Arabic Lesson

I haven’t learned much Arabic yet.  I’m finding it rather difficult.  It’s bad enough that the letters are different, but I also find some of the sounds difficult to pronounce correctly.  And following the lessons here or there may not be useful because Arabic can change country to country.  I thought I would introduce everyone not in Oman to some of my findings.

I have learned how to say goodbye, “maasalema.”  And I’ve learned how to say thank you, “shukran.”  Also, the spelling appears to be completely up to the writer and how they would pronounce the word.  In the case of the area of Mutrah, I have also seen it spelled Matrah, Mattrah, Muttrah, and Muterah.  In the case of the area of Azaiba, I have also seen it spelled Athaiba.  And it will be spelled various ways along a single road.

Close up of the word "Oman" on license plates.

Here is Oman in Arabic.  “Ulac” as Stephen likes to say.  No, it’s not “Ulac” because for one thing, they read from right to left.  I actually don’t know how to pronounce it except under the assumption that it is in fact pronounced “Oman.”

A stop sign in Oman.

Here is a stop sign.  It looks like two men rowing a boat as Stephen’s Uncle David put it. He's not wrong.  Nope, I don’t know how to pronounce it.  Another interesting note is that the line underneath is artistic.  They lengthen it as needed or wanted.  In the case of the stop sign, it is lengthened to be the same length as the word “stop.”  It is also sometimes a solid line and sometimes it has divots between the letters.

Arabic numbers 0-9

Here are some numbers.  Can I just say that I feel lied to?  In the movie Mean Girls, Cady tells her knew friends that she likes math because “it’s the same in every language.”  Liar!  These numbers are not the same in English.  Not only are they not the same, but their 6 looks like our 7 and a 5 looks like a 0.  A 2 looks like a backwards 7 and a 4 looks like a backwards 3.  A 0 is a dot.  Luckily, the 1 and 9 look pretty close to correct.  Also, I have learned and forgotten how to pronounce these numbers.