I Have Heard Learned Men Of Syria
Express Their Ignorance Of Many Bedouin Terms Used By Tribes In The
Interior
Of the Desert, especially the Aenezey, who, on the other hand,
do not comprehend certain words of the Syrian town-
Language; but the
wants and habits of a Bedouin are so different from those of a town-
person, that the one frequently cannot find terms to express the ideas
of the other.
As to pronunciation, the best is that of the Bedouins of Arabia, of the
Mekkans, and people of the Hedjaz; that of Baghdad and of Yemen is next
in purity. At Cairo the pronunciation is worse than in any other part of
Egypt; after which I should rank the language of the Libyan Arabs, who
have a tinge of the Moggrebyn pronunciation mixed with the Egyptian.
Then comes the Arabic spoken in the eastern and western plains of Syria,
(at Damascus, Aleppo, and on the sea-coast); then the dialect of the
Syrian mountaineers, the Druzes, and Christians; next, that of the
Barbary coast, of Tripoly, and of Tunis; and lastly, the rough
articulation of the Marocco and Fez people, which has a few sounds
different from any other, and is subdivided into several dialects. The
Arabs, however, of the eastern side of Mount Atlas, at Tafilelt, and
Draa, pronounce their Moggrebyn tongue with much less harshness than
their western neighbours. But I must acknowledge, that of all Arabic
dialects, none appeared to me so disagreeable and so adulterated as that
of the young Christian fops of Cairo and Aleppo.
[p.468] No. IX.
Topographical Notices of the Valley of Mekka and its Mountains;
extracted from the History of Azraky, showing the names assigned to
every part. [It may be here remarked, that the Bedouins of the present
day continue to bestow on the smallest hill, projecting rock, or little
plain, a distinct and particular name; which circumstance renders the
history of Arabia often obscure, as the names have, in the course of
ages, sometimes changed.]
THE different mountains forming the southern chain of the valley of
Mekka are: - Djebel Fadeh, on the lower part of Djebel Kobeys, nearest to
the town - El Khandame, likewise part of Djebel Kobeys - Djebel el Abyadh,
called among the Pagan Arabs Mestebzera, belonging also to Djebel
Kobeys - Mozazem - Korn Meskale, lower ridge of Shab Aamer - Djebel Benhan,
ibid. - Djebel Yakyan, on the side of Shab Aamer - Djebel el Aaredj, near
the latter - Djebel el Motabekh, or Shab Aamer; so called because the Toba
kings of Yemen, when they invaded Mekka, established here their kitchen -
Shab Abou Dobb - Shab e' Szafa, or Djebel Raha, Shab Beni Kenane - Shab el
Khor - Shab Athmen.
On the northern side are: - El Hazoura; here was formerly the market of
Mekka - El Djethme - Zogag el Nar - Beit el Ezlam - Djebel Zerzera, in the
Djehelye called El Kaym - Djebel Omar, in the Djehelye called Da Aasyr -
Djebel el Adkhar, [El Adkhar is a shrub or plant, mixed by the Mekkans
with mortar in the construction of their houses.
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