B1Unit 10 · Palestine and the diaspora · Lesson 92 of 100
Palestinian cities
Nāblis maʿrūfe bil-knāfe · akbar min · il-madīne illi baḥibbha
Goal: Describe a city, say what it is known for and compare it with other cities.
Dialogue
Lina wants to visit Hebron before she goes back to Chicago, and to see Nablus, Jericho and Bethlehem once more; the family tells her what each city is known for. You will learn maʿrūf bi … "known for …" and how to use comparisons and illi together.
An evening in the Khalil living room. Lina has a list of day trips in her notebook.
- Linabiddi azūr il-Khalīl ʾabl ma arjaʿ ʿa-Shikāgo, w kamān marra Nāblis, Arīḥa w Bēt Laḥem.I want to visit Hebron before I go back to Chicago, and Nablus, Jericho and Bethlehem once more.
- Khalilil-Khalīl? ana hōn!Khalil? I'm right here!
- Ranamish inte, ya Khalīl! il-Khalīl il-madīne.Not you, Khalil! Hebron, the city.
- Abu Khalilil-Khalīl madīne kbīre, akbar min Rāmalla bi-ktīr. w hiyye maʿrūfe bil-ʿinib w bil-ʾizāz.Hebron is a big city, much bigger than Ramallah. And it is known for its grapes and its glass.
- Imm Khalilw Nāblis maʿrūfe bil-knāfe w biṣ-ṣābūn. aḥla knāfe akaltha kānat fi Nāblis!And Nablus is famous for knafeh and soap. The best knafeh I have ever eaten was in Nablus!
- Linaw Arīḥa?And Jericho?
- Abu KhalilArīḥa min aʾdam il-mudon fil-ʿālam. maʿrūfe bil-balaḥ w il-mōz, w jambha ṣaḥra w wādi ḥilu.Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. It is known for its fresh dates and its bananas, and next to it there is a desert and a beautiful valley.
- Ranail-madīne illi baḥibbha aktar ishi hiyye Bēt Laḥem. il-balad il-ʾadīme ḥilwe ktīr.The city I like most is Bethlehem. The old town is very beautiful.
- Linaw Nūr sākne hunāk!And Nour lives there!
- Abu Khalilw fī mudon tānye maʿrūfe: Yāfa maʿrūfe bil-burdʾān w bil-mīna, w ʿAkka maʿrūfe bis-sūr w bil-qalʿa.And there are other well-known cities: Jaffa is known for its oranges and its port, and Acre for its walls and its citadel.
- Imm Khalilw Ḥēfa ʿala jabal jamb il-baḥr, w Ghazze maʿrūfe bis-samak.And Haifa is on a mountain by the sea, and Gaza is known for its fish.
- Linamashalla! kull madīne maʿrūfe bi-ishi.How wonderful! Every city is known for something.
- Khalilw Rāmalla maʿrūfe bi-aḥla shabb fil-ʿēle: ana!And Ramallah is known for the most handsome young man in the family: me!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| il-Khalīl | Hebronadjective khalīli; not to be confused with the name Khalīl |
| Yāfa | Jaffa |
| Ḥēfa | Haifa |
| ʿAkka | Acreadjective ʿakkāwi |
| Ghazze | Gazaadjective ghazzāwi |
| maʿrūf | known, well-known; famous (for: bi-)feminine maʿrūfe, plural maʿrūfīn; maʿrūfe bil-knāfe = famous for knafeh |
| ʿinib | grapescollective; one grape: ʿinbe |
| qalʿa | fort, citadelplural qilāʿ; said with q |
| ṣaḥra | desertfeminine |
| ʾizāz | glass (the material)not a drinking glass: that is kāse |
| wādi | valleyplural widyān |
| mīna | port, harborplural mawāni |
| il-balad il-ʾadīme | the old town, the old citybalad is feminine here |
| balaḥ | fresh datesdried dates are tamr |
Grammar
1. Known for: maʿrūf bi …
maʿrūf "known" comes from ʿirif "to know" (more words like it in lesson 93). It agrees like an adjective, and bi- "for" comes before the thing. Names of cities are feminine, so a city is maʿrūfe.
| Who or what | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a man, a masculine thing | maʿrūf | hal-maṭʿam maʿrūf bil-falāfel. |
| a woman, a city | maʿrūfe | Nāblis maʿrūfe bil-knāfe. |
| people | maʿrūfīn | Abu Samīr w wlādo maʿrūfīn fis-sūʾ. |
2. Comparing cities
The elatives of lesson 65 work with cities too: akbar min "bigger than", aʾdam min "older than". Before a noun, without the article, they mean "the most": aʾdam madīne "the oldest city". "One of the oldest cities" is min aʾdam il-mudon.
3. Comparisons with illi
After a noun with the article, illi introduces "which, that" (lesson 83), and the verb carries a pronoun for the noun: il-madīne illi baḥibbha "the city (that) I like (it)". After aḥla, akbar + noun there is no illi, but the pronoun stays.
Careful: il-Khalīl with the article is the city of Hebron; Khalīl without it is Lina's cousin.
Practice
1Complete the sentence
Nāblis ___ bil-knāfe. = Nablus is famous for knafeh.
A city is feminine: maʿrūfe.
il-Khalīl ___ min Rāmalla. = Hebron is bigger than Ramallah.
Yāfa maʿrūfe bil-___. = Jaffa is known for its oranges.
il-madīne ___ baḥibbha aktar ishi hiyye Bēt Laḥem. = The city I like most is Bethlehem.
2Choose the right answer
Lina says biddi azūr il-Khalīl. She wants to visit:
With the article, il-Khalīl is the city.
Arīḥa min aʾdam il-mudon fil-ʿālam means:
How do you say "the best knafeh I have eaten"?
Which city is known for its walls and its citadel?
3Match the Arabic and the English
wādi
mīna
ṣaḥra
ʾizāz
qalʿa
balaḥ
4Put the words in order
Nablus is famous for knafeh and soap.
Hebron is bigger than Ramallah.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
Bethlehem is famous for the Church of the Nativity.
Bēt Laḥem maʿrūfe bi-knīsit il-Mahd.
The city I like most is Ramallah.
il-madīne illi baḥibbha aktar ishi hiyye Rāmalla.
6True or false?
At first, Khalil thinks Lina is talking about him.
He says il-Khalīl? ana hōn!
In the dialogue, Jericho is known for grapes and glass.
Hebron is known for grapes and glass; Jericho for fresh dates and bananas.
Summary
- You can say what a city is known for: Nāblis maʿrūfe bil-knāfe.
- You can compare cities: il-Khalīl akbar min Rāmalla, min aʾdam il-mudon.
- You can say which city you like most: il-madīne illi baḥibbha aktar ishi ….
- You know the names of Palestinian cities and that il-Khalīl is Hebron.