Levantine Arabic: Lesson 1

Since posting the Introduction to Levantine Dialect video I've had requests to continue with Levantine dialect lessons. This lesson will use a clip from the first episode of the MBC series الحب المستحيل (Impossible Love). It's a Turkish show dubbed in Arabic. The specific dialect used is Syrian. This first episode is about the main character, Omar, chasing the only girl he's ever met who didn't want him at first sight. This seems to be a common theme in Turkish dramas because the show عاصي (Asi) has the same idea. It's about a guy who's chasing a girl that doesn't want him, or maybe is just playing hard to get, but in the end she falls in love with him.




لا تواخذني رأفت بيك. تأخرت عليك. سيارتي تعطلت على الطريق (La tuwaakhizni Ra'fat Beyk. Ta'akhart Aleyk. Sayaarti ta'atalat 'atari'.)

Don't hold it against me Mr. Ra'fat. I'm late. My car broke down on the road.

شفناك عمرو افندي لما وصلتك رشا لهون (Shifnak Omar Afundi limma wasalatek Rasha lihoon)

We saw you, Mr. Omar, when Rasha brought you here.

خلينا نحكي. رأفت بيك, شو القصة؟ ليش ما عم نقدر نشتري الأرض؟ (Khalina nahki. Ra'fat Beyk, shoo al issa? Leysh ma am ne'der neshteri al ard?)

Let's talk. Mr. Ra'fat, what's the story? Why can't we buy the land?

المسألة هي... أول شي شو منضيفك عمرو بيك؟ شاي, قهوة, ميلو, كولا؟ (Al masali heyeh... Awal shi sho mindeyfek Omar Beyk? Shay, ahweh, milo, cola?)

The problem is... First of all, what can we get you Mr. Omar? Tea, Coffee, ????, Cola?

Comments: I don't know what ميلو is. I typed it into Google and couldn't find anything. It's got to be a drink or something like that. Maybe I'm hearing it wrong.

يا ريت كولا باردة (Ya reyt cola baardeh)

I'd like a cold cola.

تكرم. عدنان (Tikrum. Adnan!)

You're welcome to it. Adnan!

أمور معلم (Umoor muallim)

At your service, sir!

جبلي كولا بسرعة! مبوز إكتير (Jibli cola bisura. Mbowwiz iktir)

Bring me a cola quickly! Very cold.

حاضر معلم (Hadir muallim)

Yes sir!

المشكلة إنه الأرض إللي عم تطلبها انت في قطعة منها صاحبها واحد من الضيعة. و هذا الزلمي عنده عناد بشكل إكبير إكتير. ما عم يقبل يتخلع عن أرضه بنوب (Al mishikli innoo al ard illi am tutluba enti fi 'ata mina sahiba wahid min adaya. Wa hatha azelami andu anaad bi shekl ikbir iktir. Ma am ye'bel yetkhela an ardu ibnobe.)

The problem is that the land you're asking for, there's a piece of it that's owned by someone from the village. And this man is very stubborn. He isn't accepting to let his land go at all.

كيف يعني؟ انت عرضت عليه سعر منيح؟ (Keyf yani? Enta aradt aley sar imneeh?)

How do you mean? You offered him a good price?

عرضت عليه طبعاً. بس ما عجبه (Aradt aley taban. Bes ma ajabu.)

I offered him, of course, but he didn't like it.

طيب, المصاري مو مهمة. شو بده عطوه (Tayyib, al masaari moo muhim. Shoo bedu atoo.)

Ok, the money isn't important. Whatever he wants, give it to him.

شلون؟ شو ما بده؟ (Shloan? Shoo ma bedu?)

What? Whatever he wants?

شو ما بده (Shoo ma bedu.)

Whatever he wants.

بدي ياك تحلل لي هالقصة من هون لبكرة. و هلق عن إذنك (Bedi yak ithellili hal ussa min hoon li bookra. Helleh an iznek.)

I want you to solve this story (problem) for me by tomorrow. Now if you'll excuse me.

