Video .. Palestinian family speaks only standard Arabic

Awad Rajoub-Hebron

While his father, Dr. Othman Abu Znaid, was returning home from the University of Jordan while preparing for his doctorate, he found his son Aban (three and a half years) using his laptop and asked him angrily: Aban, what are you doing? The son replied: I do good things. The father was impressed by the answer, and embraced his son and proximity to him and encouraged him to speak Standard Arabic.

Dr. Othman, a resident of the West Bank city of Hebron, did not know at the time that this sudden and transient situation would radically change the life of the family. The surrounding community as well.

He pledged his father to talk in classical language, and continued it until it became his mother tongue, and this is what happened with the rest of his brothers, and even his sister, who grows up, "Anne," where I was affected by the home environment and became speaking standard.

Auxiliary environment
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net in his home surrounded by olive trees, the Palestinian academic stresses that learning classical language was not difficult, but now it is difficult to abandon it, as it became their mother tongue.

Abu Znaid studied Arabic at Bethlehem University in Palestine, then completed his MA and Ph.D. at the University of Jordan, worked in Palestinian and Saudi universities, and is currently based in his hometown of Dura (West Hebron).

The Palestinian academic acknowledges the relationship between his journey in Arabic language specialization since the end of the nineties and the orientation of his family to this language;

Abu Znaid linked his isolation during the study with the limited social relations with his academic colleagues and specialists on the one hand and the family's success in mastering the classical language on the other.

Escape from dialects
The Palestinian academic says that what helped his children also differ from the vernacular dialect between the origin of both the father and mother, considering the sound language safe haven for children in light of this disparity.

Abu Znaid describes classical Arabic as "the language of elegance, beauty, expression and love, as well as narrowing nothing, and distancing the dialect differences between villages and cities, unlike the poor and limited spoken language."

However, the head of the family does not hide the existence of problems with some of his children, such as grammatical and morphological errors in the abnormalities of the Arabic language, such as prohibited from exchange, "where perfection varies and correct errors and benefit."

Dr. Osman concludes that he has no regrets about the experience, which he said has won the admiration of the community, friends and intellectuals.

Positive difference
Despite their pride in eloquence, the three brothers are not intruding on others;

The sound language of the children achieved academic excellence, as well as the opportunity to participate in various activities.

Aban, 13, says he feels a positive difference from other classmates who are accustomed to him, and are turning to him when looking for fluent synonyms for slang words.

Hussein, 11, said he was harassed at the start of school, adding that he had overcome it by ignoring it and encouraging his colleagues, teachers and family.

"I grew up and found them (brothers) talking Mandarin and I was talking like them," says eight-year-old Alan.