Interesting Facts on Ancient Mounds—Three Texts in the Bedouin Arabic Dialect of the Harran-Urfa Region (Southeastern Turkey)

Stephan Procházka

The article deals with an Arabic Bedouin dialect which is spoken in the plain of Harran situated south of the city of Urfa, Turkey. The dialect of the local Arab minority, which has been settled in that region for centu- ries, belongs to the so-called Šāwi vernaculars that are widespread among the goat and sheep breeding nomads of Syria and Iraq. Besides linguis- tic remarks on some outstanding phonological, morphological, and lexi- cal features, the paper contains three original texts in transcription with English translation. The texts were recorded in three different villages and all deal with stories connected to the numerous ancient mounds in the region.

Introduction

Recently Bruce Ingham published an article on the speech of the Euphra- tes Bedouin, which he called a “fringe Mesopotamian dialect” (Ingham 2009). The present paper deals with a Bedouin dialect that is spoken on the opposite fringe of the Šāwi dialectal continuum. The Arabic dialects spoken in the vast Plain of Harran (called dīrit Ḥarrān in the local dia- lect) arguably constitute the northernmost variety of the Arabian Bedouin dialects, which for many decades have been the main focus of Bruce Ing- ham’s fruitful research. Many Arabs of the region investigated here live in the southern neighbourhoods of the provincial capital Şanlıurfa and in a few small towns between Urfa and the Syrian border, among them Harran and Tall Abyaḍ (Turkish Akçakale). Besides these urban settlements there are numerous tiny villages scattered in the fertile plain and often situated next to or around a ruin-mound. These tells are witnesses to the long his- tory of the region, which boasts many remains of ancient civilizations. As they are the most conspicuous landmarks in the otherwise flat landscape, it is no wonder that the people relate many stories about the tells rising behind their villages. Three such stories, told by three men from three different villages, will be presented here. 204 stephan procházka

Although the nomadic way of life has completely disappeared from the region in question, its Arabic speaking population is well aware of their background and very proud to have a pedigree which distinguishes them from the Turks around them (though not from the Kurds, who are also a tribal society). This provides them with a certain sense of superiority which plays an important role in the people’s attitude towards their local dialect. In contrast to many other Arabic speaking minority groups in Turkey, the Arabs of the Harran-Urfa area take pride in their language and therefore actively transmit it to the next generation. There is also a certain interest in old narratives and oral poetry—that is, in those traditions which are, according to Bruce Ingham, “an important component of bedouin cultural distinctiveness” (Ingham 2006: 528). Ingham also stated that on the Ara- bian Peninsula another major factor in the preservation of this cultural distinctiveness and oral tradition are Bedouin cultural programmes in the media. Although Turkish media do not provide such possibilities for the community described here, one can notice increasing activities on more informal levels, particularly on internet sites and (non-professional) local radio and TV stations. They interview older people who talk about former times and record oral poems or narratives such as sīrat Bani Hilāl, which are sold as CDs in the market in Urfa and other towns. Strange to say, in the view of the local Arabs the term “Bedouin” does not designate a real Arab. On the contrary, I often heard it said al-badu muhum ʿarab ‘The Bed- ouins are not Arabs’, and my acquaintances vigorously protested when I told them that they speak a Bedouin-type dialect.

Linguistic Remarks1

The most conspicuous phonological features are the shift from ġ to q, the affrication of k (> č) and g (> ǧ) in the vicinity of front vowels, and the so- called gahawa-syndrome. Syntactically one notes an almost routine usage of tanwīn as a link between an indefinite noun and elements which qualify it. These elements can be adjectives as in bētin aswad ‘a black tent’ (Text C.4 below), but also whole phrases (with or without a verb) as in the prov- erb šahrin mālak bī xubuz lā tʿidd ʾiyyāmu ‘Do not count the days in which you had no bread (to eat)!’—in other words ‘Forget bad times!’ Thus in

1 For a short sketch of this dialect see Procházka 2003. For a discussion of its position among the Arabic dialects spoken in Turkey see Procházka 2006–07.