In each post, I will demonstrate how just by knowing one verb in its three-letter root form (Form I) will enable you to use the verb in its other forms.

I always thought that it makes more sense to be taught all the verbs from the same root at the same time rather than at different points in the language journey.

The meanings of the verb in its other forms can easily be guessed once you grasp how the 10-verbs form system works.

And I hope to demonstrate that through sentence examples and seeing for yourself the pattern that arises.

This series of posts might be especially useful for those learning Spoken Arabic without any formal background in MSA/Fosha.

So for the first post of an ongoing series, we’ll begin with a simple verb:

عرف

In Spoken Arabic, the verb عرف can be used in the following forms:

• Verb Form I
• Verb Form II
• Verb Form V
• Verb Form VII
• Verb Form VIII

*Note: Audio recordings in this post were recorded by native Syrian speakers.

Verb Form I

Meaning:

• to know
• to recognise/identify

Conjugation table:

*Inflection of verbs does differ slightly between North and South Levantine. 

Audio for the North Levantine’s verb conjugation by a native Syrian speaker:

Sentence examples:

• to know

شكلك مألوف، بعتقد اني بعرفك

You look familiar, I think I know you

 ما كِنت بعرف أنو عندك حساسية للمأكولات البحرية

I didn’t know that you are allergic to seafood

زوجي ما عرف أنو عيد ميلادي كان مبارح

My husband did not know that yesterday was my birthday

كِنتي بتعرفي ولا مابتعرفي أنو كان لازم تسلمي المشروع اليوم؟

Did you (f) know or did you not know that you were supposed to submit your project today?

مجموعة الأولاد غشّوا بفحصهن (بفحصهم) الأخير على الرغم من أنو بيعرفوا أنو ممكن ينفصلوا بسبب هي الشغلة

The group of boys cheated on their final tests even though they knew they could get expelled

• to recognise/identify

In Spoken Arabic, natives use the Form I to refer to both “know” and “recognise/identify”. Whether they mean “know” or “recognise/identify” will thus depend on the context.

Note that for contexts with a more serious or formal tone, the verb Form V is used instead to refer to “recognise/identify”. 

ما عرفتك بقصة شعرك الجديدة

I could not (did not) recognise you with your new haircut

جواد ضعف كتير لدرجة ما قدر يعرف حالو بالمراية

Jawad lost a lot of weight to the point that he cannot recognise himself in the mirror

بيقولو انو الطفل بيعرف صوت امو دغري بعد الولادة

It is said that a child (can) recognise its mother’s voice soon after birth

حابة اشتري هاد الفستان اونلاين بس كيف بدي أعرف الأصلي من التقليد؟

I want to buy this dress online but how can I tell [recognise/know] the original from the fake?!

شفت شي عم يطير بالسما اليوم بس ما قدرت أعرف شو هو

I saw something flying in the sky today but I could not identify what it was

Verb Form II

Meanings:

• to introduce
• to define
• How Would I Know?!

Conjugation table:

*Inflection of verbs does differ slightly between North and South Levantine. 

Audio for the North Levantine’s verb conjugation by a native Syrian speaker:

Sentence examples:

• to introduce

سامي، بدي أعرّفك على أخوي الأصغر مني ،حسين

Sami, I would like to introduce you to my younger brother, Hussein.

تعال على حفلتي بكرى. بدي أعرّفك على رفقاتي

Come to my party tomorrow. I want to introduce you to my friends

ممكن تعرّفني على مديرك؟ بتمنى أنو أشتغل بشركتك بعد التخرج

Is it possible for you to introduce me to your manager? I hope to work at your company after graduation.

انفصلت ليزا عن صديقا (صديقها) من جديد، وكل رفقاتا (رفقاتها) عم يحاولوا يعرّفوها على رفقاتهن (رفقاتهم) الشباب

Lisa has just broken up with her boyfriend and all her friends are trying to introduce her to their male friends.

• to define

طيب يا صفّ, سؤال…كيف بتعرّفوا السعادة؟

Ok class, a question…how do you define happiness?

ونستون تشرشل بيعرّف النجاح على أنه القدرة على الانتقال من الفشل للفشل من دون فقدان الحماس

Winston Churchill defines success as the ability to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm

• How Would I Know?!

This got to be one of my favourite phrases because it is usually said either in a tone of exasperation that may involve some eye-rolling, or in a tone of indifference like a half-arsed reply

So the phrase is…

شو بيعرّفني / شو بعرّفني

and you can translate it as “how would I know?”, “how am I supposed to know?”, “how in the world am I supposed to know”, “how the h*ll am I supposed to know”…you get the drift.

Here are some examples:

مين كسر الصحن؟-
وانا شو بيعرّفني؟ بكون حدا من الصغار-

Who broke the plate? // How would I know? It could be one of the children

 امتى رح ينتهي الفيروس؟-
الله أعلم, أنا شو بيعرّفني؟-

When will the virus end? // God only knows, how would I know?

