Levantine Arabic: Bayni w Baynak

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00:44 Razan said: اليوم رح يكون عنده فحص و على الاغلب رح يكون سلبي  (today he (Razan’s brother) is going to have a test and the chances are it will be negative)

00:58 Razan said : عندي صداع (I have a headache) - you can also use it like a verb aka : انا صدعت (I got a headache).

01:34 Razan said: اذا بنغير شي في البيت النفسية بتصير احسن  (If we change something in the house, one’s mood improves)

01:44 Razan said : اذا غيرنا الدكور كتير كبير في البيت رح تكون متل كأنو في بيت جديد (if we change the decor a lot at home it will feel a new house)

08:39 Razan said:  مستقصدني : this is the active participle from the form 10 verb: استقصد from root قصد. It means to ‘pick on’ (someone).

obviously قصد is a particularly productive route. In form one it means ‘mean/ِintend’

Aka : شو قصدك؟  /shu ‘aSSdik/  (what do you mean?)

As a form 8 masdar it means economy: اقتصاد

9:15 ERROR I said: عم يخفف الوضع (the situation is getting calmer) (literally is getting lighter)

Razan corrected: عم يخف الوضع (or عم بخف الوضع)

11:12 ERROR I say sekin a lot (ساكن)  as in : في الساكن . I’m trying to say: in the residence. But it should be without ا aka: في السكن /sakan/

11:35 Razan said: موزعين (distributed) comes from form 2 verb: وزّع

26:02 ERROR  I said: عم نحكي عن خيال الي رح يعانوا عن الاحباط

I was trying to say something like: we’re talking about a generation who are going to suffer from depression.

Firstly I got خيال (fiction) mixed up with جيل /jeel/ (generation) (come on it’s easily done! :/)

Secondly: من الاحباط  not عن .

So the improved sentence would be something like:

عم نحكي عن جيل/الجيل الي/يلي رح يعاني/ يعانوا من الاحباط

Note: الي could be replaced by يلي which is more Lebanese. Though no relative pronoun is used when the noun it refers to is undefined. So if I say جيل and not الجيل one would normally omit the relative pronoun. That said I feel like in Lebanese يلي is still permitted even with undefined nouns.

It’s also cool to note that you could say: يعاني or يعانوا (it/ they suffer). Just like in English you could say: this generation is/ are totally different. Maybe the singular sounds a bit better but both work. I’m not sure MSA has the same leniency in this regard though :(

27:04: Razan said: التوازن مش موجود تقربا أبدا في كل الدول  (the balance/equilibrium is non existent basically in any country/state

You can see some of the vocab below or follow the link:

00:30 Razan said: شوي الوضع عم يكركب   (the situation’s getting a bit complicated)

01:51 Razan said: و في واحدة انا بعرفها كمان اجوا على ٢ الفجير يعني خدوها (And there’s someone I also know, they came at 2 in the morning, and they took her )

02:02 I said : هاي الحلقة رح تكون كتير خفيفة  (this episode will be very light/ light hearted)

02:22 I said: فينا نركز على أشياء تانية  (we can focus on other things)

04:55 I said هاي صدفة كبيرة (this is a big coincidence)

07:03 I said ممكن رح نتفلسف كتير (we may end up ‘philosophizing’ a lot)

08:08 Razan said: انا بربط الأشياء أو كيف الأشياء بتنربط (I connect/ join things up (lit ‘tie’) or how things are connected) note how form 1 verbs move to form 7 to create passive.

16:23 Razan said: لازم أغير المشهد  (I need a change of scene)

Today me and Safa  talked about our favorite books, or at least we tried... things got a bit silly at times but we persevered.  Language notes below or follow this link. Also if you haven't checked out Lingualism it's a great place to find some great Arabic learning resources!

00:52 I said: انا مرشح /ana mrashiH/  I’m a bit bunged up

I remember being told in a separate conversation with Safa that it can be used without someone thinking you might have corona. Aka: ما معي كرونا ، انا بس مرشح (I don’t have Corona I just have a cold). 

Comes from form 2 verb: رشّح  you could also say: مبراح رشحت /imbareH rashaHit/ yesterday I caught a cold.

