farida Abu-Haidar
Christian Arabic of Baghdad
Otto Harrassowitz · Wiesbaden
Semitica Viva · Band 7 Herausgegeben von Otto Jastrow
Farida Abu-Haidar
Christian Arabic of Baghdad
1991
Otto Harrassowitz · Wiesbaden
Farida Abu-Haidar
Christian Arabic of Baghdad
1991
Otto Harrassowitz · Wiesbaden
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Abii-Haidar, Farida: Christian Arabic of Baghdad I Farida Abu Haidar.Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz 1991 Semitica viva ; Bd. 7) ISBN 3-447~3209-X NE:GT
© Ono Harrassowitz · Wiesbaden 1991 Das Werk einschlieBlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschiitzt. Jede Verwenung auBerhalb des Urheberrechtsgesetzes bedarf der Zustimmung des Verlages. Das gilt insbesondere fiir Vervielfaltigungen jeder An, Ubersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und fiir die Einspeicherung in elektronische Systeme. Gedruckt auf saurefreiem Papier der Fa. Nordland Papier GmbH, Dorpen/Ems. Reproduktion, Druck und buchbinderische Verarbeitung: Huben & Co., Gottingen Printed in Germany ISSN 0931-2811 ISBN 3-447-03209-X
CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................... XI INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................
1
1. PHONOLOGY .................................................................................... 1.1 Consonants .. ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... . .. .... .. . ...... ... ...... 1.1.1 The treatment of t and other LA interdentals . ...... ... ... ... 1.1.2 The treatment of LA r ... ...... ... ......... ... ...... ......... ... ... ... ...... 1.1.3 The treatment of q ............................................................ 1.1.4 The velar stop g................................................................. 1.1.5 The glottal stop ? ............................................................... 1.1.6 The loan phonemes p and 1.1.7 Emphatics ............................................................................
7 7 7 9 11 11 12 13 13
c .............................................
1.2 1.2.1 1.2.2 1.2.3
Vowels ................................................................................. The short vowels ................................................................ The long vowels .................................................................. Diphthongs ................................................... ........................
16 16 17 18
1.3 1.3.1 1.3.2 1.3.3 1.3.4
Syllabication ......................................................................... Monosyllabic forms ............................................................. Disyllabic forms ............ ........................ .............................. Trisyllabic forms ................................................................. Polysyllabic forms ......... .............................. ...... ... ...............
21 21 21 23 23
1.4 1.4.1
Vowel quantity and quality ................................................ 24 The vowel in disyllabic, trisyllabic and polysyllabic forms 24
1.4.2 1.4.3 1.4.4 1.4.4 .1 1.4.4. 2
27 28 /mala ........................... :........................................................ 29 Medial imiila .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... .... ... ... ... ... 29 Word-final imiila ........... ........................ .............................. 30 il i
> i5. ················································································· > e ............................................................. ............ .........
Contents
VI 1.4.5 1.4.6
The treatment of the reflexes of LA -ti2 ....................... 31 The effect of gemination on vowel quantity ... .. .... ... ... .. . 31
1.5 1.5.1 1.5.1.1 1.5.1.2 1.5.2 1.5.3
Elision and consonant clusters ......................................... Consonant elision................................................... ............ The elision of h- ................................................................ The elision of a geminate consonant ............................... Vowel elision ...................................................................... Consonant clusters . ... ... ... ...... ... ...... ... ... ... . .. ... ... ... ... ...... ... ...
1.6
The voicing of s and $ ...................................................... 35
1.7 1.7.1 1.7.2
Assimilation . ... ... ... ... .. . ... ... ... .. .... ... ... .. . ... ... ..... .... .. ....... ... ...... 36 Assimilation of g .... .. ....... ... ...... ...... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... ... ... ... ... 36 Assimilation of 1 ........ ...... ......... ...... .. ....... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 36
1.8
Stress assignment ..................... ........................ ......... ... ...... 37
1.9
Intonation ............................................................................. 39
2. MORPHOLOGY ................................................................................ 2.1 The verb .............................................................................. 2.1.1 Triradical verbs ................................................................... 2.1.1.1 The perfective aspect .................... ........................ ......... ... 2.1.1.2 The imperfective aspect . .. ... . .. . ... ... ... ... ...... ... ... ... ... .. . ... ... ... 2.1.1.3 The imperative .. ......... ...... ............ .. . ... ... ...... ... ... ... ... ...... ... ... 2.1.1.4 Derived stems ... ... .. . ... .. .... ... .. . .. . ... ... ...... ...... ... ... ... ... .. . ... ... ... 2.1.2 Quadriradical verbs . ............... .................................... ......... 2.1.2.1 Derived stems .. . ... ... ... ... .. . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...... .. .... ... .. .... ... ... ...
32 32 32 33 33 34
42 42 42 42 44 47 47 53 54
2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2
Participles . ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... ...... ... ... ... ... ... ...... ... ... ... .. .... ...... .. . 60 The active participle . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ...... . ... ... .. . ... ...... ... 60 Th e passtve . partlctp . . le ....................................................... . 62
2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.2.1 2.3.2.2
The The The The The
noun .................................................. ...... ..................... substantive ................................................................... adjective ....................................................................... comparative ................................................................. superlative . ..................................................................
63 63 67 69 69
Contents
VII
2.3.3 2.3.3.1 2.3.3.2 2.3.3.3 2.3.4 2.3.4.1 2.3.4.2
Gender ................................................................................. The feminine of adjectives of colour and defect ........... The feminine marker -iiyi ................................................. The feminine marker -ayyi ................................................ Number ................................................................................ The dual............................................................................... The plural ............................................................................
2.4 2.4.1 2.4.2
Numerals ... ... ... ... ... .. . .. .... ... ... .. ... .... ... .. .... ... ... ... ...... ... ... ...... ... 78 Cardinal numbers ....... ...... .................................... ...... ... ... ... 78 Ordinal numbers ........ ........................ .................. ...... ... ... ... 79
2.5 2.5.1 2.5.2 2.5.2.1 2.5.2.2 2.5.3 2.5.4 2.5.5 2.5.6 2.5.7
The pronoun ......... ... ... ... ... ...... .. ...... .... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... ... Subject pronouns ....... .......................................... ............ ... Object pronouns ..... ... ........................ .................. ............... Direct object pronouns ..................... .................. ............... Indirect object pronouns .................. .................. ............ ... Double object pronouns ..................................................... Possessive pronouns ........................................................... Demonstrative pronouns .................................................... The relative pronoun .......................................................... Interrogative pronouns .......................................................
2.6
Adverbs ................................................................................ 82
2.7
Prepositions ......................................................................... 83
2.8
Conjunctions ............... ......................................................... 83
3. SYNTAX ........................................................................................... The verb phrase .. ...... ...... .. .... ...... ...... ...... .. .... ...... ...... ......... 3.1 The perfective .. .... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... ... ... ... ... ...... .. .... ... ... ... ... ... 3.1.1 3.1.2 The imperfective ......................................... ........................ 3.1.3 Verbal particles ................................................................... 3.1.3.1 The particle preceding the perfective ............................. 3.1.3.2 Particles preceding the imperfective .... ...... .... .. ...... ...... ... 3.1.4 Auxiliary verbs .. ...... ............ ......... ............ ........................... 3.1.4.1 Auxiliary verbs with the perfective .... ... ...... .............. .... ... 3.1.4.2 Auxiliary verbs with the imperfective ...... ...... ...... .... .. .. ... . 3.1.4.3 Other auxiliaries ..... ... ......... ... .... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... ... .. .... ...
70 72 72 72 73 73 74
80 80 80 80 80 81 81 81 81 82
84 84 84 86 87 87 88 90 90 91 92
Contents 301.404 3.105 301.5.1 3.10502 3.106 3.106.1 301.602
Double auxiliaries ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo The imperative 00000 000000 00 0000 000 000000 000000000 000 000 000000 000 000 00000 0ooo 000 000 The simple imperative 0000 Oo 0000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000000 000 000 000 The compound imperative 0000000 000 000000 ooo oooooo ooo 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 The participle 0000 000 000 000 000 oooooo 000 000 ooo ooo 000 000 000000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000000 The active participle oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo The passive participle 00 000 ooo oooooo ooo 000 ooo ooo 000 000000 ooo ooo 00 oooooooo 00 000
93 94 94 94 95 95 97
302 302.1 30202 30203 30203.1
The noun phrase 00000000000000 000000000000000000000000 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Concord oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 000000 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Adjectives as substantives ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Possession 000000 000000000000000 oooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 000000000 000 Cardinal Numbers ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
· 99 101 103 103 108
303 The closed-system items oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.oooooooo 110 30301 Articles oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 110 303.1.1 The definite article ........................ 00 .................................. 110 303.102 The determination marker fagad 00 ............................ 00 ...... 111 30302 Pronouns ooooooooooooooooooooooooo .... o.. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 112 30302.1 Subject pronouns OOoooo ................ oo .. ooooo ................................ o 112 3030202 Direct object pronouns ................ ooooo ........................ 0oo ...... 113 3030203 Indirect and double object pronouns ........ 00000000 ........ 0000000 114 3030204 The anticipatory pronominal suffix OooooooOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooo 116 Prepositions oooooooooooooooOOOOooOOOooooOOOoooooOooOooOooo ........ oo ............ OOooO 117 30303 Conjunctions ........ OOooooooOOOOOOooOOooooooOO .................. o.. oooo ........ o 117 30304 Interjections .. o.. oooooooooOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOoooooooooooo 119 30305 Vocatives .... o.. oooooooooooooooooooooo .............. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo .... 120 30306 304 The sentence oooooooo .......... o.. o.......................... oo .... o.. oooo ........ o 121 The declarative sentence .... 00 .... 00 ................ 00 .................... 121 3°4.1 3°401.1 The simple declarative sentence ...... oo .. oooooooo .......... 00 ........ 122 3°4°1.1.1 The nominal sentence ........ 000000 0000 .... 0000 .... o.............. 00 .... 00 .. o 122 3°4°1.1.2 The verbal sentence oooo .......... o...... oo ................ oo .... oo .... ooooooo 123 3°4°1.2 The complex declarative sentence ...................... 00 .......... 0 125 3°4°1.3 The compound declarative sentence o.......... oo .. oooooo .......... o 127 3°4°2 The negative sentence ............ oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo .......... o 128 3°4°2.1 The simple negative sentence oooooooooooooooooo ........ oo ............ 00 128 3°4°2°2 The complex negative sentence 00oooooooo .......... ooooooooooooooooooo 130 3°4°2°3 The compound negativ~ sentence .. 00 .... 00 .......... 00 .... 00 ........ 130 3°4°3 The interrogative sentence ooo .............. oooo .............. oo .... oo .... o 131 3°4°3.1 Interrogative sentences initiated by interrogative particles 131 OO . .
Contents
IX
3.4.3.1.1 Exclamatory and rhetorical questions .............................. 3.4.3.2 Declarative questions ......................................................... 3.4.3.3 Tag-appended questions .................................................... 3.4.3.4 Negative interrogative sentences ...................................... 3.4.4 Adverbs and adverbial clauses .......................................... 3.4.4.1 Adverbs as modifiers ......................................................... 3.4.4.2 Adverbs as clause constituents ........................................ 3.4.5 Cleft sentences ...................................................................
133 134 135 136 137 138 138 141
4. CB: A BRIEF SOCIOLINGUISTIC SURVEY ............................... 143 4.1 Triglossia vs. diglossia ....................................................... 143 4.2
Variation within CB ............................................................ 146
4.3
Levelling or non-levelling .................................................. 149
5. TEXTS WITH TRANSLATIONS AND NOTES ............................. 151 6. GLOSSARY ....................................................................................... 184
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................... 201
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the preparation of this wo.rk I had the good fortune of reestablishing contact with a number of Iraqi childhood friends. I am extremely grateful to all of them for sharing their intimate knowledge of their dialect with me. My thanks are especially due to Dr Ghanim Akrawi, Mr Sabah Ayyub, Dr Malak Ghannam, Mrs Salam Khayyat and my mother, Dr Guzine Rasheed, for their invaluable help. Mrs Leila Corti, nee Ghannam, deserves special thanks. She took a keen interest in my work, and with an objective eye went over most of the examples and texts, making a number of useful suggestions. I am also indebted to Sister Rose de la Passion, formerly of the Presentation Convent, Baghdad, for the help she gave me. Sister Rose sadly died in Apri11990. Professor Nicola Ziadeh of the American University of Beirut showed an interest in my work during its early stages. He very kindly put me in touch with Father J-M Fiey to whom I should like to express my warmest thanks. During one of the worst periods in Lebanon's recent history, Father Fiey took the trouble to write to me and to give me a great deal of information from his vast knowledge of Iraq and its Christian inhabitants. At a time when I was getting ready to transfer the final draft of my work onto a computer, I was pleasantly surprised when Professor Otto Jastrow let me know that the final formatting of the text would be done at the Seminar flir Sprachen und Kulturen des Vorderen Orients of the University of Heidelberg. It was Miss Beate Ridzewski who undertook the cumbersome task of doing the computer typesetting. I am immensely indebted to her and to the Seminar for this much appreciated help. My debt to Professor Jastrow is beyond measure. It was he who first suggested that I explore the rich and practically untapped field of Christian Baghdadi Arabic, Since I started work on this book Professor Jastrow has been, at one and the same time, editor, mentor and friend. His scholarship, deep insight into the languages and dialects of Iraq, and his many valuable publications will remain a constant source of inspiration for me and for all those working in this particular field.
INTRODUCTION There are more than 1,000,000 Christians in Iraq, 1 many of whom hail from the north of the country, an area which still has villages made up entirely of Christian inhabitants. A number of Christians live in central Iraq, mostly in Baghdad which has the largest concentration of Christian churches anywhere in the country. Shortly before the Gulf War, it was estimated that there were no less than a hundred churches in Baghdad. 2 In southern Iraq, Christians are to be found in the province of Basrah. Basran Christians trace their presence in the country to the Caliphate of cumar (c. 634-644) when non-Muslims were driven out of Arabia and sought refuge in Iraq and other neighbouring countries. 3 Northern and central Iraqi Christians are either Arabic or neo-Aramaic speaking, 4 while those of the south are predominantly Arabic-speaking. There are also in Baghdad and Basrah Armenian-speaking communities, descended from Armenians who fled from Turkey and the Caucasus and settled in urban centres in Iraq in the early decades of this century. The largest Christian sect in Iraq is the Chaldean with 750,000 adherents. 5 Next in numerical importance is the Assyrian or Nestorian sect. Before the fifth century A.D. the Christians of Iraq were independent of the Byzantine Church. They had their own episcopal see, and were all Aramaic-speaking. In the fifth century they adopted the doctrine of Nestorius (c. 380-451), patriarch of Constantinople from 428 until 431, when he was deposed as a heretic by the Council
2 3 4
5
In the official census of 1987 the number of Christians in Iraq was given as 1,200,000. See also The Times of 26 December 1990, and Le A1onde of 25 January 1991. See The Times, 26 December 1990. Personal communication. Many Basran Christians I spoke to claim to be of Arabian descent. There are several mutually intelligible neo-Aramaic dialects in Iraq. For ease of reference I have called the spoken language neo-Aramaic and the liturgical language Syriac. See Le A1onde, 25 January 1991.
