Dialects اللَّهَجَات exist in all world languages. A distinctive feature of a dialect لَهْجَة is the variation in pronunciation, word-formation and -usage, and grammar from the standard form. For Arabic, dialectal variation is, in my book, normally overstated. To defend my view, I will dedicate a few instructional posts for it once I am done with ‘Verb Forms’. For now, I highlight the main differences in imperfective moods from Modern Standard Arabic (MSA).

Explained in an earlier post, you now should know what mood is and why it is critical that you be aware of it. Like in Standard Arabic, we know the mood in modern Arabic dialects through structural hints, i.e. certain particles or prefixes. Since my knowledge of Maghreb dialects is a bit shaky, I focus on Eastern Arabic dialects—Egyptianالمَصْرِيَّة , Levantine الشَّامِيَّة, and Gulf الخَلِيْجِيَّة.

Egyptian Dialect (ED) اللَّهْجَةُ المِصْرِيَّة:

Indicative mood in ED is expressed using the prefix بِـ which is added to the present form of the verb. What is the present form of the verb? It is the same as the present form of the verb in MSA except that the diacritical mark accompanying the prefix of the present is always kasrah rather than fatHah or dhammah, as in these examples:

MSA (present form)                                        ED (present form)                   ED (indicative)

يَشْرَب ‘he drinks’                                              يِشْرَب                                        بِيِشْرَب ‘is drinking’

تَنَام ‘she sleeps’                                                تِنَام                                            بِتْنَام  ‘is sleeping’

نَقُول ‘we say’                                                   نِؤُول                                          بِنْؤُول  ‘are saying’            (ق is pronounced as ء)

تَلْعَب  ‘you play’                                                تِلْعَب                                          بِتِلْعَب ‘is playing’

بِـ can mean that the action is continuous or habitual (i.e. happens regularly) depending on the context and the kind of verb. For example, when we say بِنِلْعَب, بِـ means that the action is ongoing; when we say بِتْرُوْح المَدْرَسَة ‘she goes to school’, it means the action is done on a regular basis.

Subjective mood, i.e. future action, in ED is expressed using the prefix حَـ which is added to the present form of the verb, just like سَـ  in MSA, as in these examples:

MSA (present)                                                ED (present)                ED (subjunctive/future)

يَفْهَم ‘he understands’                                       يِفْهَم                            حَيِفْهَم  ‘will understand’

يَبِيْع ‘he sells’                                                      يِبِيْع                             حَيِبِيْع  ‘will sell’

تَسْمَع ‘she listens’                                              تِسْمَع                           حَتِسْمَع  ‘will listen’

نَفْتَح ‘we open’                                                   نِفْتَح                             حَنِفْتَح ‘will open’

Levantine Dialect (LD) اللَّهْجَةُ الشَّامِيَّة:

In LD, indicative mood is also expressed using the prefix بـْ added to the present form of the verb. It essentially like the بِـ in ED, except that in the case of LD, the prefix of the present is accompanied by sukoon, rather than kasrah, fatHah, or dammah, as in these examples:

MSA (present form)                           LD (present form)                   LD (indicative)

نُنْكِر ‘we deny’                                      نِنْكِر                                          بْنِنِكر

أَتَّصِل ‘I call’                                          اِتَّصِل                                         بْاِتَّصِل

تَلْبَس ‘she dresses’                              تِلْبَس                                         بْتِلبَس

يَعْرِف ‘he knows’                                 عْرِف                                         بْيِعْرِف

بْـ means that the action takes place at the time of speaking. Another way to express indicative mood is by using the particle عَمْ which is followed by the present form of the verb in LD. Besides expressing the present, it also indicates the continuity of the action, i.e. present continuous action, as in these examples:

MSA (present)                                    LD (present)                            LD (indicative/continuous)

تُجَرِّب ‘you try’                                     تِجَرِّب                                         عَمْ تِجَرِّب ‘is trying’

يَحْكِي ‘he says’                                      يِحْكِي                                         عَمْ يِحْكِي ‘is saying’

تُدَوِّر ‘she looks for’                              تِدَوِّر                                         عَمْ تِدَوِّر ‘is looking for’

نُفَكِّر ‘we think about’                           نِفَكِّر                                         عَمْ نِفَكِّر ‘is thinking about’

As to the subjunctive mood, i.e. the future action, it is expressed using the particle رَحْ followed by the present form of the verb in LD, as in these examples:

MSA (present)                                    LD (present)                            LD (subjunctive/future)

تَعْمَل ‘you do’                                       تِعْمَل                                          رَحْ تِعْمَل ‘will do’

أَقُوْل ‘I say’                                           إِؤول                                          رَحْ اِؤول ‘will say’

يُسَافِر ‘he travels’                                يٍسَافِر                                         رَحْ يِسَافِر ‘will travel’

تُشْغِل ‘you preoccupy’                        تِشْغِل                                          رَحْ تِشْغِل  ‘will preoccupy’

Gulf Dialect (GD) اللَّهْجَة الخَلِيْجِية:

The form of the verb that expresses indicative mood in GD is the same as that of MSA, except that final diacritical marks are not assigned in the case of singular forms, as in these examples:

MSA (indicative, i.e. present)                         GD (present/indicative)

أَشْرَبُ ‘I drink’                                                  أشْرَب

يَأْكُلُون ‘they eat’                                               يَأْكُلُون

تَسْمَعِيْن ‘you hear’                                            تَسْمَعِينْ/تِسْمِعِين

يَزُوْرُ ‘he visits’                                                 يِزِوْر

Unlike ED and LD, in GD the subjunctive mood, i.e. future action, is expressed using the prefix بْـ (بْـ becomes بِـ before نـ and تـ of the present) which is added to the beginning of the GD present form, as in these examples:

GD (present/indicative)                       GD (future/subjunctive)

أَشْرَب ‘I drink’                                      بَشْرَب ‘I will drink’ (أ is treated alif wasl, hence dropped)

يَرْقِصُون ‘they dance’                           بْيَرْقِصُون ‘they will dance’

تِسْمَعِيْن ‘you hear’                                بِتَسْمَعِين ‘you will hear’

يِشُوف ‘he watches/sees’                    بْيِشُوف ‘he will watch/see’

Future is also expressed using the particle رَحْ followed by the present form of the verb, as in these examples:

أَشْرَب ‘I drink’                                      رَحْ أَشْرَب ‘I will drink”

يَرْقِصُون ‘they dance’                           رَحْ يَرْقِصُون ‘they will dance’

تِسْمِعِيْن ‘you hear’                                رَحْ تِسْمِعِين ‘you will hear’

يِشُوف ‘he watches/sees’                    رَحْ يِشُوف ‘he will watch/see’

ED is spoken in Egypt, northern parts of Sudan, and some eastern parts of Libya. LD is spoken in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and some western parts of Iraq. GD is spoken in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and certain parts of Oman and Yemen. It is worth noting that some variations from country to country, and even within the same country, exist within each dialect group. More on this and other aspects dialectal variation will be talked about in future posts.