الشام

English translation: the Levant/Levantine

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Arabic term or phrase:الشام/شامي
English translation:the Levant/Levantine
Entered by: Fuad Yahya

09:37 Jul 13, 2003
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Geography / geography
Arabic term or phrase: الشام
what are the countries listed under this region name? and is there any equivalent in English?
hamuksha (X)
Local time: 11:45
Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan
Explanation:
The Levant is the equivalent term. Greater Syria is sometimes used, but is now charged with questionable political implications.

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Note added at 2003-07-13 09:43:29 (GMT)
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I sometimes use \"East Mediterranean countries\" if I sense that \"Levant\" is not suitable for my audience. \"East Mediterranean\" is not very accurate, because, unless strictly qualified, a reader may think it includes Egypt, for example.

You can also use \"Al-Sham\" (\"Shami\" is the adjectival form) if you can insert an explanation.

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Note added at 2003-07-13 10:04:48 (GMT)
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The countries subsumed under this designation varies from time to time and from place to place. In Syria itself, someone from Aleppo would refer to the capital Damascus as Al-Sham, but would not necessarily object when other Arabs call him Shami, knowing that many people refer to Syria as a whole by that name. A young Jordanian or a Palestinian (born in the 1970s) may object when other Arabs call him Shami, but a Palestinian living in Egypt in the 1930s-1960s would be called Shami without any problem. In Saudi Arabia in the 1960s and 1970s, we called our Palestinian school teachers شوام. Nobody objected.

This is somewhat analogous to the word MASR. In Egypt itself, the word is often used in reference to Cairo, yet an Alexandrian still recognizes himself as being MASRI.

The word عربي has similar ambiguities, but let us not get off the subject.

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Note added at 2003-07-14 00:36:41 (GMT)
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Correction: The countries subsumed under this designation vary (not \"varies\").
Selected response from:

Fuad Yahya
Grading comment
i'm gratefull Dear Fuad, and i can't express my satisfaction with what you provide via this icredible web-page! also i salute all the commrades who agreed to the answer and reassured me of it's certainity. Long Live Kudos!!!
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Summary of answers provided
5 +18Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan
Fuad Yahya


  

Answers


1 min   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +18
Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan


Explanation:
The Levant is the equivalent term. Greater Syria is sometimes used, but is now charged with questionable political implications.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-07-13 09:43:29 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I sometimes use \"East Mediterranean countries\" if I sense that \"Levant\" is not suitable for my audience. \"East Mediterranean\" is not very accurate, because, unless strictly qualified, a reader may think it includes Egypt, for example.

You can also use \"Al-Sham\" (\"Shami\" is the adjectival form) if you can insert an explanation.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-07-13 10:04:48 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The countries subsumed under this designation varies from time to time and from place to place. In Syria itself, someone from Aleppo would refer to the capital Damascus as Al-Sham, but would not necessarily object when other Arabs call him Shami, knowing that many people refer to Syria as a whole by that name. A young Jordanian or a Palestinian (born in the 1970s) may object when other Arabs call him Shami, but a Palestinian living in Egypt in the 1930s-1960s would be called Shami without any problem. In Saudi Arabia in the 1960s and 1970s, we called our Palestinian school teachers شوام. Nobody objected.

This is somewhat analogous to the word MASR. In Egypt itself, the word is often used in reference to Cairo, yet an Alexandrian still recognizes himself as being MASRI.

The word عربي has similar ambiguities, but let us not get off the subject.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-07-14 00:36:41 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Correction: The countries subsumed under this designation vary (not \"varies\").

Fuad Yahya
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
i'm gratefull Dear Fuad, and i can't express my satisfaction with what you provide via this icredible web-page! also i salute all the commrades who agreed to the answer and reassured me of it's certainity. Long Live Kudos!!!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gharbeia (X): I use Levant. Greater Syria has political over tones
10 mins

agree  Shazly
36 mins

agree  HALAHouse
53 mins

agree  Magdy Zaky
1 hr

agree  Sami Khamou
2 hrs

agree  Mumtaz
2 hrs

agree  radwa abdel ghany
4 hrs

agree  Mohammed Mousa
5 hrs

agree  Awad Balaish
6 hrs

agree  Saleh Ayyub
8 hrs

agree  ghassan al-Alem
9 hrs

agree  ALI HASAN
9 hrs

agree  Alaa Beheiry
10 hrs

agree  muhammad turman
12 hrs

agree  XXpert
12 hrs

agree  Alaa Zeineldine
18 hrs

agree  Dikran
21 hrs

agree  AhmedAMS
17 days
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