Naffir
Encyclopedia
Naffīr is an Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 word used in parts of Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

 (including Kordofan, Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...

, parts of the Nuba mountains
Nuba Mountains
Nuba Mountains is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the 18th century, Nuba Mountains became home to the kingdom of Taqali that controlled the hills of the mountains until their defeat by...

 and Kassala
Kassala
Kassala is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. It is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. It was formerly a railroad hub, however, as of 2006 there was no operational railway station in Kassala and much of the track...

) to describe particular types of communal work undertakings. Naffīr has been described as including a group recruited through family networks, in-laws and village neighbors for some particular purpose, which then disbands when that purpose is fulfilled (Manger, 1987). An alternative, more recent, definition describes naffīr as “to bring someone together from the neighborhood or community to carry out a certain project, such as building a house or providing help during the harvest season.” (Source: 'Conceptual analysis of volunteer', 2004)

The word may be related to the standard Arabic word nafr (نفر) which describes a band, party, group or troop, typically mobilized for war. In standard Arabic, a naffīr āmm (نفير عام) refers to a general call to arms (Wehr, 1980). Naffīr has also been used in a military context in Sudan. For example, the term was used to refer to the an-Naffīr ash-Sha'abī or "People's Militias" that operated in the central Nuba Mountains region in the early 1990s (Kevlihan, 2005).

Naffīr was also used to describe a trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 in Arabic. The Spanish used the Arabic name an-naffīr and changed it into anafil. (Trompet.nl, 2005)

See also

  • Sudanese Arabic
    Sudanese Arabic
    Sudanese Arabic is the variety of Arabic spoken throughout northern Sudan. It has much borrowed vocabulary from the local languages . This has resulted in a variety of Arabic that is unique to Sudan, reflecting the way in which the country has been influenced by both African and Arab cultures...

  • Nilo-Saharan languages
    Nilo-Saharan languages
    The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers , including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of Nile meet...

  • Afro-Asiatic Languages
    Afro-Asiatic languages
    The Afroasiatic languages , also known as Hamito-Semitic, constitute one of the world's largest language families, with about 375 living languages...

  • Barn-raising
  • Bee (gathering)
    Bee (gathering)
    A bee, as used in quilting bee, working bee or spelling bee, is an expression used together with another word to describe a gathering of peers to accomplish a task or to hold a competition. Especially in the past, the tasks were often major jobs, such as clearing a field of timber or raising a...

  • Bayanihan
    Bayanihan
    Bayanihan is a Filipino term taken from the word bayan, referring to a nation, country, town or community. The whole term bayanihan refers to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective...

     (Filipino)
  • Dugnad
    Dugnad
    Dugnad is a Norwegian term for voluntary work done together with other people. In a tradition similar to that of barn raising, community members meet to help an individual, or club members meet to build a clubhouse or get necessary jobs done for a family in need. Participation in a dugnad is often...

     (Norwegian)
  • Meitheal
    Meitheal
    Meitheal is the Irish word for a work team, gang, or party and denotes the co-operative labour system in rural Ireland where groups of neighbours help each other in turn with farming work, such as harvesting crops...

     (Irish)
  • Talkoot
    Talkoot
    Talkoot is a Finnish expression for a gathering of friends and neighbors to accomplish a task, similar to a bee or a barn raising in English....

     (Finnish)
  • Gadugi
    Gadugi
    Gadugi is a term used in the Cherokee language which means "working together" or "cooperative labor" within a community.Historically, the word referred to a labor gang, of men and/or women, working together for projects such as harvesting crops or tending to gardens of elderly or infirm tribal...

     (Cherokee)
  • Gotong royong
    Gotong royong
    Gotong-royong is a conception of sociality familiar to large parts of Indonesia and Malaysia. The phrase has been translated into English in many ways, most of which harken to the conception of reciprocity or mutual aid. For M. Nasroen, gotong royong forms one of the core tenets of Indonesian...

    (Indonesia and Malaysia)

External links

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