2
Introduction
of Ephesus for teaching that there were two distinct natures in Christ, the human and the divine. The Nestorian Church flourished in Iraq until the sixteenth century when a rift among its adherents occurred in 1552. A number of Nestorians broke away to unite with Rome, thus forming what has come to be known as the Chaldean Church. Those who did not unite with Rome are known to this day as Nestorians. Although in communion with Rome, the Chaldean Church has preserved its own Syriac liturgy. An indigenous Christian group, the Jacobites, numbering between 10,000 and 15,000 live in northern Iraqi villages, as well as in urban centres like Mosul, Baghdad and Basrah (Marr 1985: 11). The Jacobite Church, whose name derives form Jacob, Bishop of Edessa (d. 578), was founded in the sixth century A.D., and adheres to the Monophysite creed, holding the belief that there is only one nature, the divine, in the person of Christ. This doctrine was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and is regarded as heretical by both the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches. In recent years, however, a number of Jacobites have been received into one of the Uniate Churches. Like the Chaldean and Nestorian Churches, the liturgical language of the Jacobite Church is Syriac, although the majority of its adherents are Arabic-speaking. The Syrian Catholics, who are larger in number than the Jacobites (Harris 1985: 63), are Uniates who broke away from the Jacobite Church between the fifteenth and seventeenth century. Most of the Armenians of Iraq are Orthodox Christians, although there are some Armenians who are in communion with Rome. Other Christian sects in Iraq are the Greek Orthodox, the Greek Catholic and the Latin Catholic. 6 There are also small numbers of Protestant denominations, among them Seventh Day Adventists. These Protestants are, in all likelihood, fairly recent converts from Eastern Christian sects, the result of American and British missionary work in the Middle East. The Arabic-speaking Christians of Baghdad appear to be a wellestablished community. Their dialect is a sedentary variety of Arabic which evolved "from the Arabic vernacular of medieval Iraq", unlike
6 The Eastern branch of the Roman Catholic Church is known as Latin Catholic (kati5lfk liitfn) in Iraq and the Levant.
Introduction
3
the Muslim dialect of Baghdad which is more recent, and of Bedouin provenance, (Jastrow, 1978: 318). It is difficult to determine with any precision when Christians settled in the capital. The fact that maps of Baghdad, dating from the seventeenth century, 7 refer to a distinct Christian area on the East bank of the Tigris as the Christian quarter, is sufficient proof that there must have been a substantial number of Christians living in Baghdad at that time. Even in the present century when the capital grew and people began to intermix communally, some districts remained predominantly Christian. These were usually built around the various churches in the city. It might be relevant to add here that up until the mid-1960s there used to be a street, with old dilapidated houses, in the Battawiyyin quarter, known popularly as 1Agd il-Na~ara "the Christians' Street". This street must at one time have been made up entirely of Christian inhabitants. When the whole area came to be redeveloped the street had no more than two or three Christian families living in it. 8
Previous studies Before Haim Blanc's monograph, Communal dialects in Baghdad, appeared in 1964 and drew attention to the existence of three distinct communal dialects, namely Muslim, Christian and Jewish, studies of Christian Baghdadi Arabic (CB) were limited to two articles published at the beginning of this century. The first, by the Reverend Gabriel Oussani, written in English, appeared in the Journal of the American Oriental Society in 1901. It was entitled 'The Arabic dialect of Baghdad". The second, by Yusif Ghanima, written in Arabic and entitled "Al-Amthal al-1ammiyya fi 1-bilad al-1/raqiyya", was published in Al-Mashriq in 1906. In the latter article Ghanima lists a number
7 In Longrigg (1925) there is a seventeenth century map of Baghdad showing both a Jewish and a Christian quarter. In Massignon (1914) there is an undated map of Baghdad where the Jewish quarter is referred to as ljarat al- Yahiid and the Christian quarter simply as Na~lira. 8 Personal communication. Ibrahim Mirkhan, a Christian newsagent, who had a shop for many years in the Battawiyyrn quarter of Baghdad, said that when the residents of rAgd. al-Na~lira vacated their homes before they were demolished, it was found that there were no more than "two or three" Christian families living in a street which was at one time made up almost entirely of Christians.
4
Introduction
of popular Iraqi proverbs, among them some in CB. In the footnotes, the author points out certain CB, as well as Muslim (MB) and Jewish Baghdadi Arabic (JB) features, thus providing an element of comparative dialectology. Oussani's article, however, is by far the more important of the two, being closer in scope and format to later dialectological analyses. It is, in fact, a synchronic study of CB, divided into three main parts under the headings "phonological notes", "morphological notes", and "lexicographical notes". A short selection of Baghdadi proper names and their caritative forms adds a sociolinguistic dimension to the work. The article ends in a specimen CB text in vocalized Arabic script, followed by a transliteration in Latin script, and a translation in English. Although Oussani concentrates on CB, he occasionally refers to both MB and JB. In spite of his sketchy treatment of the dialect, Oussani's work is of particular diachronic interest to students of CB, primarily because some of the forms he gives are no longer current in the dialect of today. An article by Louis Massignon, entitled "Notes sur le dialecte arabe de Bagdad", and published in the Bulletin de l'lnstitut franqais d'archeologie orientale du Caire in 1914, should be mentioned here, since Massignon enumerates a few CB forms. The author provides a lot of information on the spoken Arabic of Baghdad, including proverbs, cries of street vendors and S'ild-accompanied songs and their modes. Massignon states that there are seven different dialects in Baghdad, two Sunni Muslim, one Christian, one Jewish and one Bedouin. He does not mention the remaining two. Massignon's knowledge of dialectal Arabic, however, appears to be highly questionable. For example, he lists a few CB words as Sunni Muslim, and seems to be totally unaware of the salient features of CB, notably the non-occurence of the interdentals t. d. and d. and the replacement of r by g. . One of the best works on CB up to date is Blanc's Communal dialects in Baghdad. The interesting theme of the book is the division of the Muslim, on the one hand, and the Jewish and Christian dialects, on the other, into two groups which Blanc called galat and qaltu respectively, coined from the first person singular of the perfect of the verb "to say". This categorization has been adopted by subsequent scholars. Communal dialects in Baghdad, although brief on syntactical datp, has become an important landmark in Arabic dialectology in
Introduction
5
general, and a valuable document on the hitherto little known CB dialect in particular. Blanc points out similarities between CB and other qaltu dialects, notably a dialect in the Urfa province. It was not until 1978, however, when Otto Jastrow's comprehensive work on qaltu dialects, Die Mesopotamisch-arabischen qaltu-Dialekte, appeared that one could get a full picture of the Mesopotamian dialect geography, including CB and its place in the wider context of the qaltu dialect continuum. Jastrow divides qaltu dialects into three main groups, the Anatolian, the Euphrates and the Tigris, and sets CB and JB in the Tigris group, along with the Arabic dialects of Mosul and Tikrit.
The present study Most of the data for the present study were collected between February and December 1987, after Professor Otto Jastrow invited me to contribute a monograph on CB for the Semitica Viva series. CB is a dialect I spoke throughout my early years in Iraq, and which I still speak whenever I am in the company of Christian Baghdadis. As I was unable to be in situ, I asked two CB friends in Baghdad to make recordings for me of the speech of fellow Christians. This they did, using nine informants, five men and four women. I myself made recordings of the speech of eleven CB speakers residing in England, four men and seven women, and one woman living in Italy. The informants in Baghdad are all native Baghdadis, with parents and grandparents who were all born in Baghdad. Nine of the CB speakers I recorded are at least third generation Baghdadi, while two were born in Basrah but moved to Baghdad at the ages of nine and thirteen respectively. This study is primarily a synchronic one, most of the material being divided into three main sections, on phonology, morphology and syntax, a procedure now common in a number of dialect studies. I have also included twenty texts transcribed from recordings of spontaneous speech in order to give some idea of the sentence structure of this dialect. As far as I know, the only CB texts available in print are the one in Oussani's article, and five others which appeared in my article, "Maintenance and shift in the Christian Arabic of Baghdad", published in Zeitschrift fiir arabische Linguistik, 21, 1990.
6
Introduction
CB speakers are generally bidialectal, speaking CB with fellow Iraqi Christians only, and MB with those from other communities. 9 Many educated CB speakers can be called triglossic, seeing that they use three different varieties of Arabic, CB, MB and literary Arabic (LA), for three different communicational purposes. Because it is primarily an in-group code, used within the confines of a specific domain, CB remained for a long time relatively free of LA interference. In recent years, however, with the growing need to use forms referring to novel items, or expressing abstract concepts, CB has had to borrow from LA to fill many lexical gaps. A number of these loans have been simultaneously diffused into both CB and MB in their unassimilated LA forms. In light of this, I have supplied a short final chapter dealing with the dialect from a sociolinguistic perspective.
9 According to Blanc (1964: 9), JB and CB "are spoken respectively by Jews and Christians largely at home with coreligionists, while M, the dominant dialect, is used in public in intercommunal situations by the many Jews and Christians who have a command of it." Ferguson (1959: 325) says that Christian Baghdadis speak "a 'Christian Arabic' dialect when talking among themselves ... and the general Baghdad dialect 'Muslim Arabic' when talking in a mixed group."
PHONOLOGY
1.1 Consonants The following table is an inventory of CB consonants, including those which occur in loanwords only: Plosive Labial Labiodental Dental Interdental Emphatic Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngal Glottal
p
b
t
d
Fricative Affricative w
f s
Liquid
Nasal m
r
n
z !
t
4
$.,
., c
s
., g
y k q
g
?
X
g
J:z
S'
h
1.1.1 The treatment of t and other LA interdentals In CB, unlike MB or JB, the LA interdentals t, g and g are replaced by their corresponding dentals t, d and 4 respectiveiy. Dentals for interdentals appears to be a CB characteristic, since JB and most qaltu-dialects retain the interdentals. The only other instance where this feature has been noted is in Diyarbakir (Jastrow, 1978:34-38). LA t
CB uiyyal tamara 1 tdlat
MB tayyal tamara talat
"lawn" "fruit" "third"
1 As in the ave maria, tamarat batniki yassor, "the fruit of thy womb Jesus"·
Phonology
8
LAg
LA
d
CB
JB
kttg taq{[ talat
kt{g tq{[ talt
CB
MB
dabb dahab hada
dabb gahab haga
CB
JB
del adda ida
g{l agga {ga
"tail" "to hurt" "if'
CB
MB
rf.ahag harf.am {agar/.
duhur hadam fir ad
..noon"
CB
JB
rf.agab /:16.44-ag
dd.gab l:zciddag ~-'d gz.,.
~agerf.
"a lot" "heavy" "a third"
"to throw" gold" "this"
.
"to digest" "to compel"
"to hit" "to prepare" "broad"
In CB t tends to occur in some proper names and LA loanwords which have not been fully assimilated to the sound system of CB. Blanc (1964:19) found that "a good many of the younger generation" were introducing interdentals into their speech "as a result of school and majority influence." Among my informants the realization of t is fairly widespread, as in the following loanwords and proper names:
taJO.ttur tawra atat tayatar
"influence" "revolution" "furniture" "theatre"
tarapi "therapy" butayna "Buthayna" (f. proper name) tamar "Thamir" (m. proper name)
Consonants
9
The occurence of g appears to be less widespread. In my data two informants realized the following two LA loanwords with g:
mugfl mugakkirdt
"broadcaster" "memoirs"
Some CB speakers tend to realize d. in certain forms in order to distinguish them from corresponding forms with d which convey different meanings, as, for example,
galt! gahan gdgga agan
"servile" "mind" "to nourish" "permission"
dalll dahan gddda adan
"(telephone) directory" "fat" (n.) "to give lunch to s.o." "ear"
The interdental 4 is hardly ever used by CB speakers who tend to realize 4 even in LA loanwords like the following:
rj.ag{f "charming, witty" murj.ahagat "demonstration" S:arj.{m "great" nar,lam "Na~im" mundrj.r,lama "organization" (m. proper name) 1.1.2 The treatment of LA r A feature which distinguishes CB and JB from MB is the realization of LA r as g. Most MB forms with r have g in the corresponding CB forms. CB gado gassal) gahbi fges begad !;dggaf /:ldgg l)am{g tabaS!g 2
MB radaw rdssal) rahba fras barad !;drraf l)drr l)am{r tabas{r
2 This form occurs also as
"they wanted" "to elect" nun" "bed" "cold" (adj.m.s.) "to change (money)" "heat" . "donkeys" "chalk"
..
ta~lisfg
with emphatic f.
Phonology
10
However, in the close contiguity of g, reflex of LA vowel, r is sometimes realized by CB speakers.
garib gara4
grab 3
"strange" ragwi "purpose, object" rogan "crow"
g, and a back
"foam, lather" "patent leather"
Where g and r are separated by a front vowel or [a], as opposed to [a], LA r is realized as g.
geg zgegi gagbll gayyag 0
..
0
"other" "small" "sieve" "to change"
< < < <
gayr
LA LA LA LA
0
J
~agzra
girbal gayyara
There is a tendency among a number of CB speakers to realize LA r as r, especially in borrowings from LA, (cf. Blanc, 1964: 21).
tamara tawra bun1d musta8ar rat!b
"fruit" "revolution" "coldness" "adviser" "monotonous"
tara22us
"management" , capital, fund" "gibberish" "sedate, imperturbable"
ra~ld
ratana rak{n
In forms corresponding to LA -qr- and -xr-, r is often assimilated to q and x respectively.
q X
1aqqoqa 1aqqabi axxas 1-Hxxi
"frog" "scorpion "dumb" "the other"
..
MB LA LA LA
1agrugga 1aqraba axras al-uxra
3 In· the speech of some idiolects r is assimilated to g giving ggab.
Consonants
11
t.1.3 The treatment of q q is a hallmark of _CB and ~f a number of qaltu-dialects. q frequently corresponds to g m galat-d1alects.
