Gimme some o' that booza

How to order some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream

Here is an example of how you might order something in a shop or a store.  In this case a female customer wants to buy some ice cream, and this is her interaction.

Customer (f.): Mar7aba, kifak?

Hello, how are you?

Storeowner: Mar7aba, ana mni7 u kifik 2nti, demoiselle?

Hello, I’m fine, and how are you, miss?

Customer (f.): Ana kamên mni7a, merci.

I’m well too, thank you.

Storeowner: Kif fineh se3dik?

How may I help you?

Customer (f.): Baddé  Ben & Jerry’s booza, izabitreed.

I want/would like some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, please

Storeowner: Ok, 2ayya no3?

Ok, which flavor?

Customer (f.): Um, please, 3atiné Chocolate Fudge Brownie u Phish Food.

Um, please give me Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Phish Food.

Storeowner: Haydôl?

These ones?

Customer (f.): N3am, haydolik.

Yes, those ones.

Storeowner: Ok, addéch?  Hal 2add mni7?

Ok, how much?  Is this amount good?

Customer (f.): Lla2,  aktar, please.

No, more, please.

Storeowner: Tfaddalé.

Here you go.

Customer (f.): Ok, merci.  Addéch kilshi?

Ok, thank you. How much for everything?

Storeowner: Khamseh u 3ishreen alf.

25,000 LL.

Customer (f.): Ok, tfaddal

Ok, here.

Answer Key for Previous Post
Below is the Answer Key for the exercise given at the end of the previous post.

English	Lebanese Arabic
You (m.) were there.	Inta kenet honik
Jasmine is tired	Jasmine te3beneh
Tod is happy	Tod mabsout
Jasmine is tall	Jasmine tawileh
Tod is short	Tod 2aseer
I was sad (m. and f.)	Kenet ze3len / Kenet ze3leneh
I am Indian (f.)	Ana Hindiyyeh
I am American (f.)	Ana Amerkeniyyeh
I am French (f.)	Ana Frensewiyyeh

You were Happy... I am Brazilian

To Review from Basics: Shadda, and the pronunciation of ê.

Hello Again!

Before we start anything, you need to know this:

English	Lebanese Arabic
I	ANA
YOU	INTA (m) / INTEH (f)
HE	HOWWEH
SHE	HIYYEH
IT	HOWWEH (m)/ HIYYEH (f)
WE	NE7NA
YOU (plural)	ENTO
THEY	HENNEH

Table.1

Please note that when an alphabet is written twice, it is to emphasize that alphabet in pronunciation, (Shadda).

To Be/To exist = “Ken”.

When you want to speak in the present using the verb to be:

For Example:	Masalan:
I am Indian (m)	Ana Hindeh
I am American (m)	Ana Amerkeneh
I am French (m)	Ana Frenseweh
I am Brazilian (f)	Ana Braziliyyeh
I am British (f)	Ana Britaniyyeh
Can you find the verb “kana” yet?
I am here	Ana honeh
You are there	Inta honik
He is happy	Howweh mabsout
She is tired	Hiyyeh te3beneh

Table.2

Don’t worry about your nationality not being in there, if it is not, leave us a note, and we can let you know how to say it and write it. In all the above examples, the verb "to be" is not used directly. It is implied. That is why you don’t see “ken” anywhere. So, you do not need the verb to be, when talking in the present. As you can see, we just used the personal pronouns introduced in Table.1, and then the adjective, or whatever you want to say afterwards.

Note that the adjectives change their ending, depending if the adjective is describing a male or a female. In general, we will introduce adjectives as they are, in the male sense. For example, Mabsout means Happy, describing a male as happy. Mabsouta means Happy, describing a female as happy. The “a” is added at the end of the word. Not all adjectives for females end in “a”, they also sometimes end in “eh”, as you can see from the adjective for tired. When do we use which? Well with time you will learn, there is no specific guideline.

What if you wanted to use the verb to be in the past? “ken” conjugates into the following:

English	Lebanese Arabic
I was	Ana Kenet
You were	Inta Kenet / Inteh Kinteh
He was	Howweh Kên
She was	Hiyyeh Kênit
It was	Howweh Kên / Hiyyeh Kênit
We were	Ne7na Kinna
You were	Into Kinto
They were	Henneh Kêno

Table.3

Note the underlined endings. Keep them in mind because they will be useful for conjugating other verbs.

Now, you try!

Here is some additional vocabulary that you can use to complete the next exercise:

English	Lebanese Arabic
Sad	Ze3len
Tall	Tawil
Short	2aseer

Try to write these in Lebanese Arabic:

English	Lebanese Arabic
You were there.
Jasmine is tired
Tod is happy
Jasmine is tall
Tod is short
I was sad (m. and f.)
I am Indian (f.)
I am American (f.)
I am French (f.)

