Levantine Arabic: Lesson 2

This second lesson is from a makeover show called Joelle جويل. That's the name of the host who runs a beauty salon in Dubai and does makeovers on women. It's on MBC and both Joelle and a lot of the women she does the makeovers on speak the Lebanese dialect. Joelle herself speaks very very fast so I didn't think a clip of her talking would be a good idea. The girl in the clip is speaking Lebanese giving a summary of all the things that happened in her makeover.

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"

MBC Program: خواطر (Thoughts)

This is the 5th season of MBC's Ramadan TV show خواطر (Thoughts) with host أحمد الشقيري (Ahmad Alshukairy). This season is all about Japan. The shows focuses on how clean and sanitary the Japanese are and also how they are so successful and yet still hold on to their customs and traditions. The following is a 5 minute clip from the program as well as the transcript and translation. The host speaks in Saudi dialect which is really close to MSA. There were a few words that I had to look up such as ماصات and حقته, but the majority of it is pretty clear. This is one of my favorite Arabic shows along with مسلسلات حليمة!




Eating in the schools.

و نتابع الإبداعات في المدارس اليابانية في موضوع مهم و هو موضوع الأكل. الطلبة في اليابان بيأكلو في المدرسة كما عندنا كثير من المدارس العربية الطلبة بيأكلو في المدرسة. ولكن هناك فرق. الأكل في المدارس اليابانية بنظام

And we follow the innovations of the Japanese schools in an important subject, the subject of eating. The students in Japan eat in the school just as in many Arabic schools the students eat in the school. But there's a difference. Eating in the Japanese schools follows a system.

Comments: The word طلبة means "students". Just as طلاب also means "students". طالب is "student". The word أكل can mean "eating" or "food".

The period is over. Thank you.
Thanks very much.

تخلصو كلهم يقولو "اريغاتو" يعني "ثانك يو" للمدرسة. شكراً. و بعدين... جاء وقع ايش يا جماعة؟ ايش قاعين يسوو؟ جاء وقت الغداء

As they finish they all say "arigato", meaning "thank you" to the teacher. Thank you. And after that... what time has come, everyone? What are they doing? Lunch time has come.

Comments: تخلص means "to be finished" with something. بعدين means "after that". ايش means "what". قاعدين literally means "they are sitting", but in Saudi Arabic the word قاعد is used to add an -ing to the verb, just like عم is used in Levantine.

لقينا فجاة الطلاب قاعدين يضبّط الماصات. 4 ماصات جمب بعض 4, 4, 4. صارت طاولات. بعدين جابو طاولات. صفوها صف زي البوفي. و لبس 3 طلبة البلوفرات البيضا إلي هم هذول الطلبة, هم المسؤولين عن تقديم الأكل لباقي الطلاب. إجاهم الأكل من المطبخ, حطو الأكل إترصو. كل طالب طلع مفرش جايبه من البيت. حطه على الطاولة حقته


We found suddenly the students organizing the desks. 4 desks next to each other. 4, 4, 4. They became tables. After that they brought tables and lined them up in a line like a buffet. And 3 students wore white pullovers. These students were the ones responsible for serving the food to the rest of the students. The food came (to them) from the kitchen. They put the food (on the trays) and they line up. Every student brings out a place mat they brought from home. He puts it on his own table.

Comments: He calls the white coats the kids are wearing pulloveraat. It took me a while to figure that out. إترص means "to line up". The very last word حقته means "his own". It is used the same way as مالته in Iraqi, بتاعته in Egyptian, and تبعته in Levantine. They all add possession.

قاعدين يجهزو الصحون و يجهزو الأكل لطلبة الفصل. هذه مسؤولية تناوب عليها الطلبة. اليوم هذه المجموعة هي المسؤولة. اليوم التاني تكون مجموعة أخرى

They are preparing the plates and the food for the students of the class. This is a responsibility that rotates among the students. Today this group is responsible (for it). The next day it is another group.

تغسيل اليد قبل الأكل
Washing the hands before eating.
الطلبة يغرفو لبعض... الأكل. و شوف كيف الأمور منظمة. جلسو و لا واحد اكل. ما في احد اكل إلا أن ينتهي كل الطلبة من صب الأكل

The students scoop out the food for each other. And look how things are organized. They sat down and not one of them ate. No one ate until all the students finished getting food.

Comments: The word صب means "to pour" and I've heard it more commonly with liquids, but I guess it can be used with food too.

بتكون هون تقاليد الأكل في اليابان للطلبة. و بتشرح للفصل مكونات الأكل حق اليوم. و لهم اليوم الأكل في رز و لحمة و خضار. و تقاليد الأكل في اليابان انه الرز على اليسار و الشربة على اليمين. فشوف كلهم نفس النظامة

Here are the eating traditions of students in Japan. And she explains to the class the contents of the food today. And today the food is rice, meat, and vegetables. The eating traditions in Japan is that the rice is on the left and the drink is on the right. Look at how all of them follow the same system.

I don't know why, but I heard him say حق اليوم which I just translated to هذا اليوم. That's pretty much the only thing I'm not sure of in this passage.

تخيلو لو النظام هذا الي شفناه في اليابان موجود في بلد إسلامي. الطفل بداءاً ما يطلع... ياباني يطلع و يقول لهم تقاليدنا الإسلامي. تخيلو كل يوم هذا يحصل. تقاليدنا الإسلامية نقول بسم الله قبل الأكل. و الأولاد كلهم يستمعين لسة ما يأكلو. و انه نأكل بيميننا. تخيلو كل يوم طفل مسؤول عن ذلك. و الأطفال قبل ما يأكلو يطبقو هذا السيستم. كل يوم من اول إبتدائي سينشاء لكم جيل و إحترم يقدر نعمة الأكل

Imagine if this system that we saw in Japan was present in an Islamic country. At the beginning a Japanese child (goes) and recites to the others our Islamic traditions. Imagine this happening every day. "Our Islamic traditions are that we say in the name of God before we eat." And the children all listen, still not eating. "And that we eat on the right." Imagine every day a child responsible for that. And before they eat, the children apply that system. Every day beginning in elementary school. A generation will grown up (for you) that will be respectful and value the blessing of eating.

بتقول لهم أنه اليوم الأكل في بيض و البيض فائدته كذه كذه كذه لأنه يفيد إلك بكذه كذه كذه

She's saying to them that today the food is an egg and that the egg has the benefits etc, etc, etc, and that it benefits you etc, etc, etc.