A kunya (Arabic: كنية) or Kunyat[1] is an honorific widely used in place of given names through the Arab world and the medieval Muslim world.[2] It is a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter. (A similar, but not identical, practice exists in the Shona language of Zimbabwe[3].)
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General use
Abū (father) or umm (mother) precedes the son's name, in a genitive (iđāfa) construction. The English equivalent would be to call someone whose eldest son is named John "Father of John". Use of the kunya normally signifies some closeness between the speaker and the person so addressed, but is more polite than use of the first name. The kunya is also frequently used with reference to politicians and other celebrities to indicate respect.
Men who do not yet have a child are often nevertheless addressed by a made-up kunya. Most often the name chosen comes from a popular name in history, the man choosing his own kunya, although sometimes it would be the name of their father. The kunya may also be totally made up, although less often.
When using a person's full name, the kunya will precede the proper name. Thus: abū Māzin Maħmūd, for "Mahmud, the father of Mazen". In Classical Arabic, but not in any of the spoken dialects, abū can change into the forms abā and abī (accusative and genitive, respectively), depending on the position of the kunya in the sentence.
The kunya is also sometimes used metaphorically rather than literally. A modern example would be the Moro Islamist group Abu Sayyaf operating in Southern Philippines (Mindanao). The word sayyaf means "swordsmith", so "Father of the Swordsmith" signifies the group's belligerent charter.
When westernized, the words abu and abu'l are sometimes perceived as an independent part of the full name, similar to a given name. For example, professor Abul Hussam is commonly referred to as Hussam, as if under an assumption that "Hussam" is a family name. See more on westernization of Arabic naming practices and names.
Kunya as a nom de guerre
A special practice evolved among Palestinian leaders, originally in the Fatah faction, to use real or fictional kunyas as noms de guerre.
For example, Yasser Arafat was known by the name Abu Ammar (abū `ammār), even though he never had a son named Ammar; it was based on Ammar ibn Yasir, a companion of Muhammad and a prominent figure in Arab history.
This usage of the kunya has gained currency outside of the Palestinian movement, and is now often used by Arab guerrillas and clandestine operators. Examples of this include the Lebanese leaders Abu Anis (used by George Hawi during the Lebanese Civil War) and Abu Arz (Etienne Saqr).
See also
References
- ^ Shahpurshah Hormasji Hodivala, Historical Studies in Mug̲h̲al Numismatics, Numismatic Society of India, 1976 (Reprint of the 1923 ed.).
- ^ Annemarie Schimmel, Islamic Names: An Introduction, Edinburgh University Press, 1989, ISBN 0852245637, 9780852245637
- ^ Pedzisai Mashiri, Terms of Address in Shona: A Sociolinguistic approach, Zambezia, XXVI (i), pp. 93-110, 1999
External links
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