# Iraqi/Gulf Arabic: what شنو



## Whodunit

*Mod note: This thread is split from **here**.*



			
				amnesia said:
			
		

> Do you have any homework (could also mean thing to do)
> 
> Shinoo il wajib?​What is the homework?



Are you sure that is Qatarian slang? I'm not, because I'd immediately understand it except for "shinoo". How would you write it? شنو? I'd say "maa il-waadjibu?", because I've never heard of the word "shinoo".


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## amnesia

you're right with 3indik.

I'm sure about shiinoo, it's not Qatari slang it's Gulf slang.
Of course Qatar, UAE, and Bahrain use it more often.

In Saudi or Kuwait they might say 

Aish Hatha?
What is this?

Where are we would say 
Shinoo thee?

As you can see they are the same word but it's changed (i guess over time)

Shinoo = What?

If someone asks me something and I dont know what he means I can say
Shinoo? 

Thee = this (or in some cases that)

I can make it into a question.

Someone says.

Yeeb (or haat) hathak.
Bring that.

I can say, 
thee?
(this?)

this is the most common form of general Arabic as most Arabic countries understand this 'dialect'


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## Whodunit

Thank you very much, Amnesia. I'm going to wait for Elroy (Palenstinian Arabic) and Ayed (native Saudi Arabian Arabic speaker) to get a confirmation of the word "shinoo". BTW, how would you write it?

شنو؟
شينو؟
شين؟
شن؟


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## amnesia

should be written as 
شنو

but it's a casual word and we usually dont write slang.

but if you did want to write it thats how it would look like.


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## Tisia

Actually 'Shenoo' is an Iraqi colloquial word meaning 'what' and in colloquial Syrian it is 'shoo'.

In some other gulf countries I think they also say Shenoo.


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## amnesia

i guess Qatari's and Bahraini's have adopted it then.

Another thing is when asking

What are you saying?

We say 
Shit gool?


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## linguist786

Whodunit said:


> Thank you very much, Amnesia. I'm going to wait for Elroy (Palenstinian Arabic) and Ayed (native Saudi Arabian Arabic speaker) to get a confirmation of the word "shinoo". BTW, how would you write it?
> 
> شنو؟
> شينو؟
> شين؟
> شن؟


"shnuu" is also used in Morocco. 

For example, "shnuu bghiiti" - What do you want?


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## Petter

*Mod note: Merged with previous thread.*

What is the "history" behind shinu / شنو meaning 'what' used in the Iraqi dialect. It is obviously an abbreviated form of something, but what?

I guess it's the from same root used in Syria, shuu شو
I never found an explanation on the etymology of these interrogative words

Is it from ِشأن originally?


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## WadiH

All the interrogatories with ش in them come from أي شيء or أي شيءٍ هو

Consider:

(1)

Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar: شنو
Eastern Arabia: وشنهو and شنهو (or شني and شنهي for feminine)

These seem to come from أي شيءٍ هو. Notice the ن; which is a residue of _tanwin_ in شيءٍ. In Nejd, the word شي still turns into شٍ (pronounced _shin_) when a tanwiin is attached.

(2)
Nejd: وش, ويش, وشهو, وشّو, وشهي, وشّي (the و here is due to the aversion of bedouins and Nejdis to the use of glottal stops)
UAE: شو
Syria: شو
Hejaz: ايش

Most of these (especially Hejaz and Nejd) come from the medieval ايش which is in turn an abbreviation of أي شيء.
ايش is quite old by the way, and appears in writings from the Abbasid era.


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## ayed

Wadi Hanifa said:


> Nejd: وش, ويش, وشهو, وشّو (the و here is due to the aversion of bedouins and Nejdis to the use of glottal stops)


Agree with you , Wadi Hanifa.I just want to add more:
Badawi : 
*ويش هو*
*وش هو*


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## Petter

Aha! 
Thanks  Wadi & Ayed


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## Nikola

Peter,
The variations metioned are used all over Arabia and in Africa too.


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## Mahaodeh

Wadi Hanifa said:


> Eastern Arabia: وشنهو and شنهو (or شني and شنهي for feminine)


 
Just a small addition, شنهو and شنهي are also used in Iraq, mostly in the southern areas.


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## clevermizo

How is شنهو pronounced as compared to شنو? [shnhu]? That seems difficult? Perhaps [shnehu]?


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## WadiH

_Shinhu_ (stress on 'i') and _Wishinhu _(stress on the first 'i')


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## clevermizo

Excellent. Thanks.

I realize now that this also resolves the origin of شنوّ shnuwwa in the Maghreb (I believe Andalusi also retained tanwiin, although I think it was -an, unlike the Nejd and other places where it is -in).


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## MarcB

shnuwwa is more typical of Tunisia than the rest of the Maghreb. shnu +a interogative like Gulf especially Bahrain.
Ala Tul? is rendered Tula? shnuwwa hwalek+ kif halek.
shnu,ash and wash are more Moroccan and Algerian.Tunisia also uses ash/aish.


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## Pinecone222

*Mod note: Merged with previous thread.*

How would one understand this in English - something seems strange "    شنو يعني   "


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## clevermizo

"What does it mean?" شنو is just a vernacular word for "what".


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## Masjeen

clevermizo said:


> "What does it mean?" شنو is just a vernacular word for "what".


 
Only in Kuwait, Iraq, Tunisia, bahrain


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## Alimoro

And Morocco.
It means = what,sorry


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## Masjeen

صج؟ لانها مو كثير شايعة بالشرق الأوسط بس العراق وبعض دول الساحل الخليجية
بالإمارات يقولون شو بالسعودية وش بالحجاز ايش


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## WadiH

في شرق المملكة يقولها بعضهم
وأحياناً يقال شنهو و وشنهو


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## Masjeen

شنو أصلها شنهو يقولونها الكبار بالكويت لكن بالتخفيف اتصير شنو


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## Xence

In many Algerian regions (Littoral near Algeirs, Kabylie...) people say: أشنو/أشنهو or  واشنو .
I guess it comes from the fuS7a: و- أي شيءٍ هو


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## MaisR

*Mod note: Merged with previous thread.*


Hi,

Both شنو and ايش mean ''what?'' but can they be used interchangeably ie. can one say either ويه ايش or ويه شنو and they both mean the same thing (with what)? Another example:  مثل ايش and مثل شنو (like what). Are both examples correct?

Thank you.


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## Ihsiin

There is variation across the dialect continuum of course, but in general _shinu _is much more common, apart from in certain set forms such _leysh, beysh_, etc., and when _eysh _is shortened to _sh-_, as an interrogative prefix. As a general standalone word, however, _shinu_ is much more dominant.


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