The Sounds of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic - Lingualism.com

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ج [g] as in gas (never a soft g as in gem in. ECA) gíri ىرج (run) h .... used in combination with رْيَخِب bi
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Side by Side Arabic

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Dialogues

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in Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic

Matthew Aldrich

© 2014 by Matthew Aldrich

The author’s moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Cover art: © Karen Mah/Bigstock

website: www.lingualism.com

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email: [email protected]

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ISBN-10: 0985816074

Contents How to Use This Book .................................................................................................................................................... iii The Sounds of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic ...................................................................................................................... iv Formal Greetings ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 Informal Greetings .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Good Morning!................................................................................................................................................................ 6 What’s Your Name? ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 Goodbyes ...................................................................................................................................................................... 10 What’s this? .................................................................................................................................................................. 12 My House ...................................................................................................................................................................... 14 No Smoking ................................................................................................................................................................... 16

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Where Are You? ............................................................................................................................................................ 18 Browsing in a Shop........................................................................................................................................................ 20 Where Are You Going? .................................................................................................................................................. 22 It’s Hot! ......................................................................................................................................................................... 24

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Piano ............................................................................................................................................................................. 26 Do You Speak English? .................................................................................................................................................. 28 How Long? .................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Where Do You Work? .................................................................................................................................................... 32 What Do You Do? .......................................................................................................................................................... 34 How Old Are You? ......................................................................................................................................................... 36 Sir! ................................................................................................................................................................................. 38 Where Are You From? ................................................................................................................................................... 40 Long Time No See.......................................................................................................................................................... 42 What Are You Reading? ................................................................................................................................................ 44 Buying a Shirt ................................................................................................................................................................ 46 Vacations ...................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Directions ...................................................................................................................................................................... 50 Studying Together ......................................................................................................................................................... 52 Sports ............................................................................................................................................................................ 54 Your Arabic! .................................................................................................................................................................. 56 Can You Read Arabic? ................................................................................................................................................... 58

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I Live in a House. ........................................................................................................................................................... 60 I’m Staying in a Hotel. ................................................................................................................................................... 62 What’s Playing? ............................................................................................................................................................ 64 Lebanese Food .............................................................................................................................................................. 66 My Family ..................................................................................................................................................................... 68 A Good Night's Sleep ..................................................................................................................................................... 70 Buying Pants ................................................................................................................................................................. 72 Phobias ......................................................................................................................................................................... 76 Unwanted Calls ............................................................................................................................................................. 80 How Annoying! ............................................................................................................................................................. 84

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You Look Great! ............................................................................................................................................................ 88

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How to Use This Book Side by Side Arabic presents dialogues of varying length, each with two versions. Dialogues in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) appear on the left-facing page, while their equivalents appear in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) on the right-facing page. Having both versions side by side allows you to compare the two varieties of Arabic and become better aware of the similarities and differences between them. Glossaries are not provided for the vocabulary in the dialogues, and with good reason. Although it would be more convenient to have clear translations for each word, this makes things too easy. By having to spend time comparing the dialogue to its English translation, using your analytical skills, making deductions, and recalling what you already know about Arabic, you learn—through self-discovery rather than by being spoonfed new information. Using the same techniques, compare the MSA dialogue to the facing ECA dialogue. Notice the similarities, but especially the differences. How do idiomatic expressions differ between MSA and ECA? What about vocabulary? Pronunciation? Grammar?

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On another level, you can also compare the MSA dialogues presented in this book to their accompanying audio files. You will notice that these, too, differ from one another. The MSA dialogues have been written with ‫ إعْراب‬ʔi3rāb, the case endings on nouns and adjectives, as well as other final short vowels found on verbs and adverbs, which are taught in Arabic courses, but in practice seldom used in what can be called Spoken Standard Arabic (SSA). This simplified variety of MSA has developed in recent decades as a lingua franca between Arabs, thanks in large part to the advent of satellite television. Arabs, whose native dialects do not have ʔi3rāb, must learn the complex rules of MSA at school. So, perhaps surprisingly to a learner, Arabs also have difficulties using ʔi3rāb consistently correctly when speaking. SSA is a much more manageable alternative, and is increasingly becoming the norm.

