# salamat



## Qcumber

Is there an Arab-speaking country where people say salamat for "thank you" instead of shukran?


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## MarcB

Not that I know of but it is thanks in tagalog.


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## ayed

Qcumber said:
			
		

> Is there an Arab-speaking country where people say salamat for "thank you" instead of shukran?


 
*Here are some Indonesian expressions:*​​*Selamat pagi "**Good morning"*​​ ​​*Selamat sore "**Good day!*​​​*Selamat talam"Good night/good evening"*​​*
 Selamat dating"Welcome" ​​*​​​​​​​​​


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## Qcumber

Yes, MarcB, I know _salamat_ means "thanks" in Tagalog, and some claim the term was borrowed from Arabic, including a Muslim Filipino who told me _salamat_ means "thanks" in Arabic, and is more Islamic than _shukran_. No dictionary supports this view so I dismiss his opinion as that of an ignorant man. All the same I often ask this question in various sites to be sure because other people might have the right answer.

From what Ayed writes, one can admit that Malay _salamat_ was borrowed from Arabic because the meaning is about the same as that of _as salaam 3alai kum._ It is however difficult to imagine a situation in which "hello" would be confused with "thanks". Hence the problem with Tagalog.


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## cherine

Hi Qcumber,
The word "salamat" is the plural of "salam" which literaly means "peace".
The Islamic salutation "as-salaam 3alaikum" means "peace on you". If non-Arabic muslim speakers changed the meaning of this word (as happen with many words) this doesn't mean that it originally mean "thanks".

But if your Filipino friend wants a «more Islamic than _shukran_» than their is "jazaka Allahu khayran" جزاك الله خيرًا (for singular, the plural is jazak*um*, the feminine is jazak*i*...) It means : May God retribute you well, or with good things.

To say it short : no, the word salamat -as far as I know- is not used in any Arabic speaking country to means "thanks". If someone tells me salamat after I give them something -for example- I'll take it for a "good bye"


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## victoria luz

What about Teslam? (Might it possibly have the same root as salamat?)

Being the only way I heard people using to say thanks, besides the above mentioned two.


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## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic, we you "yislamu ideek" (or just "yislamu/yislamo") as a way to express "thanks." The response would be "Allah ysallmak."

"Tislam" can be used to express appreciation for something - which I guess is very similar to thanks. 

For example:

-_Iza '3tazet ishi, iTSel fiyyi._ (If you need anything call me.)
-_Tislam ya rabb._


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## zooz

victoria luz said:
			
		

> What about Teslam? (Might it possibly have the same root as salamat?)
> 
> Being the only way I heard people using to say thanks, besides the above mentioned two.


 
*تِسْلَمْ* (colloquial) doesn't mean exactly *شكراً*, but it's definitely closer than *سلامات*.

After thinking, *يسلمو* & *يسلِّمُن* (Syrian & Lebanese colloquials) are widely used as *شكراً*. In MSA it'd be *سلِمتْ يداكَ/يداكِ*.


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## Qcumber

Thanks a lot for this new crop of data.

The case of Tagalog _salámat_ is all the more puzzling as the the Maranaos of Mindanao (Southern Philippines), who are Muslims, have _salámat_ for "thanks", but _asalam alaikum_ for greetings as well as the verb _salam_ "greet". 

The Tausugs, another Muslim people of the Philippines (Jolo), have _salam_ "greet", _salamat_ "safe, free of danger" (cf. Arabic _ma3a s salaama(t)_ "farewell"), and the verb _sukul_ "thank".


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## zooz

> The Tausugs, another Muslim people of the Philippines (Jolo), have _salam_ "greet", _salamat_ "safe, free of danger"



We use this widely as well.


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## cherine

To add to what Zooz said, I'd say I find this interesting :


			
				Qcumber said:
			
		

> The Tausugs, another Muslim people of the Philippines (Jolo), have _salam_ "greet", Yes, we use this too سلام
> _salamat_ "safe, free of danger" (cf. Arabic _ma3a s salaama(t)_ "farewell"), This is the exact meaning of the Arabic word سلامة (though we don't pronounce the final "t" like this), yes it's the same as مع السلامة (which literaly means: may you have/be accompanied by  safety)
> and the verb _sukul_ "thank". This also reminds me of the Arabic shukr شكر


 
Interesting indeed  
Thanks for sharing


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## edwardintoronto

in tagalog salamat means thank you prob because it was used as in saying 'be healthy' as a form of expressing gratitude. salamat also means soundness in arabic. this way of saying thank you is also found in turkish 'sag ol' i.e. be healthy. my guess is that in old arabic salamat literally meant health.


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## 3arabi

the word Salamat means HELLO in arabic .


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## xebonyx

I would use "salaam" as hello, rather than use "salamat".  
If I heard it said like that, I'd automatically think someone was trying to say "get better" (said when someone is sick--"salamatak").


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## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic, "salamaat" is frequently used to say "goodbye."  "Salaam" is also used.


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## Mahaodeh

Tislam/Tislameen/Tislamoon is used as thank you in Iraq; but shukran is used just as commonly. Sometimes it's emphasized by saying: تسلم وتعيش (be well and live).
 
