Libyan Arabic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Libyan Arabic Li:bi ليبي |
||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Libya | |
| Total speakers: | 5,000,000 + | |
| Language family: | Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic South Central Semitic Arabic Libyan Arabic |
|
| Writing system: | Arabic alphabet | |
| Official status | ||
| Official language of: | none | |
| Regulated by: | none | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | none | |
| ISO 639-3: | ayl | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
Libyan Arabic is a collective term for the closely related spoken varieties of Arabic as spoken in Libya. It can be divided into two major dialect areas; the eastern, centred on Benghazi and the western, centred on Tripoli. The eastern variety is very similar to varieties of Arabic spoken in the west of Egypt.
Contents |
[edit] Note on Transcription Notation
The transcription of Libyan Arabic to Latin Alphabet poses a few problems. First, there is no standard transcription already in use even in Arabic. The use of IPA alone is not sufficient as it obscures many grammatical points that can be better understood if several allophones in Libyan Arabic are transcribed using the same alphabatical symbol. On the other hand, Available Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic transcription standards, while provide good support for representing Arabic sounds that are not normally represented by the Latin alphabet, do not list symbols for uniquely Libyan Arabic phonemes. Therefore, to make this article more legible, DIN 31635 is used with a few additions to render phonemes special to Libyan Arabic. These additions are as following:
| Addition to DIN | IPA |
|---|---|
| g | g |
| oː | ō |
| eː | ē |
| ə | ə |
| zˁ | ż |
[edit] History
Two major historical events have shaped the Libyan dialect; the Hilalian-Sulaimi migration, and the migration of Arabs from Muslim Spain to North Africa following the reconquista. Libyan Arabic has also been influenced by Italian and to a lesser extent by Turkish. Some Berber influences also exist.
[edit] Domains of Use
The Libyan dialect is used predominantly in spoken communication in Libya. It is also used in Libyan folk poetry, TV dramas and comedies, songs, as well as in cartoons. Libyan Arabic is also used by non-Arab Libyans whose mother tongue is not Arabic as a lingua franca. Libyan Arabic is not normally written, as the written register is almost exclusively done in Modern Standard Arabic, however, it is considered the main language for cartonists, and the only suitable language for writing Libyan folk poetry. It is also written in internet forums, emails and in instant messaging applications.
[edit] Phonology
The q sound of Standard Arabic has completely shifted to g, apart from in words more recently borrowed from Standard Arabic. The following table shows the consonants used in Libyan Arabic. Please note that this is a collective table as some sounds can occur in some regional varieties while being completely absent in other varieties.
| Bilabial | Inter- dental |
Dental | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyn- geal |
Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | emphatic | plain | emphatic | plain | emphatic | ||||||||
| Stop | voiceless | t | tˁ | k | (q) | (ʔ) | |||||||
| voiced | b | d | dˁ | g | |||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | θ | s | sˁ | ʃ | χ | ħ | h | ||||
| voiced | (v) | ð | ðˁ | z | zˁ | ʒ | ʁ | ʕ | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | |||||||||||
| Lateral | l | lˁ | |||||||||||
| Tap | r | ||||||||||||
| Approximant | w | j | |||||||||||
In genaral eastern varieties of Libyan Arabic still distinguish between the d and ð phonemes, whereas the western variety has completely lost ð and replaced it with d. The same goes to a lesser extent for dˁ and ðˁ; both sounds are invariably realised by dˁ in western Libya. In eastern Libyan however they are still fairly distinguished with a tendency to replace dˁ with ðˁ. Another conflation of phonemes occurs in the western side for the phoneme θ where it is replaced by t.
The e and o vowels exist mostly in long forms. This can be explained by the fact that these vowels were originally diphthongs in Classical Arabic with e replacing /aɪ/ and o replacing /aʊ/. In some eastern varieties, however, the classical /aɪ/ has changed to /eɪ/ and /aʊ/ to /oʊ/.
Libyan Arabic has at least three clicks, which are used interjectionally. The first is used for affermative responses and is generally considered very casual and sometimes associated with low social status. The second is a dental click and used for negative responses and is similar to the English tut. The third is a palatal click used exclusively by women and have a meaning close to that of the English word alas.