Verb Form V

Meanings:

• to get to know s/one
• to be introduced to s/one or s/thing
• to get to know about something [~to learn/discover]
• to identify/recognise  (for contexts with a more serious/formal vibe)

Conjugation table:

*Inflection of verbs does differ slightly between North and South Levantine. 

Audio for the North Levantine’s verb conjugation by a native Syrian speaker:

Sentence examples:

كيف تعرّفت على ابن عمي حسين؟

How did you know my cousin Hussein?

تعرّفت على حسين بحفلة عيد ميلاد روان السنة الماضية

I got to know Hussein during Rawan’s birthday party last year.

هي تعرّفت على زوجها من خلال رحلة عمل لاسبانيا، ورح يحتفلوا بعيد زواجهن (زواجهم) العاشر الشهر الجاي

She got to know her husband during a business trip to Spain and they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary next month.

العروس والعريس تعرّفوا على بعضهم من خلال صديقهم المشترك

The bride and groom were introduced to each other through a mutual friend

بتصدقوا؟ تعرّفنا على الملكة رانيا الليلة الماضية خلال حفلة خاصّة

Can you (pl) believe it? We were introduced to Queen Rania last night at a private function

شوف هاد الفيديو ورح تتعرّف أكتر عن تاريخ هي (هاي) الدولة

Watch this video and you’ll get to know (learn) more about the history of this country

حضرنا المحاضرة مبارح وتعرّفنا على فوائد التأمل

We attended the lecture yesterday and got to know a lot about the benefits of meditation

(الدفاع المدني لاقو جثث بالبحر بس ما حدا قدر يتعرّف عليهن (عليهم

The Civil Defense found dead bodies in the sea but nobody was able to identify them

Verb Form VII

This verb form is the passive version of verb Form I.

Passive meaning that there is no subject performing the action of the verb. In other words, there is no doer of the action.

Since the tense is passive, this verb form is not as common in Spoken Arabic as the other forms.

Conjugation table:

*Inflection of verbs does differ slightly between North and South Levantine. 

Audio for the North Levantine’s verb conjugation by a native Syrian speaker:

Here are some examples:

لسا ما انعرف امتى رح يخلص الحجر

It is not yet known when the quarantine will be over

هاد الشي بينعرف لما يلاقو لقاح للمرض

This will be known when they find a vaccine for the illness

للأسف ما في دليل كافي لينعرف القاتل

(Lit. Unfortunately, there is not enough evidence for the killer to be identified)

~ Unfortunately, there is not enough evidence to identify the killer

Verb Form VIII

Meaning:

• to admit, confess, acknowledge
• to recognise (in the political sense)

Conjugation table:

*Inflection of verbs does differ slightly between North and South Levantine. 

Audio for the North Levantine’s verb conjugation by a native Syrian speaker:

Sentence examples:

عمر مابقت يصدّق خطيبته بعدما اعترفتله بأنها كذبت عليه عن ماضيها

Omar could no longer trust his fiancé after she confessed to lying to him about her past

على الرغم من أنو حسن اعترف أنو هو كان على خطأ وندمان على أخطائو، أهلو ما سامحوه

Even though Hassan has acknowledged that he was wrong and regretful for his wrongdoings, his parents did not forgive him

حبيبتي، أنا أسف، أنا بعتذر.. بعترف اني غلطت معك

Darling, I’m sorry, I apologise…I admit that I’ve wronged you

مجموعة الشباب المراهقين اعترفوا أنهن (أنهم) سرقوا من دكانة أبو علي

The group of teenage boys has confessed to stealing from Abo Ali’s shop

السودان كانت أول دولة اعترفت بسيادة جنوب السودان لما استقل ب ٢٠١١

Sudan became the first country to recognise South Sudan’s sovereignty when it gained independence in 2011

في كم دولة ما بتعترف بإنو تايوان دولة مستقلة

There are some countries that do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state

~End~

Note that the verb عرف also exists in verb X (Form 10) [استعرف – يستعرف] to mean “to ask for information”, but since it is rarely used in Spoken Arabic, I’ve decided to exclude it from this post.

Soooo are you able to see some sort of pattern from the examples provided?  The pattern or link between some verb forms might be more apparent than the others.

