Sultan Al Ameemi talks about the project of his life – creating a reference guide of UAE dialects

The mammoth project involves researching, compiling and writing a mammoth reference text detailing the who, what, why, where, when and how of the different dialects and vernaculars across the UAE.

Sultan Al Ameemi, head of Abu Dhabi’s Poetry Academy, has spent 10 years recording Emirati dialects and expects to dedicate five more years to the project. Christopher Pike / The National

More than a decade ago, Sultan Al Ameemi had an idea.

“It began because I love the Arabic language and my country so much,” says the Abu Dhabi-based Emirati. “I have an interest in Nabati poetry and the language’s vast vocabulary – that’s where my research started – and I found that there has been a lack in preserving and understanding the various dialects of the Emirates. It’s our national treasure. We were in dire need of a sort of dictionary or multi- section encyclopedia that would bring all this together.”

And so Al Ameemi embarked on his mission – researching, compiling and writing a mammoth reference text detailing the who, what, why, where, when and how of the different dialects and vernaculars across the UAE. But he’s only 70 per cent done, with at least five more years to go.

"This is the project of my life," says the 41-year-old, who also critiques verses submitted to Abu Dhabi's Poetry Academy, of which he is the director. He also organises poetry competitions and prepares the questions that will feature on the TV programme Al Shara (The Banner), a staple on Abu Dhabi TV every Ramadan.

“I do many other things,” says Al Ameemi, “but every single day it is part of my daily routine to work on this anthology.”

Tracing roots

When he is finally done with his project, the UAE will have a priceless work that weaves in the land’s history – both modern and ancient – as well as a better understanding of Emirati identity.

“I’ve come across words that are not used anywhere in the world but in the Emirates, so compiling this adds to our identity, to our understanding of our culture and history and our ties to our language, and even in understanding ancient western languages,” he says.

Some words in the colloquial Arabic spoken in the Emirati dialect have Aramaic, English or Turkish roots. “A lot of words taken from Turkish have to do with eating utensils. Numbers are from Indian languages because of ancient trade and selling pearls to India. Everything is related.”

Spoken Arabic in the UAE has a variety of different dialects, which Al Ameemi has grouped geographically: land, sea, mountains and agricultural areas. He has identified 20 distinct environments in the UAE, each with its own dialect.

Beauty in forgotten words

“Even after grouping dialects by area, there are still differences. The Western Region of Abu Dhabi, for example, has people speaking a dialect different from that of the Bedouins of the region. The people in the mountains also have their own dialects, depending on whether they are from Ras Al Khaimah or Khor Fakkan,” says Al Ameemi.

“Right now, I am researching the changes in pronunciation and the sound of letters in dialects across the country, how letters are pronounced and why they are pronounced differently in different areas. What are the roots and origins of the words? Some are from 1,500 years ago, reminding us of just how old the language is.”

Take the word “hand” in Arabic, which can be pronounced yad or eed, depending on the tribe and area. Or the word scarecrow, which “some farmers in certain areas call tefala”, says Al Ameemi. “In other places, it is shibah. Every one of these words has its roots in the Arabic language. We need to know the stories behind these differences.”

Al Ameemi has also worked on unearthing lost words that are no longer used today.

“This happens for various reasons,” he says. “A change in lifestyle, for example. Diving is no longer a way of life here, there is lesser interest in small details of life such as the different types of palm trees.” But that’s no excuse, he says, for allowing some words to disappear.

A delicate task

Supported by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, Al Ameemi has a strong support team but insists on being in charge of gathering information as he travels across the UAE.

“It requires great care when talking to people and recording the dialects and the pronunciation,” he says. “Words in Arabic can look exactly the same on paper when they are written, but can be pronounced completely differently, leading them to mean different things.”

Al Ameemi’s office at Al Raha Beach Theatre is a literary haven. His mammoth desk can’t be seen for the books and newspapers stacked on it, and the built-in bookshelves dominating one half of the room house more than 2,000 books, half of which are language reference guides.

Literary pursuits

A graduate of business management from Al Ain University, Al Ameemi has loved poetry and writing since his school days. “I couldn’t stop writing poetry, even in university, and it was a dream when I managed to get into the world of publishing,” he says.

He has published 14 works on Nabati poetry, popular literature studies, compilations of local folk tales, two anthologies of short stories and a novel titled PO Box 1003. He is already busy writing his second novel, which he began when attending the sixth annual International Prize for Arabic Fiction Nadwa (writers' workshop) in November last year with eight other Arab writers.

“I had been doing some research for my second novel for six months but I started writing it on the first day of the Nadwa,” says Al Ameemi. “What’s so beautiful is that even the other writers who took part were part of the critique of all our works, and the resulting perspective was wonderful.”

But finding time to write is not easy – Al Ameemi is also a family man with six children.

“My children suffer – I have four girls and two boys, they range in age from 17 to 3,” he says. “I always have a book in my hand, but they understand, and I make it up to them as much as possible. Plus, I have nurtured in them a love of reading – they started early, reading in Arabic.”