[edit] Vocabulary
Most of the vocabulary in Libyan Arabic is the same as that in Classical Arabic usually with a modified interconsonantal vowel structure. Many Italian loanwords also exist. And some Trukish Berber and English words as well.
[edit] Relation to Classical Arabic Vocabulary
The bulk of vocabulary in Libyan Arabic has the same meaning as Classical Arabic. However, many words have different but related meaning to those used in Classical Arabic. The following table serves to illustrate how the relation looks like. The past tense is used in the case of verbs as it is more distinctive and has been traditionally used in Arabic Lexicons. Canonically, those verbs are pronounced with the final a (marker of the past tense in Classical Arabic) attached, in lexical literature. This notation is preserved the table below. However, the relation between Libyan and Classical Arabic verbs can be better understood if the final a is dropped, in accordance with the elision rule of pre-pause vowels of Classical Arabic.
| Libyan Arabic Meaning | Classical Arabic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word1 | IPA1 | Meaning | Word | IPA | Closest Meaning |
| šbaḥ | ʃbaħ | (3rd m.) saw (perceived with the eyes) | šabaḥ | ʃabaħa | appeared vaguely |
| dwe | dwe | (3rd m.) spoke | dawā | dawaː | rumbled |
| lōḥ | loːħ | wood | lawḥ | lauħ | board, plank |
| wāʿər | waːʕər | difficult | waʿr | waʕr | rough terrain |
| šaḥḥəṭ | ʃaħːətˁ | (3rd m. trans.) stretched | šaḥiṭ | ʃaħitˁɑ | became distant |
1. Western Libyan pronunciation is used in the above table.
Another difference between Libyan Arabic and Classical Arabic is the popularity of one of two synonyms over the other. Vocabulary that is not popular or even rare in Classical Arabic can be mainstream in Libyan Arabic.
[edit] Italian Loanwords
Italian loanwords exist mainly, but not exclusively, as a technical jargon. For example machinary parts, workshop tools, electrical supplies, names of fish species ...etc.
| Libyan Arabic | Italian | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word | IPA | Meaning | Word | Meaning | |
| ṣālīṭa | sˁɑːliːtˁa | slope | salita | up slope | |
| kinšēllu | kənʃeːlːu | metallic gate | cancello | gate | |
| anguli | anguli | corner | angolo | corner | |
| ṭānṭa | tˁɑːntˁɑ, utˁɑːntˁɑ | truck | ottanta | eighty (a model of a truck of Italian make) | |
| tēsta | teːsta | a hit with the forehead | testa | head | |
[edit] Turkish Loanwords
Borrowing from Turkish during the Ottoman era of Libya. Vocabulary from Turkish origin is not as common as Italian vocabulary.
| Libyan Arabic | Turkish | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word | IPA | Meaning | Word | Meaning | |
| kāšīk | kaːʃiːk | spoon | kaşık | spoon | |
| šīša | ʃiːʃa | bottle | şişe | bottle | |
| kāġəṭ | kɑːʁətˁ | paper | kâğıt | paper | |
[edit] Berber Loanwords
Before the mass arabization of what corresponds to modern day Libya Berber was the native language for most people. This led to the migration of a number of Berber words to Arabic speaking communities. Many Berber people continue to exist in Libya today it is not clear however to what extent Berber language continues to influence Libyan Arabic.
[edit] Grammar
Libyan Arabic shares the feature of the first person singular initial n- with the rest of Maghrebi Arabic dialect group to which it belongs. Similar to other Arabic dialects, Libyan does not mark grammatical cases by declension. However, it has a rich verbal conjugation structure.
[edit] Nouns
Nouns in Libyan Arabic are marked for two Genders (Masculine, Feminine) and three Numbers (Singular, Dual, Plural). Paucal number also exist for some nouns. The diminutive case is also still widely used productively (especially by women) to add an endearing or an empathetic meaning to the original noun. As in classical Arabic, rules for the dimunitive formation are based on vowel apophony.
[edit] Verbal Conjugation
Similar to Classical Arabic and other Arabic dialects, Libyan Arabic distinguishes between two main categories of roots; strong roots (those that do not have vowels or hamza) and weak roots.