Anyhoo, here’s a picture taken from The 101 Most Used Verbs in Spoken Arabic by Fridrik Tiedemann that summarises how the 10-verbs form system works:

~~~

And…that’s it! The Arabic verb is, after all, JUST a three-letter word

If you found this post useful and would like me to continue with this series, make sure to leave a comment below!

Till then, take care, stay safe and I’ll see you around in the hosh.

Lyn

The post The Arabic Verb Is Just A Three-Letter Word: عرف (Levantine) appeared first on theLevanTongue.

ما بحط بذمتي

Transliteration:

ma baHut bidimtii

Alternatives:

ما بدي حط بذمتي

ma biddi/baddi Huut bi dimti

Meaning:

I ain’t taking responsibility for what I about to say

I’m not accountable for what I about to say

Erm, what?

Explanation & Examples:

Okay, so this expression has a religious undertone to it. On the day of judgment, everyone will be held accountable for his or her words and actions.

So this expression is said when people are not completely sure of the validity of what they are about to say.

And just in case, what they are about to say is completely false, they hope that they won’t be held accountable or be penalised for it on the day of judgment.

The word, ذمة, probably has no English equivalent but it is related to all things consciousness, moral integrity, ethics, etc.

So how is this expression used in spoken contexts?

Often, it is ironically said when gossiping about others.

It’s like “I know I’m going to say something unkind or questionable so I’ll say ma baHut bi dimti first just to prove I’m not a bad person”.

Here are some examples:

ما بحط بذمتي بس والله هالزلمة مو منيح. ديرو بالكم (بالكن) منو

ma baHut bidimtii bas wallah hal zalameh muu mniiH. diiru balkom (balkun) meno

I don’t mean anything by this (i.e please don’t hold this against me, God!) but I swear that man is not a good man. You guys better be careful of him.

OR

ما بحطا (بحطها) بذمتي بس روان يلي كسرتلك الموبايل, ما وقع لحالو :A

ma bahutaa (bahut-ha) bidimtii bas Rawan illi kasratlak el mobile. ma w2e3 lahaalo

I don’t mean anything by this but Rawan was the one who broke your mobile phone. It didn’t fell on its own.

!انت شو عم تحكي؟ متاكد؟ :B

enta shu 3am taHki? mit2aked?

What are you talking about?! Are you sure?!

ما بعرف انا, بس هيك حسيت :A

ma ba3ref ana. bas heik haseit

I don’t know, but this is what I feel.

The expression can also be used as a way as to not get involved in the matter (i.e to not be part of the “sin”) if you’re not the one spreading the news.

سمعت انو ماريا ما اجت عالبيت من تلات ايام والناس عم تقول انو بجوز هربت مع صاحبها لتعيش معو

sme3et eno Maria ma ejat 3al bayt men talat eyam uu el nas 3am t2ul eno bjuuz harbat ma3 saaHebha

I heard that Maria has not returned home for the last three days. People said she probably ran away to live with her boyfriend.

والله ما بعرف وما بحط بذمتي :B

wallah ma ba3ref uu maa bahut bidimtii

I swear, I don’t know anything about it and I don’t want to get involved (i.e I don’t want to be part of the sin of backbiting)

~~~

Note: There are some who refrain from using this expression because, hey, if it ain’t completely true, best not to mention it.

That’s it, folks. Check back next Friday for another ALEF post, or better still, subscribe below to be notified of new posts!

PSS: Like this post? Do me a favour and share it!

The post ALEF #01: Ma BaHut Bidimtii appeared first on theLevanTongue.

You’ll find songs in both Levantine Arabic and Fusha. And while the most obvious one is Fairouz, I have also listed Nedaa Sharara – the winner of The Voice 3 and also interestingly, one of the very few artists in the entertainment industry donning the hijab (you go girl!).

Plus, this list is not exhaustive. Don’t fret if you don’t see your favourite artist here. Feel free to name additional awesome female artists from the Levant in the comment section below

For now, scroll through the list and enjoy!

1. FAIROUZ (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Bint el shalabiya
• Habbaytak bessayf
• ba3dak 3ala baly
• bektob esmak ya habibi

2. JULIA BOUTROS 

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• La Bahlamak
• Yawman Ma
• Ala Shou
• Ya Osas
• 3a Slamto

3. LENA CHAMAMYAN (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Ya Msafrah fil bahr
• Bali Ma3ak
• Kissat Ishk
• Hal asmar ellawn
• Ya Msafera

4. RASHA RIZK (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Matar
• Sakru Shababik
• Al Jathebeyye

5. LINDA BITAR (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Sar elkalam ghali
• Neesan
• Ward
• Ghazal elhawa

6. NANCY AJRAM (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Maakoul el Gharam
• Moush Far’a Ktir
• Hassa Beek
• 3am bet3allak feek

7. HIBA TAWAJI (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Tarik
• Helm
• Enta el fallayt
• Tir w Aalli
• Metel el Rih

8. ELISSA (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Aaks elli shayfenha
• Ya merayti
• Betmoun
• Aa Baly Habibi

9. YARA (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Twasa Fia
• Hob Kabeer
• Baher Hmoum
• Betrouh

10. MACADI NAHAS (Jordanian)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Ya 3amma

• Hayya 3ala Hayya

• Rahal
• Ta3ban
• Tiji Nsafer

11. ABEER NEHME (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Waynak
• Nizlo Njom El layl
• Ahwe
• Ma hada bi’abbi

12. RIM BANNA (Palestine)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• zedny befart alhob
• el ghaeb
• Ya layl ma atwalak
• T3am elhawa

13. FAIA YOUNAN (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Fi al tariki illaik
• Wejjak Ya Helou
• Ya Laytahou Yaalam
• Baynatna fi bahr
• Mawtini