CB qcilab qabbi gciqabi gciqa[f gaqfa scilaq lci(ll:zaq bcigqaf
MB gcilub gt1bba rr.igba raga[f rr.igfa salag lci/:z/:zag bcirgaf
"heart" "room" "neck" "to dance" "a patch" "to boil" "to reach" "to cover"
1.1.4 The velar stop g g is rare in CB occuring mostly in non-Arabic loanwords and proper
names. It is ordinarily found in initial position, followed by another consonant, forming a two-consonant cluster (CC). g sometimes occurs in medial position, but hardly ever in final position.
ggam ggilp
glob glti[j
gges gladas sagogra sagaga
"gram" "group" "light bulb" "glass, beaker" "Grace" (f. proper name) "Gladys" (f. proper name) "insurance" "cigarette"
< k is realized in the contiguity of b or d in some Arabic words. Jastrow (1973:15 and 1978: 47) has noted this feature in the dialect of Mardin. He cites g
g
Phonology 1.1.5 The glottal stop '1 '1 occurs in medial position in forms corresponding to LA forms with medial hamza, and in final position in some Arabic feminine proper names with the ending -02. medial position s-'1-1
f-'1-1 f-'1-d w-'1-1 ?-1-m ?-d-b ?-g-r
> > > > >
> >
sti?al su?til as?ala matfti?a1 fu?ad wti?a1 mat?allam m?addab t?aggag
"to ask" "question" "questions" "optimistic" "Fu:)ad" (m. proper name) "Wa:)il" (m. proper name) "in pain, upset" "polite, well-mannered" "it is let (house, etc.)"
sana? gaga? hayfti? lamyti?
"Sana:)" (f. proper name) "Raja:)" (f. proper name) "Hayfa:)" (f. proper name) "Lamya:)"(f. proper name)
final position
In nominal forms corresponding to the LA feminine ending -ti.?, ? is usually elided, and the final vowel -ti. is shortened to -a, unless the form in question is an adjective of colour or defect when the long vowel is retained. 4
-{i
LA samrti.? saqrti.? /:lam raJ CJamyii.? bawla? S:argiiJ
4 See 1.4.5 below.
> > > > > >
CB samgti. saqgti. /:lamgti. CJamyti. /:li5lti. 1aggti.
"dark-skinned" "blonde" "red" "blind" "cross-eyed" "lame"
Consonants
al-2adra? sam a? . "dti? gz_ $a/:lrti?
-a
> > > >
l-2adga sam a gada $a/:lga
13
"the Virgin" "sky" "lunch" "desert"
1.1.6 The loan phonemes p and c occur frequently in non-Arabic loanwords. There are a number of forms in which both phonemes occur. Older forms with p and are derived mostly from Persian and Turkish, while some contemporary forms are loans from European languages. p and
c c
p and
c
paca pagcam pancag
"tripe" "fringe (hair)" "puncture"
pacata cagpayi
"napkin" "iron bed"
paket pagda p/Qw plan opaga
"packet" "curtain" "rice" "plan "opera"
qapag pantagon og6ppa ld.ppa qapput
"lid" "trousers" "Europe" moist rice coat"
",. cagax cangQl cayyak
"wheel" "fork" "to check"
came a cola
"ladle" "hopscotch" "fault"
p
c
.
$UC
. .
.
1.1.7 Emphatics Emphatic consonants (<;:) in CB can be divided into two main groups, primary and secondary emphatics. The primary emphatics are t. 4 and $. corresponding to the non-emphatic consonants t, d and s respectively. As in most Arabic dialects, t. 4 and $ tend to effect backness in the syllables they occur in, so that [a] is invariably realized as [a]. Thus compare:
t tag tayyag
"to fly away" "pilot"
tag tayyag
"vengeance" "current, trend"
Phonology
14
xarag /:latta [fa qat
"to jump" "danger" "he put it (f.s.)" "to fail (examination)"
r;fafu1n r;lagab r;lagafn1ni nar;farrz /:lar;fr;la garrzrrzar;f
"sole (shoe)" "to hit" "they hit me" "to compose" "her luck" "to close one's eyes"
dabclng dagab dagbuni nadam /:ladda 5'ammad
"blockhead" "way, road" "alley" "to regret" " near her" "to baptize"
[janam [jafag na[j{b rrzQfilub rrzcl[jfi qafa[j qafifi
"statue" "to slap" "fate, destiny" "hanged" "to suck" "cage" "to cut"
san am satan nas{b mas!Ub mass nafas qass
"hump (camel)" "satin" "son-in-law" "snatched" "to touch" "breath" "priest"
.tafiag·
tafal xatal /:latta sakat
"to "to "so "to
spit" hide" that" be quiet"
r;l
$
t.
r;l and $, moreover, remain emphatic in all environments, even when they precede or follow a front vowel. teg )afag [jam(t r;lalam nar;l{f
"bird" "perfume" "sesame bread rings" "oppression" "clean"
ber;l [jed na[j{b naqa[j
"eggs" "hunting, shooting" "fate, destiny" "lack, defect"
The secondary emphatics are the consonants b, 1, m, and n which become emphatic ((J, /, rrz and ~) only when they are in the contiguity of an emphatic and a back vowel. b
> 9
ta9fa(J r;la(Jan
ffa99
"to pat s.o." "sole (shoe)" "to pour"
Consonants
15
>l
40.!! t!atta'ias ~alla
"to stay" "thirteen "to pray"
m > rrz
4arrzrrz tarrzata
"to hide (tr.)'' "tomato" "to stay the course"
l
.
~arrzax
n
>
{1
{la{i{laf qatta{l
"to clean" "to become mouldy" "quiet"
~a{lta
l, m and n in initial open syllable are rarely realized as emphatics, even when they precede a back vowel adjacent to a primary emphatic. This is in contrast to MB and other galat-dialects where !. rrz and {1 are nearly always realized as emphatics in the contiguity of a back vowel and a primary emphatic or r. Thus compare: CB
MB
ltitam
!ataf!!
lei {lam
!adarrz Jata'i rrzutar
ZO.ta'i matag
...
ma~eg
rrza~{r
magi maga na{lafa
rrzadi rrzara {ladafa
...
n~aga
{l~ara
natog
{llifUr
"to strike oneself in lamentation "to thread" "to lick" "rain" "destiny" past" "woman" "cleanliness "Christians" "guard, watchman
.
.
.
..
In CB b behaves differently from the other three consonants in that it is frequently emphatic when preceding a back vowel adjacent to a primary emphatic. pa~at
fJata! pa~al
paton
"to strike, to hit" "hero, tough man" "onion" "stomach"
fJatata fJadat fJa~at
"potato" "she laid (an egg)" "buses"
Phonology
1U
1.2 Vowels 1.2.1 The following are the short vowels in CB: i
a
0
u
1.2.1.1 i ordinarily occurs in open final syllables and is realized mid-way between [i] and [1]. It has a long equivalent i.
scini gabti scimaki
"year" "you (f.s.) brought" "fish"
'lciqqabi "scorpion" bancifsagi "purple"
i occurs sometimes in open initial syllables like the following:
ida iddga
"if' "office, management"
imdga isdga
"principality" "sign, signal"
1.2.1.2 a is realized as [ 1] and occurs in closed and non-final open syllables.
fcigad gag!a tayyagatna banat
" one
.
"her foot" "our aeroplane" "girl"
¢;hag malatu adan aban
"noon" "his" "ear" "son, boy
..
1.2.1.3 a is realized as [a] in the contiguity of non-emphatics and non-gutturals.
ana "I" sama "sky" samsayyi "umbrella"
mcidgasi nazciltu bandtam
"school" "I went down" "their daughters"
In the contiguity of emphatics and gutturals a is realized as [a].
'laqqoqa 'lagab mcf..tag
"frog" "Arabs, bedouins" " ram . "
(Jcitgak qarrzrrzat taqtaqa
"patriarch" "to swaddle (baby)" "clacking noise"
Vowels
17
1 2.1.4 0 is rare in CB. It occurs sometimes in final open syllables ·receded by /:t, S', q or g. o is also found in closed syllables followed ~y a geminate consonant. This vowel has a more frequently occurring long equivalent, 6.
ga/:to naqS'o lciqo
"they went" "they moistened" "they found"
toppa b6bbi $6ppa
"ball" "doggy (child talk)" "stove"
1.2.1.5 u occurs in unstressed open final syllables and has a long equivalent, a.
betu gabnanu /:talu
"his house" "we brought him" "nice, attractive" (m.)
S'andu smaS'u
"he has" "listen!" (p.)
1.2.2 The long vowels in CB are:
a 6.
1.2.2.1 i occurs in non-final open and final closed syllables.
silan gztu mtik{na hon{ki
.
"date syrup "you (c.p.) came" "machine" "there"
"figs" tln $aned{q "boxes" maweS'{n "plates, dishes"
1.2.2.2 e is of frequent occurence in CB and has no short equivalent. It occurs in open and closed syllables in all positions.
se beS'a nes /:twes
"thing" "church, chapel" "people" "clothes"
gegi male /:La dageb{n dab ben
"hen"
"good" (f.s.) "alleys" "flies"
Phonology
18
1.2.2.3 a occurs in most positions in stressed and unstressed, open and closed syllables. It is realized as [a:] in the contiguity of emphatics and gutturals. In a non-emphatic, non-guttural context it is realized as [a:].
gab tagma 5 balk on 6 -""""· qasoga
"he went" "verandah" "balcony" "spoon"
ta5'anu soda xar;Jga tagsa
"he gave him" "black" (f.s.) ..green.. (f .s. ) "deaf' (f.s.)
1.2.2.4 i5 is far more common in CB than in either MB or JB. It occurs in both stressed and unstressed, open and closed syllables.
go!J
$10/J nqo5' matbot;
"go.'" (m .s). "roofs" "dried apricots" "printed" (m.s.)
honfki masloqa laqqonu ya!Jkon
"there" "boiled" (f.s.) "they found him" "they speak"
1.2.2.5 il occurs ordinarily in stressed, open and closed syllables.
mr1 sat sufu slr1qi
. not" .. ,. ( m.s. ) . see. see.,. ( p. )
dam bUs qayqr11 magnr1ni
"pin" "he says, he is saying" "mad" (f.s.)
"greyhound"
1.2.3 Diphthongs LA diphthongs aw and ay are ordinarily realized as i5 and e respectively.
LA
CB
aw
ldw fdwq
>
zo
> {Oq
"if' "up, upstairs, on top of'
5 This is the name given to a brick or tiled porch-like platform by a front or side door of a house, reached by a flight of steps from outside the house. It is customary for most Baghdadi families to sit on a fligma on summer evenings. 6 This is a verandah or a balcony accessible from inside a house. It is usually on the first floor of a two-storey house.
Vowels
mtiwga xawf
> mogayi > xof
"a wave" "fear"
ayna say{ bay{fa? ray/:tan
>wen > fief > be{la > ge/:tan
"where" "summer" "white" (f.s.) "sweet basil"
19
ay
(Ocimum basilicum) LA diphthongs aw and ay occur sometimes in forms which have not been fully assimilated to CB.
aw rawnaq kawkab
tawra raw{ia
"revolution" "kindergarten"
bu/:tdyra butayna l6.yla saytan
"lake" "Buthayna" (f. proper name) "Layla" (f. proper name) "rascal, Satan"
"splendour, beauty" "star", "Kawkab" (f. proper name)
ay
Diphthong ay occurs in compound forms where the negative particles
Ia and ma are followed by a 3rd pers. imperfective verb. In word junction the long vowel of the particle is shortened.
Ia Ia ma
+ + +
ygo/:t > ysufu > yxalaf >
laygob laysufu mayxalaf
>
mayqulun
ma + yqiilun
"let him not go" "let him not see him" "never mind {lit. "it does not go against")" "they do not say"
The more common diphthongs in CB are of the aww, aww, ayy, ayy variety, where the phoneme w or ·y is geminate.
aww
"inside, downstairs" "strength" "they visit her" "they asked for her"
gawwa qawwa yzugawwa talabawwa aww
fdwwat "he let pass" at~awwag "I think, imagine" tzawwagat "she got married" sawwafat "she showed" ayy hayyi xattayyi
"she" "poor thing!"
masi/:layyi "Christian" (f.s.) /;Jattam)yyi "blanket"
fayy tayyab
"shade" "tasty" (m.s.)
nayyam CJagayyas
ayy
"asleep" (m.s.) "brides"
There are also a few forms in CB which end in -tiy and -6y. These are mostly loanwords. -tiy
cay hay
"tea" "this" (f.)
amay ~agdy
-6y oy an exclamation of annoyance boy "waiter, manservant" sabboy "stock" (Matthiola incana)
"enamel" "palace"
Syllabication
21
1.3 Syllabication Syllables in eB are of the ev, ev, eve, eve, eev, evee, eeve patterns. 1.3.1 Monosyllabic forms There are four types of monosyllabic forms. These are ev, eve, cvee and eeve. Cv
CvC
mu
..,
.
Iii
"not" "no"
b{g nes qiim
"well" moz "bananas" "people" tilm "garlic" "to get up, to start doing s.t."
se
"thing"
In eveC forms -ee is usually geminate.
kall dabb gass /:labb
"every" sarr "bear" (zoo.) wtizz "cheating" /:ltigg "earthenware vat gagg for keeping water cool"
"river" "geese" "heat" "to pull"
There are no forms corresponding to the LA pattern eve 2 e 3 like Mnt "girl"; /:ltirq "burning"; rob1 "quarter", etc. eB forms derived from LA eve 2 e 3 have an anaptyctic vowel between e 2 and e 3 , and are classified as disyllabic forms, as for example, banat "girl"; /:ltigaq "burning"; gaba) "quarter"
eeve dgOS
fges ktlg
an old measure, approximately a yard q!Ub "hearts" "bed" zbo1 "week" "very, a lot"
1.3.2 Disyllabic forms Disyllabic forms occur frequently in CB. The following are some common patterns with examples:
Rtonaiogy vCv CvCv
CvCv
CvCvC
CvCvC CvCvC
CvCvC CvCCv CvCCvC
ana sam a sani honi baqa qugi xabaz Ciatas
"I" "sky" "year" "here" "bouquet" "teapot" "bread" "to sneeze"
/:lama4 /:lagas 1aglb
"sour" "guard" "strange"
begad seba1 faq(g
"shy"
mal€/:1
"bell" "neighbours" "wheat" "to leave' to let" "all of you" "pistachio"
taboq ~abun kalbi ganni maCimal bagban
naqo~ 7
gzgan /:lanta xalla kalkam fastaq
cangal "fork" maggan "coral" naggag "carpenter" CCvCv ngaga "carpentry" tmeni "eight" CCvCCv mxaddi "pillow" nqalli "we fry" CCvCCv mbeg/:la 8 "yesterday" nxabgu "we telephone him" ccvcvc fgesat "beds" CCvCCvC msefg(n "travelling" (p.)
