69 million page views

Mishan is not Mishan

Reader comment on item: Hizbullah's Travails in a Graphic
in response to reader comment: Syrian Arabic

Submitted by Sentinel (Saudi Arabia), Aug 23, 2013 at 05:05

Briefly - MISHAN meaning Sharp tongue and MISHAN meaning ..for the sake of.....are UNRELATED..

I assume MISHAN (sharp tongue) is a literary classicism. I've never heard of it.

===============================================================

MISHAN (for the sake of) is simply the very common MIN SHA"AN (literally: FROM THIS MATTER) and is found in one form or another in nearly all dialects. It's very common for the dialects to abbreviate certain words, especially prepositions such as MIN and 3LA (على ) when in initial position.

Thus in Egyptian, you get 3SHAANEE = for me - which is abbreviated 3LA SHA'AN EE

Or also in Egyptian, the very common phrase: 3SHAAN KEDA = that's the way it is, etc.... in its full form 3LA SHAAN KEDA.

Both the short and full form are commonly used in spoken Egyptian.

I don't think the phrase in question MISHAN ALLAH [FROM the sake of God = God have Mercy) is used in Egyptian or other dialects I'm familiar with. It might be purely Syrian. But it certainly would be understood by any native speaker of Arabic.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (13) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
3Syrian Arabic [221 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
dhimmi no moreJun 3, 2013 14:14206650
Mishan is not Mishan [177 words]SentinelAug 23, 2013 05:05206650
2Meshan and Syrian Arabic [751 words]dhimmi no moreAug 26, 2013 18:41206650
In the UAE [44 words]tttSep 25, 2013 16:24206650
Mishan enta is mangled and poor Arabic [229 words]dhimmi no moreSep 27, 2013 18:50206650
For the love of God [16 words]NourMar 24, 2020 12:48206650
Nour and Mashan Allah [97 words]dhimmi no moreMar 25, 2020 07:18206650
Hezabollah's Travails in a Graphic [6 words]Frances Dash'May 27, 2013 21:32206391
Spelling of Hiz b'Allah [21 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Abu NudnikMay 27, 2013 18:22206386
1Hizb means party [68 words]dhimmi no moreJun 3, 2013 19:33206386
That doesn't explain "ullah" instead of "Allah" [7 words]Abu NudnikJun 21, 2013 09:52206386
Hizb Allah [247 words]SentinelAug 23, 2013 05:39206386
1Hizb Allah and Hizbu Allah [52 words]dhimmi no moreAug 27, 2013 06:37206386

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)