14. ASSALA NASRI (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Kelma Adiyya
• Yom el raheel
• Boaadak ani
• Soaal Basit

15. MAJIDA AL-ROUMI (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Etazalt el gharam
• Kalimat
• Ebhath Aanni
• Esmaa Alby
• Mili Ya Helwi Mili

16. NAJWA KARAM (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Law bas ta3ref
• Habibi Min
• Ykhalili Albak
• Bawsit Abel L Nawm

17. YASMINE HAMDAN (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Hal
• Shwey
• La’ Ba’den
• Balad
• La Mosh Ana

18. DIANA KARAZON (Jordan)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Allah la yharmni menak ya ahla zein
• Insani ma bensak
• Omri law lela
• Enta el gharam
• El Omr Mashi

20. NEDAA SHRARA (Jordan)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Adawar alek
• Ba3dou 3otrak
• Betkhoun
• Sahrana ana

21. TANIA SALEH (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Hal 3ayoun
• Ma Elna Shi
• Heya la tuhebok anta
• Yabalah

WHEEEE

What are your thoughts? If there are any awesome female artists from the Levant that you think should be included in this list, let me know in the comment section below!

P.S Check out my previous list of 17 alternative rock bands and solo artists from the Levant HERE

The post 21 Female Angelic Voices From the Levant appeared first on theLevanTongue.

Or are you already aware that practically nobody speaks MSA in their daily lives and desperately hope to avoid being caught in the above-mentioned situation?

Ever wish for a book that you can invest in and refer to it constantly as a guide?

But have yet to find a suitable book?

Luckily for all of us Levantine Arabic learners, that book does exist!

And that book is…..

The 101 Most Used Verbs In Spoken Arabic: Jordan & Palestine (Third Edition)

by Fridrik E.Tiedemann Jr.

My battered and well-used book

I’ve purchased it at the University Bookshop in Amman back in 2015 for 25JD. I have used it for both self-study and classroom-study.

If you’re learning the Spoken Levantine Arabic (amiyya), then I would highly recommend this book. It has truly been a great investment for me. Even after having studied all of the given verbs, I still found myself referring to it from time to time because of all the other bonuses in it.

Is the book suitable for you?

I would say that the book suits best for intermediate learners or those who can afford a teacher (or a dedicated Arab friend) to sit with you and study the book together. That being said, I would still recommend beginners to get it. And I’ll tell you why.

• The Verb Inflection Chart

The book provides pages and pages of the verb inflection chart for all 10 verb forms. And this is already a huge advantage for beginners as the chart helps you to get the pronunciation right from Day 1. The chart guides you on the inflection according to the verb forms.

In this way, each time you learn a new verb (and if you’re able to recognise its verb form) you would also know it’s inflection.  For a beginner, this chart is extremely useful.

The conjugation table for the verb to lift/raise something (Verb Form I)

As you can see, the chart lists out all the inflection of the verb for all pronouns in both the present and past tense. In the last row, the changes in inflection are also provided when a pronoun is attached to the verb.

This means you’re pretty much covered when it comes to verbs. Learning the verbs, their inflections and conjugation all come in one package. You can’t do one without the other two.

And that’s why the chart comes in handy especially when you’re at the beginning of your Arabic learning journey.

• 101 Most Used Verbs in Spoken Arabic

Ok, this is pretty obvious.

This book helps you to focus on only THE MOST USED verbs. In that sense, it’s actually making life easy for you.

The given verbs are constantly used in typical daily conversations. Forget all the other verbs in the meantime (those are for when you have gotten a good grasp of the basics)

And what’s even better is that the book teaches you how to re-use one verb to come up with many different meanings!

As you can see from the picture, you can easily use the verb سكّر alone to express yourself in a multitude of ways – from hanging up the phone to slamming the door in someone’s face.

See what I mean? Imagine learning all of the 101 verbs!

**Although the book focuses on Spoken Arabic in Jordan and Palestine, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to speak to Lebanese or Syrians. All of the given verbs can also be found in both Syrian and Lebanese Arabic. I would say that the main difference between the countries’ spoken Arabic lies in the inflection of the verbs.

More Reasons As To Why The Book Is Top Notch

• Chunking method

Language experts have often quoted the chunking method when it comes to remembering foreign vocabulary and speeding up the language learning process. And this book allows you to learn Levantine Arabic via the chunking method by showing you how each verb is used in short phrases to carry a different meaning.

In short, the chunking method refers to the technique of learning a language in chunks (i.e phrases or short sentences.) If you learn in this manner, you can easily express yourself in more ways simply by replacing words from phrases you’ve learned.

You can read an article by Mezzoguild here to see how the writer utilises the chunking method with Egyptian Arabic. If you’re interested in knowing more about the method, check out this article by FluentU here

• Sentence examples

The various sentence examples provided for all 101 verbs do help me in gaining a greater understanding on how to correctly use those verbs. I’m also able to expand my vocabulary from the sentence examples. When I learn in this manner, I found that I’m able to retain the new vocabulary in my memory for a much longer period. Learning a word on its own without any sentence to provide contexts is always a big no-no in language learning!