CvCCvC
alu nasa
gcigu b(nu qamu gi11i matag nabaq
"to him" "to forget" "puppy" "in it (m.)" "they got up" "shepherd" "rain"
(Zizyphus spina Christi) (bot.) "cold" "seventh" "beggar" (n.), "poor" (adj.) "good"
"bricks" "soap" "bitch" "paradise" "factory" "variety of dates with large fruit" "box, trunk" ~anduq zamb(l "wicker basket" "thirsty" Cia,San "three" tli1ti "bottles" fJtuli bqaddi "my age, my size" m/:labbi "love, affection" msefga "travelling" (f.s.) "we befriend him" n~adqu "thirty" tlet!n mtalbln "demanding" (p.)
7 This refers to church and hand bells. An electric bell is called gaga~ (p. gga~). 8 Oussani, op. cit., 111, gives mbe/:la. In my data some of the older speakers used mbe/:la, but the majority tended to use mbeg/:la where g < LA r of al-biiri/:la is retained.
Syllabication
23
J.3 Trisyllabic forms e are also a large number of nominal and verbal trisyllabic for~s of which _the following patterns, with examples, are the most frequently occurmg:
~
CvCvCv CvCvCv cvcvcv CvCCvCv CvCCvCv
scimaki tcilabu !:zagiimi na!fiiga /:llilubi mii.k{na mcidgasi scixtaci bazzuni fagketa
gawemiCJ taniiwal CvCvCvC basetfn ma!fiig{n CvCCvCvC qagnabq kastabiin CvCvCCvC CJagciyyaz mahcindas CvCvCvC
"fish" CJcigali "they demanded" nciga/:lu "thief, burglar" gal:ziisi "Christians" ma/:liimi "hailstone" qasoga "machine" goCJani "school" mcitbaCJa "cheat" (n.) qandaga "cat" maqtata "hair-grip" xastiiwi "mosques" "communion" "gardens" "intestines" "cauliflower" "thimble" "old women" "engineer"
"speed, haste" "they succeeded" "asses" "lawyer" "spoon" "hungry" (f.s.) "printing press" "shoes" "pencil sharpener" "best variety of dates" madegis "schools" maniit;fag "glasses" tabli.s{g "chalk" ta!fiiw{g "pictures" CJankabut "spider" maCJdanos "parsley" CJagciyyas "brides" ma!fciwwag "photographer"
1.3.4 Forms of more than three syllables are not very common in CB. The majority are compound nominal and verbal forms.
!:zalilbayi CJagabiinat mil male/:la kgafas al-b{g
"a hailstone" "horse-drawn carriages" "not good" (f.s.) "maidenhair fern"
(Adiantum capillus-veneris) 1-magdalayyi gahannamayyi astagiikayyi ma (iagabniiham
"Mary Magdalen" "bougainvillea" "socialism" "we did not hit them"
24
Phonology la tat~awwagon magtahdin yiiham sawwafnayyiinu
"do not imagine" "they are hard-working" "he showed it to me"
1.4 Vowel quantity and quality 1.4.1 In disyllabic forms where both syllables are short, and the final syllable is closed, the vowels are of the a, a; a, a or a, a variety.
a a nazal CJcitab satatJ
aa kabag naCJas l{Jbas
"to go down, to descend" namas "to blame, to reprove" qdl:zat napa{! "to cross out"
"to grow" "to be sleepy" "to wear"
)agas masat sa /:lag
"freckles" "dearth, scarcity" "pulse"
"wedding" "comb" "magic"
a a mciga~
sadag m~ag
"pain (stomach)" "turquoise" "Egypt"
qcimal /:Ieiba I ~cipag
"lice" "rope" "patience"
In CvCvC forms the vowel of the initial syllable is short before i and e, but long before ii and 6 .
vi ~allb
/:lallb /:lablb
v
"cross" "milk" "beloved"
na~{b
"way, road" "broad" "good"
~al:ze/:1
xaf{b mab{{f
"fate, destiny" "fiance" "ovary"
e tageq c;a:ge{f male/:I
qa~eg
qabe/:1
"true, correct" "short" "ugly"
Vowel quantity and quality
va siliin gigan jtgan
"date syrup" "neighbours" "mice"
gtilan gogab rogan
"hungry" "sock, stocking" "patent leather"
"bell" "bricks" "sitting-room, drawing-room"
fa{On maS'on natog
"aluminium" "plate, dish" "guard, watchman"
25
ii 6 naq6~
ta96q !fa!on
Where the vowel in -eve is a the vowel of the initial syllable is usually a. There are, however, eveUC forms with an initial short vowel, a. These are ordinarily adjectival forms corresponding to the LA faS'al pattern. There are also a few eveae forms with an initial short vowel, a. The majority of these forms are loans from LA.
aa xatiin kag;Jz tawas a
yaqi1t /:lalub !fa pun
"ruby" "hail" "soap"
"shy" "ambitious" "content, easy-going" "an open day for social visits among women"
/:lasi1d mahi11
"envious" "excellent, very good"
"attack, onslaught" "entrance, entry" "sunset"
kosi1f xasi1f /:lag;Jb
"solar eclipse" "lunar eclipse" "wars"
a xagi11 tami1/:l qani1S' qabi11
a
"lady, madam" "preacher" "peacock"
a hagum daxUl go rUb
In trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic forms, with sequences of three and four short vowels respectively, the vowels of the first two syllables are invariably a.
Phonology
LO
aav
samaki madgasi katabna
"fish" "school" "we wrote"
ldbasu fagdyyas tfdllamat
"they wore" "brides" "she learnt"
katabatu katabatla bahdalatu
"she wrote it" "she wrote to .her" "she reprimanded him"
aavv
fagayyazna "our old women" faqagati "my vertebra" madgasatu "his school"
The short vowel of an initial syllable in trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic forms is frequently a. 3 syllables
xa:taga ma:tatag gaweg{n bayyiiWn
"loss, waste" "rulers" "neighbours" "vendors"
malyani /:lazzoga makbubi taCJanu
"full" (f.s.) "riddle" "spilt" (f.s.) "he gave him"
"horse-drawn carriage" "my earthenware jug" "they beat him" "we carried him"
:tadiiqatam maweCJ{nam ma8iikalna l)adiqatam
"their friendship" "their plates" "our problems" "their garden"
4 syllables
CJagabana bastoqati {lagapunu /:lamalnanu
There are some forms of more than two syllables, however, in which the short vowel of the initial syllable is a. a occurs mostly in the initial syllable of CvCCvCv and CvCvCa type trisyllabic forms.
maqtata xastawi sallayi gabtr1nu
"pencil sharpener" "best quality dates" "pen nib" "you brought it"
saftlnu faqaga sagaga tagaga
"you (f.s.) saw him" "poor" "cigarette" "trade, commerce"
Vowel quantity and quality
t.4.2
a>
6
27
.
In the contiguity of the gutturals /:1, x, 2, g and q the long vowel is ordinarily o where a might have been expected. Thus compare:
CB go/:1 mat!Jox nqoS' ~oga
bastoqa CB
mafto/:1 fgox zboS'
MB "go!"
ru/:1 matpux ngUS'
"cooked" (m.s.) "dried apricots" "picture" "large earthenware jug"
~ura
bas tUga LA
"open" "chicks, young birds" "week" "small bird, sparrow" "boiled" (m.s.)
maftU/:1 furox us buS'
S'a~[Og
S'u~{Ur
mas!Oq
mas!Uq
a > o is a phonological feature which has been well documented throughout. Noldecke (1898: 33) 9 found it in Syriac. Oussani (1901: 101) was the first to draw attention to it in CB, followed by Blanc (1964: 41) 10 who recognized it as a feature "peculiar to" CB. Jastrow (1978: 63) found it in Anatolian dialects, as well as in Bahzani and the spoken Arabic of Mosul. The following are more examples of ii > o in CB: X
"roofs" "it (f.) emanates"
yassoS' maSon malS'on
"Jesus" "dish, plate" "rascal"
m~!ox
yxot
niitog ~abboga
/:lazzoga
"skinned" "he stirs"
"watchman" ''blackboard" "riddle"
9 "Nicht selten scheint iibrigens ein. ostsyrisches o erst aus a verfarbt zu sein, namentlich in der Nahe eines Gutturals oder r." 10 Blanc gives examples of a > o before 1:1. q and g, without mentioning for X.
tiiron yiltafon
"plague" "they lick"
talgon
"to work in gold or silver" "you (p.) chatter"
q
masqof yalqon malqof niiqO$ nr;ioq
"grilled fish" "they find" "grabbed, seized" (m.s.) "bell" "we taste"
This feature applies also to loan words: CB
MB
qiisoga pantagon
qiisugal xtisuga pantari1n
"spoon" "trousers"
Where LA a is realized as a in pre-guttural position is in LA faCiUl type forms which have been borrowed by CB. Thus, it is tamu/:1. "ambitious"; $abul:z "radiant, bright (face)"; qanuCi "content", and not tamo/:1., $abo/:l, qanoCi. These loans from LA, it should be stated, are rare. 1.4.3 i > e In forms ending in -CvC(v) the long vowel is e, in pre-guttural and pre-emphatic environmentsY
Ciager;i 12 pattex tageq
"wide" (m.s.) "melon" "road, way"
gel:za malel:za zgegi
"smell" "good" (f.s.) "small" (f.s.)
11 Jastrow (1978: 63) refers to both rJ. > o and i > e features as Senkung. Examples of i e in CB are given by both Oussani (1901: 101) and Blanc (1964: 41), although the three examples cited by Blanc (viz. mate/:1, ~ahe/:1, ge/:la) are of e before the guttural phoneme /:1 only. 12 Oussani Ooc. cit.) gives ragerf., while Blanc (1964: 81) gives ragtr/..
>
Vowel quantity and quality
29
1_4.4 Imala Both medial and word-fi~al imala are common in CB, a feature it shares with other qaltu-dmlects. t.4.4.1 Medial imiila Medial imiila (-e-) occurs in non-emphatic environments, in nominal forms.
kleb tmeni gaweg{n
"dogs" "eight" "neighbours"
dab ben l)awegib masek{n
"flies" "eyebrows" "poor, pitiable" (p.)
No imiila occurs in post-emphatic environments.
tgab xatrag matabax
"dust" "guests" "kitchens"
qmag [U$6.t{n ma:fatag
"gambling" "dresses" "rulers"
In CaCaCv type nominal forms no imala occurs.
yatami gasami kasali
"orphans" "ignorant" (p.) "lazy"
/:lagami ga/:lasi nQ$aga
"thief' "asses" "Christians"
In nominal and verbal forms of the pattern CvCi(C), corresponding to the LA active participle {fa2il), imala occurs in non-emphatic environments. Thus compare:
gema2 lebas weqaf nesi
"mosque" "wearing" "standing" "having forgotten
talab :fabag :fagaf tala2
"student" "patient" "having spent" "having gone out"
Ph~,'
1.4.4.2 Word-final imlila Word fmal imiila (-i) occurs in feminine nominal forms where the corresponding LA forms end in -a (tii2 marbufa). -i occurs in nonemphatic, non-guttural environments. scini J:zalwi scimaki mcidgasi fJa!fiinayyi sayaCJayyi
"year" "pretty" "fish" "school" ''blanket" "communism"
tcigwi faw{/i bazzuni gahbi gahannamayyi ga2asmiilayyi
"wealth" "tall" "cat" "nun" ''bougainvillea" "capitalism"
No imtila occurs, however, in post-guttural or post-emphatic positions. befa xagfta scigaga naqta mcizbal:za taboqa gaqCJa
"church, chapel" fagfia "map" "tree" sayyaga "point, dot" bagc;a "rosary" fJa!fexa "a brick" mas!Oqa "patch"
" opportunity
recreation" "car" "insolent" "a melon" ''boiled"
Word-final imiila, however, occurs after g (< LA r) where the preceding stressed vowel is a front one. "needle" "small"
gb{gi xab{gi
"large; big" "expert; experienced"
No imiila seems to occur in loanwords which end in -a, even where
-a follows a non-guttural, non-emphatic consonant, as, for example, pcigda f!Oda mew a
"curtain" "soda" "fruit"
dondagma fJiifltagma
"ice-cream" "Armenian spicy sausage"
Vowel quantity and quality
31
1. 4.5 The treatment of the reflexes of LA -tiJ As has already been s~~wn in 1.1.5 _abo~e, ~B no_min~l form~, rresponding to LA femmme forms endmg m -tiJ, ordmanly end m 0 ~ short -a, unless they are adjectives of colour or defect, when theY end in a long -a. "cure" safa sama "sky" "evening meal" gada "lunch, tomorrow" S'asa "desert" gana "singing" ~al:zga
but
...
samga zagqa J:zoli1 S'agga
..
"dark" "blue" "cross-eyed" "lame"
soda ~afga
S'amya xagsa
"black" "yellow" ''blind" "dumb"
On suffixation final -a in CvCa/ CvCCa forms becomes
gada S'asa gana
> gadayi > S'asakam > ganaki
~a!:zga
>
~aJ:zgawi
-a.
"my lunch" "your (p.) evening meal" "your (f.s.) singing" "belonging to the desert"
1.4.6 The effect of gemination on vowel quantity The long vowel + hamza in LA Ca::>aC/ CaCa::>aC forms becomes -ay- in MB and -ayy- in CB. Thus compare:
LA na:?am ~a:?am S'aga:?az S'ariflas
MB
CB
ni1yam
nayyam
~ayam
~ayyam
S'agayaz S'arayas
S'agayyaz S'agayyas
"1 as eep "( m.s. ) "fasting" (m.s.) "old women" ''brides"
However, in LA forms which have not been assimilated to CB the long vowel and hamza are often retained, as, for example,
ti12ar gawi12az masi12al
"revolutionary" "prizes" "problems; matters"
There are a few forms also in which -dy- occurs, as, for example, sdyaq sagdyag
"chauffeur" "cigarettes"
qatdyaf
"pastry in syrup"
In CB a geminate consonant frequently causes the shortening of the vowel preceding it. Thus compare: CB bkdyyi hakki tappa b6bbi
MB l)cdya htci to(Ja bobi
~6ppa
~oba
yalqawwa ysiifawwam
yalgr1ha ysiifi1hum
"story" "thus" "ball" "doggy" "stove" "they find her" "they see them"
1.5 Elision and consonant clusters 1.5.1 Consonant elision 1.5.1.1 The elision of hlnitial h- of demonstrative pronouns is elided in word junction when it follows 1- preceded by an anticipatory pronominal suffix. sa[tr1nu ldda < saftr1nu 1-htida "I saw this (man)" tzawwdga ldyi < tzwawwdga 1-hdyi "he married this (woman)" qatgol) wayydham ladoli < qatgob wayydham al-hadoli "she is going with these (people)" tagadawwa lad(ki 1-banat < tagadawwa 1-had(ki 1-banat "they expelled that girl" samaS'tayya lal-astawani < samaS'tayya 1-hal-asr;awdni "Did you (f.s.) hear this record?"
