Pronunciation: Khanjar and Jambiya

Atlantia · 28th August 2012, 12:10 AM

LOL, right!
So you see why I made a thread of this?
I'd have expected like Alan says for the translation to be phonetic, but it apparently isn't? At least not when it comes to Oman

Which seems strange as the 'Khanjar' is the national knife of Oman. Why not simply have a unique spelling for Oman that reflects it's unique pronuciation?
Unless the pronunciation is variable as Ibrahiim suggests?
But that is not what my friend and Stu's are seeming to be saying.

My friend who lived out there for many years, was quite 'well connected' (to say the least) and she was adamant that I was pronouncing it incorrectly and that it is 'cun-ja' only.

Now as AJ says, I always thought that it was of Persian origin, which got me wondering if there was a phonetic difference between the translation to Arabic "خنجر‎" and to 'English' at which point I started thinking about 'Jambiya' decided I was rambling and started this thread!

28th August 2012, 12:10 AM	#7
Atlantia Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end Posts: 2,928	LOL, right! So you see why I made a thread of this? I'd have expected like Alan says for the translation to be phonetic, but it apparently isn't? At least not when it comes to Oman Which seems strange as the 'Khanjar' is the national knife of Oman. Why not simply have a unique spelling for Oman that reflects it's unique pronuciation? Unless the pronunciation is variable as Ibrahiim suggests? But that is not what my friend and Stu's are seeming to be saying. My friend who lived out there for many years, was quite 'well connected' (to say the least) and she was adamant that I was pronouncing it incorrectly and that it is 'cun-ja' only. Now as AJ says, I always thought that it was of Persian origin, which got me wondering if there was a phonetic difference between the translation to Arabic "خنجر‎" and to 'English' at which point I started thinking about 'Jambiya' decided I was rambling and started this thread!