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Although there are several points of grammatical differences between MSA and ECA, verbs, which form the backbone of a sentence, are especially interesting and challenging. For this reason, an exception has been made for verbs to the “no glossary” approach. Each verb is listed with its English translation(s) as well as a reference to its corresponding conjugation table in Lingualism’s Modern Standard Arabic Verbs or Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs: Conjugation Tables and Grammar. The first table from each of these books is provided at the end of this book to give you an idea of how you can use the tables to learn more about verb conjugation. In the dialogues, words or phrases that can be optionally omitted without affecting meaning appear in parentheses (rounded brackets). Alternative words or phrases appear in square brackets [like this]. In the MP3s, these alternatives are spoken after each dialogue. The author would like to thank Hend Khaled for providing authentic Arabic translations of the dialogues and Cameleons Group in Cairo for recording the MP3s. The MP3s can be downloaded for free from the Lingualism Audio Library at:

www.lingualism.com

Place this PDF file into the same folder as the MP3s to enable the audio links.

iii | Side by Side Arabic (www.lingualism.com)

The Sounds of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Phonetic transcriptions of the dialogues in ECA are presented to the right of the Arabic script. Assuming you are already familiar with MSA, the sounds of ECA will pose no great challenge. The quality of the vowels is largely the same, while only a few consonants are pronounced differently. For a detailed look at the rules for stress and sound changes which are unique to ECA (i.e. set it apart from MSA) and give it its distinct sound, refer to the pronunciation section of Lingualism’s book Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs: Conjugation Tables and Grammar.

Consonants

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The following sounds are also found in English and should pose no difficulties for the learner: examples bána ‫( بنى‬build) ‫[ ب‬b] as in bed b dáras ‫( درس‬study) ‫[ د‬d̪ ] as in dog, but with the tongue d touching the back of the upper teeth fāz ‫( فاز‬win) ‫[ ف‬f] as in four f gíri ‫( جرى‬run) ‫[ ج‬g] as in gas (never a soft g as in gem in g ECA) hágam ‫( هجم‬attack) ‫[ ه‬h] as in house h kal ‫( كل‬eat) ‫[ ك‬k] as in kid k líbis ‫( لبس‬get dressed) ‫[ ل‬l] as in love (that is, a light l, and not a l dark l as in yell) māt ‫( مات‬die) ‫[ م‬m] as in moon m nísi ‫( نسى‬forget) ‫[ ن‬n] as in nice n sāb ‫( ساب‬leave) )‫(ث‬ ‫س‬ s [s] as in sun šakk ‫( شك‬doubt) ‫[ ش‬ʃ] as in show š taff ‫( تف‬spit) )‫[ ت (ث‬t̪] as in tie, but with the tongue t touching the back of the upper teeth wárra ‫( ورى‬show) ‫[ و‬w] as in word w yíktib ‫( يكتب‬he writes) ‫[ ي‬j] as in yes y zār ‫( زار‬visit) )‫[ ز (ذ‬z] as in zoo z The following sounds have no equivalent in English and require special attention. However, some exist in other languages you may be familiar with. r

ɣ x

‫[ ر‬ɾ] tapped (flapped) as in the Spanish cara, Korean 사랑 (sarang), Japanese これ (kore), or the Scottish pronunciation of tree ‫[ غ‬ɣ] very similar to a guttural R as in the French Paris, or the German rot ‫[ خ‬x] as in the German doch, Spanish rojo, or Scottish loch

ráma ‫( رمى‬throw)

ɣāb ‫( غاب‬be present)

xad ‫( خد‬take)

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q ɧ 3

ʔ

‫[ ق‬q] like K but further back, almost in the throat, with the tongue touching the uvula ‫[ ح‬ħ] like a strong, breathy H, as if you were trying to fog up a window ‫[ ع‬ʕ] a voiced glottal stop, as if you had opened your mouth under water and constricted your throat to prevent choking and then released the constriction with a sigh ‫[ ء \ ق‬ʔ] an unvoiced glottal stop, as [ʕ] above, but with a wispy, unvoiced sigh; or more simply put, like the constriction separating the vowels in uh-oh

qād ‫( قاد‬lead)