Elision and consonant clusters
33
·fal h- of adverbs of place (honi "here"; honiki "there") and time ~~~~saS' "now") is frequently elided when preceded by particle 1- "to".
-ga loni < aga 1-honi "he came here" ~addanu lonlki < waddanu 1-honlki "he took him there" [assaf ma wa~alu < 1-hassa'l ma wa~a1u 'They haven't arrived yet (lit. until now)" 1.5.1.2 The elision of a geminate consonant In CB three-consonant clusters do not usually occur. Where a monosyllabic form ending in gemination is followed by a form with initial Cv-, at word junction one of the geminate consonants is elided.
gass q~~
T:zagg xarr ~all
T:ztakk nsadd
+ + + +
T:zadiqatu saS'gu bagdad xali
> gas hadiqatu > qa~ saS'gu > !:zag bagdad > xat xali
+ + +
h' _ayyt. blnu S'alenu
> > >
~al T:zdyyi T:ztak blnu nsad S'alenu
"he watered his garden" "he cut his hair" "the heat of Baghdad" " my maternal uncle's handwriting" "a young snake" "he provoked him" "it closed on him"
1.5.2 Vowel elision In nominal and verbal forms with a final -CaC syllable, a is elided at word junction where the following suffix or form begins with a vowel.
gahab "monk" + f.s. marker -i > gahbi "nun" /:lama~ "sour" + p. marker -in > T:ztim~ln "sour" (p.) banat "girl" + axuyi "my brother" > bant axuyi "my niece" qasat "instalment" + a1-madgasi "school"> qa~t a1-madgasi "school fees" sagab "drinking" + al-blga "the beer" > sagb a1-b{ga "beer drinking" asam "name" + al-db 13 "the Father" > b-asm al-db "in the name of the Father" 13 The first person of the Trinity is realized as lib, with a long li. and non-geminate b, while abb "father" is realized with a short a and geminate b.
34
Phonology
tagat "it flew" + al-5Wla "the vacation" > tiigt al-t;a!fa "the vacation passed quickly" gill:zat "it went" + al-gemi "the cloud" > giil:zt al-gemi "the cloud has gone" ysafag "he travels" + 3rd pers. p. marker -iln > ysiifgun "they travel" ytagag "he trades" + 3rd pers. p. marker -iln > ytiiggiJ.n "they trade" Where a form ending in -CaC is followed by a form with initial CC-, a is elided, resulting in final -CC, and an anaptyctic or helping vowel is inserted between the two sets of CC.
qasam "part" + gb(g "big" > qasm agb(g "a large part" scihag "month" + sfu1f "February" > sahg aspa_t "the month of February" sa'lag "poetry" + fgansawi "French" > sa'lg afgansawi "French poetry" qamat "she began" + tqa!li "she tells me" > qiimt atqalli "she began to tell me" gill:zat "she went" + tglbu "she gets it"> giil:zt atglbu "she went to get it" However, where a form with final -CaC is followed by a form with initial Cv- or -vC, or a suffix beginning with a consonant, no elision occurs.
qasam "part" + mannam "of them" > qasam mannam "some of them" sa'lag "poetry" + almani "German" > sa'lag almani "German poetry" ba'lat "she sold" + beta "her house" > ba'lat beta "she sold her house" asam "name" + 1st pers. p. pron. suf. -na > asamna "our name" kcilab "dog" + 2nd pers. f.s. pron. suf. -ki > kcilabki "your dog" banat "girl"+ 2nd pers. p. pron. suf. -kam > banatkam "your daughter" 1.5.3 Consonant clusters As can be seen from 1.5.2 above, two-consonant clusters occur in final position when the vowel of a -CaC syllable is elided on suffixation or at word junction. Two-consonant clusters in initial position occur frequently in CB. The following are a few examples:
k.. !sen kte..b "boo , ... "donkey tgab hmag tli1ti
"tongue" qlt1b "hearts" byt1t "houses" "dust" fgox "chicks" zbof "week" tmeni "eight" mqci$$ "scissors" myt1zi "tables"
"three"
Some forms whose first two syllables are of the CaCv- pattern have variants with CCv-, where v of the initial syllable is elided, giving an initial cluster. Both Cacv- and CCv- forms of the same root seem . . 14 to be in f ree vanatwn. nahag qamat saged(b ?Ja$agwa maqe$1$
and and and and and
nhag qmat sged(b 9$agwa mqe$1$ 15
"day" "swaddling clothes" "cellars" "B~rawis"
"scissors"
1.6 The voicing of s and $ In forms where one of the voiceless consonants s or $ occurs immediately before b or d, it is voiced and realized as z. Where it is separated from b or d by a vowel, no voicing occurs. Thus compare: b zb65' zbet; z9af mcizbal:z mcizbal:za z9atafas zbenag
"week" "lions, strong men" "finger" "swimming pool, a Baghdad quarter" "rosary"
aseb(t; sci bat; a$abet; scibal:z
"weeks" "lion, strong man" "fingers" "to bathe, to swim"
scibbal:z
"spinach"
sabf(n scibab
"to count the beads of the rosary in prayer" "seventy" "cause"
"my intention" "friends"
ciq$ad $ad(q
"I mean" "friend"
..seventeen"
d qcizdi azdaqa?
14 Some informants feel that although a number of CaCv- forms are in free variation with CCv- forms, the latter are a recent addition to the dialect, brought about, no doubt, by contact with MB and JB. 15 In my data this form occurs also as mqli~t~ without imlila.
36
Phonology
mazdud azdaf mlizbaga
"closed" "shells" "tannery"
sdddi ~ada[ ~dpag
"barrier" 16 "shell" "to tan"
1.7 Assimilation 1. 7.1 Assimilation of g Where g, reflex of LA r, is adjacent to b, /:1., q or x, it is frequently assimilated to that consonant.
dbba5'a m.be/:l/:la 17 aqqam wdqqa 5'dqqabi 5'aqqoqa lixxas ~
< < < < < < <
agpa5'a mbeg/:la agqam wdgqa 5'liqgabi 5'aqgoqa axgas
"four" "yesterday" " numbers" "leaf, piece of paper" "scorpion" "frog" "dumb"
1.7.2 Assimilation of 1 In CB 1 of the definite article is frequently assimilated to the consonant immediately following it. ~
ax-xaxam aq-qdmag ak-klisa1 am-mlitag hay-yom hab-banat haw-wdqat haq-qliss bam- mlidgasi bab-be5'a baq-qligyi bam-mazem(g
< al-xaxam < al-qlimag < al-klisa1 < a1-mlitag < ha1-yom < ha1-banat < ha1-wdqat < ha1-qliss < ba1-mddgasi < ba1-be5'a < ba1-qligyi < bal-mazem(g
"the rabbi" "the moon" "the laziness" "the rain" "today" "this girl" "this time" "this priest" "at school" "in church" "in the village" "in the psalms"
16 stiddi usually refers to the Tigris barrier, built to stop parts of Baghdad from being flooded. 17 mbel_ta, without gemination, is more common.
Stress assignment
37
Assimilation occurs also _in _kat!_ "every, . each". In pre-consonantal ord junction one 1 of kall 1s ehded, while the other is assimilated ~ the consonant following it.
kas-.M kay-yom kag-gab() kax-xam(s
< < < <
kal-se kal-yom kal-gab(f kal-xam(s
"everything" "every day" every Spring" "every Thursday"
..
1.8 Stress assignment In forms of more than one syllable stress (') usually falls on the penultimate syllable.
xabaz tlciti 18 miik(na mal:zebas sayyaga qaltu nasetu katdbna labdstam ndyyam
"bread" "three" "machine" "rings" "car" "you (p.) said" "you (p.) forgot" "we wrote" "you (p.) wore" "to put to bed"
xabzayi tlatatkam miikinatam mal:zebasna sayyagati qaltr1lna nasetawwam katabnanu labastr1nu nayyamatu
"a piece of bread" "the three of you" "their machine" "our rings" "my car" "you (p.) said to us" "you (p.) forgot them" "we wrote it" "I wore it" "she put him to bed"
Stress falls on the final syllable when that syllable is closed and has a long vowel (v). niiqo~
maftel:z maleh .,_ .... "19 gzgan masloq
"bell" "key" "good" (m.s.) "neighbours" "boiled" (m.s.)
naweq{~
mafot£/:l maleh(n
gaw~gtn19
masloq(n
"bells" "keys" "good" (p.) "neighbours" "boiled" (p.)
18 No imlila occurs in this form in CB, unlike tmeni. Cf. Blanc (1964: 46). In Syro-Lebanese dialects, where medial imiila is a common feature of the spoken language, both forms occur with medial imlila, e.g., tteti, tmeni. 19 gfgtin refers to one set of neighbours, while gawegtn, the collective plural, refers to groups of neighbours.
Phonology
38
makinat qayqUl tgid{n tsufi1n
"machines" "he is saying" "you (f.s.) want" "you (p.) see"
mtikinten qayqu!Un qatgidun ma qatsufi1n
"two machines" "they are saying" "you (p.) want" "you (p.) are not seeing"
In disyllabic forms with two open syllables, stress falls on the final syllable when the vowel of that syllable is long, (v). Thus compare:
bano baqo maso asu hadu CJalu
.,~
"they built" "they stayed" "they walked" "so, I see that..." quiet" "height"
.
ban a bliqa masa CJlisa hada CJlila
"he built" "he stayed" "he walked" "evening meal" "he presented s.o. with" on, on top of'
..
In trisyllabic forms where the vowels of the second and final syllables are short, stress falls on the first syllable.
slimaki sligaga fliqaga faqaga mlidgasi mlizbal:w
"fish" "tree" "vertebra" "poor" (p.) "school" "rosary"
klitabu klissagu llibasat xliggabat tCJlillamat
"they wrote" "they broke (to pieces)" "she wore" "she spoilt" "she learnt"
As can be seen from the above examples, it is only in trisyllabic forms where the final syllable is short, and the second is both open and short, that stress falls on a syllable other than the penultimate or final one. However, in trisyllabic forms, with a sequence of three short vowels, stress falls on the penultimate syllable when it is closed.
ma/:zlilli maglilli samlikna
"district, suburb" saklitna qasmligtu "magazine" "our fish" saklittam
"we kept quiet" "I made fun of' "you (p.) kept quiet"
Intonation
~~Jl;
39
uadrisyllabic forms, with a sequence of four short vowels, stress also on the penultimate syllable.
samakati sagagatam madgasatna mazba/:lati
"my fish" "their tree" "our school" "my rosary"
"she wore it" labasatu xaggabatam "she spoilt them, she wrecked them" t
In compound forms also, final syllable length is associated with stress. Thus, stress falls on the final syllable where it is long and closed. Where the final syllable is short, however, stress ordinarily falls on the penultimate syllable. final (' ) kgafas al-b{g (jalab kiigton qalam piindan ba(j-(jagabiinat la tatkallafi1n ma qatasta/:len
"maidenhair fern" (Adiantum capillus-veneris) "cardboard boxes" "fountain pen" "in the horse-drawn carriages" "don't trouble yourselves!" "aren't you (f.s.) ashamed?"
penult. (') ggedi n-nlixal maniit;fag slimas ~ayyiid slimak layman /:lamat;l mil male/:lin yiiham ralabatlayydnu
"squirrel" "sun-glasses" "fisherman" "lemons" "they are not good" "she ordered it for me"
1.9 Intonation In CB a sentence can occur with a variety of tone sequences. Tone can be divided into three types, rising (/) , falling (.....). and level (-). Tone varies considerably according to speaker and context. In long sentences there are a number of ways tone is expressed, depending on the part of the word or sentence the speaker wants to accentuate. There is less variation, however, in shorter tracts of language. In single or compound forms, made up of not more than five or six syllables, tone ordinarily rises gradually to coincide with stress, before it eventually falls.
40
Phonology
/-...
mbegl:za
"yesterday"
ma saftilnu
"I did not see him"
gal:zna lab-be
"we went to church"
samaStu x-xabag
"I heard the news"
$ayyad samak
"a fisherman"
ba
"in the horse-drawn carriages"
qayatmassa
"he is strolling"
In an interrogative context tone usually rises gradually before reaching a peak. "was it yesterday?"
ma saftUnu
"didn't you see him?"
gal:ztam lab-be
"did you go to church?"
sama
"is he a fisherman?"
ba
"in the horse-drawn carriages?"
qayatmassa
"has he gone for a stroll?"
In an interrogative sentence, introduced by an interrogative particle, tone starts high, before it gradually falls, rising again where a syllable is accentuated.
wen kantam yom ix-xam{s "where were you on ......
Thursday?" swaqat gal:ztam las-s{nama "when did you go to the cinema?"
Intonation
,
__
/
/--
-' - , / ....
-.../-...
ta~allam
as-sayaqa "when are you going to learn to drive?" sanu hay al-l)abbayi S:ala xaddu "what is this spot on his cheek?" kam banat S:andam "how many daughters have they got?" manu qalki ana honi "who told you I was here?" sqadd S:amga tat~awwagen "how old do you think she is?"
yamta gal) .....
41
In non-interrogative sentences tone may be correlated with contextual category, where a stressed syllable has the highest tone.
~-~abal)
"we were here this morning" saftu gozef S:and bet S:ammati "I saw Joseph at my aunt's house" kan fagad se matal l)anni S:alayya "there was something like henna on her" lebs{n nisan S:ala ~adgam "they are wearing medals on their chests"
k{mna honi
gabat gol)a qamt a~ayyat "she fainted (then) started screaming" sabCJan l)al{b ammu man hada mal€1) "he has had a sufficient amount of his mother's milk, that is why he is good" 20
20 sabfan halfb ammu "he has had a sufficient amount of his mother's milk" i~ an idiomatic expression referring to a person who is good and uncomplicated.
