The Fire of Desert Folk/Glossary

by Ferdinand Ossendowski

GLOSSARY

 

Note on Spelling—Owing to the marked divergence in the systems of transliterating Arab and African names in general and to the strong tendency of the more current French forms to insinuate themselves into English text, the necessity of adopting some uniform system has been so patent that the only question has been one of finding the standard which most nearly reproduces the native sounds and is authoritative enough to command general acceptance. As the unchallengeable answer has been the work of the Royal Geographical Society of London, its "First General List of African Names," published in December, 1921, by its Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use has been adopted for all names contained in their list and for guidance in the analogous spelling of others that have been included in the text.

For the convenience of the reader a list is here appended of some of the more frequently used Arab and other native words.

 

Abaiyia—A sleeveless garment worn by nomad women

Abd—A slave

Aissa—Jesus Christ

Alem—A scholar; a sage

Al-lugha—The divine language of the Koran

Andaluza—The name of a song as well as of a dance in southern Spain

Arraf—A seer

Bairam—The great Moslem feast

Barakka—a sarcophagus; a blessing

Berrania—A foreigner

Bled—A village

Bournous—An ordinary cloak or mantle with sleeves and a cowl

Cadi—A magistrate or judge

Chouse—An interpreter, doorkeeper or attendant in a Morocco office

Dia—Compensation for murder; blood-money

Duar—An encampment

Fasi—Inhabitants of the town of Fez

Foggara—A subterranean channel for water

Fonduk—An inn; a store

Garnata—A Moorish song, so called from the early name of Granada

Gitun—A tent

Hafidh—A scholar, versed in, and able to quote fluently from, the Koran

Hadith—The body of Moslem tradition regarding Mahomet

Hadj—The pilgrimage to Mecca and a Mohammedan who has made it

Haik—A part of a woman's dress which covers the face; a part of a man's bournous

Hammam—A warm spring

Horm—Prohibition to enter

Insh Allah—If God wills

Isawa—The followers of the Prophet Jesus

Jellaba—A mantle with a cowl

Jmel—A camel

Kafla—A Caravan

Kahina—A prophetess

Kaldoun—An Arab dentist

Kasba—A fortress or fortified tribal enclosure

Kfen—A man's shirt

Kiblah—The direction toward Mecca

Kisaria—The market-place

Kumia—A poignard

Kouskous—A national dish of wheat gruel cooked with meat or fat

Ksur—A village

Kubba—A chapel with a tomb

Lalla—A lady; a saint

Madih—Religious poetry

Maghreb—West; a name for Morocco

Marabout—A sorcerer or prophet revered as a saint

Medersa—A higher theological school

Medina—The Arab quarter of the town

Mellah—The Jewish part of the town

Meskin—A beggar

Meshwi—A sheep roasted on a spit

Minbar—A Moslem curate

Mokkhadem—The chief of a religious fraternity

Muderres—A scholar; a professor

Muezzin—A priest of a lower grade

Mullah—A priest

Mumen—An orthodox Moslem

Nasrani—A Christian

Patio—A court

Reshid—A Moslem strict in his religious principles

Rumi—A European

Sahn—Interior court of a mosque

Sefta—Sweet kouskous

Sekkaia—A fountain

Sherif—A descendant of the Prophet

Sidi—Sir; master

Sof—Clan; caste

Suk—A street or market where only one kind of merchandise is made or sold

Surat—A verse from the Koran

Taam—Sweet kouskous

Tabout—A sarcophagus

Thaleb—A student; plural, tholba

Ulema—Plural for alem, scholar

Wad—A river

Wali—A saint

Zaouia—A chapel; a little mosque

Zitun—An olive-tree