Raïhanyat,

Moroccan Writer

Mohamed Saïd Raïhani’s Website

THE SINGULARITY WILL

A SEMIOTIC STUDY ON ARAB FIRST NAMES

(Published in Arabic, in 2001)

Chapter One :

Components of Arab First Names:

Dialectic of Singularity & Categorisation

Selecting a name for a newly-born baby, out of a list containing hundreds of first names, is a long and deliberate operation which obeys to precise calculation, contrary to what denomination may seem to be as automatic.

The present Moroccan naming glossary maintains its existence from several components: religion, nationality, regionality, language, sphere, class-distinction and gender.

I- The religious component:

religious creed has its own naming lexicon, producing. In this way, individual names turn out to be , at the same time, a religious and existential identity label:

Islamic Glossary	Christian Glossary	Jewish Glossary
Abdullah Ahmed Moustafa Mouhamed Moukhtar	Youhanna ( John) Boutross (Peter) Antoine( Anthony) Louca ( Luc) Emile ( Emile)	Shameoun(Simon) Ihud (Jude) Mussé (Moses) Yaakov (Jackob) Braham (Abraham)

It happened once to the Libanese Maronite author, Marone Abboud, to name his newly-born baby “ Mohamed”, contrary to the Christian naming glossary of this community .

The Libanese author paced in that direction believing that “Mohamed” refers to a referential character that has built Arabian history and nobly has the right to deprive a Maronite from taking on the name . Yet, the reaction against the name was so violent from his Maronite communty ...

Religious naming glossaries may interchange a group of names, mainly prophets’ names. Yet, another device returns to separate the naming glossaries from one another : Pronunciation.

Islamic glossary	Equivalent glossaries
Ibrahim	Abraham (Jewish))
Yahya	Yuhanna ( Christian )
Issa	Yessoue (Christian)
Souleimane	Solomon (Jewish)
Mariam	Maria (Christian)

On the other hand, within the same religious creed , there are religious dogmas which require faithful naming lexicon. Thus, the domination of a specific group of first names over the Shiite such as Ali, Hassan, Hussain, Fatima ...and the absence of great moslem name like : Aicha, Abou Bakre, Omar , Outman... are quite abvious as they date back to fifteen centuries earlier , time of conflicts on succession to power well-known in Islamic history.

the national component:

Despite belonging to the arabo-islamic culture , every Arab state keeps its particular naming glossary . In this way , Moroccan naming glossary is quite distinguishable when compared to the paralel Eastern-Arabic one:

Moroccan Glossary	Eastern-Arabic Glossary
Allal	Rifaat
Abdelilah	Abderabbou
Abdennabi	Abderrassoul
jilali	Jalal
Batoul	Oudryah
Miloud	Walid
Naima	Nouama
Hassania	Bahia
Malika	Sultana

III-The regional Component :

first names change according to Moroccan geographical zones. In this way , they refer to the named Individuel’s province or tribe:

Djebala Glossary	Ayachi, Moufaddal ,ftimou
Atlas glossary	Yttou, Addy, Mezouar, khledj
Sahara Glossary	Hamma, Bayba, Dadda…

IV- The lingual Component:

The fourth component of the Moroccan naming-glossary is the berber component:

Berber naming glossary	Equivalent Arab glossary
Ibrahim	Baha, bihi
Hassan, hussein	Houssa, Houhou, Ba H’ssine
Muhamed, Ahmed	Mooh, Moha, Hammou
Fatima, Fattoum,Fatimou	Fadma, tamou
Abdel Kader	Akka
Said	Eddi
Khadija	Khle, khlia
Aicha	Aacha
Abdulah	Abullah
Fakhr Achraf	Mezwae

V-The Spheral Component:

Rural naming Glossary differs from town naming glossary by its antique traditional structure:

Town glossary	Rural naming glossary
Nahid Allae Ibtissam Saber	Habshyia, Hadda, Drissyia Hashmi, Dehhan Mekka, Chaabana Bouayh, Boualam, Assou

VI- The gender component:

Naming glossary pays a great attention not to allow the slightest name ambiguity as far as gender differences are concerned. Yet, some mixed first names remained frequent such as: Rajaa, Ihsane, Jihad, Bahae...

One of the devices universally used in gender distinction: Opposition.

In the french glossary:

Male naming glossary	Female naming glossary
Jean	Jeanne
François	Françoise
Michel	Michelle
Jules	Julie
Antoine	Antoinette
Jacques	Jacqueline
Louis	Louise
Engène	Engénie

In the english glossary:

Male naming glossary	Female naming glossary
John	Jane
Harry	Harriette
Joseph	Josephene
Oliver	Olivia
Patrick	Patricia
Charles	Charlotte

In the moroccan glossary :

Male naming glossary	Female naming glossary
Saïd Miloud Jamal	Saïda, Souad Milouda Jamila
Hassan, Hussein Abdellatif Abdel Hafidh	Hasnae, Hassanyia Latifa Jamila

There is another device, a purly arabic way for gender distinction:Teknonymy, which is now circulating as official first names as in:

Male naming glossary	Female naming glossary
Abou Chaaib	Oum Hany
Abou Taleb	Oum Kelthoum
Abou Taleb	Oum El Khair
Abou Bakre	Oum El Eid
Abou Yehyia	Oum El Ghait

Concerning the remaining gender distinction devices, here is a table organizing them in name-groups according to their linguistic particularities:

Male naming glossary	Female naming glossary
Jelloul Kaddour Aazzouz	Rhimou Ftimou Tamou
Ahmed Mehdi Mustapha	Malika Halima Aicha
Sonallah Fathallah Khairallah	Hasnae Shaymae Asmae
Nour Eddine Salah Eddine Fakhr Eddine	Salwa Fadwa Najwa
Antara Hamza Marwa	Hind Zineb mariam
Loutfi Housni Shawki	Dina Sophia Sonia
Asaad Ashraf Aouar	Sabrine Nesrine Nadine
Bahjat Medhat Esmat	Sherazad Dounyazad Smahan

VII- the class component:

Like habitat, vestment, property, the kind of the work or interest … Fifst-names, themelves,have their class roots thrusted deep down in the collective memory:

Former slaves’naming glossary	Masters’naming glossary
Zouzou M’bara Mebrouka Mimoun Maazouz	Sidi Larbi Sidi Mohamed Lalla Ghita Lalla Mina Moulay Ali

It is quite clear from the contrast above that masters’glossary is common, standard and respectable. Whereas, the slaves’ glossary is generally uncommon and built in the passive form (in the Arabic grammar).

For a few decades, Morocco has started his departure from a very antique socio-econmical state towards a totally new one. Following the social change already working, Moroccan naming glossary had to stir up.

Synthesis

Moroccan naming glossary, at least in its traditional first names, seems to obey to a limited range of geo-socio-cultural restrictions the objective of which is to categorize the individual and affiliate him to an established social order , and tune him up either to the rhythm of a dominant culture or to an eventual rising alternative one.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

THE THEORETICAL & EPISTYMOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE BOOK

THE COMPONENTS OF ARAB FIRST NAMES

THE DYNAMISM OF ARAB FIRST NAMES

FIRST NAMES & CHARACTER : WHAT RELATIONSHIP?

EXPRESSIVE FIRST NAMES

NAMING AFTER DIVINE QUALITIES

NICKNAMING OUR FEAR FROM THE OTHER

CONCLUSION

APPENDICES

SHORT-STORY ANTHOLOGY WEBMASTER CRITICISM CHRONICLES LINKS HOMEPAGE ONOMASTICS FRANCAIS ARABIC

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

e-mail: mohamed_said_raihani@yahoo.com

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