The dialect the Arabs have become familiar with through television may seem easy and need only be indulged in, so TV presenters and artists are emulated. However, the matter is evidently different when one is in the company of numerous authentic tongues. He immediately notes how words differ on the ground then come across and backs away for fear of being met with ridicule. He begins to be more diligent, and asks: How can a Lebanese use that word and other meanings he had never heard before, the Lebanese media and art refining and replacing them for everybody to understand, not to mention the difficulty of interspersing speech with foreign words – English or French – a practice unique to the Lebanese in the region, and updating the list of vocabulary all along, which makes it difficult for the foreigner, including the Syrians who have used pure Arabic throughout their lives, to keep up with these novelties.
On the other hand, it is easy for Syrians from the regions bordering Lebanon to pick up what remains of the dialect: modifying a few words, replacing with other words and adding a new melody for their dialect to be branded Lebanese, since the Lebanese language includes dialects and vernaculars that vary by region.
Despite familiarity with the Lebanese dialect, Syrians from border regions sometimes reinforce their characteristic Syrian accent, known as the shamiyya, in Lebanon. For example, my friend Johnny who was a traditional proponent in the struggle of speaking a tone other than his dialect. He once told me that meeting his boss at the company he worked for in Kaslik required several approvals. When they were facing each other, he did not use a single Lebanese word, but rather used shamiyya solely, preferring it to the Lebanese, despite the latter closeness to the dialect of his border hometown.
When I entered the office of one of the central market managers who I deal with in my work as a quality control researcher in Beirut, I presented myself and then set about explaining the nature of my work to him in an already confused dialect, with a measure of Lebanese adding to the jumble and confusion, and an abundance of English phrases I inevitably use to describe what I do.
My accent sounded strange to the ears of the manager, not to mention my name. They made him think I was Jordanian, believing that Kinan was a name given to boys in Jordan despite the impression of other Lebanese that the name is of Turkish origin.
Several studies in this field suggest that people who are very good at learning different languages and dialects are often more open to others, the fact which helps them establish new relationships. They are also more inclined to blend and integrate into new societies, as opposed to those who are not as good at foreign languages. One study emphasizes the ability of women, compared to men, to do that.
If we examine the experience of the Iraqis in Lebanon, who have been away from their country as a result of the war for more than fourteen years, we see a much lower rate of adaptation than that of the Syrians in five years.
In the northern suburbs of Beirut – in Sad el Baushrieh, Sabtieh, and Jdeideh – the Iraqi accents are more commonly heard than the Lebanese or Syrian, as groups of Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs and other Iraqis have naturally taken refuge in those areas that house the bishoprics of their faiths in Lebanon.
While we do not find any trace of the Lebanese dialect in their accents, we hear Iraqi Arabic, Assyrian and Chaldean, but no Iraqi-Lebanese combinations similar to that the Syrians created in such a short time. Some believe that this is due to the fact that they embraced thousands of years ago other non-Arab ethnic groups, which they have also brought with them to Lebanon, and huddled up in those areas.
Speaking the Lebanese dialect guarantees for the foreigner quite effective identification in jobs were the Lebanese are favored. Based on that, some find that the equal level of qualification of Syrians – who are the biggest foreign competitor – and Lebanese in the labor market often plays to the advantage of the Syrians, as the employer loses out on some specifications and standards, such as foreign language proficiency and work experience, in return for the lower salaries and longer working hours that the Syrians accept, to become in the end Syrians in a Lebanese mold, a model the Lebanese have gotten used to dealing with in recent years.
While the foreigners’ proficiency in the Lebanese dialect is for the Lebanese a testimony of good taste and manners, especially with regard to Syrians, who often find other ways of integrating, except for language, being the closest foreigners to the Lebanese, others see in that a sign of the Syrians’ desire to become Lebanese in the easiest way possible. Most likely, the Lebanese do not look at those seeking to speak their dialect with superiority, because it is the nature of nations and peoples to be happy to see outsiders embracing and borrowing their culture. While a part of those who have overcome the issue of national identity and sense of national belonging see that the dialect of others and its strangeness do not stand in the way of communicating and interacting naturally with them, regardless of their background.
Talking the Lebanese way may open doors to Syrians for adapting and integrating, which is a welcome process, but obviously it also closes other doors, such as ties to the original society from which they came. Get-togethers with peers are not going to be free of sarcastic comments about a Syrian’s new linguistic style, with every Lebanese word he may use, and the consequent need to justify it to them, as he will often be seen, as an impostor, or denying his origin.
I remember a Syrian friend whose Facebook page had comments in Lebanese from people from his town mocking his use of the Lebanese dialect. This caused him embarrassment before his fiancée, who also urged him not to indulge in this dialect, so as to avoid the numerous sarcastic comments from friends.