Joseph Jacobs (coll. & ed.) - "English Fairy Tales"

Burton Egbert Stevenson - "The Home Book of Verse, Volume 2"

M. R. (Montague Rhodes) James - "A Thin Ghost and Others"

George Sumner Weaver - "Aims and Aids for Girls and Young Women"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Travels In Arabia

J >> John Lewis Burckhardt >> Travels In Arabia




[p.465] No. VII.

Postscript to the Description of the Beitullah or Mosque at Mekka--(See
p. 161.)

THE law forbids that blood should be shed either in the mosque or town
of Mekka, or within a small space around it: neither is it lawful there
to cut down trees, or to kill game. This privilege of the mosque is
generally respected in common cases of delinquency, and many criminals
take refuge in the Beitullah accordingly; but it is also frequently
violated. I have myself seen Mohammed Aly's soldiers pursue a deserter,
seize and carry him off from the covering of the Kaaba to which he had
clung; and the history of Mekka cites numerous examples of men killed in
the mosque, among others the Sherif of Mekka, Djazan Ibn Barakat,
assassinated while he performed the towaf round the Kaaba. Sanguinary
battles (as in A.H. 817.) have even been fought within its sacred
precincts, which afford the most open spot in the town for skirmishing.
Horsemen have often entered and passed a whole night in it. Therefore we
may say that the privilege is generally useless in those cases where it
would be most valuable; such as the protection of fugitives from the
powerful oppressor. As to the sanctity of the territory, it is but a
name, and seems to have been little respected even in the first ages of
Islam. The extent of the sacred territory is variously stated by the
three historians whose works I possess, and who were themselves Mekkans.
The four Imams or founders of the orthodox sects also disagree upon the
subject. At present the privilege of the sacred territory seems almost
forgotten; and it has been crossed in every direction by infidel
Christians employed in the army of Mohammed Aly or Tousoun Pasha, who,
though they have not entered Mekka, have visited Mount Arafat. Contrary
to the precepts of Mohammed, wood is now cut in the mountains close
behind Mekka, and no one is prevented from shooting in the neighbouring
valleys. The plain of Arafat alone is respected, and there the trees are
never cut down. The sacred district, or, as it is called, Hedoud el
Haram (the limits of the Haram), is at present commonly supposed to be
enclosed by those positions where the ihram is assumed on the approach
to Mekka: those are, Hadda to the west, Asfan to the north, Wady Mohrem
to the east, and Zat Ork to the south. Aly Bey el Abbassi has
represented this district, in his map, as a particular province or
sacred territory called Belad el Harameyn: but in fact, no such province
has ever existed; and the title of Belad el Harameyn is given, not to
this sacred space, but to both the territories of Mekka and Medina.

[p.466] No. VII

Philological Observations.


MANY Arabic terms which have become obsolete in other places, and are
found only in the good authors, many expressions even of the Koran, no
longer used elsewhere, are heard at Mekka in the common conversation of
the people, who retain, at least in part, the original language of the
Koreysh. Some neighbouring Bedouin tribes, especially those of Fahm and
Hodheyl, use a dialect still more pure and free from provincialisms and
grammatical errors. I sometimes attended the lectures of a Sheikh in the
mosque, who to his own excellent native Arabic had added the result of
his studies at Cairo: and I never heard finer Arabic spoken. He prided
himself in sounding all the vowels, not only in reading, but even in
conversation; and every word he uttered might be noted as of standard
purity.

It is to their extensive commerce with foreigners that we must ascribe
the corruption of the Mekkan dialect when compared with that of the
neighbouring Bedouins, though it still serves as a model of softness to
the natives of Syria and Egypt. In pronunciation, the Mekkans imitate
the Bedouin purity--every letter has its precise and distinct sound: they
pronounce [Arabic consonant] like k, and the [Arabic consonant] like a
soft g, (as in the word going); although in the public service of the
mosque, and in reading the Koran, they express that letter with the
guttural aspiration given to it in Syria, and which is therefore
regarded as the true pronunciation. The [Arabic consonant] is pronounced
djem; but in the mountains to the south, and the interior of Yemen, it
is sounded gym, as at Cairo. The guttural pronunciation of the elif
[Arabic consonant], often neglected in other places, is here strictly
observed. The only fault in the Mekkan pronunciation is, that in common
with the Bedouins they sometimes give, in words of two syllables, too
great an emphasis to the last: thus they say Zahab, [Arabic] Safar,
[Arabic]Lahem, [Arabic] Matar, [Arabic] Saby, [Arabic] and others.

