Language
Now that I have to work harder and do less mini trips I can start writing for the blog again.
Today I want to write about foreigners in Oman and how the locals deal with language. A big group of foreign workers in Oman is from India and Pakistan. They are here since a long time and a lot of Hindi and Urdu words found ways into Omani language. Most of the word that describe tools are Hindi. The word for pliers for example is ‘baka’ in Omani dialect and instead of the Arabic word for straight people say ‘sida’. What I find most amazing is that most Omanis know some Hindi and Urdu but people who work with Indians and Pakistanis, for example in tourism, are fluent. I did not see anything like that in Europe. Neither in Germany nor in Norway did hear people try to speak some Turkish or some Urdu. Here instead it does not seem to be something special to try to understand the foreigners. Since Oman was colonized by the British for a little while some English words are part of the language too. For example the reverse gear for the car is in Omani dialect “re-was” and the drivers license is ‘lay-san’. I did not hear any German influence yet but maybe if Vollkornbrot will find its way to the Omani ‘Food Stuff Sale’ I can hear something like ‘ful-curn’….
Perhaps the readiness to learn Hindi/Urdu has also to do with a long tradition of trade along the Gulf coast. There is a strong Indian-Arab connection here that goes back centuries. So Indians have been coming to what is now Oman for quite some time now (and Omanis to India). So it isn’t quite as recent a relationship as the German-Turkish one (nor is it a relationship that is troubled with the sort of anomosities and fears that the “European-Turkish” one is … although Germany and Turkey were allies in WWII, something that is often conveniently forgotten in the debates over the relationship to Turkey).
Oh and another point… in Oman Inidans often occupy positions of responsiblitiy with Omanis doing the lower jobs that require less training (at least many of the older generation). Hence the power relations are different. In Germany the Turkish commmunity is marginalised economically and also politically. The Indian community is economically not marginalised …they play an important role, occupy important positions and have a lot of technical training that a lot of Omanis do not have. And hence another reason to learn the language. It least it seems that this might have something to do with it…
Thanks for posting, by the way. We missed that
I guess you are right but still it is nice to see that people make an effort.