Egyptian Arabic Lesson 1

Introductions
EA1 Main Dialogue: Listen online

Vocabulary ‫اﳌﻔﺮدات‬
Greetings
‫اﻫﻼ وﺳﻬﻼ‬ hello, welcome ’ahlan wisahlan

‫اﻫﻼ ﺑﻴﻚ‬ hello, welcome to you (to m.) ’ahlan biik

‫اﻫﻼ ﺑﻴﮑﻲ‬ hello, welcome to you (to f.) ’ahlan biiki

‫اﻟﺴﻼم ﻋﻠﻴﮑﻢ‬ hello, goodbye issalaamu caleekum

‫وﻋﻠﻴﮑﻢ اﻟﺴﻼم‬ hello, goodbye (response) wicaleekum issalaam

‫اﺗﺸﺮﻓﻨﺎ‬ pleased to meet you; honored itšarrafna

Numbers Pronouns
‫واﺣﺪ‬ one waa˙id ‫ اﻧﺎ‬I ’ana

‫اﺗﻨﲔ‬ two itneen ‫اﻧﺖ‬

َ you (m) ’inta

‫ﺗﻼﺗﺔ‬ three talaata ِ

‫اﻧﺖ‬ you (f ) ’inti

‫أرﺑﻌﺔ‬ four ’arbaca ‫ ﻫﻮ‬he huwwa

‫ﺧﻤﺴﺔ‬ five xamsa ‫ ﻫﻲ‬she hiyya

Places Possessive pronouns
‫ﻣﺼﺮ‬ Egypt maßr ‫ اﺳﻤﻲ‬my name ismi

‫اﻟﻘﺎﻫﺮة‬ Cairo il-qaahira ‫اﺳﻤﻚ‬

َ your name (m) ismak

‫اﺳﮑﻨﺪرﻳﺔ‬ Alexandria iskandariyya ِ

‫اﺳﻤﻚ‬ your name (f ) ismik

‫ﻟﺒﻨﺎن‬ Lebanon lubnaan ‫ اﺳﻤﻪ‬his name ismu

‫اﻣﺮﻳﮑﺎ‬ America ’amriika ‫ اﺳﻤﻬﺎ‬her name ismáha

Other words
‫ ﻣﲔ؟‬who? miin (‫ ﮐﺘﺎب )اﻟﮑﺘﺎب‬book (the book) kitaab (il-kitaab)
‫ اﻳﻪ؟‬what? ’eeh (‫ ﺑﺎب )اﻟﺒﺎب‬door (the door) baab (il-baab)
‫ اﺳﻢ‬name ism ‫ ﺻﻔﺤﺔ‬page ßaf˙a

‫ﻟﻴﻪ؟‬ why? leeh (‫ ﻃﺎﻟﺐ )ﻃﺎﻟﺒﺔ‬student (m/f ) †aalib (†aaliba)

‫ﻣﻦ‬ from min (‫ أﺳﺘﺎذ )أﺳﺘﺎذة‬professor (m/f ) ’ustaaz (’ustaaza)

‫ﻣﻨﲔ؟‬ from where? mineen (‫ ﺣﻀﺮﺗَﻚ )ﺣﻀﺮ ِﺗﻚ‬your presence; ˙a∂ritak

‫و‬ and wi- you (formal-m/f ) (˙a∂ritik)

(‫ﻻ )ﻻء‬ no (variant) la (la’a) (‫ اﻓﺘﺢ )اﻓﺘﺤﻲ‬open! (m/f ) ifta˙ (ifta˙i)

‫أﻳﻮه‬ yes ’aywa (‫ اﻗﻔﻞ )اﻗﻔﻠﻲ‬close! (m/f ) i’fil (i’fili)

‫ﻣﺶ‬ not miš

Expression
‫ﻳﺎ‬ O (vocative) ya
‫ ﺑﺴﻢ اﻟﻠﻪ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﻴﻢ‬in the name of bism allaah
‫ﻋﺎرف ﻋﺎرﻓﺔ ﻋﺎرﻓﲔ‬ know m/f/pl c
aarif carfa carfiin God, the merciful, irra˙man
‫ﻣﺶ ﻋﺎرف‬ don’t know miš caarif the compassionate irra˙iim
Dialogue Assignment
1. Work with at least one other student. Practice meeting and greeting one another several times.