• More than just 101 verbs

There’s a list of additional verbs of the same verb form below every conjugation table.

This means that you’re actually getting much more than what the book promises! Once you have gotten a good grasp of the 101 verbs, it is definitely useful to look through the additional verbs because they are also used in everyday conversations.

Additional verbs of the same form listed below the table

How To Use It

Without a doubt, the best way to tackle this book is by going through it with a teacher. I did exactly this for some of the verbs when I was studying Arabic in Amman.

However, with a teacher or not, the book already serves as a great tool to form sentences and questions in everyday Arabic style.

The author also posted a YouTube video on how to use the book (see below). Also do check out the other videos posted on the same channel- I found them to be very informative.

Conclusion

Simply put, the book is off the charts. Did I mention that it also comes with a CD to aid in the pronunciation? The only section of the book which I didn’t really utilise is the vocabulary list at the end – simply because words rarely last long in my head if I learn them from a list.

It’s a really comprehensive book and I’m glad that I own one! I’m also appreciative of the fact that the book is written in Arabic letters instead of being in a transliterated format.

***

So that’s MY review on The 101 Most Used Verbs In Spoken Arabic: Jordan & Palestine (Third Edition) 

Have you used the book before? Are you planning to get one? I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

The book should be available either via Amazon or Jamalon.

P.S.S I have also heard great reviews of other resources for Levantine Arabic such as the ones listed below. Feel free to check them out too!

• Shou Fi Ma Fi by Rajaa Chouairi
• Colloquial Palestinian Arabic: An Introduction To The Spoken Dialect by Nasser M Isleem
• Pimsleur Eastern Arabic (audio-based)

Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn

The post The One Book That You Must Have If You’re Learning Levantine Arabic appeared first on theLevanTongue.

الحب الحب is a recent Jordanian series featuring Rajae Qawas which got aired last year. Roya Comedy has uploaded snippets of each episode in its YouTube channel where you can check them out.

Short clips are sure a great way of squeezing in some listening practice into a busy schedule without being overwhelmed. The only annoying thing in the video is the background music…

Yallah, ready? Let’s go!

تيتة morning,ياسمينا

Yasmina, Morning teita

• It’s pretty common for elders to call their children/grandchildren the same term – eg: mama/baba/teita  (although I find it pretty weird lol)
• Teita can either be spelled as تيتا or تيتة

ياللة حبيبتي قومي قومي ع الدوام

Yallah darling, get up for work

• Depending on the context, دوام can refer to both work and school

لأ لأ ما بدي ما بدي

No, I don’t want to

عندك دوام يالله حبيبتي قومي

You have work, yallah darling, get up

ما في دوام اليوم

No work today

ما في دوام ؟ كيف هادا؟ على اي اساس؟ يالله قومي قومي

No work? How is that so? On what basis? Yallah, get up, get up

على الأساس انا هيك قررت خلص تيتة

On the basis that I just decided not to (go to work). Enough, teita

هيك قررتي؟

Is this what you decided?

اه

Yeah

طيب

Fine

يا الله  تيتة مشان الله سكريه

Oh God! Grandma, for God’s sake, close it

انتي قومي سكريه انا ما دخلني

You get up and close it, it’s none of my business

ياسمينا لأمتى بدنا نضل هيك تيتة

Yasmina, till when do we have to remain like this, teita?

هايني منيحة

Here I am – feeling great

صباح الخير

Good morning

صباح النور

Good morning

ياسمينا انتي هيك مقتنعة بشعرك؟

Yasmina, you’re satisfied with your hair?

• مقتنع/مقتنعة  literally means “convinced”

هيك احسن؟

Is this better?

ياسمينا البابا اتصل ياسمينا, بسألني ليش ما تردي عليه

Yasmina, your father called. He asked me why didn’t you pick up his call

• Verb VIII to call/contact someone اتصل- بتصل
• Verb I to answer/respond رد – برد

لأني لو بدي ارد عليه كنت رديت عليه, مش طايقة احكي معو هاليومين

If I wanted to reply him, I would have done so.

I can’t stand to talk to him these days

وانتي متى كنتي طايقة تحكي معو؟

Since when were you able to tolerate talking to him?

• مش طايق \ مش طايقة –  can’t stand/bear/tolerate something/someone
• Eg: I (male) can’t stand him –  مش طايقو; I (female) can’t stand him – مش طايقتو

مشان الله تيتة هلأ مش وقته

For God’s sake, teita, now is not the time

حبيبتي هادا بابا وبضل بابا ما بيصيربتضلك تتجانبيه ما بيصير

My dear, your father remains your father. You can’t continue to avoid him, you simply can’t!

