Emirati/Omani Arabic: Kashmah كشمة (sunglasses)

Discussion in 'العربية (Arabic)' started by lcfatima, Apr 29, 2012.

  1. lcfatima Senior Member

    In a teapot
    English USA
    I recently saw the word kashmah used as sunglasses in Arabic. Is this an MSA word, or who (dialect) uses this word? In the Gulf I only ever heard nadhaarah as sunglasses/glasses (I guess technically nadhaaratushams). In Farsi and Urdu chashmah is glasses from chashm, the Farsi word for eye. How are the words connected, as in how was kashmah adopted? Perhaps through Turkish, or directly through Farsi?
  2. Tracer

    Tracer Senior Member

    Wadi Jinn
    American English
    I very much doubt that "kashmah" means "sunglasses" in MSA or any dialect. To me it sounds like a brand name, like "Sun-Ban" or "Polaroid".

    However, it would help a lot if you could be more detailed in what you mean when you say you "saw" the word "used as sunglasses".

    Where did you see the word? Was it on a billboard (All kinds of kashmahs available) in a newspaper (Kashmahs for only BD 3 a pair)? Or was it more like: (Kashmah Sunglasses on sale)? Also, what country? Knowing these details would assist in giving you a reliable answer.
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2012
  3. Abu Talha Senior Member

    According to ar.mo3jam.com/term/كشمه:
    It is a word found in Emirati [and?] Omani. It is a word of Hindi origin and it means glasses. The word continues to be used by individuals born before 1971 CE.
  4. Tracer

    Tracer Senior Member

    Wadi Jinn
    American English
    That is indeed very interesting. Thanks for the link.

    I notice though that the Arabic description states that "kashmah" means "glasses" but not necessarily "sunglasses". Gulf dialects, including Omani, I've noticed, are tricky because they'll now and then use a Farsi/Urdu/Hindi word seemingly for no reason at all except historical coincidence. Like the odd "hast" (Farsi) in Bahrain for "there is".
  5. lcfatima Senior Member

    In a teapot
    English USA
    Thank you.
  6. إسكندراني

    إسكندراني Senior Member

    أرض الأنجل
    عربي (مصر)ـ | en (gb)
    1971 seems strangely specific ... why that date?!
  7. Abu Talha Senior Member

    Just hazarding a guess.. It may have to do with UAE's formation and the many changes that occurred around that time. People born since then may have had more formal education in MSA (in general). However, ar.mo3jam.com seems to be a wiki-type of dictionary so perhaps a citation is needed!
  8. زرقاء اليمامة Junior Member

    Arabic-Sultanat of Oman
    سلام الله عليكم و رحمته و بركاته ..

    هل كلمة "كشمة " بمعنى نظارة أصلها هندي أم تركي؟
    و هل يستخدمها المصريون؟

    شكرا مقدما

    Moderator note: This thread is now merged with the previous one about the same word. Please don't forget to always search for the answer before opening a new thread to avoid unnecessary repetitions. Thanks :)
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2013
  9. Schem

    Schem Senior Member

    Najdi Arabic
    Google translates "glasses" into gözlük in Turkish and into चश्मा (transliterated Caśmā) in Hindi so Hindi it is. And considering its origin, I doubt it's used in Egypt but it would be best to wait for our Egyptian members to confirm or deny.
  10. fdb Senior Member

    Cambridge, UK
    French (France)
    The Hindi word is from Persian čašma چشمه. I do not know كشمة in Arabic. Do you use it in the Gulf? In that case it is presumably the same Persian word, with soft ك for /č/.
  11. Schem

    Schem Senior Member

    Najdi Arabic
    I believe it's only used in Oman and the UAE.
  12. ahmedcowon Senior Member

    no, Egyptians only use نضارة
  13. fdb Senior Member

    Cambridge, UK
    French (France)
    That makes sense. It could be taken directly from Persian, or via one of the Indian languages.
  14. aisha93

    aisha93 Senior Member

    Hello, I find this topic interesting and want to add some information.

    It is used in Bahrain too, especially by old (uneducated) people.

    There are many (hundreds, maybe thousands) Persian words in Bahraini Dialect, these are some:

    - khosh خوش
    - banned بند=close (imperative), mobannad مبند=closed (adj.), from the Persian verb بنديدن
    - bas بس=enough, bassek بسك=you've had enough, bassi بسي=I've had enough...etc, from Persian بسنده/بس
    - ham هم=also
    - boosah بوسة=kiss (both as a verb and noun), from بوسیدن
    - bardah برده=curtain, from پرده
    - khob خب=okey/alright , from خوب
    - derisha دريشة=window, from دریچه
    - bezzor بالزور=by force, from به زور
    - mazza مزه=taste
    - shanTa شنطة= bag, from چنته (or maybe Turkish)
    - lanj لنج=boat
    - nokheDHa نوخذة=ship captain, from ناخدا
    - kaar كار=business, mainly used in the sense of (none of your business مالك كار=مالك شغل)
    - ma hast ماهست=there isn't
    - mewa ميوه=fruit

    Some of these words are used in other Khaleeji Dialects, but certainly not all of them, and these are just a sample of those words, I guess the reason is that there are a lot of people (of Iranian origin) here in Bahrain, and almost all of them have Bahraini nationality, that is why you can see various words from different fields (i.e. words related to trade, food, emotions...etc), unlike words of Hindi origin which are very little in our dialect, because Hindi people here are only workers i.e. their presence is marginal, and they are not citizens.
    On the other hand, Iranians represent around 30% (or maybe more) of the whole population and they have mixed very well with Arabs by marriage, they dress like Arabs and they -most of the time- speak Arabic even among themselves. And I'm actualy talking about Iranians (from Sunni sect).
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2013
  15. wellwall New Member

    In Egypt we have sheshm which is an eye ointment or a kind of eye treatment it is archaic.
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2014

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