MORPHOLOGY 2.1 The Verb Verbs in CB have a root made up of three {C-C-C), or less frequently, four radicals (C-C-C-C). The verbal base forms, or stems, which correspond to Cl. Ar. forms I - III and V - X, 1 are derived from these roots. There are two aspects, the perfective and the imperfective, denoting non-progressive or completive and progressive or incompletive actions respectively. Verbs are classified as strong or weak, weak verbs having hamza. w or y as one of their radicals. Strong verbs have radicals other than hamza or the semivowels w and y. Where the second and third radicals are identical, the verb is called geminate. 2.1.1 Triradical verbs 2.1.1.1 The perfective aspect In CB the base form of the strong triradical perfective Stem I verbs has two morphemic patterns, CaCaC and CaCaC, as, for example, katab "to write"; qatal "to kill"; tagak "to leave"; and labas "to wear"; kabag "to grow"; sagab "to drink". The CB two-pattern base form contrasts with MB and JB which have one base pattern each (MB CaCaC and JB CaCaC). In qaltu-dialects two-pattern perfective verbs are found also in the Anatolian group of dialects. Among the examples Jastrow gives (1978: 148-9) are bazaq "to spit" and qabal "to accept" for Mardin; salaq "to boil" and qasaCJ "to see" for Arbal; dafal "to spit" and tabaCJ "to follow" for Konderib; xasal "to wash" and laCJab "to play" for Qartmin; )agan "to knead" and zabab "to swim" for Azax. In CB, however, CaCaC pattern verbs can also occur as CaCaC (Blanc, 1964: 99). Thus, it is possible to have both sagab and sagab "to drink"; labas and labas "to wear"; kabag and kabag "to grow"; fazaCJ and fazaCJ "to be scared"; S:ata$ and S:ata$ "to sneeze"; bazan and bazan "to grieve", etc.
There are no CB verbs corresponding to Cl. Ar. Stem IV, e.g. aslama "to become a Muslim" a~ba/J.a "to become", etc.
The Verb
43
inate verbs have the morphemic pattern CaCC, as, for example, reply"; sadd "to shut"; madd "to stretch"; /:labb "to love"; ~ass "to cheat"; !:zatt "to put"; ma$$ "to suck"; samm "to smell"; qall ga v • • "t "to decrease" ; gagg o pu 11" ; k abb "t o sp1"11" , t o pour", etc. In weak, hamzated, verbs the hamza can be in initial or medial osition. Where it is in initial position the verbal base form is of the ~orphemic pattern aCaC; akal "to eat" and axad "to take" being the two frequently occurring examples. Medial hamza verbs are rare in CB. as they are in many other Arabic dialects. However, the medial hamza verb which is of common occurrence is sa?al "to ask", with the same morphemic pattern as a strong CaCaC type verb. There are several initial w verbs, among them, wa$al "to arrive"; waS'ad "to promise"; waqaf "to stand"; wagat "to inherit"; wagam "to swell". There appears to be one initial y verb, yabas "to become dry", which is common to most Arabic dialects. Initial w and y verbs have the strong verbal base pattern CaCaC. Medial w and y verbs have CaC as their verbal base pattern, as, for example, qal "to say"; gii/:1 "to go"; qam "to get up"; /:Iii$ "to fidget"; gab "to bring"; $ag "to become"; gad "to want"; !:zag "to be bewildered"; nam "to sleep". In CB there are no final w verbs. There are, however, final y verbs which have a base pattern CaCa, as, for example, bana "to build"; baqa "to stay"; masa "to walk"; /:!aka "to speak"; safa "to recover (from an illness) "; gafa "to fall asleep". In CB, as in most Arabic dialects, there is one doubly weak verb derived from Cl. Ar. g-y-? > gii?a "to come". The CB verbal base pattern for this is ga. Verbs inflect for number and gender. The first person singular and the plural forms are of common gender. The following paradigms give the perfective suffix subject markers. The first column markers are suffixed to strong, hamzated, initial and medial w and y verbs. The second column markers are suffixed to geminate and final y verbs.
?eZ "to
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
CaCaC! aCaC/ CaC
CaCC! CaCa
-tu -at -ti
-etu -et -eti
-at
-at
e
e
44 lcp 2cp 3cp
Morphology
-na
-ena
-tam
-etam -u/ -6
-ul -o
CaCa type verbs have a third person plural suffix 6, as, for example, bano "they built"; ma8o "they walked", while CaCC type verbs take -u, as in maddu "they stretched"; gassu "they cheated". The third person plural suffix of CaCaC/ aCaC/ CaC verbs is ordinarily -u, unless the final radical of CaC verbs is one of the gutturals, l:z, 5', g, x and q, when the third person plural suffix is -o, as, for example,
safu
"they "they "they "they "they "they
bii5'o giil:zo
"they sold" "they went"
CaCaC zaba/:lu aCaC CaC
but
tabaxu akalu axadu qiilu
swam" cooked" ate" took" said" saw"
l:zagaqu
"they burnt"
amagu
"they ordered"
giibu
"they brought"
diixo
"they became dizzy"
The suffix markers of the doubly weak verb gii "to come" are similar to those of CaCC/CaCa type verbs, except that the characteristic long vowel is f instead of e. lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
gftu tit g!ti gii gat
lcp 2cp 3cp
gina g!tam go
2.1.1.2 The imperfective aspect The imperfective aspect of Stem I strong verbs is of the -CCvC pattern, where v is either a or a. According to Blanc (1964: 99), the quality of the vowel "is not predictable from the nature of the radicals involved" except where final -C is 1:z or 5' when v is always a. In my data, however, v is always a in the contiguity of the gutturals 1:z or 5', which can be either in medial (-Cl)vC/ CS'vC) or final position (CCvi:I/ CCvS') to affect vowel quality, as, for example,
45
The Verb -Cl:IVC
all) am azf:!af atf:!an anf:!at asl)ab
-CCv}:l "I solder" amdal) "I crawl" azbal) "I grind" antaf:! angal) "I sculpt" "I withdraw atgal) (money from bank)"
-CS'vC
at5'ab an 'las an'lal ad5'am al5'ab
"I "I "I "I "I
get tired" get sleepy" curse" bump" play"
-eev5' atla'l asma5' aqta5' agma5' atma5'
"I praise" "I swim" "I butt" "I succeed" "I subtract, I miscarry (foetus)"
"I "I "I "I "I
go out" hear" cut" add" become avaricious"
The caracteristic vowel of imperfective strong verbs is ordinarily a, 2 as, for example,
aktab a.Stab atbax anqal adxal
"I "I "I "I "I
write" cross out" cook" copy" go in"
adgas agbat al)gaq anzal aggaf
"I "I "I "I "I
study" tie" burn" go down" shake"
There are a few instances, however, where the vowel of the imperfective is a where it is not in the contiguity of 1) or 5'.
aqdag agkab
"I can" "I ride"
afham aglat
"I understand" "I make a mistake"
Geminate verbs have an imperfective of the pattern -evee, as, for example, asadd "I close"; agass "I cheat"; amagg "I pass by". Medial w and y verbs have an imperfective of the pattern -eve, as, for example, aqill "I say"; ~fg "I become"; anam "I sleep". The affix subject markers of imperfective -eeve, -evee and -eve verbs are set out below:
2 On suffixation a is frequently elided. See 1.5.2 on vowel elision.
Morphology
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
-CCvC atata- fn ya
tanata - iln ya- iln
-cvcc; -eve att- in/ en ytnt- ilnl on y - ilnl on
The imperfective of initial hamza and initial w and y verbs is of the pattern -eve. initial hamza -kal > akal "to eat" -xad > axad "to take"
initial w/ y -qat; > waqaCJ "to fall" -bas > yabas "to become dry"
Where the imperfectives differ is in the affix subject markers, as set out below:
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
initial hamza atata- in yattinata- iln ya- iln
initial w/ y aw-l aytil-/ titil - in/ ti- in yil-1 yitil- I tfnil-/ nitil - ilnl tf - iln yil - iln/ yi - iln
The imperfective base of final y verbs is of the pattern -ec-, as, for example, -bn- > bana "to build"; -bq- > baqa "to stay". The affix subject markers of final y verbs are set out below:
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
ban a a-i ta- i ta- en ya - i ta - i
baqa a-a ta-a ta- en ya- a ta-a
The Verb
lcP
Zcp Jcp
na- i ta- on ya- on
47
na- a ta- on ya- on
The doubly weak verb gti "to come" has the same affix subject markers as bana, except that the third person plural affix is y - on instead of ya - on.
2.1.1.3 The imperative The imperative, used in the expression of commands, is formed from the imperfective. Thus, -ktab < katab "to write" and -smaS' < sama1 "to hear" give aktab (m.s.), ktabi (f.s.), ktabu (c.p.), and asmaS' (m.s.), smaS'i (f.s.), smaS'u (c.p.), respectively. -sadd < sadd "to close" gives sadd (m.s.), saddi (f.s.), saddu (c.p.). -xad
-z "
,.. ( ) (' -z· "
,..
2.1.1.4 Derived Stems Stem II Verbs derived from the same root are often semantically related to each other. Stem II, which is of the pattern CaCCaC, is formed by doubling the medial radical of Stem I verbs. Stem II of geminate verbs (C 1 aC2C2) is formed by adding a vowel a + a consonant, identical to the geminate consonants, to give C1aC 2C2aC 2 . In medial w and y verbs the long vowel of Stem I verbs is shortened and a geminate w or y + a vowel a is inserted before the final radical, thus CaC > CawwaC /CayyaC. Stem II verbs corresponding to Stem I intransitive verbs are ordinarily transitive, as, for example,
48 Stem I nazal sam a) zalJal Ia bas kabag masa baqa gann nam xaf
Morphology
"to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to
go down" hear" become angry" wear" grow" walk" , stay go mad" sleep" be afraid"
Stem II nazzal samma)
zaiTal !abbas kabbag massa baqqa gannan nayyam xawwaf
"to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to
take s.t. down" make s.o. hear" make s.o. angry" dress, to clothe" bring up" make s.o. walk" make s.o. stay" make s.o. go mad" put s.o. to bed" scare, to frighten"
Where a Stem I verb is transitive, the corresponding Stem II verb denotes a more intensive, transitive action, as, for example, Stem I mazaq kasag gadd saqq bas gab
"to "to "to "to "to "to
tear" break" return, to reply" tear" kiss" bring"
Stem II mazzaq kassag gaddad saqqaq bawwas gayyab
"to tear to shreds" "to break to pieces" "to keep repeating" "to tear to shreds" "to give kisses" "to make s.o. bring, to deliver (baby)"
Some Stem II verbs occur without there being a corresponding Stem I verb. In such cases Stem II verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. )ayyan
sagga) kammal l:zaddad
"to "to "to "to
employ" encourage" complete" limit"
)aggal bayyan baddat;
"to hurry" "to appear" "to excel"
The suffix subject markers of the perfective are the same as those for Stem I verbs. The imperfective is of the -CvCC<)C pattern, as, for example, aiaggat; "I encourage"; a)aggal "I hurry"; a)ayyan "I employ"; akammal "I finish", etc. The affix subject markers of the imperfective are the same as those for Stem I strong verbs, except in the second persons
The Verb
49
d third person plural, where the characteristic vowel a and one of ::: geminate radicals are elided, since in CB a three-consonant l~ster cannot stand. Similarly, in the imperative the characteristic ~owel a and one of the geminate radicals are elided in the fs and cp forms. Thus, CvCCaC (ms), CvCCi (fs), CvCCu (cp). Stem III Stem III verbs are formed by the lengthening of the vowel of the first syllable of corresponding Stem I verbs, as, for example, Stem I qata! katab zaCJal CJakas ~akam
"to "to "to "to "to
kill" write" become angry" reverse" judge"
Stem III qiital kiitab zaCJal CJiikas /:liikam
"to fight s.o." "to correspond" "to be angry with s.o." "to oppose" "to prosecute, to bring s.o. to trial
Some Stem III verbs do not have corresponding Stem I verbs, as, for example,
siilJad xiibag siiham
"to help" "to telephone s.o." "to take part in s.t."
ciilas qagas
"to try hard in s.t.'' 3 "to interfere" 3
The most frequently occuring Stem III verbs in CB are derived from Stem I strong verbs. Stem III geminate and weak verbs are rare. The suffix subject markers of perfective Stem III verbs are the same as those of Stem I strong verbs. The affix subject markers of the imperfective ( -CaCaC) are the same as those of Stem I geminate verbs.
3 These two verbs, viz. ciilas and qagas are borrowings from the Turkish verbs cal1$mak "to strive", "to study" and karl$mak "to interfere", respectively.
Morphology Stem V and VI Stem V and VI are formed by the prefixation of t- to Stems II and III respectively, to which they are semantically related. A Stem y verb conveys a reflexive or passive idea, while a Stem VI verb denotes a reciprocal action. Stem II gas sal xaggab sagga'i 'iayyan gattab f:zaggak 'iawwad kallal
Stem V tgassal txaggab tsagga'i t'iayyan tgattab tf:zaggak t'iawwad tkallal
"to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to
tballal tgadda
"to become moist" "to have lunch"
tmassa
"to take a walk"
massa
"to wash" "to wreck" "to encourage" "to employ" "to tidy" "to move" (tr.) "to accustom s.o." "to perform marriage ceremony (priest)" "to moisten" "to give lunch to s.o. "to make s.o. walk"
Stem III katab
"to correspond"
Stem VI tkatab
'iatab wagah f:zagab badal qasam
"to "to "to "to "to
t'iatab twagah tf:zagab tbadal tqtisam
balla! gadda
..
reproach" meet s.o." fight s.o." swap" share"
be washed" be wrecked" pluck up courage" be employed" become tidy" move (intr.)" get used to s.t." get married"
"to exchange letters with s.o. "to reproach one another" "to meet with s.o." "to fight with s.o." "to swap with s.o." "to share with s.o.
.
.
A few Stem V and Stem VI verbs do not have corresponding Stem II and Stem III verbs, as, for example, Stem V tsawwaq "to shop" tmanna "to wish"
Stem VI tbawas tsaqa
"to exchange kisses" "to joke with s.o."
The Verb
51
'fh imperfective and imperative of Stem V and Stem VI verbs are f ~ed in the same way as the imperfective and imperative of Stem 1 ~ and Stem_ III verbs respectively, with the characteristic vowel a becoming a m Stems V and VI. imperfective Stem II a
Stem V aflallam "I learn" taflayyan "she is employed" yat/:laggakan "they move" (intr.)
Stem VI Stem Ill "she corresponds" tatkatab tkatab natbadal nbadal "we swap" yaflataban y
"she corresponds with" "we swap with each other" "they reproach one another"
imperative Stem II
(m.s.), flallami (f.s.), flallamu (c.p.) "learn!"