00:59: Safa said: صحيا الحمدلله مني مرشح ، بس جسديا … health wise I’m ok, I’ve not got a cold, but physically… note the two adverbs: صحيا /SuHiyan/ from صحّة (health) and جسديا /jasadiyyan/ physically from جسد (body)

01:29 I said : صحة العقل (mental health) note Safa corrected my pronunciation: SuHi il3a’il : SuHit il3a’il. This is the classic rule of ة being pronounced as ت in the middle of idafa constructions. Idafa constructions are where two nouns are put together where only the second one is definite, either because it carries an indefinite article, pronoun or is a name aka: بيت اهلي ، صوت صفا  ، باب البيت  (my parents’ house, Safa’s voice, door of the house)

01:41 Safa said:   من اسبوع تقريبا خلصت كتاب اسمه فن  الامبالاة  about a week ago I finished a book called the Art of indifference. (This is an english book in Arabic translation, the original title is ‘the art of not giving a fuck’) The Arabic word used to translate ‘not giving a fuck’ is الامبلاة which literally means ‘indifference’. Also note pronunciation of خلصت كتاب as if it was one word: khalaS-Tikteb

01:55 Safa said: هو يعني بعلمك تكون مرتاح يعني فكريا /huwe ya3ni bi3almak tkun murteH ya3ni fikriyyan/ it teaches you to be relaxed, as in mentally. فكريا is another adverb.

01:58 Safa said: و في كتاب هلا، مش هلا عم بقراه يعني، بس هلا بدي خلصه، كنت عم بلشي فيه من قبلا اسمه سيكولوجية الجماهير   there’s a book now..I mean I’m not currently reading it, but now I want to finish it, I started it a while go called.

It can be really hard to pick out object pronouns especially in Lebanese, because so often they’re silent.

 This sentence highlights the basic rule for masculine object pronouns: Word ends in consonant: ه pronounced /u:/ Word ends in vowel: ه is silent.

02:40 Safa said: حخبرك في شكل مختصر كل كتاب عن شو بيحكي /Hakhabrak fi shakil mukhtaSar kil ikteb 3an shu byiHki/ I’ll tell you briefly what each book is about. Note مختصر (brief) is اسم مفعول  from form 8 verb: أختصر  (to shorten/ summarize) which in turn comes from the root خصر  also where the word for hips is derived: خصر / خاصرة

02:55 Safa said: كتير عندك سلام ع الخبرة الي عم تمروا فيها  that you’re really at peace with the experiences you’re passing through. فيها… the ها refers back to experience. تمروا is you plural. Literally: the experiences that you pass through them. 

Today me and Razan just had a good old fashioned catch up. See some of the language notes below or follow this link.

1:19: Razan said: الوضع منیح لما بنقارنه مع دول تانیة ممكن وضع فیها أسوأ بالنسبة لكل شي عم بصیر

The situation is good when we compare it with other states where the situation is worse with

regards everything that’s happening.

1:35: Razan said: بس نتاىّج الفیروس عم تطلع بشكل أكبر (but the consequences of the virus are

growing greater)

Note: نتائج /nate’ij/ is the plural of نتیجة /natija/: result or consequence

1:59: Razan said: فا هلا عم ببین هیدا الشي بشكل ملموس أكثر (now these things appear more tangible )

Note: ملموس is the اسم المفعول (past participle) of the verb لمس (to touch) can translate as

“touchable/tangible”. If you're not familiar with this construction it’s worth getting to know it. A

lot of nouns and adjectives derive from this pattern aka: (alcoholic drink) شرب > مشروب or

(open/opened) فتح < مفتوح

2:03: Razan said: ما في اعتراض (lit there are no objections. Maybe translated more naturally

as: “I can’t complain”)

2:25: I said: خبریني عن المشروع طبعك (tell me about your project)

Firstly : خبریني /khabrini/ comes the form 2 verb : خبّر . (to tell/ to give news) How would I

modify it if talking to a guy? خبرني /khabirni/.

Secondly: important to note خبّر is Lebanese. In Jordanian you’re more likely to use the verb

حكى aka إحكیلي /iHkeeli/ (lit: tell to me)

Thirdly: مشروع (project) also اسم المفعول like ملموس

Fourthly: طبعك (of yours) in Jordanian this can be modified to reflect both the person and the

thing it’s possessing/relating to.

