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Common Greetings in Spoken Arabic (1) Posted by on Oct 9, 2020 in Arabic Language, Pronunciation, Vocabulary

Today, I have a short video clip from “Arab Idol”, an adapted version from the original show – American Idol. The clip comprises of short four conversation where each contestant كل متسابق introduces him/herself before the audition تجربة الأداء.  You can use this clip to practice and brush up on your spoken Arabic skills regarding common greetings and the basic phrases usually used when meeting someone, you already know or for the first time. The post consists of two parts. This first part focuses on the first two conversation and the next one will focus on the other two.

Image by Mariam Soliman on Unsplash.com

The variety of Arabic used in the clip is a mixture of a few Arabic dialects as each judge كل حَكَم is from a different Arab country (Lebanon  لبنان, Bahrain البحرين and Egypt مصر) and they also tend to accommodate to that of the contestant.

 

Below, you will find a transcription of each conversation, translated into English. For those who would like to know how to say the lines of each conversation in Modern Standard Arabic, you will also find that provided at the end of this post.

 

You can watch the clip here >>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT3Lr2u0_no

 

المحادثة الأولي

First Conversation:

١: مساء الخير

Good evening.

 

٢: يعطيكم العافية

May Allah grant you health/ wellbeing.

 

٣: أهلين، وعليك العافية

Hello, you too.

 

    يوسف خالد علي    

Youssef Khaled Ali.

   

    إنت أردني؟    

You’re Jordanian?

 

٢: بالزبط

Exactly.

 

٣: عايش بالكويت

You live in Kuwait.

 

    تفضل سمّعنا    

Please, start (let’s listen to you).   

= = = = = = = =

المحادثة الثانية

Second Conversation:

١: هاي

  Hi.

 

٢: كيفك؟

How are you?

 

١: الحمد لله

Thank God (I’m well).

   

٢: خبّرينا عن حالك؟

Tell us about yourself.

 

١: أنا اسمي خولة منجاد

My name is Khawla Mingaad.

 

       من المغرب   

From Morocco.

 

   وبحبّكم كلكم   

And I love you all.

 

٢: ميرسي

  Thank you.

  

    يلّلا، سمّعينا   

Come on, start (let’s listen to you). 

= = = = = = = =

Spoken Arabic > Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)

In this section, you will find the Standard Arabic equivalent to each line of the conversation above.

Please note that many phrases may stay the same as there are common ones that are readily taken from MSA and are used in everyday/spoken Arabic.

 

المحادثة الأولى

First Conversation:

 

١: مساء الخير

    مساء الخير

 

٢: يعطيكم العافية

    عسى أن تكونوا بعافية

 

٣: أهلين، وعليك العافية

    أهلًا، عسى أن تكون بعافية أيضًا

 

    يوسف خالد علي

    يوسف خالد علي

   

    إنت أردني؟

    هل أنت أردني؟

 

٢: بالزبط

    فعلًا

 

٣: عايش بالكويت

    هل تعيش في الكويت؟

 

    تفضل سمّعنا

    تفضّل، أسمعنا 

= = = = = = = =

 

المحادثة الثانية

Second Conversation:

١: هاي

مرحبًا

 

٢: كيفك؟

   كيف حالكِ؟

 

١: الحمد لله

    الحمد لله

   

٢: خبّرينا عن حالك؟

   أخبرينا عن نفسك

 

١: أنا اسمي خولة منجاد

    اسمي خولة منجاد

 

    من المغرب

    من المغرب

 

وبحبّكم كلكم

   وأحبّكم كلّكم

 

٢: ميرسي

    شكرًا لكِ

  

    يلّلا، سمّعينا

    هيّا، أسمعينا

= = = = = = = =

See you in the next part of this post for the rest of the conversations 🙂

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About the Author: Hanan Ben Nafa

Hi, this is Hanan :) I'm an Arabic linguist. I completed my PhD in Linguistics - 2018. My PhD thesis was entitled Code-switching as an evaluative strategy: identity construction among Arabic-English bilinguals. I'm also a qualified public service translator & interpreter.


Comments:

  1. Sadi:

    Thank you!! Ioa I will be learning Arabic from blogs and posts like yours.. is it possible you can also add how to pronounce the words on your post.. it would be much appreciated!! Thank you!

    • Hanan:

      @Sadi Glad to hear that.

      For this post, you could go to the video attached and listen to the dialogues 🙂