Monday, February 01, 2010

"باسم الله اللى بيرحم كتير أوي" - و حدود العامية المصرية في الحياة اليومية

كلما عدت لمصر لاحظت زخف العامية المصرية على بساط الفصحى.
الاعلانات و عناوين الأفلام، و البرامج التلفزيونية غزتها العامية.. من أول "ابو عيون زرقه" الى "اللي بالي بالك". الرسوم المتحركة و مجلات الأطفال ، و التي ساهمت في تعليمنا الفصحى، صارت بالعامية. و اخر ما لاحظت اذناي هو اتباع رسائل الهاتف المسجلة لهذه الظاهرة: "التليفون مأفول. لو عايز تسيب رسالة..."

ليه؟
لماذا السعي الدؤوب لاستبدال العربية بالعامية؟ من االمطالب بذلك، و من المنفذ ؟

مفهوم أن نلجأ للكتابة باللهجة المصرية من ان لاخر. اذا كنا ننقل حوارا مثلا، أو على الأدهى نؤلفه؛ على ذلك لا أرى في كتابة الشعر أو الأدب بالعامية أي غضاضة؛ خاصة مع ايماني أن للمؤلف الحرية في نقل أفكاره كيفما شاء.

لكن الأمر يتطلب وقفة عندما ينادي بعض مناهضي العربية و العروبة - اذ ترتبط الدعوتان في أحيان عدة - باستخدام العامية على نطاق أوسع، كالصحافة و نشرات الأخبار (كما فعلت قناة أو تي في على ما يبدو).

اقرأ مثلا الصفحة الرئيسية لموسوعة ويكيبيديا ب" المصري"، التي تلمح الى " الغزو أو الفتح العربي لمصر" (و لاحظ استخدام لفط "الغزو" أولا)، يتضح لك أن الدعوة لاستخدام العامية لا تهدف بصفة أساسية لتأكيد هوية، انما لدفع و نفي هوية أخرى.
أستطيع أن أتفهم الا يشعر شخص بأي انتماء للعروبة؛ فتكوين الهوية هو، أولا و آخرا أمر شخصي، و لا يصح أن يجبر المرء على الاحساس بعروبته أو أفريقيته أو اسلاميته ان لم يشأ. هو حر.

لكن الدعوة لاستخدام العامية على نطاق واسع، هي دعوة لقطع علاقة مصر بالأمة العربية، التي تربطنا بها اللغة قبل أي شيء. هي دعوة لقطع الأجيال القادمة عن ألفي سنة من الشعر و الأدب العربي. بالفعل نجد صعوبة في قراءة الأدب العربي القديم - أو حتى كتابات طه حسين.
فهل نتخيل أن يأتي اليوم الذي يحتاج فيه أولادنا لترجمة عامية لكتابات طه حسين؟

أو لترجمة عامية للمصحف الشريف، تبدأ ب"باسم الله اللى بيرحم كتير أوي"؟

زرت الصين و تايوان منذ بضعة أسابيع. كلتاهما، بالمناسبة، تتحدث الصينية ؛ و بينما ما زال أهل تايوان يكتبون بالحروف "التقليدية" (أو الفصحى، ان شئتم) ، الا أن الصين أصبحت تستخدم، في السنوات الخمسون الأخيرة، الحروف "المبسطة، و ذلك لقرار سياسي من الحكومة الشيوعية بتبسيط الكتابة تمهيدا لحملات نشر لهجة موحدة في أرجاء الصين الشعبية . و سألت أصدقائي الاجانب بتايوان عن اختيارهم لدراسة الصينية التقليدية الأكثر تعقيدا، فأجابوني قائلين أن قارئي التقليدية يستطيعون فهم الكتابة المبسطة، بينما العكس ليس صحيحا؛ و الأهم من ذلك هو أن كل كا أنتجته الصين من ثقافة ثرية و عميقة كان بالتقليدية؛ فكان تعلمها واجبا لمن أراد قراءة أي نصوص كتبت قبل خمسون عاما.

