When did Shi'ite become Shiah?

[RootsBooster]

Back in the 90's, any time the Sunnis and their opposing faction were mentioned in the media (generally in news reports about the Middle East), the latter were referred to as Shi'ites.

 

These days they're referred to as Shiah, when did this change actually happen and why?

[Timeh]

No idea..............

[RootsBooster]

Same reason the Spastics society changed its name?

People took the ****?

 

So did Shi'ites change the name of their gang or was it the media?

[Timeh]

So did Shi'ites change the name of their gang or was it the media?

 

Ive no idea really. In fact im gutted you quoted my original answer as id changed it due to it being just silly.

 

---------- Post added 11-08-2015 at 10:55 ----------

 

A sensible guess is its just evolution of language. It could be that the media decided to make a change but i doubt it. Have you Googled it to see if an answer can be found on the tinternets

[RonJeremy]

Anyway it's ruined the joke about the Muslim weather

[tzijlstra]

Probably to do with dialects in Arabic and a growing understanding of them by Western media.

[RonJeremy]

Deleted repeated

[Timeh]

Probably to do with dialects in Arabic and a growing understanding of them by Western media.

 

This one seems most likely.

 

---------- Post added 11-08-2015 at 11:16 ----------

 

I don't know. But it's ruined the joke about the Muslim weather forecast.

 

True

................

[psynuk]

https://www.englishforums.com/English/DifferenceBetweenMeaningShia-Shiite/dxnnw/post.htm

 

"Anonymous:

...there is no difference between Shia and Shi'ite. The linguistic difference is attributed to the language of origin. In Arabic, there is a silent 't' at the end of the word 'shia' which has been corrupted as a pronounceable t by non-Arabs such as Persians (who are mostly shias). In Arabic the silent 't' is only pronounceable when it is followed by a related word eg Shia't Ali meaning the Shia of Ali."

 

Seems to make sense.

[blake]

I have never seen 'Shiah' being used, although I have always referred to Shias as Shias, not Shi'ites.

 

as above, they mean the same, just as Afghan and Afghani mean the same. Some people also say Irani rather than Iranian too. We are used to Israelis being referred to as Israelis, but it could just as easily be Israelite, it would not mean any different, except these days, when Israelite is used it is usually to refer to the ancient Israelis not the modern ones although that may change. 50 years from now, provided Israel is still around of course, the most common usage might have changed from Israeli to Israelite. Most of the world's Shias are not Arabs at all. Iran, Pakistan, and India have more Shias than all the rest put together.

 

Shias only started getting mentioned a lot in western news reports and called Shi-ites with the onset of the Lebanese civil war, maybe it is a Lebanese Arabic thing.

Edited August 11, 2015 by blake