The people of Yemen whom I saw at Mekka pronounced and spoke Arabic
almost equally well as the Mekkans: those from Szanaa spoke with purity,
but a harsh accent; but the Hedjazi, like the Bedouin accent, is as soft
as the language will admit.

It has been said that the dialects of Arabic differ widely from each
other; and Michaelis, one of the most learned orientalists, affirms that
the Hedjazi is as different from the Moggrebyn dialect as Latin from
Italian; and a noble Sherif traveller makes a strong distinction between
Moorish and Arabic, pretending to understand the latter and not the
former; and even the accurate and industrious Niebuhr seems to have
entertained some erroneous notions on this subject. But my own inquiries
have led me to a very different opinion. There certainly exists a great
variety of dialects in Arabic; more perhaps than in other languages: but
notwithstanding the vast extent of country in which Arabic prevails,
from Mogador to Maskat, whoever has learned one dialect will easily
understand all the others. In respect to pronunciation, whoever can
spell correctly will feel little embarrasment

[p.467] from the diversity of sound, and soon become familiar with it.
The same sense is often expressed by different terms; but this is
applicable rather to substantive nouns than to verbs. Many words are
used in one country and not in another: thus bread is called khobs in
Syria, and aysh in Egypt; both terms being genuine Arabic, a language
rich in synonyms: but the Syrian dialect still retains what has become
obsolete in the Egyptian. From the specimen given by Niebuhr of the
Egyptian and Hedjazi dialect, I could show, word by word, that there is
not one provincialism in the whole. If the Egyptian says okod, and the
Arabian edjles, they both use genuine Arabic words to express the same
thing, one of which is more common in Arabia, the other in Egypt, when
both terms are well understood by all who have mixed in the busy crowd,
or have had even an ordinary education. An Englishman is justified in
using "steed" for "horse;" thus the Moggrebyn calls a horse owd, the
eastern Arab hoszan; but many poets use the word owd, which is at
present unknown to the vulgar in Egypt. This variation of terms arose
probably from the settlement of different tribes, each having their
peculiar vocabulary; for it is known that Feyrouzabady compiled the
materials of his celebrated Dictionary (the Kamous) by going from one
tribe to another. The Arabs spreading over conquered countries took
their idioms with them, but the joint-stock of the language continued
known to all who could read or write.

Pronunciation may have been affected by the nature of different
countries, retaining its softness in the low valleys of Egypt and
Mesopotamia, and becoming harsh among the frozen mountains of Barbary
and Syria. As far as I know, the greatest difference exists between the
Moggrebyns of Marocco, and the Hedjaz Bedouins near Mekka; but their
dialects do not differ more from each other than the German of a Suabian
peasant does from that of a Saxon. I have heard learned men of Syria
express their ignorance of many Bedouin terms used by tribes in the
interior of the Desert, especially the Aenezey, who, on the other hand,
do not comprehend certain words of the Syrian town-language; but the
wants and habits of a Bedouin are so different from those of a town-
person, that the one frequently cannot find terms to express the ideas
of the other.

As to pronunciation, the best is that of the Bedouins of Arabia, of the
Mekkans, and people of the Hedjaz; that of Baghdad and of Yemen is next
in purity. At Cairo the pronunciation is worse than in any other part of
Egypt; after which I should rank the language of the Libyan Arabs, who
have a tinge of the Moggrebyn pronunciation mixed with the Egyptian.
Then comes the Arabic spoken in the eastern and western plains of Syria,
(at Damascus, Aleppo, and on the sea-coast); then the dialect of the
Syrian mountaineers, the Druzes, and Christians; next, that of the
Barbary coast, of Tripoly, and of Tunis; and lastly, the rough
articulation of the Marocco and Fez people, which has a few sounds
different from any other, and is subdivided into several dialects. The
Arabs, however, of the eastern side of Mount Atlas, at Tafilelt, and
Draa, pronounce their Moggrebyn tongue with much less harshness than
their western neighbours. But I must acknowledge, that of all Arabic
dialects, none appeared to me so disagreeable and so adulterated as that
of the young Christian fops of Cairo and Aleppo.

[p.468] No. IX.

Topographical Notices of the Valley of Mekka and its Mountains;
extracted from the History of Azraky, showing the names assigned to
every part. [It may be here remarked, that the Bedouins of the present
day continue to bestow on the smallest hill, projecting rock, or little
plain, a distinct and particular name; which circumstance renders the
history of Arabia often obscure, as the names have, in the course of
ages, sometimes changed.]

