Algerian Arabic
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| Algerian Arabic Dza:jri جزائري |
||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Algeria | |
| Total speakers: | 20,000,000 (60% of Algerians) | |
| Language family: | Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic South Central Semitic Arabic Algerian Arabic |
|
| Writing system: | Arabic alphabet | |
| Official status | ||
| Official language in: | none | |
| Regulated by: | none | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | none | |
| ISO 639-3: | arq | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Algerian Arabic is the variety or varieties of Arabic spoken in Algeria. In Algeria, as elsewhere, spoken Arabic differs from written Arabic; Algerian Arabic has an essentially Berber phonetic , a vocabulary with many new words and some loanwords from Berber, Turkish, Spanish, and French, and like all Arabic dialects, has dropped the case endings of the written language. In Algeria, Algerian Arabic or Darija isn't used in schools, television or newspapers, which usually use Arabic or French, but is more likely heard in music like Raï if not just heard in Algerian homes and on the street , and there is no real motivation among Algerians to write it and make of it the official language of the country. Algerian Arabic is spoken daily by about 20 million Algerians representing about 60% of the population, the remaining 12 million Algerians speak the Amazigh / Berber language.
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[edit] Variations within Algerian Darija
Within Algerian Arabic itself, there are significant local variations. Algerian Arabic changes from place to place and town to town. Even two towns near one another may not speak the same dialect or accent. It gets more extreme as you head towards the Moroccan and Tunisan borders. These are the major local variations of Algerian Darija:
- West Algerian dialects, for instance, are particular in pronouncing the third singular masculine objective pronoun as h,
example, /ʃʊfteh/ شُفتـَه, I saw him that would be /ʃʊftʊ/ in the other dialects.
- Tlemcen is noticeable for more than two dialects, mainly
/qʊlt/ قلت dialect and /ʔʊlt/ ألت dialect, q is pronounced as a hamza, glottal stop.
- Jijel Arabic, in particular, is noteworthy for its pronunciation of qaf as kaf and its profusion of Berber loanwords.
Certain ports' dialects show influence from Andalusi Arabic brought by refugees from al-Andalus. Algerian Arabic is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum, and fades into Moroccan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic along the respective borders.
Algerian Arabic vocabulary is pretty much similar throughout Algeria, although the Easterners sound closer to Tunisians while the Westerners speak an Arabic closer to that of the Moroccans.
The Berber languages (Tamazight) are also used in and nearby countries.
[edit] Phonology
List of phonemes as transliterated in this article: 24 consonants:
| b | t | j | g | ḥ | ε | d | p | r | z | s | š | ṣ | ḍ | ṭ | γ | f | q | k | l | m | n | h | x | w | y |
| ب | ت | ج | g | ح | ع | د | p | ر | ﺯ | ﺱ | ش | ص | ض | ط | غ | ف | ق | ك | ل | م | ن | ﻫ | خ | و | ﻱ |
Some pronounce the consonant q differently : g, k, or ' (hamza).
vowels[1]
long vowels:
- /a/ (as in "man") [æ]eg. سامح /sæməħ/ forgave
/a:/ /sˁɑːħəb/ friend
- /i:/ (as in "ski") eg. قريت /qri:t/ I read, in the past
- /u:/ (as in "flu") eg. تِلِفون /tilifuːn/
and short vowels, esp in initial position
- /e/ (as in "men") eg. قَهوَة, or a shorter version of a as in father [ɑ]
eg, rɑbBi my God
- /i/ (as in sit) eg. هِيَ /hijJɑ/ she
- /u/ (as in foot) eg. قُبَّة /qʊbBɑ/ dome
plus the schwa which replaces /e/ in some positions eg. انتَ /ənte/
Arguably one of the most notable features of Maghrebi Arabic dialects, including Algerian Arabic, is the collapse of short vowels in some positions. Standard Arabic كِتاب kitab (book) is /ktæb/
-
- kalam كَلام (speech) is /klæm/
This feature is also present in Levantine Arabic to a lesser extent. Standard Arabic words containing three syllables are simplified
-
- /ħɑdʒɑrɑ/ حَجَرة is /ħɑdʒrɑ/.
Note that Algerian Arabic is particularly rich in uvular, pharyngeal, and pharyngealized ("emphatic") sounds. The emphatic sounds are generally considered to be ṣ, ḍ, and ṭ.
Non-emphatic /r/ and emphatic /rˁ/ are two entirely separate phonemes, almost never contrasting in related forms of a word.
-
- eg. /ərRɑmle/ الرَّملة (sand), as in arrive
- /jədʒri/ يجري (he runs), as in free
Original /q/ splits lexically into /q/ and /g/; for some words, both alternatives exist.