• ما بيصير = you can’t do that; it’s a no-no
• Verb VI to avoid تجانب – بتجانب

هدا بابا لما جاي ع باله, لما ما جاي ع باله انا مو موجدة بحياته

Father is only like this when he felt like so. If he do not feel like it, it is as if I do not exist in his life

 بعرف بعرف حبيبتي معك حق بس قالي انو مشتاقلك, لازم تعطيه فرصة

I know darling, I know. You’re right. But he told me that he misses you. You have to give him an opportunity/chance

ان شاء الله لازم اطلع ع الشغل تأخرت

InshAllah (God willing). I have to go to work now, I’m already late

• Verb VI to be late تأخَر- بتأخر

لأ, تاكلي ساندويتشك بالأول

No, eat your sandwich first

تيتة والله مو جاء ع بالي

Teita, wallah, I don’t feel like it

ياسمينا انتي تعرفي شوبالنسبة الي الفطور خط احمر

Yasmina, you know how I feel with regards to breakfast – it’s a no- no

• خط احمر literally means “a red line” – thus a no-no/off limit/off topic etc

مشان الله مش وقته تكوني غريبة هلأ

For God’s sake, now is not the time for you to be weird

لأ وقتا وقتا وقتا تاكلي ساندويتش وتشربي شاي وبعدين بتروحي يالله يالله

No, it’s the time. Eat your sandwich and drink your tea. Only then you can go. Yallah

• Some Arabs (especially Syrians) would say وقتا instead of وقتها

Phrase of the day

• جاي على بالي – to feel like doing something

جاي على بالي اكل بيتزا

I feel like eating pizza

جاي على بالنا نروح على السينما

We feel like going to the cinema

**Add the negation (ما/مو/مش) and you’ll get the opposite**

• مو جاي على بالي – to not feel like doing something

مش جاي على بالي اروح على أي محل

I don’t feel like going anywhere

***

I hope you’ve learned a thing or two! As usual, let me know your thoughts in the comment section

Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn

The post Learn Jordanian Arabic through the Alhob Alhob show appeared first on theLevanTongue.

Let’s build our vocabulary and practice listening through clips that are available on YouTube. In this post, I will provide the transcript from various parts of Episode #12,  اختي [my sister] from the series رجائي كائن عدائي 

Background information:

The series explores the various negative behaviours/mindsets that are prevalent in society.

The title itself means “Rajae being hostile” or simply put “Rajae being a jerk” (Rajae is a famous Jordanian actor and comedian.)

I enjoyed watching the series when I first started learning Levantine Arabic. And I hope you will too!

The video:

 clip starts at 1:05

I would suggest watching the full clip first to get the gist of what it’s about and to train your listening skills. It’s also helpful if you note down the phrases/words that you are able to catch as you watch along.

Let’s get started!

Time (01:12)

وين, وين-

Where are you going?

 شو يلي وين هاي, شو دخلك؟-

What do you mean by “where”? It’s none of your business

 ايش ايش شو يلي دخلني؟-

What do you mean “it’s none of my business” ?!

• The question “شو دخلك؟” is often impolitely asked to mean “what’s your involvement in this?” or “how does this concern you?” and thus share the English equivalent of “it’s none of your business/it’s none of your concern.
• Similarly, شو  دخلني؟, can be said when you’re feeling nonchalant and could not be bothered to get involved in a matter. For example, you can say شو  دخلني؟ in order to avoid being dragged into a heated discussion between two friends.

Time (01:28)

 انت وين عايش اخي؟ بأي عصر ؟-

Brother, where are you living? In which era?

 ما انتي بتموت على عولمة وديمقراطية-

Aren’t you the one who’s crazy about globalisation and democracy?

• To بموت على something is to be crazy/obsessed over that something. The phrase is also commonly used to refer to cravings. Eg: I’m craving/dying for Knafeh (traditional Palestinian dessert) = انا بموت على الكنافة

 Hannadyبال gym, ايش ايش ايش ايش شو دخل العولمة بالحرية, بال

What?! What does globalisation got to do with freedom, gym and Hannady?!

Time (01:38)

طب, بحكيلك, فيش طالعة من البيت-

Fine, i’ll tell you what…no going out of the house!

 انا كتير خفت منك….يا اللة, شايف شايفني كيف عم برجف-

I’m so afraid of you…Oh God, look, look how I’m shivering

• “طب” is the short form of “طيب” which means “fine” or “Ok”
• “فيش” is the same as “ما في”
• In the Jordanian/Palestinian dialect, “ش”  acts as a negation when added at the end of verbs. For example,  بعرفش is the same as ما بعرف (I don’t know)

Time (01:48)

الو, ماما وينك؟-

Hello Mama, where are you?

عند ام محجوز, عم نحضر بالعرس ابنها عالدي في دي-

I’m at Um Mahjooz’s. We are watching the wedding of her son on DVD.

ماما, ابنك حبسني بالبيت-

Mama, your son locked me up in the house!

•  The verb “حبس” means to imprison/lock up/trap someone

Time (01:57)

و ليش تتطاوش مع اهلك؟-

Why did you argue/fight with your family/parents?

