ميمون ) Mimoun)


Languages of the Muslim World

http://www.morainevalley.edu/ctl/MiddleEast/photoGallery.htm


Outline

Arabic name structureIraqi, Maghrebi

Linguistic rules behind Arabic names derivationBasic Rules (Root & Patterns, Plurals)Advanced Rules (Compounds, Nisbah)

Cross-lingual influencePersian, Turkish

Regional and social factsAcross the Arab World


English Name Structure

Full NameJohn F. Kennedy

First NameJohn

Last NameKennedy

Middle InitialF.


Arabic Name Structure

Last Name

Full Name

Middle NameFirst Name

Hypocoristic/Given NameHouari/Ahmed Φ Patronym/Nisbah/Hypocoristic

Mokrane/Saadi/Boumediene

Al-NamamshahSaud

EnizatGiven NameAbdullahSaddam

PatronymBin Abdulaziz

Hussein

Patronym/Nisbah/Family-NameAl Saud/Zawaydeh

Al-Tikriti

Maghreb

Middle East

Tribal System


Components of an Arabic Full Name

TitleMasculine

(MSA: Imam, Sheikh), (Maghrebi: Si, Sidi, Moulai)Feminine

(MSA: Sheikha), (Maghrebi: Lalla)

Hypocoristic (Kunya)Metaphoric

(Ibn Al-Ardh, son of the land) -> travelerDialectal

(Iraq: Khalid -> Abu Al-Walid, Hussein/Hassan -> Abu Ali) First-born child

(Abu/Um Ahmad, Abu/Um Mona)Political

(Houari Boumediene Mohamed Boukharouba)

Title Hypocoristic Given-Name Patronym Family-Name Nisbah


Components of an Arabic Full Name (Cont.)

Given nameNouns (Osama -> type of lion), (Maha -> Wild Cow)Adjectives (Kareem -> generous), (Lateefa -> gentle)Verbs (Yazid -> he increases)

Patronym (Nasab)Father’s and grandfather(s)’ given namesIbn Abdullah, Ouyahya, Bin Laden

Family nameAl-AhmarBani Oumayya, Banou Quraidha, Ait Hammouda, Al Saud

NisbahAl-Baghdadi (from Baghdad), Haddadi (blacksmith), Saadi


Example of an Arabic Name

Al-Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Bin Naser Bin… Al-Ahmar

األحمر... الشيخ عبد اهللا بن حسين بن ناصر بن

http://www.alahmar.net/gallery/


Let’s Analyze the Name

الشيخ Al-Sheikh

األحمرAl-Ahmar

TitleFamily Name

عبد اهللاAbdullah

Given Name

بن حسين Bin Hussein

Patronym

http://www.alahmar.net/gallery/


Other Examples of Arabic Names

Arabic Mathematician (850)

Arabic Geography Scholar (1178-1229)

Al-Imam Al-Sheikh

Shihab AddinStar of religion

Father of

AbdullaYaqutRuby

Son of

AbdullaCaptive bought by “Askar Alhamaoui”Al-Baghdadi -> from Baghdad

TitleHypocoristicHypocoristic Given NamePatronymNisbah

الشيخ الحموي البغداديبن عبد اهللا ياقوت أبو عبد اهللاشهاب الدين اإلمام

MuhammadSon of MussaFrom Khawarezm

Given NamePatronymNisbah

الخوارزميبن موسى محمد


Basic Linguistic Rules of Arabic Name Derivation

Arabic root & pattern derivational structure

3-character root

ب . ت. ك Arabic Root -> ل) (ف .ع.آتب “to write” -> ”to do“ (فعل )

)(af’al ,أفعل )(Lebanese Poet) سعيد أسعد د . ع.س , s.’.d)

)(fa’’aal ,فعال ) حسينصدام م . د. ص , S.d.m)

)(faa’il ,فاعل )(Kuwaiti Poet) زيد حامد د . م. ح , H.m.d)