[edit] Conjugation of Strong Roots
Strong roots follow more predictable rules of conjugation and they can be classified into three categories for Stem I in Western Libyan Arabic:
- i-verbs (e.g k-t-b to write) follow an interconsonantal vowel structure that is predominated by an i (normally pronounced as as [ə])
- a-verbs (e.g r-k-b to mount, to ascend) follow an interconsonantal vowel structure that is predominated by an a
- u-verbs (e.g r-g-ṣ to dance) follow an interconsonantal vowel structure that is predominated by an u
Please note that this classification is not always strictly followed. For example the 3rd f. past of the root r-g-d, which is a u-verb, is usually pronounced rəgdət instead of rugdət. Note also that a-verbs and u-verbs follow the same rules in the past conjugation.
| Person | Past | Present | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | |||
| 3rd (m.) | ktab | yiktəb | Not Applicable |
| 3rd (f.) | kitbət | tiktəb | Not Applicable |
| 2nd (m.) | ktabət | tiktəb | iktəb |
| 2nd (f.) | ktabti | tikətbi | ikətbi |
| 1st | ktabət | niktəb | Not Applicable |
| Plural | |||
| 3rd (m and f) | kitbu | yikətbu | Not Applicable |
| 2nd (m and f) | ktabtu | tikətbu | ikətbu |
| 1st (m and f) | ktabna | nikətbu | Not Applicable |
1. The i in an i-verb is usually pronounced as ə.
2. In roots with initial uvular, pharyngeal and glottal phonemes (namely χ ħ h ʁ ʕ ʔ, but not q), i in the present and imperative is pronounced as e. For example, the root ʁ-l-b (to overcome) is conjugated as yeʁləb, teʁləb, etc.
| Person | Past | Present | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | |||
| 3rd (m.) | rkab | yarkəb | Not Applicable |
| 3rd (f.) | rukbət | tarkəb | Not Applicable |
| 2nd (m.) | rkabət | tarkəb | arkəb |
| 2nd (f.) | rkabti | tarkbi | arkbi |
| 1st | rkabət | narkəb | Not Applicable |
| Plural | |||
| 3rd (m and f) | rukbu | yarkbu | Not Applicable |
| 2nd (m and f) | rkabtu | tarkbu | arkbu |
| 1st (m and f) | rkabna | narkbu | Not Applicable |
1.Realized variously as a and ɑ depending on the consonat structure of the word.<\small>
| Person | Past | Present | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | |||
| 3rd (m.) | rgaṣ | yurguṣ | Not Applicable |
| 3rd (f.) | rugṣət | turguṣ | Not Applicable |
| 2nd (m.) | rgaṣət | turguṣ | urguṣ |
| 2nd (f.) | rgaṣti | turgṣi | urgṣi |
| 1st | rgaṣət | nurguṣ | Not Applicable |
| Plural | |||
| 3rd (m and f) | rugṣu | yurgṣu | Not Applicable |
| 2nd (m and f) | rgaṣtu | turgṣu | urgṣu |
| 1st (m and f) | rgaṣna | nurgṣu | Not Applicable |
1. In roots with initial uvular, pharyngeal and glottal phonemes (namely χ ħ h ʁ ʕ ʔ, but not q) , u in the present and imperative is realised by o. For example, the the root ʁ-r-f (to scoop up) is conjugated as yoʁrəf, toʁrəf, etc.
[edit] Future Tense
Future in Libyan Arabic is formed by prefixing an initial b to the present tense conjugation. Thereon, tiktəb (she writes) becomes btiktəb (she will write). This should not be confused with the indicative marker common in eastern Arabic dialects.
[edit] Intelligibilty to Non-Libyan Arabs
Libyan Arabic is highly intelligible to Tunisians and to a good extent to eastern Algerians. However for eastern Arabs, including Egyptians, it can be moderately difficult to understand and requires some adaptation on their part for a seamless comprehension.
[edit] Pidgin Libyan Arabic
Pidgin Libyan exists in Libya as a contact language used by non-Arabs, mostly, saharan and subsaharan Africans who live in Libya. Similar to all pidgins, it has a simplified structure and limited expressive power.
