Words matter.
I've been wondering why the media keeps refering to "Hezbollah".
I mean, when I was in school, I learned about hte Koran, only for it to be changed to the "Quo'ron". I learned Islam started in Mecca, only for it become "Mekkah". I could on, but I think I've illustrated the first part of my point...there is little consistancy in the spelling of Arabic proper nouns.
There is a reason for this. It has to do with the alphabet, which, as we all know, is different in Arabic. You can translate "car" consistently, because "car" is an oral and written symbol representing the mode of transportation. So even if the word in Arabic were "lsldfnlsnflslksdfnlksnflksnflkndslkfns", it would still translate to English as "Car". A better example is the word "Hizb", or "party", as in a political party. It is always "Hizb"
It is a little more complicated with proper nouns. Since they are specific names, you continue to use the Arabic word. When you write the word down, you translate so much as translitterate. You're taking sounds indicated by the Arabic symbols and substuting sounds represented by Latin symbols. I had to learn this the hard way in Iraq.
So one could actually write it "Hezbolla", Hezbollah", "Hizbolla", etc virtually ad nausem. It would sound roughly the same.
But recently, many publishers, to include the news media made a concious effort to more accurately translitterate the Arabic words. So "Mecca" is now "Mekkah". These changes have extended to many Arabic proper nouns.
But not the Party of God, or "Hizb'Allah". For some reason, publishers, predominately news media, have chosen to continue using "Hezbollah". I think each word has a different conotation, which is why Al Jazeera uses "Hizb'Allah". I think if you use "Hizb'Allah", you show them for what they are...jihadists. Different from AQ, but still jihadists.
Having said that, I don't think there is a vast, left wing conspiracy on this one. I simply think it hasn't occured to anybody. We've been using "Hezbollah" for 25 years, it's just habit now.
I mean, when I was in school, I learned about hte Koran, only for it to be changed to the "Quo'ron". I learned Islam started in Mecca, only for it become "Mekkah". I could on, but I think I've illustrated the first part of my point...there is little consistancy in the spelling of Arabic proper nouns.
There is a reason for this. It has to do with the alphabet, which, as we all know, is different in Arabic. You can translate "car" consistently, because "car" is an oral and written symbol representing the mode of transportation. So even if the word in Arabic were "lsldfnlsnflslksdfnlksnflksnflkndslkfns", it would still translate to English as "Car". A better example is the word "Hizb", or "party", as in a political party. It is always "Hizb"
It is a little more complicated with proper nouns. Since they are specific names, you continue to use the Arabic word. When you write the word down, you translate so much as translitterate. You're taking sounds indicated by the Arabic symbols and substuting sounds represented by Latin symbols. I had to learn this the hard way in Iraq.
So one could actually write it "Hezbolla", Hezbollah", "Hizbolla", etc virtually ad nausem. It would sound roughly the same.
But recently, many publishers, to include the news media made a concious effort to more accurately translitterate the Arabic words. So "Mecca" is now "Mekkah". These changes have extended to many Arabic proper nouns.
But not the Party of God, or "Hizb'Allah". For some reason, publishers, predominately news media, have chosen to continue using "Hezbollah". I think each word has a different conotation, which is why Al Jazeera uses "Hizb'Allah". I think if you use "Hizb'Allah", you show them for what they are...jihadists. Different from AQ, but still jihadists.
Having said that, I don't think there is a vast, left wing conspiracy on this one. I simply think it hasn't occured to anybody. We've been using "Hezbollah" for 25 years, it's just habit now.