Aka مشروع طبعك (you’re (fem) project) /mashru3 Taba3ik

or مشارع طبعتك (your projects) /mashari3 Tab3 t ik/

The ت is introduced as non human plurals are grammatically feminine

3:00: Razan said: كل الشركات بدهم ٣ سنین خبرة (all the companies want 3 years experience)

Note: خبر … it’s a seriously productive root:

خبرة /khabra/: experience خبیر /khabir/: expert اخبار /akhbar/: news

3:18: Razan said: هادا كتیر محبط بالصراحة ( this is really depressing to be honest)

What’s depressing? Razan lists a few things.

3:30 Razan said عم بحاول أبني موقع (I’m trying to build a website)

Note: ابني : I build. بنى : he built. Comes from the same route as بنایة /binayye/ (building)

4:29 Razan said: حتى التفاصیل الصغیرة بدها كتیر وقت (even the small/smallest details need a lot of

time) Note: تفاصیل : details. Masdar from the root: فصل . Lots of words relating to separation

come from it. Aka : فصلنا : /faSalna/ we broke up. فصل /faSil/ season/semester/chapter. مفصل

/mufaSal/ joint.

5:03 Razan said: لما عملت بحث كتیر (when I did a lot of research ) Note: بحث /baHath in

Lebanese: baHass

5:44 Razan said: كان الهدف طبعني أعمل كل شي بحالي بس ما باقدر اكید نكون واقعین

Ken ilhadaf Taba3ni a3mal kul shi bHali bus ma ba’dr akeed inkun waq3ayin

It was the goal of mine to do everything on my own but I can’t let’s be realistic

Note: الهدف طبعني (the goal of mine) I think you could also say: الهدف طبعي /ilhadaf Taba3i/

6:33 Razan said: كل ما بسمع كلمة (whenever I hear a word)

Note : nice example of difference between Jordanian and Lebanese accent.

Razan said: kul ma basma3 (Jordanian)

Safa would say: K i l ma b i sma3 (Lebanese)

As a general rule when a Lebanese person uses ‘i’ as the first vowel in a verb a Jordanian

will use ‘a’.

Aka : انا بدرس (ana bidrus (L) badrus (J)) انا بكتب (ا (ana biktub (L) baktu

Also please follow this link to see the complete vocab analysis

Also note that if you're listening from Spotify the vocab link may not work so check us out on google podcasts instead. 

! انشالله تنبسطوا  

:) 

Vocab and some mistakes to watch out for:

1:08: The plural of شي  (thing) is أشياء. So I tried to say “some things” : كم اشياء (kam ishia’). BUT, كم ALWAYS  takes singular. So you have to say : كم شي or more commonly كم شغلة (kam shaghle)

1:16: I said : مشاكل اقتصادي (mushekil iqtiSaadi) مشاكل is the plural of مشكلة (problem) and اقتصادي is the adjective: economic. So “economic problems” BUT I forgot to agree اقتصادي ، it should be in the feminine as it agrees with a non human plural: مشاكل اقتصادية (mushekil iqtiSaadiye)

1:22: I said: كان في انفجار كتير حقير هناك. 

I was trying to say: "There was a really terrible explosion there". But it turns out حقير really doesn't work in this context. It means "despicable/vile/bastard" specifically use to describe people. Meanwhile to describe the explosion I could have used رهيب (raheeb) or كارثي (kerissi) 

It’s worth also remembering هناك (hunaak) is the equivalent of  هنيك (huneek) and means there. هناك is more Jordanian where as هنيك is Lebanese

1:37: Safa said: هيدا من أصعب السنين الي بتمره على لبنان these are some of the worst years Lebanon has gone through.

1:50: Safa said:  ارتفاع الدولار (urtifa3 ildollar) the rise (in price) of the dollar

2:06: Safa said: صار في عنا مشكلة جديدة literally: it happened there to us a new problem

2:32: Safa said: كتير في صعوبات (ktir fi s3owbet) there are lots of difficulties. صعوبات comes from the same root as صعب (difficult). It’s important to realise how flexible word order can be in spoken Arabic. You could also say: في كتير صعوبات or possibly even : في صعوبات كتيرة

2:54: Safa said بيروت تدمّرت (Beirut itdamarit). Beirut was destroyed/wrecked.

Important to note how the active/passive works here: دمّر is form 2, which means to make it passive you convert it to form 5: تدمّرت.

