Levantine Arabic Vocabulary

Vocabulary from Alif from Alif Baa, Baa, Units 1-3 Greetings A: as-salaamu ʿalaykum B: wa-ʿalaykumu s-salaam

A: Peace be upon you. B: And upon you be peace.

 A Christian Variation Variation

as-salaamu maʿakum A: ahla / ahla w-sahla B: ahlan fiik / ahlan fiiki marHaba A: SabaaH il-kheer B: Sabaah in-nuur kiifak? / kiifik? tamaam maashi mniiH / mniiHa il-Hamdilla tsharrafna

Peace be with you. A: Hi / Hello. B: Hello. hello A: Good morning (lit.: morning of goodness) B: Good morning (lit.: morning of light) How are you? (m.s. / f.s.) great, fine okay good (m.s. / f.s.) thanks be to God nice to meet you (lit.: we are honored)

Subject Pronouns (Regular) ʾana I ʾinte you (m.s.) ʾinti you (f.s.)

Subject Pronouns (Formal) — — HaDərtak you (m.s.) HaDertik you (f.s.)

Question Words shuu? what? ween? where? min ween? from where? kiif? (P-J keef)  how?

Suffix Pronouns (possessive) -i my -ak your (m.s.) -ik your (f.s.)

Prepositions min bi-

from in

Conjunction w- / wa-

and

Terms of Address yaa “O” (vocative particle) Habiibi / my dear, darling Habiibti (m.s. / f.s.)

Negative Particle muu (P-J maa) not, am/is/are not

Demonstrative Pronouns Demonstrative haada / haadi this (m. / f.)

Affirming and Denying ʾee (MSA naʿam)  yes

 Alternate Forms: hayda / haydi

 Adverbs of Location Location hoon (MSA huna)  here hniik (MSA hunaak)  there

laʾ (MSA laa)

no

Nouns ʾism (ʾismi, ʾismak / ʾismik, ʾism HaDərtak / ʾism HaDertik) madiine (f.) madiinit… Hjaab beet shaariʿ waZiife (f.) akhbaar ktaab baab

name (my name, your name [m.s. / f.s.], your name [formal m.s. / f.s.]) city the city of… veil, head covering house street homework news book door

Question/Response Types to Try: (In addition to “Where are you from?” and “What’s your name?”) 1. A: Where is your [noun]? B: My [noun] is in the city of [Name]. / My [noun] is in my house / etc. 2. A: What is this? B: This is my/your [noun]. 3. A: Is this your [noun]? B: Yes, this is my [noun]. / No, this is not my [noun]. 4. A: Are you from [Place] / the city of [Name]? B: Yes, I am from / no, I am not from [Place] / the city of [Name]. 5. A: Is your [noun] [adjective]? B: Yes, my [noun] is [adjective]. / No, my [noun] is not [adjective]. Remember that the possessive suffix pronouns can go on any noun, so feel free to mix and match: ktaabak (your book) / ktaabi (my book) Habiibik (your boyfriend) / Habiibtak (your girlfriend) All the feminine nouns in –e or –a will have –t– before the suffix pronoun: waZiife (homework) / waZiiftak, waZiiftik (your homework) madiine (city) / madiinti (my city) / madiintak, madiintik (your city) To express “your” formally, just put a noun directly in front of HaDərtak/ HaDərtik: ktaab HaDərtak (your book), beet HaDərtik (your house) Feminine nouns in –e or –a will take –it/-at in this construction: madiinit HaDərtak (your city), waZiifit HaDərtik (your homework)