[edit] Grammar
[edit] Nouns and adjectives
| English | Pronunciation | Algerian Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| drink | shreb | شرب |
| sky | sma' | سما |
| water | mâ' | ما |
| woman, women | mra | مرا (مرأة) |
| fire | nâr; 3âfya | عافية، نار |
| big | kbir | كبير |
| man, men | rajel \ rajal | راجل (رجل) |
| day | nhâr, yom | نهار، يوم |
| moon | gamr | قمر |
| night | lila, lil | ليل |
| bread | khoubz | خبز |
| small | ṣghir | صغير |
| sand | remla, rmel | رملة،رمل |
| toilet, bathroom | twalit; beit el ma'; beit er-râHa | بيت الماء، بيت الراحة |
[edit] Conjunctions & Prepositions
Conjunctions in Algerian Darija are used almost like conjunctions in English are used, but they have more tricks to them.
| English | Conjunctions | Algerian Arabic | Notes of Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| But | beṣṣeh | بالصح | Also used is ولكن |
| If | ila, lakan | لاكان ،إيلا، كون | Used for impossible conditions and comes just before the verb |
| If | loukan | لوكان | For possible conditions, Also used is لو ,لاكون and إذا |
| So that, that | bash | باش | |
| That | beli | باللي | |
| As if | shgol | شغل | Also used is كي اللي |
| Because | ala khatr | على خاطر | Also used is على جال |
| When | ki | كي | Comes before a verb |
| Before | gbel ma | قبل ما | Used before verbs |
| Without | bla ma | بلا ما | Used before verbs |
| Whether | kash ma | كاش ما | Used before verbs |
Prepositions act just like any other noun or just like English prepositions.
| English | Conjunctions | Algerian Arabic | Notes of Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| under | teht | تحت | |
| over, on top of | fuq | فوق | |
| after | beεd | بعد | |
| before | gbel | قبل | Used only for time |
| next to, beside | godam | قدام | |
| at | εend | عند | |
| with | ma' | مع | |
| among, between | been, beenat (plural) | بين، بينات | |
| same as, as much as | ged | قد | amount |
| oh, oh so much | ya, ah | يا، آه |
Some of them can be attached to the noun, just like other Arabic dialects. The word for in "fee" can be attached to a definite noun. For example the word for house's definite form is "eddar" (الدار) with "fee" (في) becomes "feddar" (فإلدار). The same with behind the door is (مورالباب) or just (مور الباب) Murr-elbab.
[edit] Gender
Algerian Arabic has two genders, Masculine and Feminine. masculine nouns and adjectives generally end with a consonant, while the feminine nouns generally end with an a (there are some exceptions, however such as; Ibtissam, Nawal, etc...). Note that most feminine nouns are in fact feminized versions of masculine nouns, such as Rafiq/Rafiqa, Faiz/Faiza.
Examples:
- ħmɑr "a donkey", ħmɑrɑ "a female donkey".
- tˤfʊl "a little boy", tˤʊflɑ "a little girl".
[edit] Pluralization
Similar to Classical Arabic, Algerian Arabic uses broken plural for many masculine words
-
- classical Arabic; radjul → ridjal / Alg. Arabic; radjel → rdjel "men"
Regular plural is used too, but like all other Arabic dialects, suffix un used for the nominative in Classical Arabic is no longer in use. Suffix in used in Classical Arabic for the accusative and the genitive is used for all cases
-
- mumen مومن(believer) → mumnin مومنين
- 3aqel عاقل(wise) →3aqlin عاقلين
For feminine nouns, the plural is mostly regular ie, obtained by psotfixing "-at",
-
- Classical Arabic; bint(girl)→ banat/ Alg. Arabic; Bent → Bnat
broken plural is used for some words;
-
- Ṭabla → Ṭwabel "Table" [Broken plural].
[edit] Article
The article el is indeclinable and expresses definite state of a noun of any gender and number. It is also prefixed to each of that noun's modifying adjectives.
It follows the the solar lettersand lunar letters rules of Classical Arabic, ie: if the word starts with one of these consonants, el is assimilated and replaced by the first consonant :
t, d, r, z, s, š, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, l, n.
