Egyptian Arabic Lesson 1 Introductions EA1 Main Dialogue: Listen online اﳌﻔﺮدات Vocabulary Greetings اﻫﻼ وﺳﻬﻼ اﻫﻼ ﺑﻴﻚ اﻫﻼ ﺑﻴﮑﻲ اﻟﺴﻼم ﻋﻠﻴﮑﻢ وﻋﻠﻴﮑﻢ اﻟﺴﻼم اﺗﺸﺮﻓﻨﺎ Numbers Places واﺣﺪ اﺗﻨﲔ ﺗﻼﺗﺔ أرﺑﻌﺔ ﺧﻤﺴﺔ ﻣﺼﺮ اﻟﻘﺎﻫﺮة اﺳﮑﻨﺪرﻳﺔ ﻟﺒﻨﺎن اﻣﺮﻳﮑﺎ Other words hello, welcome ’ahlan wisahlan hello, welcome to you (to m.) ’ahlan biik hello, welcome to you (to f.) ’ahlan biiki hello, goodbye issalaamu caleekum hello, goodbye (response) wicaleekum issalaam pleased to meet you; honored itšarrafna one waa˙id two itneen three talaata four ’arbaca five xamsa Egypt maßr Cairo il-qaahira Alexandria iskandariyya Lebanon lubnaan America ’amriika ﻣﲔ؟who? اﻳﻪ؟what? اﺳﻢname miin why? leeh from min from where? mineen and wi- no (variant) la (la’a) yes ’aywa not miš O (vocative) ya know m/f/pl c don’t know miš caarif ﻟﻴﻪ؟ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﲔ؟ و (ﻻ )ﻻء أﻳﻮه ﻣﺶ ﻳﺎ ﻋﺎرف ﻋﺎرﻓﺔ ﻋﺎرﻓﲔ ﻣﺶ ﻋﺎرف ’eeh ism aarif carfa carfiin Pronouns اﻧﺎI you (m) اﻧﺖ َ you (f ) ِ اﻧﺖ ﻫﻮhe ﻫﻲshe Possessive pronouns اﺳﻤﻲmy name your name (m) اﺳﻤﻚ َ your name (f ) ِ اﺳﻤﻚ اﺳﻤﻪhis name اﺳﻤﻬﺎher name ’ana ’inta ’inti huwwa hiyya ismi ismak ismik ismu ismáha ( ﮐﺘﺎب )اﻟﮑﺘﺎبbook (the book) kitaab (il-kitaab) ( ﺑﺎب )اﻟﺒﺎبdoor (the door) baab (il-baab) ßaf˙a ﺻﻔﺤﺔpage ( ﻃﺎﻟﺐ )ﻃﺎﻟﺒﺔstudent (m/f ) ( أﺳﺘﺎذ )أﺳﺘﺎذةprofessor (m/f ) ( ﺣﻀﺮﺗَﻚ )ﺣﻀﺮ ِﺗﻚyour presence; †aalib (†aaliba) ’ustaaz (’ustaaza) ˙a∂ritak you (formal-m/f ) (˙a∂ritik) ( اﻓﺘﺢ )اﻓﺘﺤﻲopen! (m/f ) ( اﻗﻔﻞ )اﻗﻔﻠﻲclose! (m/f ) ifta˙ (ifta˙i) i’fil (i’fili) Expression ﺑﺴﻢ اﻟﻠﻪ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﻴﻢin the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate bism allaah irra˙man irra˙iim Dialogue Assignment 1. Work with at least one other student. Practice meeting and greeting one another several times. Drills 1. Practice counting from one to five aloud in Arabic (waa˙id, itneen, talaata, and so forth). Do it 5 times at least. 2. Translate the following dialogue and answer the questions. A. B. A. B. A. B. A. B. .أﻫﻼ .أﻫﻼ ﺑﻴﮑﻲ ﻣﲔ ﻫﻮ؟ .ﻫﻮ ﺟﻮرج ﻫﻮ ﻣﻨﲔ؟ .ﻣﺶ ﻋﺎرف .اﻟﺴﻼم ﻋﻠﻴﮑﻢ .وﻋﻠﻴﮑﻢ اﻟﺴﻼم ’ahlan. ’ahlan biiki. miin huwwa? huwwa George. huwwa mineen? miš caarif. issalaamu caleekum. wicaleekum issalaam. Questions 1. Is speaker “A” male or female? How do you know? 2. What about speaker “B”? How do you know? 3. List all the ways you know to determine gender. Fuß˙a section 1. Fuß˙a or caamiyya? ( اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰor )اﻟﻌﺎﻣﻴﺔ Standard Arabic (fuß˙a: )اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰand Colloquial Egyptian Arabic ( caamiyya: )اﻟﻌﺎﻣﻴﺔshare many words. Sometimes these shared words are pronounced exactly the same in the two languages, and sometimes there are slight differences. e words are usually written the same. ere are a certain number of words, however, that are either strongly marked as fuß˙a only or as caamiyya only. It is not a huge problem because people will understand you if you use a fuß˙a only word when speaking colloquial, and vice versa, but you should gradually come to feel which words are appropriate in which contexts. To help you do this, we will provide a list of the vocabulary in each lesson that will indicate which of the words you have leaned are purely colloquial. Here is the list for this lesson: Fuß˙a: اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ َﻣ ْﻦman ِﻣ ْﻦ َأ ْﻳ َﻦmin ’ayna ﺲ َ ﻟَ ْﻴlaysa 2. Fuß˙a listening online. aamiyya: اﻟﻌﺎﻣﻴﺔ c ﻣﲔmiin ﻣﻨﲔmineen ﻣﺶmiš EA 1 Language Notes e Language Notes in each lesson are designed to answer basic questions you might have about the language and the material being presented. Please understand, however, that understanding the grammar is not the most important thing you are trying to accomplish. Understanding the language itself is much more important. to do that, you need to spend most of your time working with actual text, reading, speaking, and listening. e grammatical explanations, however, will be of use as you learn how the language works. 1. Equational Sentences Although Arabic has a “to be” verb, it is not usually used in the present tense. You might want to think of it as a “Me-Tarzan, You-Jane” language. Arabists refer to such “verbless” sentences as E S since they establish some kind of equivalence between the subject and the predicate. In such sentences, the subject generally comes first and is followed immediately by the predicate. When translating such sentences into English, a form of the “to be” verb must be used, depending on the subject: is, are, am. For example: hiyya She Ø is Linda Linda John John Ø is †aalib a student ’ana I Ø am kariim Kariim ’inta wi-huwwa You and he Ø are min beruut from Beirut 2. Agreement English has a distinction between masculine and feminine in the third person (he/she) but not in the second person (youm/f ). Arabic, on the other hand, distinguishes masculine and feminine in both the second and third persons. is means that you need to be careful to note the gender of the person you are addressing and use the pronoun that is appropriate: ’inta for males and ’inti for females. In the few cases where you do not know the gender of the person you are addressing, use the “default” masculine form. Nouns, adjectives, and verbs also show a masculine/feminine distinction and must agree with whatever they refer to. In this lesson, for example, we have the form caarif ‘know’ for males and carfa for females: huwwa caarif but hiyya carfa. Likewise, a male student is †aalib, while a female student is †aaliba. Note also the separate greetings when speaking to males or females. 3.e Definite Article Nouns are made definite by adding the definite article il- (the) on the front of the word. For example ’ustaaz = professor, while il’ustaaz = the professor. More details about this process will be given later.
