LIMBA Palestinian ArabicFree written course · 100 lessons Audio course

B1Unit 10 · Palestine and the diaspora · Lesson 98 of 100

Spoken and Standard Arabic

il-fuṣḥa w il-ʿāmmiyye · iṭ-ṭaʾs bukra bāred · shu fil-jarīde?

Goal: Tell Standard Arabic and spoken Arabic apart, and turn a few common Standard words into the words people say.

1

Dialogue

Abu Khalil reads the newspaper at breakfast: the weather, a soccer result and a festival. The paper is written in Standard Arabic, so Lina and Rana turn it into spoken Arabic. You will learn the difference between il-fuṣḥa and il-ʿāmmiyye, and the most common changes from one to the other.

A November morning at the Khalil house. Abu Khalil reads the newspaper with his coffee; Lina and Rana are having breakfast.

  1. Linaṣabāḥ il-khēr, ya ʿammo. shu fil-jarīde l-yōm?Good morning, Uncle. What's in the paper today?
  2. Abu Khalilawwal ishi iṭ-ṭaʾs. il-jarīde bitʾūl: aṭ-ṭaqs ghadan bārid.First, the weather. The paper says aṭ-ṭaqs ghadan bārid (Standard Arabic).
  3. Ranayaʿni bil-ʿāmmiyye: iṭ-ṭaʾs bukra bāred!So, in spoken Arabic: the weather will be cold tomorrow!
  4. Abu Khalilmazbūṭ. w darajit il-ḥarāra bil-lēl raḥ tkūn ʿashara bass.Right. And the temperature at night will be only ten.
  5. Linaʿammo, lēsh il-jarīde bil-fuṣḥa, mish bil-ʿāmmiyye?Uncle, why is the paper in Standard Arabic and not in spoken Arabic?
  6. Abu Khalilil-fuṣḥa lal-jarāyed w il-majallāt w il-kutub, w lal-akhbār ʿala ayy ʾanā. bass fil-bēt w fis-sūʾ kull in-nās biḥku ʿāmmiyye.Standard Arabic is for newspapers, magazines and books, and for the news on any channel. But at home and at the market everybody speaks the dialect.
  7. Ranaw hōn fī maqāle ʿan il-kōra. shu l-ʿunwān?And here's an article about soccer. What's the headline?
  8. Abu Khalilil-ʿunwān: fawz farīq Rāmalla. yaʿni farīq Rāmalla ribiḥ! ghalab farīq Nāblis.The headline: fawz farīq Rāmalla, "victory for the Ramallah team". So the Ramallah team won! It beat the Nablus team.
  9. Linaw fī ishi ʿan mahrajān? Nūr ḥakātli ʿan mahrajān mūsīqa.And is there anything about a festival? Nour told me about a music festival.
  10. Abu Khalilā, hōn: fī mahrajān mūsīqa ḥāliyyan fi Bēt Laḥem, la-ḥadd ākher il-usbūʿ.Yes, here: there is a music festival in Bethlehem at present, until the end of the week.
  11. Ranaḥāliyyan? hādi kilme fuṣḥa! bil-ʿāmmiyye binʾūl hallaʾ.ḥāliyyan? That's a Standard Arabic word! In spoken Arabic we say hallaʾ.
  12. Linaana bafham il-ʿāmmiyye mnīḥ, bass il-fuṣḥa ṣaʿbe ʿalayy.I understand spoken Arabic well, but Standard Arabic is hard for me.
  13. Abu Khalilmish ṣaʿbe ktīr. kalimāt ktīre zayy baʿḍ: jarīde, maqāle, mahrajān…It's not that hard. Lots of words are the same in both: newspaper, article, festival…
  14. Ranaw iza fī kilme ṣaʿbe, ana batarjem!And if there's a hard word, I'll translate!
  15. Linashukran, ya Rana! yalla, ya ʿammo, iʾra kamān maqāle!Thanks, Rana! Come on, Uncle, read another article!
2

