

Culture 3

When Syriacs meet they use the greeting šlomo, which literally means ‘peace’. The person arriving says šlomo and the host answers with b šayno ‘come in peace’. When living in societies where the dominant language is not Surayt, Syriacs also use the greetings in the dominant languages of the region, but the use of šlomo will always be heard among the many different ways they greet.

A saying in Surayt goes: U šlomo, u šlomo d Aloho yo ‘greeting is God’s greeting,’ meaning: no matter what, even if one has a bad relationship with someone else, it is always good to greet the other.