THE different mountains forming the southern chain of the valley of
Mekka are:--Djebel Fadeh, on the lower part of Djebel Kobeys, nearest to
the town--El Khandame, likewise part of Djebel Kobeys--Djebel el Abyadh,
called among the Pagan Arabs Mestebzera, belonging also to Djebel
Kobeys--Mozazem--Korn Meskale, lower ridge of Shab Aamer--Djebel Benhan,
ibid.--Djebel Yakyan, on the side of Shab Aamer--Djebel el Aaredj, near
the latter--Djebel el Motabekh, or Shab Aamer; so called because the Toba
kings of Yemen, when they invaded Mekka, established here their kitchen--
Shab Abou Dobb--Shab e' Szafa, or Djebel Raha, Shab Beni Kenane--Shab el
Khor--Shab Athmen.

On the northern side are:--El Hazoura; here was formerly the market of
Mekka--El Djethme--Zogag el Nar--Beit el Ezlam--Djebel Zerzera, in the
Djehelye called El Kaym--Djebel Omar, in the Djehelye called Da Aasyr--
Djebel el Adkhar, [El Adkhar is a shrub or plant, mixed by the Mekkans
with mortar in the construction of their houses. El Aadhad a thorny
tree, common in Arabia.] in the time of the Djehelye called El Mozhebat,
or El Aadhad--Djebel el Hazna-Shab Arny--Thenyet Keda Batn Zy Towa--Djebel
el Mokta--Fah, a valley beyond the Djidda gate--El Momdera--El Moghesh,
from whence was cut the white marble used in the mosque--El Herrowra--
Istar--Mokbaret el Noszara, the burial-ground of the Christians--Djebel el
Beroud--Thenyet el Beydha--El Hashas--Da el Medowar--Djebel Moslim--Wady Zy
Towa--Thenyet Om el Harth--Djebel Aby el Keyt--Fedj--Shab Ashras--Shab el
Motalleb--Zat Khalilyn--Djebel Kabsh--Djebel Rahha--El Bagheybagha--Djebel
Keyd--El Ark--Zat el Hantal--El Akla--Shab el Irnye--El Alka--Shab el Leben
--Melhet el Ghoraba--Melhet el Herouth--Kaber el Abd.

On the lower side of Mekka are:--Adjyad, or Djyad--Ras el Insan, between
the Djebel Kobeys and Adjyad--Shab el Khatem, near Adjyad--Djebel Khalife--
Djebel Orab--Djebel Omar--Ghadaf--El Mokba--El Lahdje--El Kadfade--Zat el
Laha--Zou Merah--Es Selfeyn--El Dokhadekh--Zou el Shedyd--Zat e' Selym--Adhat
el Nabt, so called from some Nabateans who resided there, and were sent
by Mawya Ibn Aly Sofyan to make mortar at Mekka--Om Kerdan.

On the north side of the Mala are--Djebel Deylamy--Djebel Sheyb--Djebel
Habeshy--

[p.469] Shab el Mokbera--Abou Dedjane--Djebel el Lyam--El Ghorab--Shab el
Akhnes, also called El Khowaredj, or El Gheyshoum--El Kaad.

On the road towards Mekka are:--El Mofdjer, or El Khoder--Shab Howa--Er
Rebab-Zou el Arake--El Ambara, in the Djehelye called Semyra--E' Seder.

On the road towards Djebel Thor, southward of Mekka, are:--Zat el
Lakhob--Zat Ardja--El Kaflye--Thor--and El Bana.

No. X.

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

Mokhowa, [Arabic] mentioned in pp. 112, 189, &c. must not be confounded
with Mokha, [Arabic] on the sea-coast. Mokhowa is a town ten days
distant from Mekka at the western foot of the great chain of mountains.

The word Hedjer, [Arabic] mentioned in p. 139, is not to be mistaken
for Hadjar, a stone: the space of ground is called Hedjer "because it is
separated from the Kaaba or Beitullah;"--[Arabic]

Page 299--The Beni Amer--The word Amer [Arabic] in this place must not be
confounded with Amer [Arabic] another tribe of Harb. The damma [Arabic
vowel] in [Arabic] is never pronounced by the Arabians, who say Amr Ibn
el Las, ([Arabic]) and not Amrou Ibn el Las, placing the damma [Arabic
vowel] merely to distinguish the word from [Arabic] Omar.

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