Salaamaat in Iraq is used commonly to express "hopes of being well" to someone that has had an accident or just been ill.  example: سمعنا صارلكم حادث بالسيارة، سلامات . It's also used to emphasize salaam, or to say "not one greeting but many". I don't know if anyone heard the song salaamat for Hamiid Mansoor: سلامات، سلامات، أبعث سلامات.


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## musguit

cherine said:


> Hi Qcumber,
> The word "salamat" is the plural of "salam" which literaly means "peace".
> 
> IMHO, 'salamat' in the Philippine context has a religious undertone.  Salamat as hinted by Cherine is rooted in 'salaam' (Arabic) or shalom (in Hebrew). In the semitic sense, shalom or salaam meant not only the absence of conflict (or peace), but everything that is good from God be unto to you.  So when Jesus greeted his apostles on the day of the resurrection he was bestowing unto to them everything good that is from God.
> 
> My hypothesis is that the natives did express gratitude for the good that they receive, and instead of replying to the greeting 'as-salaamulaykum' -the natives shortenend it to 'salamat'. BTW, 'at' in Tagalog means 'and'.
> 
> Today I still hear Filipinos say 'salamat sa iyo' which mean and 'thanks also to you.'  Which is similar to 'wa alaykum salaam', but Pinoy innovation shortened it with one word --SALAMAT.


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## Xence

Mahaodeh said:
			
		

> Salaamaat in Iraq is used commonly to express "hopes of being well" to someone that has had an accident or just been ill.



This is exactly the way we use it in Algeria.


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## Masjeen

Xence said:


> This is exactly the way we use it in Algeria.



It is also  the way we use it in Kuwait. 

أعتقد كل اللهجات العربية بالمشرق تستخدم نفس العبارة لنفس المعنى


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## Abu Rashid

edwardintoronto said:
			
		

> my guess is that in old arabic salamat literally meant health.



The basic meaning of the verbal root in Arabic, and pretty much all other Semitic languages, is to be complete, whole, sound, safe, calm, at rest, at peace. Health is probably a part of that, when applied to human wholeness, soundness and safety, but I don't think it's the original meaning as you've suggested. There's plenty of other roots that deal specifically with healthiness.


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## Qureshpor

*I believe the word "salaamat" is not a plural of "salaam" but it is, in fact, a "changed" form of the noun "salaamah" [well-being]. The plural would be salaamaat. In many languages spoken by Muslim communities (such as Urdu, Persian etc), the -ah ending words are pronounced with taa marbuutah. It is possible that in the language under discussion, this word is used in the sense "May you be in a state of salaamah" and could be used for Hello and Goodbye!

*


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## Tracer

QURESHPOR said:


> *In many languages spoken by Muslim communities (such as Urdu, Persian etc), the -ah ending words are pronounced with taa marbuutah. It is possible that in the language under discussion, this word is used in the sense "May you be in a state of salaamah" and could be used for Hello and Goodbye!*


 
It's also interesting to note that Arabic is the only language which uses the* ال *in the phrase *السلام عليكم* . 
All other languages that use this phrase drop the *ال* .

It is even more interesting to note that NONE of these other languages respond to the above phrase with *وعليكم السلام*
Only Arabic does this. There are reasons for this, of course, but they probably go beyond the scope of this posting.


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## Qureshpor

Tracer said:


> It's also interesting to note that Arabic is the only language which uses the* ال *in the phrase *السلام عليكم* .
> All other languages that use this phrase drop the *ال* .
> 
> It is even more interesting to note that NONE of these other languages respond to the above phrase with *وعليكم السلام*
> Only Arabic does this. There are reasons for this, of course, but they probably go beyond the scope of this posting.



*This may be off topic but I will have to disagree. In our Punjabi and Urdu background we use "assalaamu 'alaikum" and the reply is "wa 'alikumu_ssalaam"!*


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## Mahaodeh

QURESHPOR said:


> *I believe the word "salaamat" is not a plural of "salaam" but it is, in fact, a "changed" form of the noun "salaamah" [well-being]. The plural would be salaamaat. In many languages spoken by Muslim communities (such as Urdu, Persian etc), the -ah ending words are pronounced with taa marbuutah. It is possible that in the language under discussion, this word is used in the sense "May you be in a state of salaamah" and could be used for Hello and Goodbye!
> 
> *



Are we are talking about here is سلامات, which is the plural of both سلام and of سلامة; or are we talking about سلامة? Native Arabic speakers generally do not confuse between the two. The taa' marbouta is not always pronounced and a native speaker generally knows when and when not to pronounce it. Actually, in colloquial it's highly unlikely that it's pronounced anyway and the word would be pronounced "salaame" or salaama".

If it's used in a different way in Urdu or Persian, that's another issue that I don't know about.


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## mataripis

If "salam" in arabic is "peace" , it is clear!  Salam!(peace!) .But in case of Tagalog "salamat" (thanks) ,I  think peace and be grateful can be related words/scenes.  Sometimes saying thanks may mean peace. This reminds me the word "sela" of ethnic word of ancient Tagalog(Dumaget), it means " route" or " way".In this language Thanks is "selamat" and that part of word "Mat" may mean matuwid (righteous/straight), so it is possible that " sela" + "mat" will provide us the meaning " peace"/ "come in"  + "righteous one".


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