The same happens with علّم (he taught) which goes to تعلّم (he learnt/he was taught)

3:44: I said كل هيدا المنطقة (all this neighbourhood) probably meant to say: كل هاي المناطق (all these neighbourhoods

4:06: I said فاديين (empty) again as an adjective describing a non human plural (مناطق) should probably just be feminine sing: فادية . I was just trying to highlight that these neighbourhoods aren’t empty but rather very residential, very full  ملانة  (maleni)

4:38: Safa said بالمناطق الي بجبل صار في أضرار (in the areas in the mountains there was damage)

5:10: Safa said و في بيوت حدنا شوي وقع الازاز (and there are houses next to us where some of the glass was broken) literally : the glass fell a little

5:20: Safa said الصوت بالجنوب بالبنان انسمع  (the sound was heard in the south of Lebanon) Passives: form 1 words shift to form 7 in the passive.

And see PDF link for vocab!

Today Razan and I spoke about Social Networks and their effects on the way we think about ourselves. We went off topic a bit and talked a lot about TV series as well.  See below for some recommendations in Arabic! See PDF here. 

مفردات:

حَسَّاسِيِّة : allergy      حَسَّاسِيِّة لَلغَبَرَة  : dust/ or pollen allergy    حساس - can mean allergic but also sensitive or even emotional. عَاْطِفِي is a near synonym

حبة ، حبات : pill, pills

ما لحق انو النهار ايكون منيح او مش منيح - the day hasn't had enough to be good or bad

صافي : pure

مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي : social media

فترة الحظر:     period of lockdown or curfew

شدة cards :shadi    شدة  or shidi مصيبة  : disaster

مؤثر ، مؤثرين :influencer

واقع : reality   مش واقع : it's not real

خيال : fiction  خيالي :  fictional

تطوّر ، يطوّر  (Form 5) - to develop

مهوس ب..  crazy about , obsessed

رمز symbol

بتصير متعلق فيهم  you become attached to them

مستحيل انو بتحضر هادا المسلسل على عادي واحدة : it's impossible to watch the series in one go

ناجح - successful - المسلسل ناجح - the series was a success

تشويه - twist -   في نهاية الحلقة بكون في شي تشويهي    at the end of the episode there's  a twist

عشان اضرب عصفورين مع حجر واحد    to kill two birds with one stone

تعليق ، تعليقات - comment  مْلَاْحَظَة is a close synonym

The series we mentioned:

1. First we mentioned الكاتب or “the writer” , a Lebanese netflix series. It’s not bad.
   
2. Next we mentioned  الهيبة‎ or  Al Hayba , a lebanese series also partly on Netflix. Again we agreed it was ok.
   
3. Dollar, Lebanese series, also on Netflix. Is actually quite funny in places. And has Adel Karam  who we agreed is pretty cool.
   
4. Then ما في متلو Ma fi metlo , a Lebanese sitcom, also with Adel Karam. You can find it on Youtube.
   
5. Then في مايل or Fee mail - Jordanian, also on Youtube. Really funny.
   
6. Finally Razan mentioned تلفزيون الجديد which I haven’t seen but she seemed to really like it.
   

Follow this link for a PDF version.

صام  يصوم                                       to fast                     'صيام' يعني  fasting

منظر     /view                            /manzar             منظور : perspective

I think I may have said “منظول” by accident when I actually meant to say : منظور

فجر      dawn

مغرب   sunset     مثلا: 'صلاة المغرب' يعني evening prayer

روحي : spiritual - 'روحانية' يعني spirituality         روح spirit

مغرور : vain / conceited/ boastful   مثلا: مش لازم تكون مغرور    you shouldn't be vain

عَطشَان    thirsty

نِعْمِة      grace or blessing but in this context comfort or ease of life probably works better

ناعم   soft

صداع    headache          مثلا 'صداع مش معقول' an unbelievable (terrible)  headache

طَاْيْفِة، ج طَوَاىٔف   sect/sects   مثلا هما من طوائف مختلفة       they're from different sects

دُعَاْ    prayer

غصبا forced مثلا مش انو غصبا عننا   it's not that we're forced to .

You can also use the verb اضطر، يضطر to force, be forced

تسحر ، يتسحر to eat the pre- fast meal  سحور : the pre fast meal eaten just before dawn)

عبقة : shortness of breath  مثلا: كتير في عبقة بسبب الشوب

فطور / افطار : breakfast , but used for the evening meal during ramadan as it breaks the fast

دغري   straight away or directly

جانب جوانب aspect / aspects  

 مثلا  في جوانب جربتيها مختلفة في تجربتك؟

 are there aspects of her experience which differ from yours?

