‘Go sida or take signal right?” the taxi driver asks you. “Roh sida,” you reply, “then go backside and khalas.” This kind of seemingly nonsensical conversation makes perfect sense to anyone who has been in the UAE long enough to pick up the unique local blend of simplified Arabic, English and Urdu dubbed “taxi Arabic”.
Now this linguistic melange is to be celebrated in Abood Kandaishan and Dolphins, two Emirati films due for release this winter. As The National reported yesterday, the filmmakers say they deliberately highlighted the use of taxi Arabic to generate awareness and respect for its use.
This form of pidgin is a direct reflection of the cosmopolitan nature of UAE society, and particularly in the early days when Emiratis, other Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis and English-speaking westerners had to find a common vocabulary with which they could interact. Taxi Arabic was formed from the key words that each group learnt from the others’ languages.
The absence of any form of grammatical finesse might cause anguish to those who would prefer classical Arabic to be spoken widely in the UAE, but if it gets you where you want to go, then why not yalla habibi?