ɧáfar ‫( حفر‬dig) 3írif ‫( عرف‬know)

ʔíbil ‫( قبل‬accept) ʔá3lan ‫( أعلن‬announce)

‫ض‬ ‫ص‬ ‫ط‬ ‫ظ‬

ɖárab ‫( ضرب‬hit)

[dˁ] emphatic D [sˁ] emphatic S [tˁ] emphatic T [zˁ] emphatic Z

ʂamm ‫( صم‬memorize) ʈáwa ‫( طوى‬fold) ʐann ‫( ظن‬believe)

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ɖ ʂ ʈ ʐ

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The following sounds also have no equivalent in English but are emphatic versions of otherwise familiar sounds. An emphatic consonant is produced by pulling the tongue back toward the pharynx (throat), spreading the sides of the tongue wide, as if you wanted to bite down on both sides of your tongue, and producing a good puff of air from the lungs.

Vowels

a

ā ē ə

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‫[ ـ‬æ] normally as in cat (but with the jaw not quite as lowered as in English); [a] as in stock when in the same syllable with ɧ or 3 (with the tongue lower than [æ]); usually [ɑ] as in father (but shorter) when in the same word as q, ɖ, ʂ, ʈ, ʐ, or, in most cases, r ‫[ ـا‬æ:] / [a:] / [ɑ:] as with a above but longer

‫[ ـي‬e:] as in play (but without the glide to [j]) [ə] as in ticket. In ECA, ə is inserted to avoid three adjacent consonants. ‫[ ـ‬ɪ] as in kid; [ɛ] as in bed when in the same syllable with ɧ or 3; when in the same word as q, ɖ, ʂ, ʈ, or ʐ, [ɨ] with the tongue pulled back a bit

examples

kátab ‫( كتب‬write) ɧámla ‫( حاملى‬I will fill) mabá3š ‫( مباعش‬he didn’t sell) ɖárab ‫( ضرب‬hit) ɣáʂab ‫( غصب‬force)

nām ‫( نام‬sleep) gā3 ‫( جاع‬get hungry) qād ‫( قاد‬lead) malēt ‫( مليت‬I filled) kúntə hína ‫( كنت هنا‬I was here)

3ílim ‫( علم‬know) biyíɧsib ‫( بيحسب‬he calculates) itʐāhir ‫( اتظاهر‬protest)

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ī

‫[ ـي‬i:] as in ski; [ɛ:] and [ɨ:] as with i above (but longer)

biygīb ‫( بيجيب‬he brings) biybī3 ‫( بيبيع‬he sells) 3āqib ‫( عاقب‬punish)

o

[o] [o] as in know (but shorter and without the glide to [w]) [o:] as with o above but longer ‫[ ـ‬ʊ] as in book; [o] as in know (but shorter and without the glide to [w]) when in the same syllable with ɧ or 3 ‫[ ـو‬u:] as in moon; [o:] as in know (but without the glide to [w]) when in the same syllable with ɧ or 3

torēn ‫( ثَ ْو َريْن‬two bulls)

ō u ū

nōm ‫( ن َْوم‬sleep) yúʈlub ‫( يطلب‬he orders) inbā3u ‫( انباعوا‬they sold) bitšūf ‫( بتشوف‬you see) manba3ūš ‫( منباعوش‬they didn’t sell)

Stress

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A macron (line) over a vowel indicated that it is long (ā). In ECA, long vowels are always stressed. When a short vowel is stressed, it is written with an accent mark (á). If the word contains only one syllable, the stress is not marked. There can only be one stressed syllable per word.

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notes

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notes

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ٌ ٌ‫تحيةٌٌرسٌمية‬

.‫ مرحبا‬:‫سمير‬

1 MSA

Formal Greetings

1

Samir: Hello!

.‫ مرحبا‬:‫أحمد‬

2

Ahmad: Hi!

‫ كيف حاُلك؟‬:‫سمير‬

3

Samir: How are you?

4

Ahmad: I'm fine, thank you. And you?

5

Samir: Hello.

