By Colleen MacDonell
For those of you who read last month’s article, I hope you have been using your numbers! Now, as modern parents say to their children, it’s time to use your words…
If you start to frequent your neighborhood shops, people will be curious about you and will want to chat. Be friendly and try to exchange a few basic pleasantries. Here’s how.
Greetings
Say hello before you get on with your business. The easiest way to say hello is Salam. This is one of the many words in Azerbaijani that is Arabic in origin. It is a rather beautiful Islamic greeting that literally means “Peace.” Arabic speakers say it a bit differently – salaam – with the emphasis on the second syllable. (Listen to this sound at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/salaam.) In Azerbaijani the emphasis is more on the first syllable.
Sometimes a shopkeeper will address you in a more formal way with Salam əleykim, pronounced more like əleyküm. (Don’t worry about the unusual letters. We’ll look at this later. The response is to turn the phrase around – Əleykim salam! This literally means “Peace be upon you.” It comes the Arabic expression and is a greeting exchanged between believers, a promise to help you and protect you from harm (and also to ask God to protect you from harm.) Our English “Hi” is certainly not an accurate translation!
Friendly Questions and Answers
Don’t be surprised if people ask you questions. As you become a familiar face to a shopkeeper, he is likely to start asking how you are. Thus, a simple Salam will become Salam. Necəsiz? Necə- is the “how are” part. The endings -siz and -siniz are using for the plural “you” or formal address (as vous is used in French). The singular ending is -sən but this familiar form is only for people you know well.
The answer to Necəsiz? is Yaxşıyam. “I am fine.” You can return the question by asking back, Bəs siz necəsiz? “And how are you?” They will probably respond: Mən də yaxşıyam. “I am fine as well.”
The way to ask someone “What’s new?” or “How are things?” is Nə var, nə yox? This is literally “What is, what is not?” A joke I often hear in response to this question is: Hər şey var, heç nə yoxdur. “Everything is, nothing is not.” Normally though, people simply respond with the following: Sağ ol. “Thanks.” Sağ olun. “Thanks” (polite or plural form). Hər şey yaxşıdır. “Everything is fine.” Yaxşıyam. “I am fine.” Hər şey qaydasındadır. “Everything is in order.” Pis deyil. “Not bad.” Əladır! “Fabulous, great.”
One question you will inevitably get is Siz haradansınız? “Where are you from?” The easiest answer is to say the name of your country as clearly as you can and add –dan “from” to the end plus –(y)am “I am.” Thus, I always say Kanadadanam – “I am from Canada.” Canada and America (Amerika) are easy, other countries are not so obvious. Look up your own country and practice it, because you will be asked this question. (See below for my link to learning resources.)
Fond Farewells
The most common farewell is sağ ol (singular) or sağ olun (plural) for “Good-bye.” Yes, this word is using for both “thanks” and “good-bye.” Literally it means “Be healthy/well.” Other often-heard expressions for good-bye are: Yaxşı yol. “Good luck (Have a good trip).” Görüşərik. “See you. (We will meet again).” Hələlik. “See you soon.” Sabaha qədər! “See you tomorrow.”
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Listen online to all the phrases in this article:
Greetings: http://speakazeri.blogspot.com/2011/11/listen-to-greetings.html
Friendly Questions and Answers: http://speakazeri.blogspot.com/2011/11/listen-to-friendly-questions-and.html
Fond Farewells: http://speakazeri.blogspot.com/2011/11/listen-to-fond-farewells.html
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Learning Resources
http://speakazeri.blogspot.com/2011/07/learning-resources.html
http://speakazeri.blogspot.com/2011/08/resources-update.html
http://speakazeri.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-resource.html
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Go on – use your words today!
Yaxşı yol. Gələn dəfə görüşərik!
