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From someone who worked as a translator for a while, here are some Arabic words & concepts that are drastically misused, particularly in writing. Thread
As a baseline: An Arab is a person, Arabic is a language, Arabian means âfrom Arabiaâ, usually used for the horse. Mixing them up is...not cool, maybe even offensive.
âAbdulâ is neither a first nor a last name. Your Arab neighbor told you to use it for them âcause it makes things easier, but itâs still not a name. Itâs a prefix that needs another word after it to complete the real name.
Contrary to popular belief, Abdul doesnât really denote any specific faith. Donât presume your neighborâs faith based solely on this prefix.
âAl-â or âEl-â means âTheâ. Using either depends on the locale and the dialect, so theyâre not exactly interchangeable. Harun al-Rashid would translate to âHarun the Wiseâ.
âShaykhâ means âold manâ. It can be used for a tribal leader, a cleric, an elder, or just any elderly dude.
It doesnât mean âoil baron.â
It doesnât mean âoil baron.â
âNicknamesâ in Arabic is a large & complex topic that doesnât fit here at all. But just remember that applying the âwesternâ way of nicknaming an Arab person sounds pretty jarring to an Arabophone.
Similarly, the way an Arabic name is constructed can tell a lot about where the person originally comes from. Donât just mash up a couple names from a baby names website.
Sultan is indeed an Arabic word, but not every Arab ruler was a sultan. Even more, /many/ sultans werenât actually Arabs or even ruled Arabic-speaking lands.