‫ وأنت؟‬،‫ الحمُد لل‬،‫ بخير‬:‫أحمد‬ .‫ ُشكرا‬،‫ أنا بخير حال‬:‫سمير‬

common greeting is ‫ أ َ ْه ًل‬ahlan. ‫ أ ْه ًل وس ْه ًل‬ahlan wa-sahlan is used to welcome someone, the response to which can be َ‫ أ َ ْه ًل ِبك‬ahlan bika when speaking to a man, and ِ‫ أ ْه ًل ِبك‬ahlan biki when speaking to a woman. A formal, but very common, greeting among Muslims is ‫علَ ْي ُك ْم‬ َ ‫ اَلس ََّل ُم‬assalāmu َ ُ 3alaykum “peace be upon you”, the response to which is ‫عل ْيك ُم اَلس ََّل ُم‬ َ ‫ َو‬wa-3alaykumu -ssalām “And upon you be peace.” The suffix ‫ ـ ُكم‬-kum, despite being plural, is used regardless of the number or gender of those being addressed. You may also hear the particularly religious, formal, and lengthy response ُ‫علَ ْي ُك ُم اَلس ََّل ُم َو َرحْ َمةُ هللاِ َو َب َركَاتُه‬ َ ‫ َو‬wa-3alaykumu -ssalāmu wa-raɧmatu -LLāhi wa-barakātuhu “And upon you be God’s peace, mercy, and blessings.”

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1 Another

‫ْف َحالُكِ ؟‬ َ ‫ َكي‬kayfa ɧāluki? when addressing a woman; it literally translates “How is your state?” َ‫َحالُك‬ ُ and ِ‫ َحالك‬are more casually pronounced ‫ َحالَك‬ɧālak and ‫ َحا ِلك‬ɧālik, respectively. A gender neutral alternative is ‫ْف ا َ ْل َحا ُل؟‬ َ ‫ َكي‬kayfa -lɧālu?, literally “How is the state?” 3 Or

5 Or

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ِ‫ ا َ ْل َح ْم ُد لل‬alɧamdu li-llāhi, literally “Praise be to God”, despite sounding overtly religious when translated into English, is such a common and idiomatic fixture in the Arabic language (among Muslims and Christians alike) that speakers may not be consciously invoking God when using this phrase. It can be used in combination with ‫ ِب َخيْر‬bi-xayrin or on its own as a reply to “How are you?”. Of course, when addressing a woman: ‫ت‬ ِ ‫ َوأ َ ْن‬wa-ʔanti? 4

‫ في َخ ْي ِر حال‬fī xayri ɧālin. Other ways to answer the question “How are you?”: ‫( َجيِد ِجدًّا‬m.) jayyidun jiddan / ‫( َجيِدة ِجدًّا‬f.) jayyidatun jiddan “very well”; ‫س‬ َ ْ ‫ ال بأ‬lā baʔsa “not bad”.

Cultural Note

In formal greetings, a handshake with a smile and a simple nod is preferred. When a man greets a woman, it depends on the social-religious level. Some women prefer a nod to a handshake. To avoid awkward situations, it's better to wait for the woman to initiate the handshake.

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ٌ ‫تحيهٌٌرسٌميه‬ .‫ اهل‬:‫سمير‬

1 ECA

taɧíyya rasmíyya

1

samīr: áhlan.

.]‫ اهل بحضرتك [بيك‬:‫احمد‬

2

áɧmad: áhlan bi-ɧaɖrítak [bīk].

]‫ ازيك؟ [عامل ايه؟‬:‫سمير‬

3

samīr: izzáyyak? [3āmil ʔē?]

4

áɧmad: kuwáyyis ilɧámdu li-llāh, wi ɧaɖrítak?

5

samīr: bi-xēr, ilɧámdu li-llāh.

