I am not sure if this is common knowledge and that I am saying already known stuff, but Orrian location names are very much Arabic and I can only assume that is because of Orr being next to the Crystal Desert, which has actual mixes of Arabic elements in many corners of the game. Why do I know this? Because I have an Arab father, and I was raised in the Middle East as a muslim in an Arabic school.
When I was doing map completion yesterday on Henri, I noticed how some points of interests in Orr had βAlβ in them, and I immediately assumed it would be gibberish since that is all I find in western made media when it comes to anything βexoticβ. Bring some sound, put βalβ in front of it, and voilΓ , you have βArabicβ in your media. But no, I reread the names and realized that they actually have a translation, since the team actually written in a way that you can guess how itβs read in Arabic if youβre a native or have experience in native Arabic environments.
I will list all points of interests in Orr that I found that have Arabic and the most likely meant translation (as an Arabic speaker myself):
β’ Izz-al-Din Sarayi
With the context surrounding Orrβs lore and the Human lore + Charr/Human lore, this can very much be βΨΉΨ² Ψ§ΩΨ―ΩΩ Ψ΅Ψ±Ψ§ΨΉΩβ. Itβs a very blotchy sentence since itβs grammatically incorrect, but it basically means βI fight with pride for my religionβ, βI battle with pride for my religionβ. It makes sense because Humans are very religious in GW2, and Orr is even more so, while Charr denounce higher power and think Humans for shit. And they had a battle on Orr. BOOM.
β’ Din al-Jindi
This is a very clear one, words used in Arabic lessons a lot to form simple sentences. βΨ―ΩΩ Ψ§ΩΨ¬ΩΨ―Ωβ which means βThe soldierβs religionβ.
β’ Bakkir Sarayi
Sounds like βΨ¨ΩΩΨ± Ψ΅Ψ±Ψ§ΨΉΩβ or βΨ¨ΩΩΨ± Ψ΅Ψ±Ψ§ΨΉΩβ, which sounds like βEarly Battleβ in both. Oneβs just traditional and the otherβs Lebanese dialect.
β’ Several PoIs in Malchorβs Leap having βBaytβ in them
Which is just like the Grove having βHouse of Caitheβ, βHouse of Niamhβ and so on. Itβs again, grammatically incorrect, but Bayt means house or home. They even used Arabic names with them, but in wrong order. Still, to me this is like a very big thing.
β’ Zho'qafa Catacombs area
Sounds like βΨ°Ω ΩΩΩβ which is like βwith his palmsβ, or could be with his stance, several different possibilities.
This may seem like a far reach for representation to some people, but these make sense, they mean something, so it canβt be a coincidence. Iβm just happy Arabic was acknowledged in some way instead of the fake Arabic they use in media to make it seem βexoticβ or made as a parody.
Weeeeooooeeeeooooo