نفس الافكار the same ideas

منافق     hypocrite

تْفَلسَف، يِتفَلسَف to quibble, to split hairs       ما بقدر اتفلسف I can't really talk (because I'm just as bad)

طلعنة / توهنا عن الموضوع   we went off topic

هلال    sycle moon    - the first moon of the month

حديث  a chat

I’ve noted some of the key vocab below but for the complete list download the pdf:

حظر التجول    Curfew

الأشياء الأساسية بطلت موجودة بالحياة    basic things have stopped existing in life

كتير بحزن الوضع                      the situation is really pitiful

خفت شوي الإجراءات            the restrictions were relaxed a bit

الآثار الخفية                        the secret effects

الآثار غير مباشرة                indirect effects

متفاىٔل                               optimistic              متشائم            pessimistic

العنف المنزلي                     domestic violence

فاضي اشغال                           at a loose end

عم بشتغل من تحت لتحت         doing things secretly

مش/ غير صريح                    dishonest/ unclear

سرّي                                  secretive

مش من مصدر موثوق                  not from a trusted source

انتشار المرض                               the spread of the illness

انتحار                                          suicide

رجعوا الإجراءات متشددين اكتير من قبل                  the measures came back stricter  than before

See vocab below or follow this link for a PDF version : 

Transcription: I sometimes use phonetic script to transcribe but more often than not I use a

slightly adapted form of Arabizi (a way Arabic speakers write english with latin letters).

Key: ʔ = 2 (glottal stop sound) often used for ق which is generally not pronounced as a “q”

in levantine dialect as it is in MSA.

ʕ = 3 used to represent the ع consonant.

Then for all emphatic consonants I just used capital letters aka : ص S ح H ط T etc.

stereotype Sowra namaTiye صورة نمطیة

society mujtamaʕ مجتمع

from behind min wara من وراء 2

the truth ilha2i2a الحقیقة

lies kazbaat كذبات

nothing comes from emptiness ma fee shi byiji min il faraagh ما في شي بیجي من الفراغ

on the contrary bil3aks بالعكس

*nationality jinsiyye جنسیّة

*jins جنس is gender (from the same root)

linked / associated martabiT martabTe مرتبط / مرتبطة

to consider Form 8 ºʕtɑbɑr، yeʕtºber / yiʕtaber اعتبر یعتبر

emotionally cold/ aloof Jaamid Jaamdiin جامد جامدین

a protest muzaahara مظاهرة

I realised that laHazit inu لاحظت انو

accent lahje لهجة

soft Tari طري

feminine muwanas muwanasin مؤنّث مؤنّیث

to keep/to hide/to suppress katam yiktum كتم ، یكتم

they're trying to suppress their true nature عم یحاولوا یكتموا الطبیعیة الحساسیة تبعهم

polite/ courteous mohazzab mohazzabiyn مهذّب مهذّبین

we just keep quiet bus niskut بس نسكت

complain Shaka , yishkee شكى نشكي

a very quiet voice Sowt kteer waTee صوت كتیر واطي

review muraj3a مراجعة

hysterical muhastar, muhastar مْهَسْتِر , مهسترین

to disinfect a3qam ya3aqam أعقم یعقم

I was curious "lit "I had curiosity kan 3aindi fuDuul كان عندي فضول

strong 2owi 2owiyeen قوي قویین

your viewpoint ilmanzur taba3ik المنظور طبعك

on the one hand ...on the other min jiha , min jiha tenye من جهة… و من جهة تانیة

it's not our/your fault ilHa2 mish 3aleyna الحق مش علینا / علیك

social distancing itiba3ud alijtima3i التباعد الاجتماعي

to grow near/ approach 2arab , yi2arab قرّب ، یقرّب

the pavement ilraSeef الرصیف

guilt ta2neeb aDameer تأنیب الضمیر

hospitable/welcoming muDayaaf /muDayaafeen مِضْیَاْف / مضیافین

to invite ʕazam، yeʕzem عزم ، یعزم

مرحبا جمعيا و اهلا و سهلا على البودكاست الجديد بيني و بينك.Hello everyone and welcome to the new podcast “Bayni w baynak”.  get the vocab and more info here