لاني حبست اختي بالبيت-

Because I locked my sister up in the house

وللل يا زام, شو اهلها هدول ما بحترم الحقوق الأخ-

Man…what kind of family is that to not respect the rights of the brother?!

• The verb VI “تطاوش” means to argue or fight with someone. Similarly, the noun “طوشة” means a fight or a scuffle and it’s often used to describe a fight between men that takes place on streets.
• “يا زام” is the short form of “يا زلمة

Time (02:21)

وانت ليش ماشي معنا؟-

and why are you walking with us?

وانتي شو دخلك؟-

it’s none of your concern

طيب, طيب, ياللة يا شاطر ياللة حبيبي ياللة روء روء خلص الحارة كلها عرفت انك زلمة-

Fine, fine..yallah clever one, yallah my dear, yallah, calm down, calm down…it’s okay, the whole neighbourhood knows that you’re a “man”

• روء is said to mean “calm down”, “relax” or simply asking someone to take a chill pill
• شاطر is used to describe an intelligent (male) student. Of course in this context, it’s being said sarcastically

Time (3:13)

انا برضاش حدا يجيب سيرة اختي بكلمة-

I don’t tolerate anyone talking about my sister

• You can see here once again the use of “ش” at the end of the verb (برضى) as a negation.
• The verb برضى means to be satisfied/to be willing. In the above context, it’s said to suggest  “I’m not having any of it” [Don’t talk about my sister!]
• To bring (ييجيب) someone’s biography (سيرة) is a common expression to mean talking about someone/bring up the topic of someone
• بكلمة is said for added emphasis. Not even a single word about my sister

Time (3:23)

اوف…خلص خلص سكّرالموضوع, سكّر الموضوع-

Oof, that’s enough, let’s end the topic

• The verb “سكر” means to close

Time (4:04)

ما عارفنا مستر محمد؟-

Don’t we know each other Mr. Mahmud?

شو جايبك هون ولكِ؟-

What brought you here?!

جاية اشوف قلة الأدب اللي انت فيها-

I came to see the inappropriateness of your behaviour

• “قلة الأدب” generally refers to impolite/indecent behaviours that are deemed to be socially unacceptable. A synonym would be قليل الأدب
• اللي انت فيها literally means “that you’re in”

ولك مجنونة انتي؟-

Are you crazy?

مين هاي اللي معك؟-

Who’s this that you’re with?

عفوا ما بعرف انه مصاحب-

Sorry but I didn’t know that he’s attached

 مش صاحبته يا حبيبتي انا اخته. جاية احط حد ل قلة الأدب اللي عم بيصير-

I’m not his girlfriend, I’m his sister. I came here to put a stop to the inappropriateness that is happening now.

• حط حد is “to put a limit on” or “to put a stop to” something. In this context, the woman is calling his brother out for his action that is deemed as inappropriate by society (being seen with another woman in public)

ولكِ شو بتخبصي مجنونة ؟-

What nonsense are you spouting?!

• شو بتخبص is said when someone is spouting nonsense – what are you blabbering about?!

 مش هدا اطلبك معي؟ كل ما شوفني مع حدا حتى لو كنت عام بشتري من خضرجي-

Isn’t this what you demanded of me? Every time you see me with someone even if I was buying (something) from the grocer..

ولكِ روحي عالبيت لحدا شوفكِ هون يفكرجاية تأرجيلي-

Go back to the house, someone will see you here and think that you came here to smoke argilla

حد متل مين؟ ابن جيران لصاحبك رجائي؟ اطمن حبيبي هدا اللي بحرشك وبحكيلك دير بالك على اختك وبيصير زلمة على اختك؟ هدا عم ينتقم مني لاني ما عطيته وج يا حمار

Someone like who? Our neighbours’ son, Rajae, who’s your friend? Rest assured habibi, this is the person who kept telling you stuffs and tells you to keep an eye over your sister and to control her.  He’s taking revenge on me because I snubbed him, stupid!

• I have no idea what’s بحرشك means but I’m assuming she meant “بحرضك” which means “he incited you (against me)”; to feed someone stories in an attempt to stir up trouble
• دير بالك on its own means “take care”; to دير بالك على someone is to take care of someone/watch over that someone; دير بالك من someone is to be careful/wary of someone
• بيصير زلمة على اختك = to have control over your sister (Lit: being a man towards your sister)
• Verb VII to take revenge: انتقم – بنتقم
• ما عطيته وج  literally means “I did not give him a face” And what she meant by that is “I ignored him/ I snubbed him”
• حمار (donkey) is of course a popular word to insult someone – to call someone stupid or a fool amongst other things

استني بس افهميني شوي-

Wait, try to understand me

نعم؟-

Yes?

فعلا كلامك صح انا آسف-

مو انا اللي غيرك وانتي اختي حبيبتي ما النا غير بعض

Actually, you’re right, I’m sorry. Don’t you have only me (besides yourself) and you’re my sister, my dear one, we don’t have anyone except each other.

• كلامك صح = your words are right

 مروح عالبيت؟

So you’re going home?