حقا، لو كانت الدعوة لاستبدال العربية بالانجليزية لتفهمت الدعوة؛ فنحن بالفعل في حاجة للاندماج في الاقتصاد العالمي. لكان ذاك النقاش مختلفا. (و لكان رأيي كذلك بالرفض).
لكن استبدال العربية بلغة - و هي ليست بلغة! - لا يتحدثها إلانا، و ليس لها من التاريخ أو الأدب شيئا، يعد دعوة للانغلاق و التقوقع، دعوة للابتعاد و لابعاد الغير - لا ابالغ ان اعتبرتها عملا اجراميا في حق الثقافة المصرية.

للعامية مكان في الثقافة المصرية، لا جدال. و سأظل شخصيا استخدمها، انما في مجالات محدودة جدا. لكني أرفض بشدة أن توضع على قدم وساق مع العربية.

17 comments:

خالد said...

محمد .... لم أكن أدري أنك تكتب بالعربية بصورة تضاهي تلك بالانجليزية :)
لقد أثار استغرابي حقا مؤخراتواجد المصرية كلغة على ويكيبيديا ....

أعتقد أنا مصر و لبنان بشكل خاص يحاولان دائما ابراز هويتهم بعيدا عن باقي الدول العربية. اللبنانيين الفينيقيين و المصريين الفراعنة.

أسف أن أتطرق مرة أخرى لمبارة الجزائر ومصر. ولكنها مما شك فيه أني شخصيا أكتشفت وأبديت أهتماما أكبر بمصر بعد تلك المبارة . ما أثار استغرابي في ذلك الوقت ميل المصريين للوم القومية العربية . مما لا شك فيه أن استعداد المواطن المصري السريع للتخلي عن قوميته العربية هو ليس ظرف الساعة وانما هو نتيجة للمناخ الذي تعيشه مصر حاليا. أن انتشار اللغة العامية انما هو نتاج لسياسة تعليمية و اعلامية تعيشها مصر منذ سنين.

طبعا أن لم أزر مصر قط في حياني .... بس هذا هو رأيي المتواضع ... :)

Mo-ha-med said...

شكرا يا باشا!
هذه كنت كتبتها منذ شهور ثم وضعتها جانبا...

الحق أن المصريين بصفة عامة يشعرون بالفخر الشديد تجاه موقع مصر "القيادي" في نظرهم تجاه الوطن العربي. و بالتالي في موضوع الجزائر كان الغضب منصبا عليها بصفتها دولة لم تحترم الوضع القيادي لها...

بس أكيد لازم تيجي مصر. :)

خالد said...

والله ان شاء الله :) يعني كل من أعرفهم أجمعوا بأن مصر بلد يستحق الزيارة .... :)

مين الناس الي بتكتب بالمصري على ويكيبيديا ؟ هل "لغة" المصري منتشرة في مكان أخر غير ويكيبيديا ؟ 

بالنسبة لي .. أعتقد أن مصر خسرت جزأ من وضعها القيادي في الوطن العربي بسبب اصطفافها الى جانب أحد الأحلاف ضد الأخر ... يعني معروف للجميع أن مصر هي جزء من تيار الاعتدال (مصر السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية سعودية الأردن قناة العربية) ضد تبار "المقاومة" . للأسف الشديد هذا التوجه أثر سلبا في صورة مصر لدى كثير من الأطياف ... يعني حتا هون .... بتشوف "الفتحاويين" بشجعوا مصر و "الحمساويين" بشجعوا الجزائر .. الحمد لله أنا مش حمساوي ;)

على عموم أنا أحاول جاهدا أن أعرف عن مصر في الأونة الأخيرة (أتابع القاهرة اليوم كثيرا رغم عدم حبي لعمر ). يعني الحملة الي قام بها للتبرع عن طريق بنك الطعام أثبتت لي أن لدى الشعب المصري طاقة كامنة ايجابية يمكن أن تتفجر في كل وقت :)

هل رأيك أن ممكن يحدث تغيير في مصر بعد الانتخابات القادمة ؟؟

worriedlebanese said...

