# Khaleeji Arabic: khaal خال



## lcfatima

In Khaleeji, what is the significance of calling a person of discernable African heritage by the pejoritive term khaal? Why uncle? I don't think this term is used outside of the Gulf.


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## Haroon

It is used in Arab area in general , it denotes ( or refers to) a familiar relationship , or a way of giving respect to others , it may even used as a way of breaking ice , or anything alike


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## kifaru

lcfatima said:


> In Khaleeji, what is the significance of calling a person of discernable African heritage by the pejoritive term khaal? Why uncle? I don't think this term is used outside of the Gulf.


Could you provide an example of it being used perjoratively?


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## WadiH

I don't know where it comes from.  Perhaps it's related to حبّة خال (meaning a black birthmark).  I wouldn't say it's necessarily pejorative.  The pejorative term would be عبد.


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## lcfatima

Yes I know khaal means uncle...but in the GCC the word is interchangeable with 3abd. 

Used in context in some places I have heardplz forgive/correct errors, I am not a native speaker):

She's a khaaleh, how did she catch such a handsome groom?
hiyya khaaleh, chaif HaSalat haa il arees Hilo?

We don't marry with them because they are khawaal.
Maa natzawajhum li anhum khawaal

When I went to New York there were so many khawaal everywhere.
Yom raHt New York, kaan hinaak khawaal fi kill immakaan.

Wadi Haneefa, khaal is basically the equivalent of the English word ni---er, and surely is hurtful and pejorative. Would it be okay to call someone a khaal to their face? I know some people use it in jest, but it is a racist word and hurts and shames the recipient. The polite word would be asmar. Also, the people who get labeled khaal are descendents of slaves (and also from families who came to the GCC from Makran and were slave families there in Balochistan or from returnees from East Africa/Zanzibar) and they are still thought of as low on the social scale.

That is interesting about the birth mark thing...that is probably it, this means that khaal also means dark brown like a spot, in addition to uncle???


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## WadiH

lcfatima said:


> She's a khaaleh, how did she catch such a handsome groom?
> hiyya khaaleh, chaif HaSalat haa il arees Hilo?
> 
> We don't marry with them because they are khawaal.
> Maa natzawajhum li anhum khawaal
> 
> When I went to New York there were so many khawaal everywhere.
> Yom raHt New York, kaan hinaak khawaal fi kill immakaan.


These may be racist statements but that doesn't necessarily mean "khaal" is a pejorative word. What if I replaced the words "khawal" or "khal" with the word "Arab", as in "we don't marry them because they are Arabs", would that make "Arabs" an offensive word?


> Wadi Haneefa, khaal is basically the equivalent of the English word ni---er


I disagree. The 'n-word' has many violent connotations that the word "khal" (and arguably even the word "'abd") does not have. There is a great deal of racism against people with black skin in the Arab world, but the nature of that racism is different from what you would encounter in the US because the history is quite different.



> Would it be okay to call someone a khaal to their face?


As a matter of fact, I've heard people do that many times, but yes it would have to be a relatively informal setting. You wouldn't hear it in formal settings or on TV, but you don't hear a lot of Arabic words in those situations.


> The polite word would be asmar.


In the Gulf "asmar" more often means "swarthy" rather than "black" or "African."


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## lcfatima

So what would be the best way to describe a black person, or how do you say black, if asmar is not the best way? aswad? habashi?

About the negativity of khaal, what is offensive is of course subjective. However, it is a racialized term and the label is on a group of people who are historically socially low and contemporarily stereotyped in terms of heritage and physical beauty. I think it does hurt a person to say khaal. I would not compare US racism and history with slavery to that of the Arab world because both locations have very different socio-historical situations...both places have racism in different ways.

I think it is easy to dismiss khaal as a bad word if you are not a person who would be labeled as khaal. Would you tell someone who is learning Gulf Arabic that it is okay to use khaal? Or just make them aware that they may hear it?


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## Nikola

Please see this post.


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## lcfatima

thanks very much Nikola, I got my answer at least for UAE speakers "asmar" is best...


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## Mahaodeh

Wadi Hanifa said:


> I don't know where it comes from. Perhaps it's related to حبّة خال (meaning a black birthmark). I wouldn't say it's necessarily pejorative. The pejorative term would be عبد.


 
I hope this is not off-subject, but I just remembered a word that might be the origin of this, in fus7a al-khawal الخَوَل are servants or "those who tend to your needs" and from it the hadeeth "خَوَلُكم إخوانكم...etc."; however the singular of that is خَوْلِي  and it is derived from التخويل.

Do you think it may have a connection?