Drills
1. Practice counting from one to five aloud in Arabic (waa˙id, itneen, talaata, and so forth). Do it 5 times at least.

2. Translate the following dialogue and answer the questions.

A. .‫أﻫﻼ‬ ’ahlan.
B. .‫أﻫﻼ ﺑﻴﮑﻲ‬ ’ahlan biiki.
A. ‫ﻣﲔ ﻫﻮ؟‬ miin huwwa?
B. .‫ﻫﻮ ﺟﻮرج‬ huwwa George.
A. ‫ﻫﻮ ﻣﻨﲔ؟‬ huwwa mineen?
B. .‫ﻣﺶ ﻋﺎرف‬ miš caarif.
A. .‫اﻟﺴﻼم ﻋﻠﻴﮑﻢ‬ issalaamu caleekum.
B. .‫وﻋﻠﻴﮑﻢ اﻟﺴﻼم‬ wicaleekum issalaam.

Questions
1. Is speaker “A” male or female? How do you know?
2. What about speaker “B”? How do you know?
3. List all the ways you know to determine gender.

Fuß˙a section
1. Fuß˙a or caamiyya? (‫ اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ‬or ‫)اﻟﻌﺎﻣﻴﺔ‬
Standard Arabic (fuß˙a: ‫ )اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ‬and Colloquial Egyptian Arabic ( caamiyya: ‫ )اﻟﻌﺎﻣﻴﺔ‬share many words. Sometimes these
shared words are pronounced exactly the same in the two languages, and sometimes there are slight differences. e words
are usually written the same. ere are a certain number of words, however, that are either strongly marked as fuß˙a only or
as caamiyya only. It is not a huge problem because people will understand you if you use a fuß˙a only word when speaking
colloquial, and vice versa, but you should gradually come to feel which words are appropriate in which contexts. To help
you do this, we will provide a list of the vocabulary in each lesson that will indicate which of the words you have leaned are
purely colloquial. Here is the list for this lesson:

Fuß˙a: ‫اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ‬ aamiyya: ‫اﻟﻌﺎﻣﻴﺔ‬

c

‫ َﻣ ْﻦ‬man ‫ ﻣﲔ‬miin
‫ ِﻣ ْﻦ َأ ْﻳ َﻦ‬min ’ayna ‫ ﻣﻨﲔ‬mineen
‫ﺲ‬َ ‫ ﻟَ ْﻴ‬laysa ‫ ﻣﺶ‬miš

2. Fuß˙a listening online.

EA 1 Language Notes

e Language Notes in each lesson are designed to answer basic questions you might have about the language and the ma-
terial being presented. Please understand, however, that understanding the grammar is not the most important thing you
are trying to accomplish. Understanding the language itself is much more important. to do that, you need to spend most of
your time working with actual text, reading, speaking, and listening. e grammatical explanations, however, will be of use
as you learn how the language works.

1. Equational Sentences
Although Arabic has a “to be” verb, it is not usually used in the present tense. You might want to think of it as a “Me-Tarzan,
You-Jane” language. Arabists refer to such “verbless” sentences as E S since they establish some kind
of equivalence between the subject and the predicate. In such sentences, the subject generally comes first and is followed
immediately by the predicate. When translating such sentences into English, a form of the “to be” verb must be used,
depending on the subject: is, are, am. For example:

hiyya Ø Linda
She is Linda

John Ø †aalib
John is a student

’ana Ø kariim
I am Kariim

’inta wi-huwwa Ø min beruut

You and he are from Beirut

2. Agreement
English has a distinction between masculine and feminine in the third person (he/she) but not in the second person (you-
m/f ). Arabic, on the other hand, distinguishes masculine and feminine in both the second and third persons. is means
that you need to be careful to note the gender of the person you are addressing and use the pronoun that is appropriate: ’inta
for males and ’inti for females. In the few cases where you do not know the gender of the person you are addressing, use the
“default” masculine form. Nouns, adjectives, and verbs also show a masculine/feminine distinction and must agree with
whatever they refer to. In this lesson, for example, we have the form caarif ‘know’ for males and carfa for females: huwwa caarif
but hiyya carfa. Likewise, a male student is †aalib, while a female student is †aaliba. Note also the separate greetings when
speaking to males or females.

3.e Definite Article

Nouns are made definite by adding the definite article il- (the) on the front of the word. For example ’ustaaz = professor, while
il’ustaaz = the professor. More details about this process will be given later.