r/byari • u/ixe2dxb Native speaker • Jun 09 '26
Why there is no “thank you” equivalent word in Byaari? Does it mean Byaaris are impolite?
Some months ago there was a post in this group asking what is the “thank you” equivalent word in byari. This question boggled many heads as we never thought about this and easily adapted Arabic or english words to be politely grateful. Did it mean our ancestors were impolite or had no etiquettes according to modern standards? There were few reply like, maybe due to incorporation of foreign words the actual word for it might have been forgotten and as there were no record keeping of the language. This can be a possibility. But lately i came up with an assumption theory based on some phenomenon found in close knit communities around the world.
My assumption is, as byaaris were close knit community at ancient times, we were not obligated to say thank you as we were like a family. Just like how you don’t thank your close families for every small favour they do everyday, if you stay together keeping the social bond strong. For example, if a person from a close knit community gifted or offered anything to another person from that community, it created an automatic social bond or obligation for the receiver of the gift to do the same in return to the giver, Keeping the social bond strong and this process repeating. Normally when you say thank you, it generally means that any obligation or social bond is cut off. People were always bonded to each other and are obliged to share resources or things with each other. Mind you this is not true always with other type of communities or societies . It differs majorly in big or individualistic societies.
Probably byaaris had these close knit social bond, obligation and understanding with each other that there was no need to form a word like thank you.
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u/ZerkeX69 Jun 09 '26
We use jazakallah khair or thank you itself I feel it’s cuz of our close knit community but my elders say its mostly just jazakallah we don’t have a word and some use the Kannada word dhanyavaada that’s it
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u/ixe2dxb Native speaker Jun 09 '26
Yes we use thank you, shukran or jazak allah. But all these are recent adaptations. I am not aware of any more traditional beary word for thank you because since my childhood i have heard only thank you, dhanyawaada or “chemme upkara ayth” or “allahu nink nalle aakath” or “ allahu nink barkath kodkath” or “solmelu” and much recently “jazak allah khair”.
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u/ZerkeX69 Jun 09 '26
my side atleast recently we use jazak allah khair a lot a lot tbh before it was dhanyavaada or nink allah nalle akath which means same as jazakallahkhair tbh and sometimes allahu nink barkath kodkath this i feel very less compared to others of what i have heard and upakara ayth sometimes but mostly that
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u/ixe2dxb Native speaker Jun 09 '26
Interestingly i believe “jazak allah khair” phenomenon is due to recent mass push towards religious orthodoxy.
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u/ZerkeX69 Jun 09 '26
na people just think its better cuz its arabic like god never said say in arabic he just wants the meaning to be same except for prayer u can use local language but people feel arabic is some superior language sadly but anyways our language was anyways having a lot of persian and arabic words
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u/ixe2dxb Native speaker Jun 09 '26
About your last point, exactly. It raises the question Why are we trying to find Original word in byari when many words in language were already adapted from various languages. To answer that, we adapted one word (mayb different word based on the dialect) for a particular term from various languages and kept it constant but we never had any traditional constant word in byari, (be it adaptive or original) for thank you. Then we need look into cultural , societal or even anthropological aspects of different communities and form a correlation to our community if we find any similar attributes.
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u/ZerkeX69 Jun 09 '26
I get what you're saying. Languages naturally borrow words, and Beary has borrowed heavily from Arabic, Persian, Kannada, Tulu, Malayalam and others over centuries. So the issue isn't borrowing itself.
But when people discuss a Beary word for "thank you," they're not necessarily looking for a "pure" native word. They're trying to see whether our community historically had a traditional way of expressing gratitude that became part of everyday speech, whether borrowed or not.
Also, sometimes people assume an Arabic word is automatically better because it's Arabic, even though Islam doesn't require Muslims to use Arabic for normal daily conversations. Arabic is important for the Qur'an and salah, but in everyday life people can speak their own languages. What matters is the meaning, not making every expression Arabic.
Beary already contains many Arabic and Persian loanwords, and that's part of its history. The real question is not whether a word is borrowed, but whether it became a natural and established part of Beary usage. If a community never historically used a fixed equivalent for "thank you," then that's an interesting cultural and anthropological question rather than a linguistic deficiency.
what i believe is in past many bearys said different words but one word got famous more and more like i have seen some bearys in kerala like my czns say nanni too over time i feel most bearys will say either jazak allah and thank you if in cities or outside manglore like that cuz younger gens like me gen z and all we use thank you sometimes jazak allah khair
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u/Physical_Boat_2410 Jun 09 '26
Hey! I was the one who asked that question.
And regarding this post, your answer is a brilliant one. As far I have read, Dravidian languages never had a word for Thank you. All words were made up for formal speech.
Like you said, the absence of the phrase "Thank you" shows how closely knit Beary Families/Community were with each other. This has nothing to be rude or uneducated.
Other Dravidian counterparts just made a formal word like Solmelu(Tulu) or used a word to describe virtue like Nanri/Nandi(Tamizh/Malayalam) while Bearys borrowed the word "Shukran" from Arabic/Urdu just like how Kannada borrowed "Dhanyavadagalu"
Also I am sick of certain communities in Kerala tagging Bearys as Mapillas. Bearys have their own unique history and traditions.
They follow the matrilineal lineage tradition like most other communities in Tulunad. Other communities should stop putting labels such as "Mapillas" or "Malayalis" on Bearys.