I'm a bit surprised by your very conservative stand on the Arabic language.

I hear your points when you speak of access to a cultural heritage and language as a cross-border communication tool, but I believe the two examples you chose surely illustrate you point, but are not applicable to Egypt.

You speak of the reformation of the chinese script and the fact that it has made access to the old chinese texts impossible. Well, that's is true because basically, a chinese person who is only versed in modern script will not be able to read the classical text. It's not about understanding, it's about deciphering. While a person who speaks egyptian and writes it will have no problem reading a text in classical arabic. Their only problem will be lexical, and the use of a dictionary and a bit of common sense will do the job. And this is a common problem that people face throughout the world. Languages change and access to old material becomes increasingly difficult as times goes by (think Milton, Shakespeare, Moore and Chaucer).
As for communication with Arabs, well, owing to Egyptian cinema and music, Egyptian is understood by many Arab speakers, so this shouldn't be a problem.

There's one point that you do not take into account, and that I believe is important. Language is of importance for daily communication and for access to information, services and public discussion (national deliberation). The more you rely on a formal language that is detached from daily speech, the more elitist you become. Basically, relying on a formal language excludes those who do not have sufficient linguistic skills, and this is usually directly related to social class. So the increased use of Egyptian in the media is a form of democratisation and encourages a larger participation of those who do not master arabic in its classical form.

Soha Bayoumi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Soha Bayoumi said...

I have been reluctant to comment ya Mo on this post, since we already had our vigorous discussion about that.

I mostly agree with worriedlebanese on this, and I think that the right impression is that your position on this, unlike most of your positions in general, is extremely conservative, which make it quite surprising to those who know you.

Again ya Mo, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) is A LANGUAGE with an ISO language code. It has its own grammar and syntax rules, its vocabulary and textbooks to teach it.

However, the most important point here is your insistence on ideologizing the language issue, by highlighting Arabic as a constituent of an Arabic identity which you seem to value politically, and presenting this ideological stance in opposition to another naive ideological/political stance which calls for the adoption of ECA as an official language.

In my humble opinion, the use of language should not be ideologized. The use of language is primarily functional and pragmatic. It is interesting that Ibn Jinni, the famous 10th century Arab linguist, is far less conservative and elitist and far more open-minded than you are in this regard. He said defining language:
"إنما هى أصوات يعبر بها كل قوم عن أغراضهم"

Our people suffer from a classical case of diglossia, rendered more severe by catastrophic educational policies and the failure, and/or the unwillingness, of our governments to effectively address illiteracy, which results in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) becoming less accessible to the majority of the population. Even you, Mohamed, made a few grammatical, syntactical and style errors while writing this passage, which is something you don't normally do writing even in English, which is not, I think, you mother tongue (Please forgive me if this is too personal; I couldn't help but use it as an illustration of the problem).

I am totally for a translation of the Quran into ECA. I think that you, as a practicing Muslim, should be in favor of that too, since it will spread the understanding of the Quran to a significantly larger segment of society. People can still pray in Arabic, I don't think that would be a problem, because non-Arabic-speaking Muslims speak other languages and still pray in Arabic. It's just like the Bible was translated from the biblical languages into Greek and Latin, then into modern languages. What's the big deal? Besides, a translation of the Quran into ECA doesn't mean that it'll be as naive as you suggest it will be, as in "باسم الله اللى بيرحم كتير قوى", because one of the privileges of a spoken language is its flexibility in integrating foreign words and different structures and appropriating them: ECA, in its structure, is a mixture of Coptic and Arabic, and, in its vocabulary, is a mixture of Arabic, Coptic, Turkish, Persian (mostly through Ottoman Turkish) and several European languages. ECA has got lots of words and expressions from Arabic that are not likely to change any time soon. We say, for instance, a hundred times a day, "إن شاء الله" which is entirely composed of Classical Arabic words. We normally don't say, and won't say anytime soon, "لو ربنا عاز". That is one of the problems I see in some initiatives like Wikipedia Masry and OTV that are partially motivated by a naive ideological stance, which sees ECA in opposition to MSA, and tries, unsuccessfully, to replace as many MSA words as possible by ECA words, disregarding the fact that this is not how it's normally used in everyday speech, which does not shy away from integrating Classical Arabic words if they serve a better purpose or are handier.

