I asked Tim Buckwalter about the Arabic name of the organization claiming responsibility for the London transit bombings, which was given in transliteration in some news reports as Jama'at al-Tanzim al-Sirri, Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Urupa, and in English translation as dozens of different forms, from "the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaida of Jihad Organisation in Europe" to "the Secret Cell of al Qaeda of Jihad Group in Europe" and "the Secret Organization of Al-Qaeda's Jihad in Europe".
Tim observed that the various translations are tragicomically reminiscent of Garrison Keillor's National Association of Organizations, aka National Organization of Associations; or the proliferation of permutationally-named political sects in Life of Brian (the Judean People's Front, the People's Front of Judea, the Judean Popular People's Front, and so on). More seriously, Tim explained the Arabic name and explored some of its collocational associations.
I monitor some 50 [Arabic] websites daily and I was surprised to find only one citation in which al-Qa'idah and "sirri" (secret) are mentioned in close proximity, and it came from the Reuters Arabic website. The phrase is "al-tanzim al-sirri - tanzim qa'idat al-jihad fi urubba." The literal word-for-word translation is "the organization the-secret - (the) organization (of the) base (of) the-jihad in Europe.
More idiomatically: The Secret Organization - The Organization of Qa'idat al-Jihad in Europe. The word "qa'idah" ("qa'idat" in construct cases) is a neutral word meaning "base," as in "military base" (qa'idah 'askariyah) or "database" (qa'idat bayanat), and it collocates naturally and frequently with "jihad." So, al-Qa'idah is really "the Base for Waging Jihad," or "the Base" for short.
The full, and highly frequent, Arabic phrase for "al-Qa'idah in Iraq" is "tanzim qa'idat al-jihad fi bilad al-rafidain," or "(the) organization (of the) base (of) the-jihad in (the) lands (of) the-two_tributaries" (i.e., the Tigris and Euphrates).
If the word "tanzim" is treated as part of the official name, then the word "jama'ah" ("jama'at" in construct cases) or "group" is often appended, as in "jama'at al-tanzim al-sirri," or "the Secret Organization" group.
Tim notes, however, that "a Google search for the Arabic phrase 'jama'at al-tanzim al-sirri' currently turns up zero hits".
By the way, when Tim says that qa'idah is qa'idat and jama'ah is jama'at "in construct cases", he's talking about a syntactic structure typical of semitic languages, know as the "construct state".
A term in Semitic grammar for a reduced form of a noun when it indicates a thing possessed. In European languages generally, it is the possessor who is marked by a special genitive case, and the thing possessed is untouched: the man's horse, Latin equus viri. In Semitic the word 'horse' is put in the construct state.
The construction used is schematically 'horse the-man-of'. The possession precedes the possessor (in typology this is symbolized NG, as opposed to GN), and it has no definite article on 'horse'. The horse is necessarily definite already: it is the one possessed by the noun.
When possessive relationships are nested, all but the last element are construct and all but the first are genitive: 'head horse-of the-man-of'.
Tim also sent a link to a page from the Federal Register entitled "Foreign Terrorists and Terrorist Organizations; Designation: Jam'at al Tawhid Wa'al-Jihad et al.", which is worth quoting in full as another example of the problem of variable nomenclature in this domain:
In the Matter of the Amended Designation of Jam'at al Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, also known as The Monotheism and Jihad Group, also known as the al-Zarqawi Network, also known as al-Tawhid, also known as Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, also known as The Organization of al-Jihad's Base in Iraq, also known as The Organization of al-Jihad's Base of Operations in Iraq, also known as al-Qaida of Jihad in Iraq, also known as al-Qaida in Iraq, also known as al-Qaida in Mesopotamia, also known as al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers, also known as al-Qaida of the Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers, also known as al-Qaida of Jihad Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers, also known as al-Qaida Group of Jihad in Iraq, also known as al-Qaida Group of Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers, also known as The Organization of Jihad's Base in the Country of the Two Rivers, also known as The Organization Base of Jihad/Country of the Two Rivers, also known as The Organization of al-Jihad's Base in the Land of the Two Rivers, also known as The Organization Base of Jihad/Mesopotamia, also known as The Organization of al-Jihad's Base of Operations in the Land of the Two Rivers, also known as Tanzeem qa'idat al Jihad/Bilad al Raafidaini, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Based upon a review of the administrative record assembled in this matter, and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, the Deputy Secretary of State has concluded that there is a sufficient factual basis to find that Jam'at al Tawhid wa'al- Jihad, also known as the Zarqawi Network and other aliases, has changed its name to Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, and that the relevant circumstances in section 219(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (8U.S.C. 1189(a)(1)) still exist with respect to that organization.
Therefore, effective upon the date of publication in the Federal Register, the Deputy Secretary of State hereby amends the 2004 designation of that organization as a foreign terrorist organization, pursuant to Sec. 219(a)(4)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)(4)(B)), to include the following new names:
Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn,
The Organization of al-Jihad's Base in Iraq,
The Organization of al-Jihad's Base of Operations in Iraq,
al-Qaida of Jihad in Iraq,
al-Qaida in Iraq,
al-Qaida in Mesopotamia,
al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers,
al-Qaida of the Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers,
al-Qaida of Jihad Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers,
al-Qaida Group of Jihad in Iraq,
al-Qaida Group of Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers,
The Organization of Jihad's Base in the Country of the Two Rivers,
The Organization Base of Jihad/Country of the Two Rivers,
The Organization of al-Jihad's Base in the Land of the Two Rivers,
The Organization Base of Jihad/Mesopotamia,
The Organization of al-Jihad's Base of Operations in the Land of the TwoRivers,
Tanzeem qa'idat al Jihad/Bilad al Raafidaini.
[Update: Karen Davis sent in a comment from an Arabic linguist friend:
"A very interesting analysis of the difficulties of translating Arabic into English. The only comment I would make is that al-tanzim al-sirri is not in construct with tanzin qa'idat al -jihad fi Urubba, but in apposition with it. And I might translate jama'at as people. It does mean group but generally refers to a group of people. So then it would be "The people of the secret organization, Al-Qaeda's Jihad Organization in Europe" That's my two cents."
]
Posted by Mark Liberman at July 8, 2005 05:41 PM