الكولا معلم (al cola muallim)

The cola, sir.

وصلت الكولا يا بيك. أنا بشربها (wasalat al cola ya beyk. Ana bishruba.)

The cola arrived, sir! Eh, I'll drink it.


Vocabulary List:

• لا تواخذني - Don't blame me/Don't hold it against me. They say the ذ as a ز in this word and in many words in Levantine.
• شو منضيفك - What can we get you? The noun ضيف means guest. Here they are using it as a verb. So, you could say "What can we guest you?", but that wouldn't really make sense in English. The م in front of the word is added to make things flow better, just like the إ that is inserted before a lot of words like إكتير إكبير.
  
• يا ريت - I wish. In this context it means "I'd like" or "I want".
  
• مبوز - cold. It also means angry.
  
• ضيعة - village
• زلمي - man
• بنوب - at all, ever
• مصاري - money
• عن إذنك - with your permission. You say this when you are leaving or asking someone if you can do something. Also, بعد إذنك means the same thing.
  

Levantine Dialect: Lesson 3

This clip is from the 2nd episode of the Turkish soap opera (مسلسلة تركية) Aliya (عليا) dubbed in Syrian Arabic. Even though their lips don't match what they're saying, the Arabic is spoken more clearly in these Turkish dubbed shows than in shows like Bal Al Hara (باب الحارة) where it's really hard to understand everything they're saying. To give some context to the clip, Aliya (not shown in the clip) and her husband (the younger man) split up because he was cheating on her. The older man is Aliya's uncle and he is trying to get Aliya's daughter Rama to come and live with him and Aliya.

The best way to benefit from these clips is to first watch them a few times without looking at the transcript. It gives your brain time to try to understand any gibberish you hear before you give it the answer. The next time you're listening to something similar, your brain is more likely to remember since it had to work to try to understand it before. I hope I wrote that in a way that makes sense. It's the method I follow when trying to learn a new language. You have to make your brain try and struggle first before you spoon feed it.




انا مو جايي لهون لحتى ساوي زيارة (Ana moo jaay la hoon la hata saawi ziyara.)

I didn't come here to make a visit.

Comments: Literally says, I am not coming to here in order to do a visit.

أنا إجيت منشان أخذ راما لعند إمها (Ana ijeet minshaan akhudh Rama la and imma.)

I came in order to take Rama to her mother.

Comments: لعند here just means "to". You can say, "We're going لعند my friend." and that means that you're going to your friend's place.

لا, راما ما بتطلع برات هالبيت. هذا بيت أبوها (La, Rama ma btatlaa barraat hal beyt. Hada beyt abooha.)

No, Rama does not go outside this house. This is her father's house.

مدام جيهان (Madaam Jihaan.)

Madam Jihan.

نحنا ناس ما منحب خراب البيوت (Nihna naas ma minheb kharaab libyoot.)

We are people who don't like to destroy houses.

Comments: Literally it says destroying houses, but it means splitting up families.

إمي, رجااً لا تتدخلي (Immi, rajaa'an la tetdakhali.)

Mom, please don't get involved.

شو؟ نسيت إني إمك؟ (Shoo? Inseet inni immak?)

What? Have you forgotten that I'm your mom?

سماع, دكتور فؤاد. قول لعليا تعقّل و ترجع لبيتها. و إذا كانت مو رضيانة انه ترجع (Smaa doktoor Fouad. Ool la Aliya taa'al oo terja la beyta. Oo iza kanit moo radyani anno terja...)

Listen, Dr. Fouad. Tell Aliya to wise up and come back to her house. And if she doesn't want to come back...

Comments: I had to listen to the first part of this several times before I understood what she was saying. Instead of تعقل و I was hearing تعا (come) and then قلو and I kept asking myself, "what the hell does قلو mean??" :) Then after a few listens it finally clicked in my brain. It's always a good feeling when that happens. Also, in the dialects they will often say "oo" instead of "wa".

امي بيكفّي (Immi bikeffi.)

