Multicultural curiosity...

[fajrdrako]

In my Paratranspo ride today, there was a sticker on the dashboard of the car in a language I couldn't read. I was fascinated. All through the drive I was thinking about what it might be - for no good reason, I was running through East Asian (and South-east Asian) writing systems in my head, and it didn't look quite like any of them. It was

Comments

[saffronrose]

For some reason, many Ethiopians have settled in Campbell and in San Jose.
I can usually figure out what script/language link I'm looking at might be, too, except for those I haven't seen yet!

[fajrdrako]

I haven't seen enough Ethiopian for it to be easy yet, though I'll try to remember it now. Makes me want to look for bits of different scripts in public places. Not that I could distinguish Punjabi from Hindi, or Urdu from Arabic.

[duncanmac]

I can (I believe) distinguish the former pair on sight, but not the latter. Punjabi is distinctive enough to be recognizable; ditto with Gujarati and Orissan scripts. Not so much with variants of Arabic script.

[fajrdrako]

I can (I believe) distinguish the former pair on sight

How? what tips you off? I can tell the letters are different, but not enough to identify which is which. The both just look like 'not quite Sanskrit' to me!

I like the look of Gujarati. I wouldn't confused Orissan with any of the above, but I do confuse it with Tamil. Wonder if they're related? Hmm, no, not in the keast - the Orissan language (apparently called 'Oriya') is Indo-European, and Tamil is Dravidian. So any resenblance is the script is probably my imagination.

[dewline]

I seem to recall at least one Ethiopian-derived church in the near-southwestern neighbourhoods of Ottawa...just off of Carling, I think?

[duncanmac]

On Merivale Rd. To be precise, 915 Merivale Rd south of Carling and Westgate.

[fajrdrako]

Thanks for the link. This inspired me to look up Saint Teklehaimanot, a 20th century saint. Interesting.

[duncanmac]

The original "Tekle Haymanot" is an Ethiopian saint from the 13th century. I didn't realize that there was a 20th century saint with that name too.

[chazzbanner]

We had many Oromo people settle in Minneapoiis/St. Paul in the 80s. Many have returned to Ethiopia since things are more settled in their part of the country, but we still have good Ethiopian restaurants!

[fajrdrako]

The restaurants are a bonus!

[duncanmac]

... would a note like that in a Christian's car not be more likely to say Jesus was in charge?

Only in the western branches of Christianity (Roman and Protestant). The Orthodox are, I think, more likely to speak of God specifically. The Greeks often say "theou theolontos" [sp?] meaning "God willing," which I think is a direct equivalent of the Arabic "inshallah". Part of the reason for the difference, I suspect, is that almost all of the Orthodox were under Muslim rule and influence at one time or another, and many still are in the Middle East.

There are some Ethiopian Jews or "Falashas" as well as Muslims (mainly from Ethiopia's Tigre region and what is now Eritrea), so the confusion is understandable.

Also, I don't think the Orthodox are as pushy for converting people as the American radical Protestants are. Oh les Americains.

[fajrdrako]

I don't think the Orthodox are as pushy for converting people as the American radical Protestants are.

I would hope not! It isn't so much the conversion, as the trying to force their rules on us.

Thanks for the comments on the Orthodox.

[duncanmac]

You're welcome. :-)

[dejla]

Fascinating!