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## WadiH

Interesting.  That may very well be the origin of it.


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## MarcB

Wadi Hanifa said:


> I don't know where it comes from.  Perhaps it's related to حبّة خال (meaning a black birthmark).  I wouldn't say it's necessarily pejorative.  The pejorative term would be عبد.





ayed said:


> In Saudi, we say:
> *--عبد
> --خال* which means "mole" ,a _maternal uncle' mole , a black spot usually grown on one's face ._
> *--كور* _kour
> --_ *أبو سمره "*of browness"
> --*قين*


From, most Gulf speakers I have talked to, mole is the most common understanding they have, but of course anything is possible. Also the degrees of discrimination Wadi Hanifa referres to, are less different today then they were in the past since in America it is outlawed to discriminate and in most Arabic countries it is not.


Mahaodeh said:


> I hope this is not off-subject, but I just remembered a word that might be the origin of this, in fus7a al-khawal الخَوَل are servants or "those who tend to your needs" and from it the hadeeth "خَوَلُكم إخوانكم...etc."; however the singular of that is خَوْلِي and it is derived from التخويل.
> 
> Do you think it may have a connection?


As I said anything is possible so maybe it is.

By the way most black Arabs from Africa the levant and Gulf choose Asmar.


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## lcfatima

"today then they were in the past since in America it is outlawed to discriminate and in most Arabic countries it is not."

MarcB I wouldn't be congratulating America on its contemporary treatment of blacks or any minority, institutional discrimination is rife and discriminatory individual attitudes from the privileged white power base still stifle blacks and other minorities despite these laws, many studies show this...Yes I agree that people of African heritage of the Arab world prefer Asmar from my experience as well.

Mahaodeh: I don't know ahaadith in their original Arabic form...can you site that hadeeth and tell me what it says in English? Something about the blacks are your brothers...?


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## MarcB

HI Icfatima,
I am comfortable in mentioning the fact that in the US the  treatment and attitude towards blacks and other minorities has improved. Yes KSA has Prince Bandar and the US has Barak Obama. So we can see changes in both cultures. I see the legal implication in the US plus political correctness as emancipating blacks as much stronger than in Arabic countries.
From Mauritania to Iraq, including Sudan. You will not hear the comments you referred to, in the US by most people.Just as Arabia had European slaves the US had European indentured servants. There is still much healing to continue.


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## Mahaodeh

lcfatima said:


> can you site that hadeeth and tell me what it says in English? Something about the blacks are your brothers...?


The hadeeth is: خَوَلُكم إخوانكم جعلهم الله تعالى تحت أيديكم فمن كان أخوه تحت يده فليطعمه مما يأكل وليلبسه مما يلبس ولا تكلفوهم ما يغلبهم، فإن كلفتموهم ما يغلبهم فأعينوهم.

It can be translated as: “your servants/slaves are your brethren that God has put under your hands [i.e. you have control over them] so whomever of you has his brother under his hand then he should feed him from what he eats [himself] and dress him from what he dresses and do not instruct [or charge?] them what overwhelms them, if you did then you must help them.

I’m not the best translator, so I hope this is good.  Anyway, khawaal is generally a slave, but it can also refer to servants and it does not imply ethnic background or complexion color; at least not in the original sense.


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## بوسیدن

MarcB said:


> HI Icfatima,
> I am comfortable in mentioning the fact that in the US the  treatment and attitude towards blacks and other minorities has improved. Yes KSA has Prince Bandar and the US has Barak Obama. So we can see changes in both cultures. I see the legal implication in the US plus political correctness as emancipating blacks as much stronger than in Arabic countries.
> From Mauritania to Iraq, including Sudan. You will not hear the comments you referred to, in the US by most people.Just as Arabia had European slaves the US had European indentured servants. There is still much healing to continue.



I agree with with you've said, but I admit ignorance for not being cognizant of the race relations in Iraq, particularly those between blacks and other races and ethnicities.  I do know about the racial nuances and the relations that have formed and have been maintained among said races--in Mauritania and in Sudan.  Would you be able to provide me with a link in which there is a discussion regarding blacks in Iraq?


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## WadiH

Here's another possibility: apparently a couple of Ottoman Turkish words for "slave" were _kul_ or _köle_, according to EoI.


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## kifaru

Taking note of this, would that mean that Khawal is the arabized plural of kul? Does this follow the pattern one would expect for a non- arabic word being arabic? The reason I ask is that I wonder would a native arabic speaker be able to make plural a word using a set of rules like English speakers do and I wonder if they would fall into the trap some English speakers do when the plural is not regular. For example, the plural of "goose" is "geese" but children sometimes say "gooses".


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