Some guides to Arabian Peninsula countries include word lists. In Researching and Working on the Arabian Peninsula [ https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-96-5326-3 ] I don’t have word lists for a few reasons.

First, I am not a linguistics person. Second, daily phrases like ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ vary widely across the region. Thirdly, writing Arabic using English letters is not a task I want to wade into. For example, the standard greeting/ response can be written as: Salam alaikum, Alaikum salam or As-salamu alaykum, alaykum As-salamu. One way to say goodbye is: Masalama/ Ma’assalama/ Ma Salama/ Ma’a as-salāmah.

A more over-arching issue is that I have not found many expats who are in the middle, linguistically-speaking. People either have learned Arabic or they never pick up anything. I have known people who lived on the Arabian Peninsula for years and never learned how to say “please” or “thank you” in Arabic.

That being said, here are some helpful words to recognize:

• Marhaba – hello/ welcome
• Bismillah – in the name of God, used at the start of something such as a meeting or meal
• Wallah – vow/ oath, “I swear by God”
• Khallas – something is done, over (important as it is used to end a negotiation or discussion)
• Yallah/ Yallah Shabaab – let’s go/ let’s go guys, used to get someone moving, one of the very few things that can be yelled in frustration, like when you are stuck in a traffic jam
• Min fadlik (please)/ Shukran (thank you)/ Afwan (you’re welcome)

It’s hard to say but I like: Astaghfirullah, used when you see something horrible (the exact meaning is ‘I seek forgiveness from God’ but in Dhofar it is used as ‘I take refuge in God’, when you see a mean person and say it, it’s a kind of protection and very effective for expressing dislike in a pious way)

But the words that are used most commonly are:

• Alhamdulillah – praise be to God
• Inshallah – by the way of God, may God allow this to be, God willing (express hope for the future)
• Mashallah – what God has willed/ that which God wanted (express gratitude for what is)
• Subhanallah – glory be to God

Alhamdulillah is used as celebration/ I am so happy to hear this good news/ what a wonderful thing has occurred, but it is also used in the face to something terrible as a way to remember that God is present in everything. I have heard people say “say Alhamdulillah” before giving bad news as a way to help the receiver of ill tidings not give in to despair.

Inshallah is used for any future plan, as in “I’ll see you tomorrow” – Inshallah.

Mashallah is used for praise, anytime you say anything positive about anything or anyone, you need a Mashallah to show that the good come from God (if you know Greek myths, you understand the construction of humans not taking the credit)

Subhanallah – in Dhofar, this is used often as an expression of surprise, wonderment, relief, sudden good fortune

Yet knowing these words is less than half the linguistic battle. To go off topic for a moment, when I studied at the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn for my junior year of college, I took a class on Russian drama because I had never read one. German universities give collective exams after 3 years of study, but since I was transferring back to Madison, I had to go to the professor’s office and have an oral exam at the end of the semester. One of his questions was “What is distinctive about Chekhov’s dramas?” I answered the best I could, but I did not get the right answer which was the pauses between when actors speak. I had no idea about this feature as I had only read the plays; I had never seen one performed.

That’s somewhat similar to trying to use these words correctly, it’s not just knowing when to say which word but that the words are often repeated back and forth.

If someone tells a story and ends with Alhamdulillah, often someone else will repeat the phrase. Then someone else might say Alhamdulillah, or the original speaker might say Alhamdulillah again. In the same manner, Mashallah might be said back and forth. If you are not used to this pattern or to a call-and-response verbal culture, it can get confusing.

If you will need a professional level of Arabic, you might be using the Alif Baa (Brustad et al. 2019) series. For learning on my own, I used the books by Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar (2021) which are more fun and practical. Their Arabic language learning books have everyday vocabulary and realistic practice conversations with a wide variety of reading, writing, speaking, and listening exercises. They also have beginning- and intermediate-level texts specifically on Arabic grammar, writing, conjugating verbs, etc., which can be used for solo learners.

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