i am what i aam

by joseph d. vess

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So there's this word in Egyptian Arabic that is pronounced "yanni." The 'a' is drawn out a bit more than in the name of the noted "musician," but it's quite similar. What also makes this interesting is that it's the Egyptian grammatical equivalent of "like" or "you know" in English. You just throw it into a sentence as a pause. It's also used if you're unclear on the meaning of a word. Just sort of cock your eyebrow at the person and say what sounds like "yan'niii" in a questioning tone. There's also something that makes Egyptian Arabic quite a lot of fun, which is the courtesy title, something not readily available to the English speaker. In French you can refer to someone as simply monsieur, without using a name, but there are at least a dozen in Egyptian. A sampling:

Ustazz. Literally "teacher," it's used to refer to someone in western clothing, or someone who's clearly a westerner, but only a run-of-the-mill westerner. It can be used on its own — "the ustazz here," or specifically, "ustazz Bob over there won't shut up."

Bash. A derivative of the the Turkish pasha, close to monsieur or a lower-class version of "sir". It can be used to refer to pretty much anyone in any circumstance. Usually to get someone's attention; as in "Ya bash!", sort of like "Hey man." It has an extension, Bash mohandis — literally, "Sir engineer." It used to have a more regal meaning, but now it is usually used derisively, jokingly, or in conversation with taxi drivers.

Hagg. Literally, "one who has completed the Hajj pilgrimage", it is also used to address any old man the speaker doesn't know.

Aam. Literally "uncle," this word is very widely used. It's used, alone (ya aam!) or followed by a name (aam Ahmed), to refer to a lower-class worker the speaker is acquainted with, usually on a professional basis. That's its theoretical meaning, and used about half the time. The rest of the time it serves as the preferred greeting for what is almost an autonomous subsector of Cairene society, young males referred to as "aams" who frequent the area of Downtown near Bustan St. and Talaat Harb Square. They are characterized by large, clunky shoes, slick hair, jeans worn high above the waist and held up by a belt with a belt buckle of a size more commonly associated with the American Southwest. They tend to loiter around the aforementioned district and harass passing women while nudging each other and laughing. They also, and I'm completely serious about this, sometimes have conversations that consist solely of the phrase "ya aam." As in

Person 1: [to person 2] "Ya aam."
Person 2: [replying to person 1] "Ya aam."
Person 1: [replying to person 2] "Ya aam."
Person 2: [replying to person 1] "Ya aam."
Person 1: [replying to person 2] "Ya aam."
Person 2: [replying to person 1] "Ya aam."
Person 1: [replying to person 2] "Ya aam."
Person 2: [replying to person 1] "Ya aam."
Person 1: [replying to person 2] "Ya aam."
Person 2: [replying to person 1] "Ya aam."
Person 1: [replying to person 2] "Ya aam."
Person 2: [replying to person 1] "Ya aam."
Person 1: [replying to person 2] "Ya aam."
Person 2: [replying to person 1] "Ya aam."
Person 1: [replying to person 2] "Ya aam."

This can go on for as long as 20 minutes or so. I'm not kidding.

Joseph D. Vess, Medill '01, lives in Egypt.

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