Examples:
-
- rajel → errajel "man" (assimilation)
- qmar → elqmar "moon" (no assimilation)
[edit] Conjugations and Verbs
Conjugation is done by adding affixes (prefixes, postfixes, both or none), these suffixes change according to the tense:
| Person | Past | Present | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | - t | - na | n - | n(e) - u |
| 2nd (m) | - t | - tu | t - | t - u |
| 2nd (f) | - ti | - tu | t - i | t - u |
| 3rd (m) | - | - u | i/y(e) - | i/y(e) - u |
| 3rd (f) | - t | - u | t(e) - | i/y(e) - u |
- Example with the verb kteb "To write":
| Person | Past | Present | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st (m) | ktebt | ktebna | nekteb | nekketbu |
| 2nd (m) | ketbet | ktebtu | tekteb | tekketbu |
| 2nd (f) | ktebti | ktebtu | tekketbi | tekketbu |
| 3rd (m) | kteb | ketbu | yekteb | yekketbu |
| 3rd (f) | ketbet | ketbu | tekteb | yekketbu |
| Person | Past | Present | Future | Present continuous | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st (m) | كتبت | كتبنا | نكتب | نكتبوا | غنكتب | غنكتبوا | راني نكنب | رانا نكتبوا |
| 2nd (m) | كتبت | كتبتوا | تكتب | تكتبوا | غتكتب | غتكتبوا | راك تكتب | راكم تكتبوا |
| 2nd (f) | كتبتي | كتبتوا | تكتبي | تكتبوا | غتكتبي | غتكتبوا | راكي تكتبي | راكن تكتبوا |
| 3rd (m) | كنب | كتبوا | يكتب | يكتبوا | غيكتب | غيكتبوا | راهو يكتب | راهم يكتبوا |
| 3rd (f) | كنبت | كتبوا | تكتب | يكتبوا | غتكتب | غيكتبوا | راهي تكتب | رامن تكتبوا |
[edit] Future Tense
In Algeria most of the time they don't use the future tense as you see above. They'll rather just use the present tense or Present continuous. The future tense Gh+verb, as you see above, is used more in the west as you get closer to Morocco the same goes with Ghadi or just Ghad for a future tense.
To add going to... just add (رايح) between the pronoun that makes the verb for example I'm writing become by adding this behind "I'm" or "راني" and before "I write" or "نكتب" I'm going to write. The plural form is done as (رايحين). This could be used for past tense as well.
Also, as is used in all of the other Arabic dialects there is another way of showing active tense. This form changes the root verb into an adjective. For example "Kteb" he wrote will become "Kateb" writing, كتب became كاتب.
[edit] Negation
Like Egyptian Arabic and some Levantine Arabic dialects Algerian Arabic usually expresses negation in two parts, with the particle ma attached to the verb, and one or more negative words that modify the verb or one of its arguments. For example, simple verbal negation is expressed by ma before the verb and the particle š /ʃ / after the verb:
- « Lεebt » ("I played") → « ma lεebtš /ʃ/ » ما لعبتش ("I didn't play")
| Person | Past | Present | Future | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st (m) | ماكتبتش | ماكتبناش | مانكتبش | مانكتبواش | ماغنكتبش | ماغنكتبواش |
| 2nd (m) | ماكتبتش | ماكتبتواش | ماتكتبش | ماتكتبواش | ماغتكتبش | ماغتكتبواش |
| 2nd (f) | ماكتبتيش | ماكتبتواش | ماتكتبيش | ماتكتبواش | ماغتكتبيش | ماغتكتبواش |
| 3rd (m) | ماكنبش | ماكتبواش | مايكتبش | مايكتبواش | ماغيكتبش | ماغيكتبواش |
| 3rd (f) | ماكنبتش | ماكتبواش | ماتكتبش | مايكتبواش | ماغتكتبش | ماغيكتبواش |
Other negative words (walu...etc.) are used in combination with ma to express more complex types of negation. ʃ is not used when other negative words are used
- ma qult walu ماقلت والو ("I didn't say anything")
- ma šuft ħetta waħed ما شفت حتى واحد ("I didn't see anyone")
or when two verbs are consecutively in the negative
- ma šuft ma smeεt ما شفت ما سمعت ("I neither saw nor did I hear")
[edit] Verb derivation
Verb derivation is done by adding suffixes or by doubling consonants, there are two types of derivation forms : Causative, Passive.
- Causative: is obtained by doubling consonants :
-
- khrej "to go out" → kherrej "to make to go out"
- dkhel "to enter" → dekhkhel "to make to enter, to introduce"
- Passive: This derivation is similar to Berber and does not exist in Classical Arabic (the passive voice in classical Arabic uses vowel changes and not verb derivation), it is obtained by prefixing the verb with t- / tt- / tn- / n- :
-
- qtel "to kill" → tneqtel "to be killed"
- šreb "to drink" → ttešreb "to be drunk".
[edit] Pronoun
[edit] Personal pronouns
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ana / anaya | ḥna / ḥnaya |
| 2nd (m) | nta / ntaya | ntuma |
| 2nd (f) | nti / ntiyya | ntuma |
| 3rd (m) | huwa | huma |
| 3rd (f) | hiya | huma |
Example : « Ana tani. » — "Me too."
| Person | Algerian Arabic | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I am | راني | rani |
| You are (m) | راك | rak |
| You are (f) | راكي | raki |
| He is | راهو | rahu |
| She is | راهي | rahi |
| We are | رانا | rana |
| You or Y'all are | راكُ | raku |
| You or Y'all are | راكم \ راكن | rakum (m) \ rakun (f) |
| They are | راهم \ راهن | rahum (m) \ rahun (f) |
Example : « Rani hna. » — "I'm here." and « Ki raki. » — "How are you." to a woman.
