LANGUAGE STUDY
Whatever differences there may be in experiences in missionary life, all
missionaries are faced with a most troublesome experience in learning a
new language. It is more or less natural for everyone to magnify what
concerns himself. "Our children" are always a little better than our
neighbors'. "Our cook" makes better bread than anyone else. And
"mother's pies"--well, that calls for no argument. It is much the same
way among missionaries. It is probable that there are just about as many
"hardest languages" in the world as there are distinct mission fields.
But, then, there must be one that is really the hardest, and we in Syria
think we come pretty well up on the list, even though we do not claim
absolute preëminence. The Arabic, though rich and beautiful, is
certainly a difficult language, and I am sure the Syria Mission would
give a unanimous vote on the resolution that it is the toughest
linguistic proposition we have ever attacked. It was one of the terse
and suggestive remarks of Dr. Henry Jessup that at the end of the first
year the new missionary thought he knew the Arabic; at the end of the
second year he thought he knew nothing; and at the end of the third year
he wondered how he got hold of it.
The isolation of a new missionary is at times appalling. No matter how
kind and helpful the older missionaries may be, they are strangers,
after all, with whom one must get acquainted. The houses are strange,
and not adapted to make one feel at home readily. Servants with their
very imperfect knowledge of English must be directed mainly by signs.
Everything seems unbearably dirty; the sun is unaccountably hot, even in
winter; the food is strange and does not appeal to a Westerner's
appetite. But, worst of all, among the babel of noises, there is not a
familiar sound, and with the best intentions of friendliness, one cannot
reveal the intention, except by the perpetual, inane grin.
We began the study of the language, as everyone does, almost at the
wharf. Even before recovering from the effects of the voyage, the Arabic
primer, with its alphabet, was brought to the bedside. At one of the
earliest lessons in Tripoli, the old, gray-bearded teacher wished to
impress a new word, "Milh." He repeated the difficult combination, and
then inquired in some way whether we knew what the word meant. The look
of blank ignorance on our faces gave him the answer, and he rose and
stepped with dignity, in his flowing robes, to the door. Opening this,
he called in a loud voice across the open court to the cook, "Peter,
bring me some salt." Then with a little of this household necessity in
his palm, he came back to his stupid pupils, and, pointing at the salt,
said emphatically, "Milh." That word was permanently fixed in our
vocabulary.
In less than two months after our arrival in Syria, and forty days after
taking possession of our own home, came New Year's Day. With the
self-confidence of youth and ignorance, we decided to keep open house on
our own account. In the forenoon we had our language teacher with us to
steer us through the intricacies of oriental etiquette, and to tell us
what to say, in the varying circumstances, and all went well. After
dinner, however, we excused him, as we did not expect many more calls,
and waited our fate. After a time, when the parlor was well filled with
a mixed company of men and women, among whom was the old teacher who had
taught us the word for salt, I used the wrong pronominal termination,
probably the masculine where I should have used the feminine. The old
gentleman rose from his place with great impressiveness and started
round the entire circle, pointing his finger at each person, and
pronouncing distinctly to every man, "tak" and to every woman, "tik." It
created a laugh, of course, but it is needless to say that whatever
mistakes I have made in Arabic since, it has never been because I did
not know the difference between the masculine and feminine form of the
second person pronominal affix.