(faa’il ,فاعل )

Pattern)(Algerian Writer) ياسينآاتب ب . ت. ك , k.t.b)

ExampleRoot


Rules for Plurals in Names

Jordanian Common Family Names:

(Seidat ,سعيدات) ,(Ebeedat ,عبيدات) <- (f’iilaat ,فعيالت )،عواندة) <- (fawa’ileh ,فواعلة) Awandeh), (زوايدة, Zawaydeh)


Rules for Compound Names

Compounds

[A B] vs. [AB] Form (Connecting vs. Non-Connecting Characters)

is a connecting letterBerberAit /ت / Ahmed آيت أحمد

is a non-connecting letterYemeniBahmed /ا / باأحمد is a non-connecting letterColloquialBoumediene /و/ بومدين أبوأحمد /أبو أحمد is a non-connecting letterMSAAbu Ahmed /و/

is a connecting letter /ل/is a non-connecting letter /ا /

MSA/YemeniAl Bawazir آل باوزير

is a connecting letterMSAIbn /ن / Khaldoun ابن خلدون Colloquial

InfluenceInfluence

is a connecting letterBin Ladin /ن / بن الدن CommentCommentNameName


Use of Nisbah in Names

Nisbah

How Nisbah is formed?

Types of Nisbah

Nisbah Formation

A sample of some linguistic rules Nisbah of compoundsNisbah of two names


How Nisbah is Formed?

Suffixing an assimilated yaa to the stem of the name A forming a name B

B = stem(A) + ي +

Example: يصدام حسين التكريتSaddam Hussein Al-Tikriti

The logical relation between (A,B) => “if x is B, then x is from A”

محمد من قبيلة قريش > =يمحمد قريش Muhammad Qureishy => Muhammad is from the tribe of Qureish


Types of Nisbah

Nationality or ethnical background

( ي هند , Indian)( هند, India)( يعرب , Arabic)(عرب, Arab)NisbahWord

Religious affiliation

( يإسالم , Islamic)(إسالم, Islam)NisbahWord

Trade or handicraft

( يصناع , industrialist)( ة صناع , industry)

NisbahWord

Adjective formation

( يبحر , naval)( بحر, sea)

( ي ذهب , golden)(ذهب, gold)

NisbahWord


Advanced Nisbah Forms

Nouns ending with taa marbouta -> taa marbouta deletion

( يمك , Meccan)( ةمك , Mecca)

( يقاهر , Cairene)( ةقاهر , Cairo)

NisbahWord

Nouns already ending with assimilated yaaHow many letters does it consist of?


Advanced Nisbah Forms (cont.)

Nouns consisting of:[1 letter + assimilated yaa]

assimilated yaa -> Yaa+fatha+waw+kasraWaw+fatha+waw+kasra

[2 letter + assimilated yaa]assimilated yaa ->

fatha+ Φ +waw+kasraWaw+fatha+waw+kasra

[3 letters and above + assimilated yaa]assimilated yaa -> Nisbah yaa

( ووير , irrigator)( ير , irrigation)

( يوي ح , vital)( ي ح , living)

NisbahWord

( وينب , prophetic) ( ينب , prophet)

( ويعل , Alawite) ( يعل , Ali)

NisbahWord


Nisbah of Compounds

[A B] form

Proper noun compound

( يعبدر , Abdary)(عبد الدار, Abduddar)

( يعبدل , Abdaly)(عبد الالت, Abdullat)

( يعبشمس , Abshamsy)(عبد الشمس, Abdushams)

NisbahWord


Nisbah of Compounds (cont.)

Other noun compounds

[Abu/Ibn/Um/Abd] + B => [Abu/Ibn/Um/Abd] + nisbah(B)

Possessive => nisbah(A) + B

( يإبن سعد , Ibn Saadi)(إبن سعد, Ibn Saad)

( يابو بكر , Abu Bakri) (ابو بكر, Abu Bakr)

NisbahWord

( Imadiy , الدين يعماد Addin)( عماد الدين, Imad Addin)

( Saifiy , اإلسالميسيف AlIslam)(سيف اإلسالم, Saif AlIslam)

NisbahWord


Nisbah of Compounds (cont.)