لا قاعد شوي بس بوصَلك وبرجع-

No, I will sit here for a while longer. But I will give you a lift and return

• The verb II وصّل  means to give someone a lift/ride [Lit: to cause someone to arrive somewhere]

لا لا لا مش مشكلة باخد تاكسي-

No, no, no. Not a problem, I’ll take a taxi

لا لا لا بوصلك-

No, no, no, I’ll give you a ride home

لا ولك خلص كمل قعدتك عنجد باخد تاكسي يا لله باي-

No, stop it, remain seated. I’m serious, I’ll take a taxi. Yallah bye

ايوااا احكي هيك من الاول بدك تاخدي تاكسي عشان يقل ادبو –

معاكي

Ahaa why don’t you say from the beginning? You want to take a taxi so that he (the driver) can behave inappropriately towards you

• يقل ادبو literally means he lowers/reduces his good manners/virtues (and thus acts inappropriately); they behave inappropriately would be  يقلوا ادبهم
• معِك is just another way of saying معاكي

ولك انت صاير نسخة عن صاحبك…كائن عدائي

You’re becoming just like your friend…a complete jerk!

• “نسخة” means “a copy”
• صاير نسخة عن – Saayir nuskha 3an someone = to become like someone [Lit: to become a copy of someone]
• “كائن عدائي” literally means “a hostile being”

***

That’s it! Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn

The post Learn Spoken Arabic and explore stereotypes via an entertaining Jordanian series. appeared first on theLevanTongue.

In this post, I’m going to list out a few phrases that are useful for ending arguments.

In general, they are to mean “My words are final” and thus any replies would not be tolerated. It is also important to note that most often it is a person of a higher authority than the other who would be saying these phrases (Eg: a mother to her children)

The first phrase is…

كلمتي ما بتصير تنتين

kilimti ma bitsiir tintain

This Jordanian/Palestinian phrase means that “my word does not get repeated twice” and thus carries the same meaning as “my words are final.” Basically, don’t you argue with me, I’m having none of it!

For example, a mother would say to her daughter:

ما في طلعة من البيت يعني ما في طلعة. كلمتي ما بتصير تنتين

ma fii Thol3a men ilbaet ya3ne ma fii Thol3a

(No going out means no going out! My words are final.)

This brings us to the second phrase that I’ve heard spoken in Syrian shows,

شكلين ما بحكي

shiklain ma beHki

This phrase can be roughly translated to “My words don’t come in two forms” and thus carries the same meaning as the previous phrase. This phrase could easily be the Syrian version of “كلمتي ما بتصير تنتين”

The Syrian version of the previous example would be:

ما في روحة يعني ما في روحة. شكلين ما بحكي

ma fii rawha ya3ni ma fii rawha. shiklain ma beHki

(no going out means no going out. my words are final)

*Bonus: To add weight to your words (i.e be more dramatic), you can hold up two fingers while saying it. 

Image Source

The next phrase is

كلمة ورد غطاها

klimeh uu rad ghaTaha

(a word and a reply covers it)

This phrase is said when you wish to declare your point of view and end the matter once and for all with the indication that no reply is needed.

For example,

انا حابة احكي معك كلمتين ورد غطاها

Ana Habeh aHki ma3ik kilimtain uu rad ghaTaha

(I want to have a few words with you and close the topic)

I’ve heard this sentence in a Syrian drama series called “صرخت روح” where the mother called up the girl whom is in a relationship with her son but of which she does not approve.

So in this scenario, the mother is more or less saying “I want to have a word with you and end the discussion. I don’t want to have to talk about this matter ever again.” In other words, the topic’s closed! (even before the other person has a chance to express his/herself)

The final phrase….

قولو اي واضحك عليه

2alo ehh u iDHak 3aley

(Tell him yes/OK and laugh at him after)

This phrase is slightly different from the rest in the sense that it is said when you’re tired of explaining your point and you end up saying  “اي” (Yes/Ok) to the other person just for the sake of ending the argument.

This is especially so if the other person is unable to see your point of view and the argument is going nowhere.

For example:

You are having a debate about climate change to a person named Donald but you simply can’t convince him that climate change is real. You are dumbfounded when he thinks that climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese. So you just give up the argument by saying:

قولو اي واضحك عليه

(I mean in this situation, it’s better to save one’s breath)

In addition, this phrase can also be said sarcastically to kid around with your friends who naively believe your words.

For example:

لك ممكن تعطيني الساعة رولكس تبعتك ؟ :A

lak mumkin ta3Tiini ilsaa3ah Rolex taba3tak?

(Hey can you give me your Rolex watch?)

اي اكيد :B

eyy akiid

(Yep sure)

 !واو شكرا كتييير :A

waww shokran ktiiirrr!

(Wow thanks a lot!)

قولو اي واضحك عليه :B

(i.e No way I’m gonna give you my watch, you fool!)

***

Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn

The post How do Arabs end an argument (or turn a deaf ear to replies) appeared first on theLevanTongue.