As for Taha Hussein, I wouldn't feel bad at all if, in 400 hundred years, he became for us what Shakespeare is for English speakers. Judging from his positions on culture and language, I can confidently say he wouldn't have minded it either.

Excuse me if I sounded a bit too harsh at certain points, you know I LOVE YOU!

stick to politics! said...

christophe mae wtf!!!!!!


respect your astute political analysis---but dude don't pollute twitter with pastiche ear pollution, he recycles everyone from dido to john mayer melodies and sprinkles lyrics atop...

I HEARD THE IDF IS BLASTING HIM ON HUGE LOUD SPEAKERS IN GAZA!!!!!! talk about cruel and unusual!

Ami Kaufman said...

I know y'all are talking about Arabic, yet as one who follows this blog closely I can't help but feel like you're talking behind my back...
Not fair! No entiendo nada!

:-))))))

egyptblogger said...

Hey Mohamed,

I will write this in English because after growing up in an American school, and speaking Arabic for the first time when I was around 12, my Arabic is quite poor.
I understand why you are bothered. Even though I personally have great difficulty with classical Arabic, I am against the "colloquialization" of newspapers and literature. The fact that there are so many books and novels now in colloquial Arabic is disturbing. If it continues like this, one day nobody will be able to read Naguib Mahfouz and Yusuf Idris.
Most novelists theses days are actually not proficient in classical Arabic with its vast vocabulary, which is why they resort to the easier, simpler slang. It reaches a wider audience and sells more.
Add to this the fact that what we learn in school is not really Arabic; and in a generation or two, we won't be able to read anything in classical Arabic.

Classical Arabic in itself is an art, a vast language that is extremely rich. Letting it die would be a tragedy.
Plus, I don't think a colloquial Quran is a good idea - if you think about it, it is the only real Arabic people read any more.

Mo-ha-med said...

Everyone -- SO sorry for the delay!

Khaled:
معرفش مين بيكتب مصري على ويكيبيديا انما واضح انهم متفانين للغاية!
اما عن الانتخابات... أي انتخابات يا صديق. لا أمل لأي شكل من التغيير إلى أن يتوفى الله ملكنا الحبيب مبارك الأول... بعد كده نشوف!

WorriedLebanese:
But that's over. We're falling behind the Levantines in audio-visual production - even here, we watch Syrian shows and listen to Lebanese singer.

I hear you with the democratization of language, but I think we're not there yet. We can still salvage people's knowledge of the Arabic language. When we were kids, cartoons and comic books were in classical Arabic. And we were, what, 5, 6? It was convenient for most. We need to revert to that before it's too late...

Soha Bayoumi:
Sure, Egyptian has an ISO language code, and someone somewhere decided to transcribe what have always been informal conjugation rules into a book. Doesn't make it any more of a real language to me.

Regarding ideology: you are quite right. I do value an 'Arab identity' and believe language to be a part of it. I don't think the spreading of 'Egyptian' is its antithesis - it's nowhere near a real threat - but it would be a weakening factor.

That I made mistakes - I am sure I have - is only proof that we're increasingly losing our linguistic bearings.

I agree that we should make knowledge accessible to as many people as possible. And that definitely includes religion. I have come to witness, if not practice - in Indonesia, Kosovo, and Europe, Islam in other languages and I am all in favour of it.