Mom, that's enough.

ميار, ابني. كل مرأة و جوزها بيختلفو و بتصير مشاكل بيناتن. بس لازم الإنسان يخلي طريق للصلح (Mayyar, ibni. Kil mara wa joza byekhtelfu wa bitseer mashakil beynatun bes lazim al insan yekhelli taree' lil sulih.)

Mayyar, my son. Ever woman and her husband have differences and problems come up between them, but a person has to allow a way for reconciliation.

Comments: Notice he says جوز and not زوج. In Levantine and Egyptian they switch the letters around. They also say متجوز instead of متزوج to mean married.

طالما حضرتك تعرف تعطي نصائح ليش ما نصحت حالك يا دكتور؟ (Taalama hadirtak ibtarif taati nsaaih leysh ma nasahit haalak ya doktoor?)

As long as you're giving advice, why don't you advise yourself, Dr. Fouad?

Comments: تعرف can be ignored here in the translation.

لما مرتك تركتك ليش وقتها ما كنت بتعرف طريق الرجع؟ (Limma martek teriktek leysh wa'ita ma kinta btarif taree' al rajaa?)

When your wife left you why, at that time, didn't you know a way to get her to come back?

هذا مو موضوعنا مدام جيهان (Hada moo moudooana madaam Jihaan.)

That's not our subject, Madam Jihan.

إمي خلصنا بقى (Immi khalasna ba'a.)

Mom, stop it already.

ما خلصنا. لازم أحكي (Ma khalasna. Lazim ahki.)

We're not finished. I must talk.

تركينا... إذا بتريدي (Trikeena... iza bitreedi.)

Leave us... if you will.


Vocabulary List:

• لحتى (lahatta) - "in order to". In MSA it's لكي (likay).
• ساوي (saawi) - "doing". شو عم بتساوي means "what are you doing"
  
• منشان (minshaan) - "in order to", "because", "for what". There's a joke about this word:
  

الصيني قال لسوري: شو اسمك؟
قال السوري: من شان شو
قال الصيني: سبحان الله ما توقعته زي اسمي

A Chinese man said to a Syrian: "What's your name?"
The Syrian said: "Min Shan Shoo?" (Meaning, what for.)
The Chinese man said: "My God! I can't believe it's the same as mine!"

• برات (barraat) - "outside". Also the word برا (barra) means the same thing.
• عقّل (aqqal) - "wise up", "become smarter". The world عقل (aql) without a shadda means "mind".
• رضيانة (radyaani) - "satisfied" used for a female
• صلح (sulih) - "reconciliation"
• طالما (taalama) - "as long as", this word is MSA
  
• حضرتك (hadirtak) - formal way of saying "you".
• بقى (ba'a) - this word is used a lot. It adds emphasis to something like the word "already" when you say "come on already"

Childrens Song اسناني واوا Asnani Wawa

This is another song by the Birds of Paradise طيور الجنة, a really popular group that sings songs for kids. This انشودة (hymn) has about 4 million views on YouTube. The dialect is Syrian and the lyrics along with translation and explanations are below the video. It's about cavities and brushing your teeth!



يا بابا اسناني واوا
Dad, my teeth hurt

Explanation: واوا is basically the equivalent of the English term "boo boo". It's a word used by children for a small wound or some pain. Haifa Wehbe has a song called ليك الواوا (Look at the boo boo).

وديني عند الطبيب
Take me to the doctor.

ما عاد بدي شوكولاته بس بدي اشرب الحليب
I don't want chocolate anymore but I want to drink milk.

Explanation: ما عاد means "no longer". It is used in MSA as well.

السوسة نخرت في سناني
The worm has decayed my tooth

Explanation: سوسة means "woodworm". Back in the day people believed that when your teeth decayed it was worms eating your teeth. The word تسوّس means "worm eaten" or as we would translated it in English "cavitied".

اه يا اسناني
Ahhhhh, oh my teeth.صورلي الدكتور سني
The doctor took a picture of my tooth for me.

