Algerian Arabic

Algerian Arabic
Dziri/Jzâ’iri دزيري/جزائري
Spoken in Algeria
Native speakers 20,000,000+  (date missing)
Language family
Writing system Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3 arq

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 a vocabulary mostly Arabic, with significant Berber substrates, and many new words and loanwords borrowed from French, Turkish and Spanish.

Like all Arabic dialects, Algerian Arabic has dropped the case endings of the written language. It is not used in schools, television or newspapers, which usually use Standard Arabic or French, but is more likely heard in music if not just heard in Algerian homes and on the street. Algerian Arabic is spoken daily by the vast majority of Algerians.

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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:

example, /ʃʊfteh/ شُفتـَه, I saw him that would be /ʃʊftʊ/ in the other dialects.

/qʊlt/ قلت dialect and /ʔʊlt/ ألت dialect, q is pronounced as a hamza, glottal stop.

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.

Phonology

List of IPA phonemes & as transliterated in this article: 24 consonants:

/b/ /t/ /dʒ/ /ɡ/ /ħ/ /ʕ/ /d/ /p/ /r/ /z/ /s/ /ʃ/ /sˤ/ /dˤ/ /tˤ/ /ɣ/ /f/ /q/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /h/ /x/ /w/ /j/
b t j g ε d p r z s š γ f q k l m n h x w y
ب ت ج ج ح ع د (پ) ر ش ص ض ط غ ف ق ك ل م ن خ و

Some pronounce the consonant q differently : g, k, ' (hamza) or voiced q [ɢ].

vowels Arabic phonology

long vowels:

and short vowels, esp in initial position

e.g., rɑbːi my God

plus the schwa which replaces /e/ in some positions e.g. 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 , , and .

Non-emphatic /r/ and emphatic /rˤ/ 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 /ɡ/; for some words, both alternatives exist.

Grammar

Nouns and adjectives

English Pronunciation Algerian Arabic
drink shreb شرب
sky sma' سما
water mâ' ما
woman, women mra مرا
fire nâr نار
big kbir كبير
man, men radjel \ rdjal (راجل)(رجال)
day nhâr, yom نهار، يوم
moon gmar قمر
night lil ليل
bread khobz خبز
small ṣghir صغير
sand rmel رمل
winter, rain shta \ nu (rain) شتا \ نو
ball balun بالون
napkin serbita سربيتة
toilet, bathroom beit el ma'; beit er-râHa بيت الماء، بيت الراحة

Conjunctions & Prepositions

English Conjunctions Algerian Arabic Notes of Usage
But beṣṣeh بالصح Also used is ولكن
If ila, lakan ،إيلا، إيدا، لاكان ، 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 khatach, ala khatr على خاطر ,على خاطش Also used is على جال
When ki/weenta 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
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" (فالدار). The same with behind the door is (مورالباب) or just (مور الباب) Murr-elbab.

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...). Examples:

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) →3aqul عقول

For feminine nouns, the plural is mostly regular i.e., obtained by psotfixing "-at",

Classical Arabic; bint(girl)→ banat/ Alg. Arabic; Bent → Bnat

broken plural is used for some words;

ṬablaṬwabel "Table" [Broken plural].

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 solar letters and lunar letters rules of Classical Arabic, i.e.: if the word starts with one of these consonants, el is assimilated and replaced by the first consonant :

t, d, r, z, s, š, , , , l, n.

Examples:

rajel → errajel "man" (assimilation)
qmar → elqmar "moon" (no assimilation)

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
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 رايح نكتب رايحين نكتبوا راني نكتب رانا نكتبوا
2nd (m) كتبت كتبتوا تكتب تكتبوا رايح تكتب رايحين تكتبوا راك تكتب راكم تكتبوا
2nd (f) كتبتي كتبتوا تكتبي تكتبوا رايحة تكتبي رايحين تكتبوا راكي تكتبي راكم تكتبوا
3rd (m) كتب كتبوا يكتب يكتبوا رايح يكتب رايحين يكتبوا راهو يكتب راهم يكتبوا
3rd (f) كتبت كتبوا تكتب يكتبوا رايحة تكتب رايحين يكتبوا راهي تكتب راكم تكتبوا

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.

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.

Negation

Like all North African Arabic varieties (including Egyptian Arabic) along with some Levantine Arabic varieties, verbal expressions are negated by enclosing the verb with all its affixes, along with any adjacent pronoun-suffixed preposition, within the circumfix ma... š (/ʃ/):

Person Past Present Future
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st (m) ماكتبتش ماكتبناش مانكتبش مانكتبواش مارانيش رايح نكتب ماراناش رايحين نكتبوا
2nd (m) ماكتبتش ماكتبتوش ماتكتبش ماتكتبواش ماراكش رايح تكتب ما راكمش رايحين تكتبوا
2nd (f) ماكتبتيش ماكتبتوش ماتكتبيش ماتكتبوش ماراكيش رايحة تكتبي ماراكمش رايحين تكتبوا
3rd (m) ماكتبش ماكتبوش مايكتبش مايكتبواش ماراهش رايح يكتب ماراهمش رايحين يكتبوا
3rd (f) ماكتبتش ماكتبوش ماتكتبش مايكتبوش ماراكمش رايحين تكتبو ماراهمش رايحين يكتبوا

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

or when two verbs are consecutively in the negative

Verb derivation

Verb derivation is done by adding suffixes or by doubling consonants, there are two types of derivation forms : Causative, Passive.

khrej "to go out" → kherrej "to make to go out"
dkhel "to enter" → dekhkhel "to make to enter, to introduce"
qtel "to kill" → tneqtel "to be killed"
šreb "to drink" → ttešreb "to be drunk".

Pronoun

Personal pronouns

Person Singular Plural
1st ana / anaya ḥna / ḥnaya
2nd (m) enta / ntaya entuma
2nd (f) enti / entiyya entuma
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 rakum (m)and (f)
They are راهم rahum (m)and (f)

Example : « Rani hna. » — "I'm here." and « Wech raki. » or « Ki raki(western dialect). » — "How are you." to a woman.

Possessive pronouns

Dar (دار) is the word for house

Person Singular Plural
1st i (داري) na (دارنا)
2nd (e)k (دارك) kum (داركم)
3rd (m) u (داره, دارو) 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'.

Interrogatives

Interogatives Other ways of saying it Algerian Arabic Pronunciation
What? اش، شنو، واشنو واش wash/ sha ?
When? وقتاه، وينتا، إمتى وقتاش wektash/ weenta ?
Why? علاه، وعلاش، لاه، لياه, علاش alash / lech ?
Which? واش من آما ama ?
Where? فين وين ween ?
Who? أشكون شكون shkoon?
How? كيفاه، كي كيفاش kifash ?
How many? أشحال، قداش، قداه شحال shHal ?
Whose? ديال من تاع من ta'men ?

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)

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

Sample text

The text below was translated from Kabylie, 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 geɛ leḥm-u. bqa γir leɛḍam, jab-u l baba-h. ki šaf-u qal-lu: "wešnu hada?" qal-lu: "buzelluf".

-A ššmata, win rahum wedni-h?

-Kan ṭreš.

-Win rahum ɛini-h?

-Kan ɛwer.

-Win rah lsan-u?

-Kan ɛeggun.

-U jeldet ras-u, win rah?

-Kan ferṭas.
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?

-It was deaf.

-Where are its eyes?

-It was blind.

-Where is its tongue?

-It was dumb.

-And the skin of its head, where is it?

-It was bald.

See also