Stem III katab (m.s.), katbi (f.s.), katbu (c.p.) "correspond!" Stem VI tkatab (m.s.), tkatabi (f.s.), tkatabu (c.p.) "correspond with each other!" Stem VII Prefix n- is added to Stem I verbs to give Stem VII, conveying a passive idea, as, for example, Stem I sa/:laq "to run over" kasag "to break" katab "to write" kabb "to spill"
Stem VII nsa/:laq nkasag nkatab nkabb
"to "to "to "to
be be be be
run over" broken" written" spilt"
52 f}all ban a tafa qtil bti'i
Morphology "to "to "to "to "to
solve" build" extinguish" say" sell"
n.J:zall nbana ntafa nqtil nbti'i
"to "to "to "to "to
be be be be be
solved" built" extinguished" said" sold"
The imperfective is of the pattern -nC3C)C (strong); -nCaCC (geminate); -nCaC (medial wl y); -nC3C3 (final y). The affix subject markers of the perfective and the imperfective are the same as those of Stem 1 verbs. Where the imperative occurs it is of the patterns nC3C3C (m.s.), nC3CCi (f.s.), nC3CCu (c.p.) (strong); nCaCC (m.s.), nCaCCi (f.s.), nCaCCu (c.p.) (geminate); nCaC (m.s.), nCaCi (f.s.), nCaCu (c.p.) (medial w/ y ); nC3Ci (m.s. + f.s.), nC3Cu (c.p.) (final y). Stem VIII Stem VIII is formed by the insertion of -t after the first radical of Stem I verbs. According to Wright (1955, I: 42) Stem VIII "is properly the reflexive or middle voice" of Stem I. Stem I sa'ial faham na~ag
samm sadd saka mala
"to "to "to "to "to "to "to
light" ( tr.) understand" render victorious" smell" tie" complain" fill"
Stem VIII sta'ial ftaham nta~ag
stamm stadd staka mtala
"to "to "to "to "to "to "to
burn" understand" be victorious" smell" become strong" complain" become full"
The imperfective is of the pattern -Ct3C3C (strong), -CtaCC (geminate), -Ct3Ci (final y), from which the imperative can be formed. Stem IX Stem IX, which is of the pattern C 1 C2 aC 3 C3 , is not common in CB, and is restricted to verbs of colour and defect, as, for example, bmagg ~fagg
"to blush, to become red" "to grow pale, to become yellow"
tgass
"to become deaf'
'igagg
"to become lame"
The Verb
53
Stem X . . X which 1S not common m CB, is characterized by the Stem • . ence of prefiX sta-, as, for example, oCC Ur
stal:zaqq stawla
sta'lgag "to rent" stan(iag "to wait for" stagti./:1 "to rest"
"to deserve" "to take possession of'
2.1.2 Quadriradical verbs There are a number of quadriradical verbs in CB whose perfective base pattern is C1aC 2 C3 aC 4 , as, for example,
da)bal xagpat qamb~
sax pat bahdal
"to "to "to "to "to
topple, to roll" mess up squat" scribble" rebuke"
..
tam bag zamgag qasmag (falgam pancag
"to "to "to "to "to
look annoyed, to sulk" roar" make fun of' frown" puncture"
Some quadriradical verbs have a reduplicated root, as, for example,
waswas "to whisper" xasxas waswas "to have qualms (about)" taqtaq m~m~
"to suck"
gafgaf "to flutter {wings, flag)" dabdab "to crawl {baby), to
..
become plump wanwan "to moan" tan tan "to strum" xamxam "to develop a musty smell" samsam "to sniff'
rarjra4 ('agsag xarxar kagkag tabtab batbat lal:zlal:z
"to rattle" "to make a continuous banging noise" "to bruise" "to gad about" {pejorative) "to drip" "to chuckle" "to pat" "to swell {boil)" "to pester
..
The imperfective, from which the imperative is formed, is of the morphemic pattern -CaCC<}C. The perfective and imperfective affix subject markers are the same as those of Stem I triradical strong verbs.
54
Morphology
2.1.2.1 Derived Stems There is only one derived quadriradical stem in CB, Stem II, which is formed by the pre fixation of t- (or d- before another d-) to Stern I. It "agrees in formation and signification" with Stem V of the triradicaJ verb, (Wright, 1955, I: 48). Stem II quadriradical verbs, however, are not common in CB. The following are a few examples: Stem I bahdal qasmag balwan da1bal dandal
"to "to "to "to "to
rebuke" make fun of' sweeten topple" dangle"
.
Stem II tbahdal tqasmag tbalwan dda1bal ddandal
"to be "to be "to be "to be "to be
rebuked" made fun of' sweetened" toppled" dangled"
The imperfective and imperative of Stem II quadriradical verbs have morphemic patterns similar to those of Stem I verbs. Where Stem II differs from Stem I is in Stem II having a prefix t- or dand a back vowel a for Stem I front vowel a. Thus, Stem I imperfective ada1bal "l topple" tqa8mag "she mocks" imperative bahdal "rebuke!" (m.s.) bahdalu "rebuke!" (c.p.)
Stem II adda)bal tatqasmag
"I am toppled" "she is made fun of'
tbahdal tbahdalu
"be rebuked!" (m.s.) "be rebuked!" (c.p.)
The following table gives the conjugations of triradical and quadriradical verbs in CB: Triradical Verbs Stem I (strong) qatal "to kill"; kabag "to grow"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
perfective qatciltu I kbagtu qatcilat I kbagat qatcilti I kbagti qcital I kabag qcitalat I kabgat
imperfective ciqtal I cikbag taqtat 1 takbag taqtalin I takbagzn yaqtal 1 yakbag taqtal I takbag
imperative aqtal 1 akbag qtali 1 kbcigi
55
The Verb
tcP 2cP Jcp
qatalna I kbagna qataltam I kbagtam qatalu I kabgu
naqtal I nakbag taqtalan I takbagun yaqtalan I yakbagun
qtalu 1 kbdgu
Stem I (geminate) kabb "to spill"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective kabbetu kabbet kabbeti kabb kabbat kabbena kabbetam kabbu
imperfective akabb tkabb tkabbin ykabb tkabb nkabb tkabban ykabban
imperative
kabb kabbi
kabbu
Stem I (initial hamza) akal "to eat"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective akaltu akalat akalti akal akalat akalna akaltam akalu
imperfective iikal taka! tiiklin yiikal taka! niikal tiiklan yiiklan
imperative
kal kali
kalu
Stem I (initial w/ y) waqaf "to stand"; yabas "to be dry"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective waqaftu I yabastu waqafat I yabtisat waqafti I yabasti waqaf I yabas waqafat I yabasat waqafna I yabasna waqaftam I yabastam waqafu I yabasu
imperfective awqaf I aybas taqaf I tibas taqafin I tibasin yaqaf I yibas taqaf I tibas naqaf I nibas taqafiin I tibasan yaqafiin I yibasan
imperative
wqaf wqafi
wqafu
Morphology Stem I (medial w/ y) qiil "to say"; ntim "to sleep"; gtib "to bring"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp
2cp 3cp
perfective imperfective qaltu I namtu I gabtu aqill I anam I agib qalat I namat I gabat tqal I tntim I tgib qalti I namti I gabti tqillin I tntimin I tgzbfn qal I nam I giib yqal I ynam I ygib qalat I namat I gabat tqill I tnam I tgzb qalna I namna I nqill I nnam I ngib gabna qaltam I namtam I tqillan I tnamfin I gabtam tgfbfin qalu I namu I gabu yqalan I ynamiln I ygibiln
imperative qal I nam I gzb qali I ntimi I @bi
qillu I namu I ifbu
Stem I (final y) masa "to walk"; baqa "to stay"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective masetu I baqetu maset I baqet maseti I baqeti masa I baqa masat I baqat masena I baqena masetam I baqetam masi5 I baqo
imperfective amsi I abqa tamsi I tabqa tamsen 1 tabqen yamsi I yabqa tamsi I tabqa namsi I nabqa tamson I tabqon yamson I yabqon
imperative amsi I abqa bqe
mse I
mso I bqo
Stem II !abbas "to clothe"; baqqa "to keep; to make s.o. stay"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective imperfective labbastu I baqqetu a/abbas I abaqqi labbdsat I baqqet tlabbas I tbaqqi labbasti I baqqeti tlabsin I tbaqqen !abbas I baqqa ylabbas I ybaqqi ldbbasat I baqqat tlabbas I tbaqqi labbasna I baqqena nlabbas I nbaqqi labbastam I baqqetam tlabsiln I tbaqqon labbasu I baqqi5 ylabsiln I ybaqqon
imperative !abbas I baqqi labsi I baqqi
labsu I baqqu
The Verb
Ste
57
rn III qasam "to share"
tcs zrns 2fs 3rns 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective qasamtu qasamat qasamti qasam qasamat qasamna qasamtam qasamu
imperfective aqasam tqiisam tqasmin yqasam tqiisam nqasam tqasman yqasman
imperative qiisam qasmi
qasmu
Stem V tbaddal "to change" (intr .)
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective tbaddaltu tbaddalat tbaddalti tbaddal tbdddalat tbaddalna tbaddaltam tbaddalu
imperfective atbaddal tatbaddal tatbaddalin yatbaddal tatbaddal natbaddal tatbaddalan yatbaddalan
imperative tbaddal tbaddali
tbaddalu
Stem VI tkti.tab "to correspond with s.o."
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective tkatabtu tkatabat tkatabti tkti.tab tkatabat tkatabna tkatabtam tkatabu
imperfective atkatab tatkatab tatkatabin yatkatab tatkatab natkatab tatkataban yatkataban
imperative tkatab tkatabi
tkatabu
Morphology
58
Stem VII n{iagab "to be hit"; ntaxx "to be knocked against"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective nt;lagabtu I ntaxxetu n{iagdbat I ntaxxet n{iagabti I ntaxxeti n{iagab I ntaxx n{iti.gabat I ntaxxat n{iagabna I ntaxxena n{iagabtam I ntaxxetam n{iagabu I ntaxxo
imperfective an{iagab I antaxx tan{iagab I tantaxx tan{iagbin I tantaxxen yan{iagab I yantaxx tan{iagab I tantaxx nan{iagab I nantaxx tan{iagbiJ.n I tantaxxon
imperative n{iagab I ntaxx n{iagbi I ntaxXi
n{iagbu I ntaxxu
yan{iagbiln I yantaxxon
Stem VIII ftaham "to understand"; ftagg "to go round"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective ftahamtu I ftaggetu ftahti.mat I ftagget ftahamti I ftaggeti ftaham I ftagg ftti.hamat I ftaggat ftahamna I ftaggena ftahamtam I ftaggetam ftahamu I ftaggo
Stem IX
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
~fagg
imperfective aftaham I aftagg taftahmin I taftaggen taftaham I taftagg yaftaham I yaftagg taftaham I taftagg naftaham I naftagg taftahmiln I taftaggon
imperative ftaham I ftagg ftahmi I ftaggi
ftahmu I ftaggu
yaftahmiln I yaftaggon
"to grow pale, to become yellow"
perfective
imperfective
~faggetu
~fagg
~fagget
ta~fagg
~faggeti
ta~faggen
~fagg
ya~fagg
$[aggat $[aggena $[aggetam
ta$[agg na$[agg
~faggo
ya~faggon
ta~faggon
imperative ~fagg ~faggi
~faggu
59
The Verb Stern X staCJmal "to use"
tcs zms Zfs Jrns 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective staCJmaltu staCJmalat staCJmalti staCJmal staCJmalat staCJmalna staCJmaltam staCJmalu
imperfective astaCJmal tastaCJmal tastaCJmalin yastaCJmal tastaCJmal nastaCJmal tastaCJmalan yastaCJmaliln
imperative
staCJmal staCJmali
staCJmalu
Quadriradical Verbs Stem I daCJbal "to topple; to roll"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective daCJbaltu daCJbalat daCJbalti daCJbal daCJbalat daCJbalna daCJbaltam daCJbalu
imperfective adaCJbal ddaCJbal ddaCJbalfn ydaCJbal ddaCJbal ndaCJbal ddaCJbaliln ydaCJbalan
imperative
daCJbal daCJbali
daCJbalu
Stem II tbahdal "to be rebuked; to be shabby"
lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs lcp 2cp 3cp
perfective tbahdaltu tbahdalat tbahdalti tbahdal tbahdalat tbahdalna tbahdaltam tbahdalu
imperfective atbahdal tatbahdal tatbahdalfn yatbahdal tatbahdal natbahdal tatbahdalan yatbahdalan
imperative
tbahdal tbahdali
tbahdalu
60
Morphology
2.2 Participles 2.2.1 The active participle The active participle, which inflects for number and gender, corresponds to all the verbal stems which occur in CB. Stem I Stem I is of the CeCaC/ CeCil CayyaC pattern, as, for example, m.s. ketab lebas semam kebab nayyam gayyab beni _ mesz
...
f.s. ketbi lebsi semmi kebbi naymi gaybi benyi mesyi
c.p. ketbin lebsin semmin kebbin naymin gay bin benyin mesyin
"having written" "having worn" "having smelt" "having spilt" "having slept, asleep" "having brought" "having built" "having walked"
The following are the active participle forms of triradical Stems II, Ill, V-X, and quadriradical Stems I and II: Stem II m.s. mxaggab msaqqaq mbaqqi
f.s. mxagbi msaqqaqa mbaqqtiyi
c.p. mxagbin msaqqaqin mbaqqtiyin
"having wrecked" "having torn to shreds" "having kept"
Stem III m.s. mktitab mqtisam
f.s. mktitbi mqasmi
c.p. mktitbin mqasmin
"having corresponded" "having shared"
Stem V m.s. maflallam matgaddi
f.s. maflalmi matgaddtiyi
c.p. maflalmin matgaddtiyin
"having learnt" "having had lunch"
Participles Stem VI m.s.
matkiitab ma6iigak
f.s.
c.p.
matkiitbi mafliigki
matkiitbin mafliigkin
61
"having corresponded with" "having quarrelled with"
Stem VII Stem VII participles are rare in CB, "a fact which is no doubt connected with the function of Form VII as passive of Form I, so that Form I passive participles can usually be used instead" (Blanc, 1964: 96). Thus, we have maggo/:1 "wounded" instead of mangaga/:1, and masl)oq "run over" instead of mansa/:laq. There are, however, a few Stem VII medial w/ y and final y participles which are in use, as, for example, manbii1 "having been sold, sold"; mangiid "wanted, needed", manbana "built"; mantafa "extinguished", etc. Stem VIII m.s.
f.s.
c.p.
magtahad mahtcimm mastagi
magtahdi mahtcimmi mastagyi
magtahdin mahtammin mastagyin
"studious, diligent" "concerned" "having bought"
maswaddi masmagga
maswaddin masmaggzn
"having turned black" "suntanned"
mastciJgaga masta)addi masta/:lyi
masta2gagzn "having rented" masta'iaddin "ready, prepared" masta/:lyin "shy, embarrassed"
Stem IX
maswadd masmagg Stem X
mastciJgag masta1add mastal)i
Stem I (quadriradical) m.s. f.s.
c.p.
mbdhdal mdd'ibal mwd.fwas
mbahdalin mda'ibalin mwaswasin
mbcihdali mdd'ibali mwdswasi
"having rebuked" "having rolled" "having whispered"
62
Morphology
Stem II (quadriradical) Stem II quadriradical participles are rare in CB. However, one occasionally comes across the forms matbahdal "having become shabby", mat?aqlam "having become acclimatized", matxalxal "having become loose", etc.