فرجاني ست السوسة
He showed me the cavity.

Explanation: ست means "woman" and sometimes "grandmother". Here I just translated ست السوسة to mean cavity, but it means literally "the lady worm". It's a kids' song, can't take it too literally :)

قاعدة جوى مبسوطة
It (the cavity) was sitting inside happily

بسيطة يا بسبوسة
It's a simple matter, sweetie.

Explanation: They say بسيطة when something can be taken care of easily. It just means "simple". بسبوسة is a Middle Eastern dessert.

والله لا اكل تفاح
I swear I won't eat an apple.

و رح انسى هالحلويات
And I will forget sweets.

رح اكل خضرا و حليب
I will eat vegetables and (drink) milk.

ما بدنا شبس و غازات
We don't want chips or soft drinks.

Explanation: غازات means "soft drinks". It comes from the English word "gas" since the drink are carbonated.

بالسواك و المعجون انا عندي حملة تنظيفات
With a miswak and with toothpaste I have a cleaning procedure

Explanation: سواك is a stick that Muhammad used to clean his teeth and it's mentioned in the Koran so lots of Muslims use it. The English word for it is "miswak" which I hadn't heard of until now. The word حلمة means "campaign" most of the time, as in حملة إنتخابية (election campaign), but here "cleaning campaign" wouldn't make much sense in English so I said "procedure". This is something that a lot of people never understand when learning a language. Each word in the foreign language does not always have an exact translation into another language. You have to translate the word into your language in a way that makes sense and conveys the right meaning. You can't always give the word the definition that you find in the dictionary or in a word list.

Bab al Hara - Syrian Dialect Lengthening Words

Bab al Hara باب الحارة (The Neighborhood's Gate) is a very popular show in the Arabic world. The setting is a neighborhood حارة in Damascus during the beginning of the French control of Syria at then end of the Ottoman rule . It's in the Syrian dialect and to me the way they speak sounds really funny. They often lengthen the last word of their sentences. Syrian is the only dialect I've noticed that does this. They don't even do it in Lebanon right next door to Syria. You can see examples in this clip from the show.
At 00:05 and 00:14 listen to how he says حارة. And at 00:23 how he says ابو غالب. It basically sounds like he's saying ابو غالييييب. At 01:35 is also a good example. Listen to كذاب. And the whole conversation starting at 01:37 is full of it. Anyway, you get the idea. Not every Syrian does this but quite a lot do, so if you ever are wondering where a person is from, if they're lengthening their words then it's a safe bet that they are Syrian.

Here's the theme song from the show. I really like it.

Introduction to Levantine Arabic

Levantine Arabic is spoken in the Levant region which is composed of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan. The dialect isn't as different from Egyptian as it is from, say, Iraqi or Gulf Arabic. A few important facts about the Levantine dialect are,

1. Levantine Arabic changes the ق to a ء in most words.
2. ة is changed to ي in most words.
3. The word عم adds -ing to the verb after it.
   
4. The letter ب is added before present tense verbs in most cases. This basically just makes the words flow together better.
   

Here's a list of some high frequency words in the Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian, and Palestinian dialects. Since it's really not very helpful to just see a list an not know exactly how to pronounce the words I've made a video of the correct pronunciations of the words along with sentences to show their uses in context.

• What - ايش/شو

شو بدك؟ - What do you want?
ايش عم بيصير؟ - What's going on?

• Where - وين

لوين رايح - Where are you going? (said to a male)

• Why - ليش

ليش ما بترد على جوالك؟ - Why don't you answer your cellphone?

• When - إمتى

إمتى رح ترجع من شغلتك؟ - When are you returning from your job? (basically, when are you coming home from work)

• Who - مين

مع مين عم تحكي - Who are you talking with?

• How - شلون/كِيف

كيف الأجوا الرمضانية - How is the Ramadan atmosphere?

• How much - قًدّيش

قديش الساعة؟ - What time is it?

