al-Afsah

English translation: the most eloquent

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Arabic term or phrase:	الأفصح
English translation:	the most eloquent
Entered by:	AhmedAMS

23:11 Oct 21, 2005

Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

Arabic term or phrase: al-Afsah

in the english translation of the arab novel cities of salt the arabs give one of the americans the nickname al-Afsah. However, there is not translation of the name in the english edition of the novel. What would be the english meaning of the nickname or word al-Afsah?

Faheem Garda

the most eloquent

Explanation:
.

Selected response from:

AhmedAMS
Russian Federation
Local time: 22:23

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +1

the most eloquent

AhmedAMS

Big mouth

Mona Helal

Discussion entries: 8

faheem_sa

Unfortunately, the real name of the character is not given...

16:57 Oct 22, 2005

The nickname al-Afsah is given to one of the Americans. There were either 7 or 8 Americans at this point in the story by my count of the nicknames. As i quoted earlier, "Ghorab (Crow) or Ibn al-Malouna (Whoreson) was the name assigned to the first foreigner to arrive. Others became al-Ak'hal (Blackie), Bateen (Fatso), Jarbou' (Kangaroo Rat), Moghzel (Spindle), Dajaja (Hen), Aboul Hseyin (Pony) and al-Afsah." (pg. 80) To make matters more confusing the author refers to a translator. "All they (the emir's men with the foreigners) could do was tell the translator what the people were saying and the translator was tougher and more arrogant than the American's themselves." (pg. 79) I wonder now, that if the Arabs could really only speak to the translator (who must of been an Arab) and if al-Afsah means "the most eloquent" than is it the nickname the Arabs gave an Arabic speaking American or the translator and if so, does it have a negative (like sarcastic) or positive connotation?

And to make matters even more confusing, later in the story there is a tranlator and his real name is given, Naim Sh�eira. Is it the same translator from earlier in the story? The above description seems to relate to how Naim behaves. The Arabs hate Naim and give him the nickname Nusayis. Does anyone know what Nusayis tranlates to in English? Any help please...

Sorry, I don't know if this is a second question...I really want to learn Arabic now.

Fuad Yahya

You can provide further help by quoting the passage in which the character was given the nickname, as it may help shed some light. The trick is to find out if the term is ��, ��, or ��

14:35 Oct 22, 2005

Fuad Yahya

Considering that the characters endure into the subsequent volumes, you could help us by providing the "real" name of the character. For instance, Hamilton is dubbed AL-SAHIB ("The Companion" or possibly "The Friend").

14:32 Oct 22, 2005

Fuad Yahya

The point is that volume and chapter numbers hardly match in the English and Arabic versions. Of course, page numbers are no help. As luck would have it, I am missing one volume ("��"), which I believe is the first in the sequence.

14:30 Oct 22, 2005

Fuad Yahya

The Arabic version consists of five volumes, not three. To complicat things further, they are not numbered, although one volume ("�� ") carries the mysterious number 3. Chapters are not numbered either, but one can at least count them.

14:27 Oct 22, 2005

Alaa Zeineldine

Egypt

Posted on behalf of asker: Is it possible that "the most eloquent" is used by the arab characters as being sarcastic like the other derogatory nicknames, meaning the American "al-Afsah" was actually not eloquent or clear in explaining things?

03:49 Oct 22, 2005

Fuad Yahya

As an asker, you may not vote on answers for your own question. Voting is for other peers, but not for the asker.

03:25 Oct 22, 2005

Fuad Yahya

Cities of Salt is not one novel, but a cycle of several novels. Please state the title of the specific novel you are reading, and any other information to help us locate the specific nickname (chapter, a quote, etc.). Thank you very much.

23:31 Oct 21, 2005

Answers

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

the most eloquent

Explanation:
.

AhmedAMS
Russian Federation
Local time: 22:23
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

4 hrs confidence:

Big mouth

Explanation:
If sarcasm is intended maybe it could be translated as 'big mouth'. Or as in Arabic the literal translation of such term would be 'Abou lisan Taweel' meaning 'long tongue'.

HTH

Mona Helal
Local time: 04:23
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

English
PRO pts in category: 32

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