Uhibb Aba Aardvark

Brian Ulrich has an inspired explanation of the "Abu" in Abu Aardvark:

"In the Arabic naming system, a kunya is an honorific which takes the form "father of," though it need not refer to a literal son. "Father" in Arabic is "Ab," which with the nominative case ending gives you "Abu." In addition to Abu Aardvark, famoud kunyas today include Abu Ala for Ahmed Qurei, Abu Mazen for Mahmud Abbas, and the "Abu Musab" of Abu Musab Zarqawi. This means that, contrary to popular perception, "Abu" is not a first name, and should never be used in isolation. In fact, in Arabic, the "u" would change according to case. "I love Abu Aardvark" would be "Uhibb Aba Aardvark," while "Son of Abu Aardvark" would be "Ibn Abi Aardvark.""

I would only add that if you actually said this out loud in the Arab countries I frequent, you would probably say "Bahibb" rather than "Uhibb".

So, when finding yourself exasperated about my debates with Martin Kramer or my take on the Arabic media, just repeat to yourself "Bahibb Aba Aardvark" until it all goes away!

Comments

[praktike]

Speaking of the oh-so-fruitful debates with Mr. Kramer, I have an off-topic question about Qaradwi.

While you say that it is important that we engage him because he is someone with whom one can engage ... isn't he kind of a destabilizing figure?

I mean, when he was brought to Algeria, didn't he play a role in fanning the Islamist flames that eventually got a heck of a lot of people killed?

[praktike]

btw, Brian has issued a cheeky response.