Algerian Arabic
Encyclopedia
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 loanword
s 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.
:
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.
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 (as in "men") e.g. قَهوَة, or a shorter version of a as in father [ɑ]
e.g., rɑbːi my God (as in sit) e.g. هِيَ /hijːɑ/ she (as in foot) e.g. قُبَّة /qʊbːɑ/ dome
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/
This feature is also present in Levantine Arabic
to a lesser extent.
Standard Arabic words containing three syllables are simplified
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.
Original /q/ splits lexically into /q/ and /ɡ/; for some words, both alternatives exist.
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.
, 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:
, Algerian Arabic uses broken plural
for many masculine words
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
For feminine nouns, the plural is mostly regular i.e., obtained by psotfixing "-at",
broken plural is used for some words;
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 :
, , , , , , , , , , .
Examples:
is done by adding affixes (prefixes, postfixes, both or none), these suffixes change according to the tense:
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.
) 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/):
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 ماقلت والو ("I didn't say anything") ما شفت حتى واحد ("I didn't see anyone")
or when two verbs are consecutively in the negative ما شفت ما سمعت ("I neither saw nor did I hear")
, Passive.
Example : « Ana tani. » — "Me too."
Example : « Rani hna. » — "I'm here." and « Wech raki. » or « Ki raki(western dialect). » — "How are you." to a woman.
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
تاعك = your or yours (m)
تاعكِ = your or yours (m)
تاعه = his
تاعها = hers
PLURAL
تاعنا = our or ours
تاعكم = your or yours (m)
تاعكن = your or yours (f)
تاعكُ = your or yours
تاعهم = their or theirs (m)
تاعهن = their or theirs (f)
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'.
Examples:
, In. MOULIERAS (Auguste), les fourberies de si Djeh'a.
Varieties of Arabic
The Arabic language is a Semitic language characterized by a wide number of linguistic varieties within its five regional forms. The largest divisions occur between the spoken languages of different regions. The Arabic of North Africa, for example, is often incomprehensible to an Arabic speaker...
or varieties of Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
spoken in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. In Algeria, as elsewhere, spoken Arabic differs from written Arabic; Algerian Arabic has a vocabulary mostly Arabic, with significant Berber
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
substrates, and many new words and loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
s borrowed from French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
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.
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 DarijaDarija
Darija is the group of Arabic dialects spoken by Maghrebi Arabic speakers. It is only used for oral communication, with Modern Standard Arabic used for written communication...
:
- 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.
- TlemcenTlemcenTlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
is noticeable for more than two dialects, mainly
/qʊlt/ قلت dialect
and /ʔʊlt/ ألت dialect, q is pronounced as a hamza, glottal stop.
- Jijel ArabicJijel ArabicJijel Arabic is a dialect of Arabic spoken specifically in the Jijel Province in northeastern Algeria, but traces of it reach parts of the neighboring provinces of Skikda and Mila...
, in particular, is noteworthy for its pronunciation of qaf as kaf and its profusion of BerberBerber languagesThe Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
loanwords.
Certain ports' dialects show influence from Andalusi Arabic
Andalusi Arabic
Andalusian Arabic was a variety of the Arabic language spoken in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule...
brought by refugees from al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
. Algerian Arabic is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
, and fades into Moroccan Arabic
Moroccan Arabic
Moroccan Arabic is the variety of Arabic spoken in the Arabic-speaking areas of Morocco. For official communications, the government and other public bodies use Modern Standard Arabic, as is the case in most Arabic-speaking countries. A mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in business...
and Tunisian Arabic
Tunisian Arabic
Tunisian Arabic is a Maghrebi dialect of the Arabic language, spoken by some 11 million people. It is usually known by its own speakers as Derja, which means dialect, to distinguish it from Standard Arabic, or as Tunsi, which means Tunisian...
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
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
(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 | ||||
Some pronounce the consonant q differently : g, k, ' (hamza) or voiced q [ɢ].
vowels Arabic phonology
Arabic phonology
While many languages have numerous dialects that differ in pronunciation, the Arabic language is more properly described as a continuum of varieties. This article deals primarily with Modern Standard Arabic, which is the standard variety shared by educated speakers throughout Arabic-speaking regions...
long vowels:
- short /a/ (as in "man") [æ], e.g. سامح /sæməħ/ forgave /sˤɑːħəb/ friend (as in "ski") e.g. قريت /qriːt/ I read, in the past (as in "flu") e.g. تِلِفون /tilifuːn/
and short vowels, esp in initial position (as in "men") e.g. قَهوَة, or a shorter version of a as in father [ɑ]
e.g., rɑbːi my God (as in sit) e.g. هِيَ /hijːɑ/ she (as in foot) e.g. قُبَّة /qʊbːɑ/ dome
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
Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic is a broad variety of Arabic spoken in the 100 to 200 km-wide Eastern Mediterranean coastal strip...
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
Uvular consonant
Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and...
, pharyngeal
Pharyngeal consonant
A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx.-Pharyngeal consonants in the IPA:Pharyngeal consonants in the International Phonetic Alphabet :...