‫ و حضرتك؟‬،‫ ُكويس الحمُد لل‬:‫احمد‬ .‫ الحمُد لل‬،‫ بخير‬:‫سمير‬

ɧaɖrítak “you” is more formal and respectful than َ‫ اِ ْنت‬inta; you should use it with strangers ِ who are significantly older than you or in a higher social rank (boss, professor, or other authority figure), regardless of age. ‫( حض ِْرتِك‬f.) ɧaɖrítik; ‫( حض ِْرتْ ُكم‬pl.) ɧaɖrítkum. Even more formal and respectful is ‫( سعادْتك‬m.) sa3ádtak; ‫( سعا ْدتِك‬f.) sa3ádtik; ‫( سعا ِدتْ ُكم‬pl.) sa3adítkum. 2 ‫حضْرتك‬

3

َّ (f.) izzáyyik; ‫إزيُّ ُكم‬ َّ (pl.) izzayyúkum. ‫إزيِّك‬

‫( عاملة‬f.) 3ámla; ‫( عاملين‬pl.) 3amlīn.

‫( ك َو ِّيسة‬f.) kuwayyísa; ‫( ُك َو ِّيسين‬pl.) kuwayyisīn.

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Notice that the vowel of the preposition ‫ بِـ‬bi- is lengthened before the second person suffix in ECA: ‫بيك‬ (m.) bīk; ‫( بيكي‬f.) bīki; ‫( بي ُكم‬pl.) bīkum or ‫ بيكو‬bīku.

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28 Your Arabic! ٌ !ٌ‫كٌالعربية‬ ٌِ ٌ‫ لٌغت‬MSA

!ُ‫ ما شاء هللا‬،‫ ُلغتُك العربي ُة ُممتازة‬:‫زكي‬ .‫ لكنها ليست جيدة لهذه الدرجة‬،‫ ُشكار‬:‫جيني‬ ‫ هذا مديح ال‬/ .‫[أنت تُبال ُغ بعض الشيء‬ ].‫أستحق ُه‬

‫ ُمن ُذ متى تد ُرسين العربية؟‬:‫زكي‬ / ‫ [ستة أش ُهر فقط‬.‫ حوالي [ُقرابة[ العامين‬:‫جيني‬ ].‫أكثر من ثلثة أعوام‬ )!‫ رائع! (فتح هللاُ عليك‬:‫زكي‬

.‫ ولكنها صعبة جدا‬،‫ ُشكار! إنها ُلغة جميلة‬:‫جيني‬

1

Zaki: Your Arabic is excellent!

2

Jenny: Oh, thank you, but it’s really not that good. [You’re just exaggerating. / You’re too kind.]

3

Zaki: How long have you been studying Arabic?

4

Jenny: About two years. [Just six months. / More than three years.]

5

Zaki: That’s great!

6

Jenny: Thank you! It’s a beautiful language, but it’s so hard!

َّ ‫ اِس‬istaɧaqqa deserve |10g| lit. “This is praise I don’t deserve.” ‫ بال َغ‬bālaɣa exaggerate |3s|; ‫ْتحق‬

3

‫درس‬ darasa study |1s3| َ

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ِ ‫ِاٌلعربيٌب‬ !‫ٌتاعٌك‬ !‫ العربى بتاعك ُممتاز! ما شاء هللا‬:‫زكى‬

28 ECA

il3árabi btā3ik!

1

záki: il3árabi btā3ik mumtāz! ma šāʔ allāh!

‫ [بس انت‬.‫ بس مش للدرجه دى‬،‫ ُمتشكره‬:‫جينى‬

2

jíni: mutašakkíra, bássə miš li-ddáraga di. [bass ínta bitbāliɣ šiwáyya.]

‫ بقالك اد ايه بتدرسى عربى؟‬:‫زكى‬

3

záki: baʔālik ʔáddə ʔē bitidrísi 3árabi?

‫ اكثر من‬/ ‫ حوالى سنتين [ست ُشهور بس‬:‫جينى‬ ].‫تلت سنين‬

4

jíni: ɧawāli sanatēn [síttə šhūr bass / ʔáktar min talāt sinīn.]

]!‫ هايل! [هللا ينور عليك‬:‫زكى‬

5

záki: hāyil! [allāh yináwwar 3alēk!]

‫ بس صعبه‬،‫ ُشكار! العربى ُلغه جميله‬:‫جينى‬

6

jíni: šúkran! il3árabi lúɣa gamīla, bássə ʂá3ba áwi!

].‫بتبالغ شويه‬

‫ بالِغ‬bāliɣ exaggerate |3s|

3

‫ درس‬dáras study |1s2|

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2

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!‫اوى‬

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