All dialects/MSA: هذا صديقي لدي معه ميانة

[Tilmeedh]

hi all--I'd like to ask how to render the below phrase into English.

(هذا صديقي لدي معه ميانه)

It comes from someone on Facebook, who explains (ميانه/ميانة) by saying, (تعني صداقة من دون رسميات).

I can't find information on this term anywhere. Perhaps it means something like 'special bond', 'affinity', or 'rapport'.

My best guesses at possible translations of the whole phrase would be:

- 'this friend and I are kindred spirits'

- 'this friend is like a brother from another mother to me'

- 'this friend and I clicked right away and it felt like we had known each other forever after just five minutes'

Can such an expression be used in the various dialects, or are there other, more colloquial alternatives?

Thanks in advance.

 

[elroy]

I've never heard this word before. What dialect was this in? The Palestinian equivalent would be أنا واياه خوش بوش ("xōš bōš"). I think the expression is from Persian.

 

[djara]

Never heard the word myself, but I found this article which regrets that miyana is no longer what it used to be:
"الميانة بالماضي كانت لمن كانت له مكانة كبيرة بالقلب"
The article also uses the expression يا خوي نمون (أو ما نمون)ي

 

[Tilmeedh]

Elroy--what he wrote was in MSA, but I believe the person I was interacting with is Iraqi. It's helpful to learn a Levantine expression.

Djara--thanks for that link. Does its content shed light for you and other native speakers on what the term means?

 

[djara]

Does its content shed light for you and other native speakers on what the term means?

Not really, because the article supposes the word to be understood by the reader.
This other article (from Jordan?) is much more explicit. It is most certainly dialect and it describes the relationship between a category of people with (moral) authority over others, an authority they traditionally use to solve social problems.
It says that if a person يمون عليك it doesn't mean that he is giving you orders, nor does it mean that he is begging you, nor is he hoping that you will comply to his request; it means he expects you to comply because he has the authority/prestige to do so.

 

[Schem]

I thought the term would be more common. It's part of the vocabulary of all peninsular dialects (including Urban Hejazi) and I was under the impression it's also found in Levantine dialects based on Elissa's song بتمون.

It says that if a person يمون عليك it doesn't mean that he is giving you orders, nor does it mean that he is begging you, nor is he hoping that you will comply to his request; it means he expects you to comply because he has the authority/prestige to do so.

I didn't check the link but I agree with the explanation up until the end which I find contradictory to the very concept. The term implies a certain familiarity between individuals akin to family status where one wouldn't have to ask for permission of the other or lodge a request for anything as they'd be expected to act as they please among themselves sans authority of one over the other. It's why people, at least here, often use expressions like ما بيني وبينه ميانة to describe more formal and less cordial relationships.

 

[momai]

It does exist but it is موانة not ميانة in Levantine Arabic. However, I would not necessarily define موانة as صداقة من دون رسميات but rather as to grant someone the approval to infringe on your rights.