[edit] Possessive pronouns
Dar (دار) is the word for house
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | i, ya (داري, داريا) | na (دارنا) |
| 2nd | (e)k (دارك) | kum (داركم) |
| 3rd (m) | u (داره) | hum (دارهم) |
| 3rd (f) | ha (دارها) | hum (دارهم) |
Example : « dar-na. » — "Our house." (House-our), these possessive are frequently combined with « nteε or teε (تاع)» "of" and « dial » "property" : « dar nteε-na » — "Our house.", « dar dial-kum » ...etc.
SINGULAR تاعي = my or mine (pronounced ta'ee) تاعك = your or yours (m) (pronounced ta'ak) تاعكِ = your or yours (m) (pronounced ta'ik) تاعه = his (pronounced ta'u) تاعها = hers (pronounced ta'ha) PLURAL تاعنا = our or ours (pronounced ta'na) تاعكم = your or yours (m) (pronounced ta'kum) تاعكن = your or yours (f) (pronounced ta'kun) تاعكُ = your or yours (pronounced ta'ku) تاعهم = their or theirs (m) (pronounced ta'hum) تاعهن = their or theirs (f) (pronounced ta'hun)
Our house can be "Darna" (دارنا) or "Dar ta'na" (دار تاعنا) which is more like saying 'house of ours'. Ta' can be used in other ways just like of is used in English or more like in Spanish. You can say "Dar ta' khuya" (دار تاع خويا) which means 'house of my brother' or 'my brother's house'.
[edit] Interrogatives
| Interogatives | Other ways of saying it | Algerian Arabic | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| What? | اش، شنو، واشنو | واش | wash |
| When? | وقتاه، فاين، إمتى | وقتاش | wagtash |
| Why? | علاه، وعلاش، لاه، ليه, | علاش | alash |
| Which? | اشمن | أمي | ami |
| Where? | فين | وين | ween or wein |
| Who? | أشكون | شكون | shakoon |
| How? | كيفاه، كي | كيفاش | kifash |
| How many? | أشحال، قداش، قداه | شحال | shaHal |
| Whose? | ديالمين | تاعمين | ta'meen |
[edit] Pronouns of the verb
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ni | na |
| 2nd (m) | (e)k | kum |
| 3rd (m) | u (after a consonant) / h (after a vowel) / hu (before an indirect object pronoun) |
hum |
| 3rd (m) | ha | hum |
Examples:
- « šeft-ni. » — "You saw me." (You.saw-me)
- « qetl-u. » — "He killed him." (He.killed-him)
- « kla-h. » — "He ate it." (He.ate-it)
[edit] Demonstratives
These are pretty much all of the demonstratives used in Algerian Arabic. The demonstrative (hadi) is also used for "It is".
| Interogatives | Emphasized | Algerian Arabic | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| This | هذا (m), هذه (f), هاديا | هاد (m), هادي (f) | had (m), hadi (f) |
| That | هداك (m), هديك (f) | داك (m), ديك (f) | dak (m), dik (f) |
| These | هدوما | هدو | hadu |
| Those | هدوك | دوك | duk |
[edit] Sample text
The text below was translated from Kabyle, In. MOULIERAS (Auguste), les fourberies de si Djeh'a.
| Buzelluf | Sheep Head |
|---|---|
| Waḥed nnhar, jeḥḥa med-lu baba-h frank, baš yešri buzelluf. šra-h, kla geε leḥm-u. bqa γir leεḍam, jab-u l baba-h. ki šaf-u qal-lu: "wešnu hada?" qal-lu: "buzelluf".
-A ššmata, win rahum wedni-h?
-Win rahum εini-h?
-Win rah lsan-u?
-U jeldet ras-u, win rahi?
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One day, Jehha's father gave him one cent, so that he buys a sheep head. He bought it, and ate all of its meat. Only an empty carcass was left, he brought it to his father. Then, when he saw it he said: "what is that?" Jehha said: "a sheep head".
-You vile, where are its (sheep) ears?
-Where are its eyes?
-Where is its tongue?
-And the skin of its head, where is it?
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[edit] See also
- Varieties of Arabic
- Maghrebi Arabic
- Moroccan Arabic
- Tunisian Arabic
- Hassaniya Arabic
- Libyan Arabic
- Languages of Algeria
[edit] External links
- Online Dictionary of Algerian Arabic
- Learn more Darija
- Learn Algerian Darja (beginners)
- [2] (Algerian Music)
- [3] (Algerian Music)
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