But we're not like Indonesia or Kosova. We speak Arabic, for Pete's sake. We can either get our act together before we irreversibly lose our language, or exert a small effort and regain our knowledge of proper Arabic, as it should be written.

You didn't sound a bit harsh, btw. And you know I love you back. :)


stick to politics!
Dude! Christophe Mae has got some really cool stuff!

Ami Kaufman
Hihihihihi... Lo siento, amigito. :) I'm not planning on writing in Arabic often anyway. Won't happen a lot, promise!

EgyptBlogger
Yep, that's (one of my) fears. We are at the point where we can either exert a wee bit of effort and ensure continuity with our literary heritage, to keep doing what we're doing and irreversibly lose it.
That would be truly sad!

洋裝 said...

君子遇窮困,則德益進,道益通。 ..................................................

aliyah06 said...

You have a valid point....how many Europeans speak Latin today? Outside of the Vatican, none...the language slanged and hybridized itself into French, Spanish, Italian. One can study Latin (I did) and learn to read the Classics, but it's a dead language. Arabic is what makes one Arab, in part....national identity is fine, but do you really want to be speaking Egyptian, Moroccan, Iraqi, etc. in another century instead of Arabic? Hold on to what holds you together and connects you to your history and heritage.

Mo-ha-med said...

Aliyah,
No, I sure don't want to be speaking Egyptian/Moroccan/Somali. Surely not.
I must underline that the difference between Arabic and Egyptian is nothing like that between French and Latin; grammar is often different and many words used in spoken Egyptian don't really exist in the Arabic dictionary, but most of it is common.
However I am afraid we may be heading to the Latin model indeed.. ugh.

Mariam said...

Mo-ha-med, I came across your blog while I was searching for leads for my PhD research.

As a researcher with an interest in the sociolinguistic developments which have occured in Egypt over the last decade, one thing I find particularly fascinating was how mobile networks changed their messages from Standard Arabic to Egyptian Arabic - which you talk about in yoru post. I read the subsequent comments and then couldn't help posting a comment myself.

I have been trying to find out which mobile network did this first. I always thought it was Mobinil but cannot tell for sure. I was also able to trace this change to 2008 but am not positive about when exactly this change came about. You wouldn't happen to have a clue? What strikes me about this step is that, unlike some other changes, it cannot be perceived as a spontaneous change - this is clearly a calculated step and I very much look forward to interviewing these mobile networks to explore the motives behind this change.

The fact that Egyptian Arabic is taking precedence over Standard Arabic in Egypt can hardly be disputed. What I find even more fascinating is how this is sometimes happening in Latin script (something that I researched for my MA degree). I agree with you that it is linked to an ideology - something that I also hope to investigate further in my research. Historical evidence of the rise and fall in the popularity of Standard Arabic throuhout the Nasserite era and up to present day Egypt would certainly indicate a significant correlation with the rise and fall of pan-Arab nationalism.

Thank you for your post, and for everyone who has commented. You have certainly given me some food for thought.

Soha: I can't help but feel that I know you from somewhere. You wouldn't by any chance have chaired a certain commission on human rights in a UN simulation in a different lifetime? (ok, maybe not another lifetime, but around 2003 or thereabouts?)

Soha Bayoumi said...

Hi Mariam,
I did in fact chair a commission on human rights in CIMUN 2003...

Mariam said...

Hi Soha,

Then you must be the Soha Bayoumi I had the pleasure of meeting then. I was a delegate of Uganda in that very commission - not that I expect you to remember that!

Great to find you here :)

Mo-ha-med said...

Hmm, I think I should open a new "Personals" and "Long lost friends" section on the blog. :)

Mariam
wow, sounds interesting!
Not sure when the change occurred I'm afraid - I notice things like those with a lag mainly.. :)
So you think our use of standard Arabic is connected to our pan-arab sentiment? Makes sense.. though, my money was on the religion aspect.

Do let us know when interview them - I'd LOVE to know the backstory!!

Thanks for dropping by!