New words

Palestinian ArabicEnglish
il-fuṣḥaStandard Arabic (the written language)il-lugha l-fuṣḥa; bil-fuṣḥa = in Standard Arabic
il-ʿāmmiyyespoken Arabic, the dialectil-lugha l-ʿāmmiyye; bil-ʿāmmiyye = in spoken Arabic
jarīdenewspaperplural jarāyed
majallemagazineplural majallāt
maqālearticle (in a newspaper)plural maqālāt
mahrajānfestivalplural mahrajānāt
ṭaʾsweatheralso jaww
darajit il-ḥarārathe temperatureʾaddēsh darajit il-ḥarāra? = what's the temperature?
tarjamto translatetarjam / ytarjem; b-present batarjem
ʿunwānaddress; title, headlineplural ʿanāwīn
ʾanā(TV or radio) channel
ḥāliyyancurrently, at presentformal; in everyday speech hallaʾ
3

Grammar

1. Two kinds of Arabic

il-fuṣḥa, Standard Arabic, is the written language: newspapers, books, signs, the TV news. It is almost the same in every Arab country. il-ʿāmmiyye, the dialect, is what people speak at home, at work and in the street, and it changes from country to country. Palestinians use both: they speak ʿāmmiyye and read and write fuṣḥa.

2. Same word, different sound

Many words are shared, and often only the sound changes. The q of Standard Arabic is ʾ in city speech, and its th and dh are usually t and d.

Standard ArabicSpoken (this course)English
ṭaqsṭaʾsweather
qalbʾalbheart
thalāthatalātethree
hādhāhādathis
kathīrktīrmuch, many

3. Different words

Some everyday words are completely different. You will see the Standard ones in writing; say the spoken ones.

Standard ArabicSpoken (this course)English
mādhāshuwhat
al-ān, ḥāliyyanhallaʾnow, at present
ghadanbukratomorrow
urīdbiddiI want
yūjadfīthere is

So the paper's aṭ-ṭaqs ghadan bārid becomes, in speech, iṭ-ṭaʾs bukra bāred "the weather will be cold tomorrow". The Standard forms in this lesson are for reading only: in conversation, always use the spoken column.

4

Practice

1Choose the right answer

  1. Which kind of Arabic is used in newspapers?

  2. The paper says ghadan. In spoken Arabic you say:

  3. ḥāliyyan is a formal word. In everyday speech you say:

  4. In Standard Arabic, mādhā means:

2Complete the sentence

  1. shu fil-___ l-yōm? = What's in the newspaper today?

  2. ___ il-maqāle: fawz farīq Rāmalla. = The headline of the article: victory for the Ramallah team.

  3. ʾaddēsh ___? = What's the temperature?

  4. ana ___ il-maqāle la-Līna. = I'm translating the article for Lina.

3Match the Arabic and the English

  1. jarīde

  2. majalle

  3. maqāle

  4. mahrajān

  5. ṭaʾs

  6. ʾanā

4Put the words in order

  1. Everybody speaks the dialect at home.

  2. Standard Arabic is hard for me.

5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check

  1. The paper says aṭ-ṭaqs ghadan bārid. Say it in spoken Arabic.

  2. Ask: "What's the temperature today?"

6True or false?

  1. The Ramallah team lost.

  2. There is a music festival in Bethlehem.

  3. Lina finds Standard Arabic easy.

Well done — your score: .
5

Summary

  • You can tell il-fuṣḥa (written, formal) from il-ʿāmmiyye (spoken).
  • You know the common sound changes: ṭaqs → ṭaʾs, thalātha → talāte, hādhā → hāda.
  • You can turn common Standard words into spoken ones: ghadan → bukra, mādhā → shu, ḥāliyyan → hallaʾ.
  • You can talk about the news: jarīde, maqāle, ʿunwān, darajit il-ḥarāra.

Unit 10: Palestine and the diaspora

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