HookahDuck Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 I was just curious- im sure as many people are; how you pronounce some common hookah terms. I asked an arabic man who owned a local store what brands of ma'assel he carried, and it looked at me like I was crazy. I must have pronounced it wrong... So, if anyone could shed some educated light on the situation, I'd appreciate it! Ma'assel: (I prounce it MAH- OSS - AL) Narghile: Al-Fahker: Al Amir El Nahkla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 i'll bet if you asked him what kind of shisha he had he'd have known what you were talking about. It seems shisha is actually interchangeable for the tobacco and the hookah itself. the hk in Nahkla is a soft gutteral ch like the hebrew,arabic, or german "ch" as far as I can tell, same with al fakher. There is no english equivilant. As for what you'll find at most middle-eastern markets, I've found around here atleast, Nakhla is all they know or carry. Most of the other "premium" brands were created for the Western markets and most "traditional" smokers have never even heard of it. $.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilotaku Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 I've always wondered the pronouncation of Narghile myself. is it Nar-GEEL or nar-JEEL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hookah_Bob Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 I was led to believe that it's pronounced Nar-GEE-lah or nar-HEE-lah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 [b]NAHR-gee-leh according to several sites...[/b] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hookah_Bob Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 And El Nahkla like ehl nah-kla, where the h and k are pronounced like in hanukah, like mush said.ehl Fah-KEER is how I say al fakher, and ehl Ah-meerthen i pronounce ma'assell like mah-ah-sell, though I'm not sure on any of these pronunciations =D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hookah_Bob Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 edit: ehl nahk-la Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 so basically, like everything else around here..there probably isn't a "correct" answer..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nidal105 Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 Well it really depends where ur from in the Middle East but here is the basic way to say all those words: *Maassel (MA-ASSAL) With emphasis on the "ss" part *Nargile (NAR-GEE-LEH) *Al-Fakher (AL-FA-KHER) (The "kh" part is explained by Mushrat above and is a letter used in Arabic and ebrew which does not have an English equivalent) *Al Amir (AL-AMEER) *Al Nakhla (AL-NAKH-LA) The "kh" part is the same as mentioned in "Al Fakher" above. And just out of interest....Some Definitions (Al-Amir = "The Prince") (Al-Nakhla = "The Date Palm") (Al-Fakher = Excellent, Superior, Magnificent) (Al-Qemmah = "The Peak") (Al-Waha = "The Oasis") (Layalina = "Our Nights") (Mouj Al Bahr = "The waves of the Ocean") (Saet Safa = "An Hour Of Peace, Clarity") Thats what I can remember for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aykay Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 I am from israel and there we prounounce a hookah ( NAR-GEEL-A ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LB] Posted November 18, 2005 Share Posted November 18, 2005 i take arabic- and nida has all the right pronunciations down. The 'kh' is like a clearing the throat type of sound, kind of like the germans say it but i guess stronger. like when you get popcorn stuck in the back of your throat and try to clear it out using your throat. My arabic teacher explained to me that - what she called water pipe- is pronouned like this in egypt شعشأ جرزة or if you dont read arabic Sheesha Gorzah Then she explained that tobbacco was مةسل or ma'asll im not too good at typing arabic so bare with me on some of the alifs and teh marbutas/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted November 18, 2005 Share Posted November 18, 2005 LB: you are excused...damn fine job there... Nidal: thanks for the translations, I guess that explains the Nakhla palm tree on their boxes etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsraelEnigma Posted November 18, 2005 Share Posted November 18, 2005 El Nakhla is not like the the H in hannuka unless u mean ashkenazi pronunciation, H in hannuka is arabic 7, the Nakhla is like Kh in hebrew letter Khof not hebrew letter 7et Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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