Stay tuned for next time! Verb to be in the future tense, and some funny and weird Lebanese sayings that you can learn and use, and much more !

Mar7aba, Ahla w Sahla Fikon! | Hello, Welcome!

This is our first post of many to come. Be sure to check back for updates! We would always like to hear from you so feel free to comment.

Lebanese Arabic: Background

When one decides to learn Arabic, often the question of “which Arabic?” ensues.  Among the approximately 240 million Arabic speakers worldwide, there exist numerous dialects.  These dialects are generally classified into two families; Occidental, which comprises much of North Africa, and Oriental, which includes dialects from the Nile regions, the Levant, and the Arabian Gulf.  Modern Standard Arabic, or Fus7a is the common language taught in schools, used in administrative offices, literature, and the mass media.  However, for daily life the dialects are what people will normally use.  Each is unique in its mixture of Standard Arabic that came at the time of the Muslim conquest, and of indigenous languages that also existed at that time.  Some Arabic dialects have become well known to the ears of other Arabic speakers across the globe due to the film industry and satellite TV.  Probably the most popular is Egyptian Arabic, followed ever more closely by Lebanese Arabic. 

Lebanese Arabic has developed over time with foreign influence, and the Lebanese borrow some words from other languages, such as Turkish, French, and English.  Lebanese Arabic is considered among the Levantine region of Arabic dialects.  So, that means Lebanese, Jordanians, Syrians, and Palestinians can understand each other.  One notable difference in Lebanese Arabic is that they don’t pronounce the “9 or q” sound except for a certain pocket of the country, for example.  Within Lebanese Arabic itself are also different accents depending on the region.  They are split up primarily by the regions of the north, of Batrun and Jbeil, Beirut, Mont-Liban, Saida, the surroundings of Saida, the Bekaa, and the Chouf.  None inhibit mutual comprehension among Lebanese speakers. 

Some of this information was obtained from: “Parlons Arabe Libanais,” by Fida Bizri.

Bizri, Fida. Parlons Arabe Libanais. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2010. Print

Lebanese Arabic: Writing and Pronunciation

The blog will contain Arabic script as well as Latin transcription of Arabic words for easier comprehension for those who aren’t yet familiar with script. 

When writing Lebanese Arabic in transcription, we will be using the numbers system that is used in online platforms and SMS.  For a quick refresher, we have listed the letter and pronunciation equivalents below. 

2 = alif, pronounced like a glottal stop

3 = aayn, pronounced like a more guttural “a” sound

5 = kh, pronounced like a “j” in Spanish or the “ch” in German, such as in “Bach”

7 = H, pronounced like a regular “h,” but deeper in the throat, like panting

9 = q, but in Lebanese it is pronounced like a “2” alif.  In MSA and the Chouf region, the “q” is pronounced as normal, deeper in the throat, and not like a “k”.

Arabic vowels are broken down into two categories, generally - long vowels and short vowels.  Long vowels are written using the following three consonant letters, which are substituted for vowels when needed:

- ا Alif, and when written as a long vowel is pronounced "aa," as in "father". Written as "a"  

- ي Ya' is used as the long vowel "ee" as in "sheep". It can be written as "ee" or "i."

- و Waw, when used as a long vowel is pronounced like "oo" as in "moon". It can be written as "oo" or "u."

Short vowels are written using graphical marks called "7arakeh", made around the consonant.  They are primarily only written in school books and in the Qu'ran.  Short vowels are pronounced more briefly, and are as follows:

- fat7a, marked by a tick  above the consonant makes the sound "a."

- kasra, marked by a tick  below the consonant makes the sound "i."  In Lebanese Arabic it is sometimes pronounced like "é."

- damma, marked by a  above the consonant makes the sound "u" sometimes pronounced "oo."

Not a short vowel, but also important is the shedda as explained below. 

- shedda, marked by a ّ   above the consonant specifying that emphasis be placed on the pronunciation of that letter by pronouncing it in double.  In our transcriptions, we will write the letter twice to signify the presence of a shedda for pronunciation purposes.

Additionally, in Lebanese Arabic there are four other short vowels that are not written in Modern Standard Arabic.  They are:

- o: pronounced with the mouth more closed like "o" as in "Bo."

- é or eh: pronounced like in French, but in English it sounds like "a" as in "convey."  However, sometimes it is pronounced like a soft "i."

- ô: pronounced like "o" but for a longer duration.

- ê: pronounced like "é" but for a longer duration.

That's it for now. Stay tuned to learn Lebanese Arabic with songs, sayings , and much more!