• Now - هَلّق

هلق انا صرت جاهز - Now I'm ready. (literally, now I've become ready)

• Good - مْنيح

الجو اليوم مش منيح - The weather today is not good.

• Tomorrow - بُكْرة

بكرة رح بتشوفيني - Tomorrow you will see me. (said to a female)

• Yesterday - مْبارِح

وَصَلْتْ مبارح - I arrived yesterday

• Also - كمان

و شو كمان؟ - And what else?

• Only - بَس

بس بدي اشرب الحليب - I only want to drink milk.

• But - بَس

بس ما عرفت إسمه - But I didn't know his name.

• Not - مش

شكلها مش بطال - She doesn't look bad. (مش بطال means "not bad")

• Still - لسة

لسة عم ببرم عليه - I'm still looking for him

• Outside - بَرّا

برا البيت - Outside the house

• Inside - جوّا

جوا قلبي - Inside my heart

• With - مع/وَيّا

عم بحكي وياهن - I'm talking with them.

• Which/Who - إللي/يللي

يللي بيلبس القميص الأصفر - The one who is wearing the yellow shirt.

• To be able to - فيّ

ما في اركض بسرعة - I can't run fast.

• In order to/for/because of - عَشان

عشان خاطري فكري شوي - for my sake think a little bit

• After that - بَعْدين

رح أروح لعند الحكيم و بعدين رح أرجع لعندك - I'm going to go to the doctor and after that I will return to your place. (عند means the "house" or "place of" in this case. حكيم in MSA means "wise man", but in Levantine it means "doctor".)

Kids Song: The Rabbit and the Fox (الأرنب و الثعلب)

This is another popular song by the Birds of Paradise طيور الجنة . Like all their songs it is strangely catchy and very popular. It's in the Syrian dialect, but even if you aren't used to hearing it spoken it's a pretty simple song. Basically the rabbit asks him mom if he can go out and play. She tells him no because the the fox might get him. Is he supposed to stay inside all the time? I don't know. Anyway, the rabbit goes to the orchard and runs around and sniffs a rose. Then the fox sees him and chases him. The rabbit hides in a hole and the fox gets lost in the orchard. The rabbit goes home crying and his mom tells him that he should have listened to her. You could probably understand this song even if you didn't know a word of Arabic since the video shows everything that happens. That's great for learning a language though. Enjoy!




ايش صار للأرنب لما ما رد على امه؟

• What happened to the rabbit when he didn't listen to his mom?

Comments: ايش means "what" in Syrian. Most of the time رد means "respond" or "reply", but here it means "obey" or "listen to". You'll notice that they say إم instead of أم in Syrian dialect. صار means حدث , "happened".

قال الأرنب لامه, إسمحي لي روح العب ماما

• The rabbit said to his mom, "Let me go play, mom."

قالت له لا يا ماما. يمكن يجيك الثعلب. يمكن يجيك الثعلب

• She said to him, "No." The fox might come for you.

Comments: She says يا ماما which is strange to English speakers since she's talking to her son, but this is something Arab parents do when they talk to their kids.هز الارنب بكتافه ما سمع كلمة امه. راح يتمشى على البستان و يقطف ورد و يشمه

• The rabbit shrugged his shoulders and didn't listen to his mother's words. He went walking to the orchard and picked a rose and sniffed it.

Comments: هز means "to shake", but "shrugged" works better when talking about shoulders. They say وارد but that's just to make it go with the rhythm. They mean ورد

شافه الثعلب, هجم عليه!! صار يركض و هو خوفان. و تخبأ في جحر صغير. و ضاع الثعلب في البستان

• The fox saw him and attacked him. He started running and was scared. He hid in a small hole and the fox got lost in the orchard.

إجا الأرنب لامه و عيونه مليانة دموع

• The rabbit came to his mom and his eyes were filled with tears.

قالت له ثاني مرة, خلي كلامي مسموع

• She said to him a second time, listen to my words.

Comments: Literally خلي كلامي مسموع means "let my words be heard."