[AB] form =>=> nisbah(A)

Example1:AB = موتحضر A = حضرB = موت

موتحضر يحضر <=Hadramawt => Hadri

Example2:AB = بكبعلA = بعلB = بكيبعل <= بكبعل

Baalbak => Baali

Exceptions:يمحضرالشيخ علي بن سلم ال يبكبعلأيمن


Nisbah of Two Proper Names

nisbah(A,B) => stem(A)+ 2 char (B) + nisbah yaa

Example 1:

شفعنتي > =ةيفنابو ح+ ي فعا لشاAl-Shafe’i + Abu Hanifa(t) => Shaf’anti

Example 2:

مزوارخ ستان طبرKhawarezm Tabaristan

طبرخزيTabarkhazi

From the CIA World Fact Book


Persian Influence on Arabic Names

Arabic borrowing of Persian names

Adjectives

Nouns

Compoundsnew, modern( نيفين, Neveen)

world( جيهان, Jihan)

pride of the king( نازشاه , Shahnaz)

pride of purity( نازصافي , Safinaz)

delicate, gentle(نازك, Nazik)

soft(نرمين, Nermine)

GlossWord


Persian Influence on Arabic Names (cont.)

Arabic borrowing of linguistically modified Arabic names by Persian

Closed taa -> open taa

wisdom( ت حكم , Hikmat)( ة حكم , Hikmah)

Mountain name( ت ف مر , Mervat)( ةومر , Marwa)

( ت نعم , Nimat)

Persianblessing( ةنعم , Nimah)

GlossArabic

Phonological influence


Turkish Influence

SuffixationStem (Arabic word) + [Ji] suffix

-ji -> Profession

Examples:Mateen Qandaji (Turkish Poet)Adnan Albajaji (from Iraq’s parliament)

( جي قند , Qandaji, hard sugar maker)( قند, qand, hard sugar)

( جيقهو , Qahwaji, café manager)(قهوة, qahwah, coffee)

( جي مكو , Mikwaji, ironing man)

Stem + -ji(mikwah, Iron ,مكواة)

Arabic Word


Regional and Social Facts

During the Ottoman ruling, the Elite class (Rulers, Leaders) were given Islamic Arabic Names (Sultan Abdul Hamid) while the servants or housemaids were given foreign names

Nowadays in Egypt, females in the middle- and lower-classes are given Islamic names (Khadija, Aisha), whereas higher-class females are typically given Persian, Turkish or common non-Islamic Arabic names (Susan, Mervat, Nancy)

Given names (Khisha, Bahloul) under strict requirements can be changed (meaning of the name, clean record)

The “Ba-”prefix, meaning “father of”, identifies its bearer as being of Hadramidescent (the Saudi linguist Bakalla and the Yemeni prime minister Bajammal)

Sunnis’ most common names would be Abd + 99 names of God, Ahmed, Mohammed, and Aisha, whereas Shi’ites would prefer names such as Fatima, Ali, Hassan, and Hussein


References

Farid, Zainab. “Many of the names of Arab origin. The diversion did not affect the meaning”. Retrieved on May 22nd 2006 http://www.alriyadh.com/2005/09/15/article94168.html

Tabet, Elie. “Notes Sur L’organization Des Tribus Et L’Etymologie Des Noms Propres.” Oran Impremerie De L’association Ouvriere. 1882. Retrieved on April 10th 2006http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k84223s

The CIA World Fact Book. Retrieved on May 22nd 2006 http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Wikipedia, “Arabic Name”. Retrieved on May 21st 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_name

Zeyad, Mosad, “Al-Nasab”. Retrieved on May 24th 2006http://www.drmosad.com/index128.htm


Thank You

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Behind The Arabic Name

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