, 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.
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 gendersGrammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
, 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:
- ħmɑr "a donkey", ħmɑrɑ "a female donkey".
- tˤfʊl "a little boy", tˤʊflɑ "a little girl".
Pluralization
Similar to Classical ArabicClassical Arabic
Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...
, Algerian Arabic uses broken plural
Broken plural
In linguistics, a broken plural is an irregular plural form of a noun or adjective found in the Semitic languages and other Afroasiatic languages such as Berber. Broken plurals are formed by changing the pattern of consonants and vowels inside the singular form...
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
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
in Classical Arabic is no longer in use. Suffix in used in Classical Arabic for the accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
and the genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
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;
-
- → "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 :
, , , , , , , , , , .
Examples:
-
- rajel → errajel "man" (assimilation)
- qmar → elqmar "moon" (no assimilation)
Conjugations and Verbs
ConjugationGrammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
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 | 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 AlgeriaAlgeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
most of the time they don't use the future tense as you see above. They'll rather just use the present tense
Present tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
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
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
. For example "kteb" he wrote will become "kateb" writing, كتب became كاتب.
Negation
Like all North African Arabic varieties (including Egyptian ArabicEgyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic is the language spoken by contemporary Egyptians.It is more commonly known locally as the Egyptian colloquial language or Egyptian dialect ....
) along with some Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic is a broad variety of Arabic spoken in the 100 to 200 km-wide Eastern Mediterranean coastal strip...
varieties, verbal expressions are negated by enclosing the verb with all its affixes, along with any adjacent pronoun-suffixed preposition, within the circumfix
Circumfix
A circumfix is an affix, a morpheme that is placed around another morpheme. Circumfixes contrast with prefixes, attached to the beginnings of words; suffixes, that are attached at the end; and infixes, inserted in the middle. See also epenthesis...
ma... š (/ʃ/):
- « lεebt » ("I played") → « ma lεebtš /ʃ/ » ما لعبتش ("I didn't play")
- « ma tţabbaεniiš » ("Don't push me")
- « ma yšaddu-lekš haaðu l-qraε » ("Those bottles won't last you long")
- « ma şaħħeet-liiš plaaşa » ("I couldn't get a seat / parking place")
| 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 ماقلت والو ("I didn't say anything") ما شفت حتى واحد ("I didn't see anyone")
or when two verbs are consecutively in the negative ما شفت ما سمعت ("I neither saw nor did I hear")
Verb derivation
Verb derivation is done by adding suffixes or by doubling consonants, there are two types of derivation forms : CausativeCausative
In linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event....
, 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 BerberBerber languagesThe Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
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".
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
تاعك = your or yours (m)
تاعكِ = your or yours (m)
تاعه = his
تاعها = hers
PLURAL
تاعنا = our or ours
تاعكم = your or yours (m)
تاعكن = your or yours (f)
تاعكُ = your or yours
تاعهم = their or theirs (m)
تاعهن = their or theirs (f)
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 KabylieKabylie
Kabylie or Kabylia , is a region in the north of Algeria.It is part of the Tell Atlas and is located at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Kabylia covers several provinces of Algeria: the whole of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia , most of Bouira and parts of the wilayas of Bordj Bou Arreridj, Jijel,...
, In. MOULIERAS (Auguste), les fourberies de si Djeh'a.
| Buzelluf | Sheep Head |
|---|---|
| . | 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?
|
See also
- Varieties of ArabicVarieties of ArabicThe Arabic language is a Semitic language characterized by a wide number of linguistic varieties within its five regional forms. The largest divisions occur between the spoken languages of different regions. The Arabic of North Africa, for example, is often incomprehensible to an Arabic speaker...
- Maghrebi Arabic
- Moroccan ArabicMoroccan ArabicMoroccan Arabic is the variety of Arabic spoken in the Arabic-speaking areas of Morocco. For official communications, the government and other public bodies use Modern Standard Arabic, as is the case in most Arabic-speaking countries. A mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in business...
- Tunisian ArabicTunisian ArabicTunisian Arabic is a Maghrebi dialect of the Arabic language, spoken by some 11 million people. It is usually known by its own speakers as Derja, which means dialect, to distinguish it from Standard Arabic, or as Tunsi, which means Tunisian...
- Hassaniya ArabicHassaniyaHassānīya is the variety of Arabic originally spoken by the Beni Hassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of Mauritania and the Western Sahara between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. It has almost completely replaced the Berber languages spoken in this region...
- Libyan ArabicLibyan ArabicLibyan Arabic is a collective term for the closely related varieties of Arabic spoken in Libya. It can be divided into two major dialect areas; the eastern centred in Benghazi and Bayda, and the western centred in Tripoli and Misrata...
- Languages of AlgeriaLanguages of AlgeriaThe official language of Algeria is Arabic, as specified in its constitution since 1963. In addition to this, Berber has been recognized as a "national language" by constitutional amendment since May 8, 2002. Between them, these two languages are the native languages of over 99% of Algerians,...