Lebanese Arabic Reference Grammar
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Sounds
Chapter 2 - Morphological Principles
Chapter 3 - Verb Patterns and their Inflection
Chapter 1: Sounds
Transcription
| Symbol | Arabic letter
|
ʔ
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b
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t
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θ
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ž
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ḥ
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x
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d
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ð
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r
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z
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s
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š
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ṣ
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ḍ
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ṭ
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ẓ
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ʕ
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ġ
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f
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q
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k
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l
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m
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n
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h
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w
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y
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Labial Obtruents: b, (p), f, (v)
b: Similar to English b
p: Occurs in loan words, e.g. pyaːno
f: Similar to English f
v: Occurs in loan words, e.g. braːvo
Plain Dental Obstruents: d, t, z, s, (ð, θ)
d: Similar to English d but the tongue generally touches the upper teeth.
t: Similar to English t but the tongue generally touches the upper teeth.
z: Similar to English z.
s: Similar to English s.
ð: Like English th in 'this', but rarely used in Lebanese Arabic.
θ: Like English th in 'thin', but rarely used in Lebanese Arabic.
Palatal Obstruents: ž, š, (g), k
ž: As in English jungle without the initial d sound. As in the French j sound
š: As in the English sh sound or the French ch sound
g: Like English g in give. Mostly occurring in loan words, e.g. sigaːra
k: Like English k
Post-Velar Obstruents: x, ġ, q
x: Voiceless Velar Fricative. Like in German Bach or Scottish Loch.
ġ: Voiced Uvular Fricative. Like the Parisian r. Stronger than Spanish g in lago.
q: Voiceless Uvular Stop. Doesn't occur often in Lebanese Arabic because q in Standard Arabic words is replaced by ʔ in Lebanese Arabic most of the time.
Pharyngeal Obstruents: ḥ, ʕ
ḥ: Voiceless Pharyngeal Fricative. Not to be confused with h or x.
ʕ: Voiced Pharyngeal Fricative.
Laryngeals: h, ʔ
h: Similar to English h with more breath exhaled
ʔ: Glottal Stop. Like the interruption in the middle of the English interjection 'oh-oh!'
Resonants: m, n, l, r
m: Similar to English m
n: Similar to English n
l: Similar to English l in "link"
r: Aleveolar Trill.
Velarization/Pharyngealization: ṭ, ḍ, ṣ, ẓ, , ṃ, ṇ, ḷ, ṛ, ˀ
The dot below these letters denotes that they are pronounced with the back of the tongue narrowing the velar and pharyngeal passages when compared to the plain counterparts without a dot.
Vowels
ɪ
Only short, like in English "bit". E.g. mɪš
i
Long
, like in English "mean". E.g. kiːf
Short
, a shorter version of . Doesn't exist in English. Similar to French "ici", e.g. diraːse
e
Long Short
u
Long , like in English "food". E.g. ruːḥ
Short <ʊ>, like in English "bush". E.g. mudiːr
a
Long Short o
Long Short
Chapter 2: Morphological Principles
The Arabic stem morphology is based on applying roots to patterns. Roots are a set of three or four consonants that convey a semantic meaning, e.g. [k,t,b] convey meanings of writing and form words with meanings such as "to write", "book", "library", "writer", "writing desk", etc. Patterns form the backbone on which roots can build up into words. They consist of sequences of consonants and/or vowels. Traditionally in Arabic, three exemplary root consonants are used as place-holders in patterns to denote where would the root consonants occur. These consonants are [f,ʕ,l] for triradical roots (those with three consonants) and we will use the consonants [f,ʕ,l,m] for quadriradical roots (those with four consonants). We will carry on this convention here. For example, faʕal is a pattern that consists of the first root consonant, followed by an 'a', followed by the second root consonant, followed by another 'a', and then by the third root consonant. Combining the root [k,t,b] with the pattern faʕal results in the word katab, which means "he wrote".
Chapter 3: Verb Patterns & Their Inflection
Triradical verb patterns are traditionally numbered from Pattern I to Pattern X. The perfect form of the 3rd person masculine singular is sufficient to generate the complete inflection table of the verb in patterns II to X, so these verbs will be cited only using this form in the dictionary. Verbs of Pattern I need to be cited using two forms: the perfect and the imperfect indicative of the 3rd person masculine singular, e.g. faʕal, byifcul; or alternatively using the stem vowels of these two forms, e.g. (a, u).
Example: tarak, byɪtruk: "to leave". Following is the inflection table of katab, a model verb of this category. We will show the position of the accentuated syllable by displaying the accentuated vowel as superscript.
Num
| PG
| Perfect
| Impf. Ind.
| Impf. Sub.
| Imprtv
| Pronoun
|
Sing
| 3m
| katab
| byɪktub
| yɪktub |
| "he"
|
| 3f
| katabɪt | btɪktub
| tɪktub |
| "she"
|
| 2m
| katabɪt
| btɪkɪtub | tɪktub | ktoːb
| "you"
|
| 2f
| katabte | btɪkɪtbe
| tɪkɪtbe | ktɪbe
| "you"
|
| 1
| katabɪt | bɪktub | ʔɪktub |
| "I"
|
Plur
| 3
| katabo | byɪkɪtbo | yɪkɪtbo |
| "they"
|
| 2
| katabto | btɪkɪtbo | tɪkɪtbo | ktɪbo | "you" Pl
|
| 1
| katabna | mnɪktub | nɪktub |
| "we"
|