2.2.2 The passive participle The passive participle in CB is derived from triradical Stems ·I, 11 and III, and quadriradical Stem I. Stem I (triradical) f.s. m.s. maktiibi maktiib masloqa masliiq makbabi makbab ma/:lsayyi ma/:lsi matfayyi maifi
c.p. maktiibin masloqen makbubin ma/:lsayyin matfayyin
"written" 'boiled" "spilt" "stuffed, filled" "extinguished"
Stem II (triradical) mS:dmmad mS:dmmadi mkdssag mkdssaga msawwayi msdwwa
mS:ammadin mkassagen msawwii.yin
"baptized" 'broken" "made"
Stem III (triradical) mqasam mqasami mS:afa mS:ii.fayi
mqii.samin mS:tifii.yin
"shared" "in good health"
Stem I (quadiradical) mbdhdal mbdhdali mddS:bal mda.S:bali
mbahdalin mdaS:balin
"shabby" "round, rolled"
The Noun
63
z.J The Noun Nouns are divided into two groups, simple and derivative. Derivative ouns can be either deverbal, that is to say they are derived from nerbs, or denominal, in which case they are derived from nouns. ~erivative nouns may be substantives or adjectives. All Arabic nonderivative or simple nouns are substantives, as are the majority of non-Arabic loanwords. Thus, derivative (deverbal) < madgasi "school" 'barber, hair< ~alliiq dresser "success" < nag~ "outing" < tal1a "big" < kbzg "boiled" < masloq
..
magbani na~aga
babbayi sataga mqallam bantiiwi
gegi banat ~~an ~aywan
dagas ~alaq naga~
tala1 kabag salaq
derivative (denominal) "cheese < gaban factory" "Christians" < na~aga "pill" < babb "cleverness" < satag "striped" < qalam "dark- skinned
tappa sadag qemag qasoga
"to study" "to shave" "to "to "to "to
succeed" go out" grow" boil"
"cheese" "Nazareth" seeds" "clever" "line, stripe, pencil" wheat"
.
..
"ball" "turquoise" "clotted cream" "spoon"
2.3.1 The substantive The following are some of the more frequently occuring substantive patterns in CB with example: (i) CvC(v) nag "fire" qig "tar"
miil big
"money" "well"
qa.t fil
"suit (clothes)" "elephant"
Morphology
b4
ton saq ~ef
bdqa qagi
"colour" "market" "summer" "bouquet" "teapot"
doq (!at
xer
biga becja
(ii) CCvC( v) "donkey" h$dn (!mag "tongue" kteb !sen "week" blaz zboS: "carpentry" ggedi ngdga
"taste" "whale" "string" "beer" "egg"
moz gal geb $6ga ge(la
"banana" "ogre" "pocket'' "picture" "smell"
"horse" ''book" "blouse" "mouse"
xydg l(lef bgiq nsdga
"cucumber" "quilt, bed-cover" "jug" "sawdust"
(iii) CvCC( v) Monosyllabic nouns of this pattern ( CaCC) are invariably geminate. Disyllabic forms with a feminine marker (v) can also be geminate.
xall tabb
"vinegar" "medicine"
mayy hagg
(layyi (!anta
"snake" "wheat"
(Ianni "henna" gaqS:a "patch"
xatta cjagbi
"paternal uncle" "plaster, whitewash" "plan, design" "beating, blow"
walad "child" S:acjam "bone" xabaz "bread" sdgaga "tree" S:ddasi "lense"
sabab maga$ gaga! sdmaki S:agali
"cause" "stomach pain" "leg" "fish" "speed, haste"
(iv) CvCvC(v) matag "rain" sa mas "sun" "girl" banat "salad" $dlata kalama " word"
"water" "tomcat"
S:amm ga$$
(v) CvCvC This is primarily a participial form. There are, however, a few CB sustantives of this pattern. "guard" "monk"
(ldyat "wall" $d/:lab sdyaq "chauffeur" cadag
"companion" "tent"
65
The Noun (vi) cvcvs( v) , salib cross ·ma!ag· "al·rport" na{itim "order" qadi[a "velvet" cagaga "commerce"
/:lalib saltim naStif tamtita safaga
na$ib san am gahaz /:lagtimi $adaqa
"fate" "hump (camel)" "instrument" "thief' "friendship"
(vii) CvCvC( v) "bell" ntiqii$ "law" qanan qasoga "spoon"
mtiCJon "plate" matog dalab "cupboard" siltin gazani "windowsill" mtikina
"motor, engine" "date syrup" "machine"
"milk" "greeting" "energy" "tomato" "cleverness"
(viii) CvCCvC(v) qanfad "hedgehog" pagcam "fringe" handasi "geometry" madgasi "school"
maCJmal "factory" md$(Jaga "tannery"
There are also several reduplicated root nouns of this pattern, as, for example,
laqlaq naCJna'l wagwag $ag$ag
"stork" "mint" "revolver" "cockroach"
(ix) CvCCvC(v) mandil "handkerchief' $andaq "trunk" manstig "saw" gaggtil man" dagbuni "alley" maggol)a "swing"
..
balbal "nightingale" pepper" falfal magmag "marble" ka§kas "frill"
..
hadhad samsam masmas qamqam
"hoopoe" "sesame" "apricot" "narromouthed flask"
gagbil
"sieve"
cangtil
"fork"
sayttin manqas naddtif CJaqqoqa massti/:la
"Satan" "tweezers" "carder "frog" "rubber"
zaytiin "olive" masmtig "nail" xabbaz "baker" bazzuni" cat" maqtata "sharpener
..
(pencil)" (x) CvCCvCvC 1ankabat "spider"
maCJdanos"parsley"
qagnabit "cauliflower" zangabil "ginger" zaCJfagtin "saffron" pantagon "trousers"
00
Morphology
Compound substantives Compound substantives ordinarily refer to everyday objects or events. These substantives are coined locally, and handed down from one generation to the next. 4 The following are a few examples:
S'en as-samas f:talq as-sabaS' bant a~-~altan sok as-sam S'agf ad-dik kgafos aT-big goz hand tamag handi nami f:tama{l numi ba~ga saS'ag banat teg ag-ganna sabS'a w sabS'in abu bge~ ggedi n-naxal xassaf al-lel gadgi mayy f:tallat w baS'ad
"sunflower" (Helianthus) "snapdragon" (Antirrhinum) "hibiscus" "acacia" "love-lies-bleeding" (Amranthus caudatus) "maidenhair fern" (Adiantum capillus-veneris) "coconut" "tamarind" "lemon" "dried lime" "a sweetmeat resembling candy floss" "ladybird" "centipede" "wall gecko" "squirrel" "bat" "chicken pox" "hide-and-seek"
4 Compound substantives are not characteristic of CB and other Arabic dialects only, but occur also in most speech communities. In some European languages compound substantives refer to local plants and animals, as, for example Ger. Li:iwenmaul "snapdragon" Osterglocke "daffodil" Marienkafer "ladybird" Blindschleiche "slow-worm" Fr. queue de renard "love-lies-bleeding" bete a bon Dieu "ladybird" It. bocca di leone "snapdragon" dente di leone "dandelion" bella di notte "marvel-of-Peru" bella di giorno "morning glory" Sp. cabeza de drag6n "snapdragon" alegr(a de Ia casa "busy Iizzy" [lor de Ia Pascua "poinsettia" [lor de amor "love-liesbleeding"
The Noun
67
z.J.2 The adjective Most adjectives in CB have a morphemic shape of two or more syllables. Monosyllabic adjectives are rare, the few exceptions being rns forms like !:zag "hot" (CvC), magg "bitter" (CvCC), kbig "big" (CCvC), and cp forms like qway "strong", ncj.af "clean", q$iig "short" (CCvC), etc. The following are some of the more common adjectival patterns with examples: (i) CvCvC
tawil
)agee/.
"tall" "broad"
(ii) CvCv( C) There are a number !:zamacj. "sour" yebas "dry" )eli "high"
)acj.im "great" baS:ed "distant"
of CB adjectives of this xabaf "murky" fetal:z "light coloured" fehi "insipid"
"strange" "good"
participial pattern. melal:z "salty" S:aqal "wise" l:zefi "barefoot"
(iii) vCCvC This is the pattern of adjectives of colour and defect.
aswad atgas
azgaq "blue" a)wag "one-eyed"
as mag "dark-skinned" a/:zwal "cross-eyed"
(iv) CvCCvC kaddab "liar" sakkig "drunkard"
l:zayyal "liar" saggig "evil"
gayyag "jealous" qaddis "holy, saintly"
(v) CvCCan sakgan "drunk" kaslan "lazy"
naS:san "sleepy" fagl:zan "happy
"black" "deaf'
.
malyan "full" S:atsan "thirsty"
Relative adjectives Relative adjectives are frequently formed by the suffixation of -i to a proper name, as, for examp~e.
bagdadi "a native of Baghdad" beguti "a native or inhabitant of Beirut" ugduni "Jordanian"
< bagdad < begut < ugdun
"Baghdad" "Beirut" "Jordan"
Morphology
68
gaza?agi igtini handi ytibtini ~ini
maksiki bgazili masi/:l.i badi yahudi handosi
"Algerian" "Iranian" "Indian" "Japanese" "Chinese" "Mexican" "Brazilian" "Christian" "Buddhist" "Jewish" "Hindu"
< <
gaza?ag rgan
< < < < < < <
~in
maksik bgazll 1-masi/:l bada yahud handos
"Algeria" "Iran "India" "Japan" "China" "Mexico" "Brazil" "Christ, the Mes.siah" "Buddha" "Jews" "Hindus"
..
Colours, other than the primary colours of the pattern aCCaC, are formed by the addition of suffix -i to a substantive, as, for example, banafsagi betangtini gammtini gozi l:zasisi gmedi wagdi pagtaqtili
"violet, purple" "mauve" "deep red" "light brown" "green" "grey" "pink" "orange"
< < < < < < < <
banafsag betangtin gammtin goz /:la8is gmed wagad pagtaqiil
"violet" (bot.) "aubergine" "pomegranate" "walnut" "grass" "ash" "flower, rose" "orange"
Some adjectives of colour are irregularly formed, as, for example, qahwii2i l:zantawi
"dark brown" "beige, off-white"
< <
qahwi banta
"coffee" "wheat"
Where a proper name ends in -ya, the relative adjective is formed by the elision of -ya before the addition of suffix -i. afgiqi "African" ostagali "Australian" almiini "German" ceki5sli5viiki "Czech" balgiiri "Bulgarian" sugi "Syrian" tagki "Turkish"
< < < < < < <
afgiqya ostagiilya almiinya ceki5sli5vtikya balgtirya sugya tagkaya
"Africa" "Australia" "Germany" "Czechoslovakia" "Bulgaria" "Syria" "Turkey"
69
The Noun
Where a proper name ends in -a, the relative adjective is sometimes formed by lengthening final -a and adding suffix -wi.
..
"Bas ran fgansiiW~ "French" namsawr "Austrian" "Asian asyawi ba~gawi
..
< < < <
ba$ga fgansa namsa iisya
"Basrah" "France" "Austria" "Asia"
There are some adjectives, denoting nationality and regional or confessional affiliation, which seem to be irregular, as, for example,
anglizi "English" angaltaga amagkiini also amgiki "American" amegka masliiWi "inhabitant or m6$al · na~gani
native of Mosul" "Christian"
"England" "America" "Mosul" "Nazareth"
The following relative adjectives, referring to confessional affiliation, do not take a relative adjective marker in the ms base form.
kiitolik "Catholic" ogtodoks "Orthodox"
kaldan pgotastiin
"Chaldean" "Protestant"
Elatives 2.3.2.1 The comparative The comparative adjective is of the aCCa(C) pattern, and is ordinarily followed by the particle man.
gozef astag man axilnu "Joseph is cleverer than his brother" sayyagat S'ammi agdad man sayyiigat abuyi "My paternal uncle's $llta/:zna aS'la man $dfa/:zkam
car is newer than my father's car" "Our roof is higher than yours"
2.3.2.2 The superlative The superlative, which is of the same pattern as the comparative, occurs as a construct.
stagetu akbag $6ga bal-maS'gacj "I bought the biggest picture in the exhibition"
Morphology
70
betna aqgab bet lal-mtidgasi "Our house is the nearest to the school" bant al-mudrg adka banat ba~-~aff 'The headmaster's daughter is the most intelligent girl in the class" The superlative can also occur with a pronominal suffix, as, for example,
hayyi atwtilam huwwa adkiiham
"She is the tallest among them" "He is the most intelligent among them"
2.3.3 Gender Feminine nouns are characterized by the feminine marker -i I -a. The feminine marker may be suffixed to ms substantives and adjectives to form fs nouns, as, for example,
ktilab gahab xabbaz kasliin ~ana)
mudig xayyat ba~it
"dog" "monk" "baker" (ms) "lazy" (ms) "manservant" "headmaster" "tailor" (ms) "simple" (ms)
kalbi giihbi xabbazi kaslani ~an1a
mudiga xayyata ba~~ta
"bitch" "nun" "baker" (fs) "lazy" (fs) "maid" "headmistress" "tailor" (fs) "simple" (fs)
A unit noun, which is invariably feminine, is formed by the suffixation of the feminine marker to a collective substantive. Thus, .,_.,
geg
wazz bam em 9att xyag 9attex saxxat
"chicken" "geese" "pigeons" "ducks" "cucumber" "melon" "matches"
gegi wazzi /:lamemi 9atta xyiiga 9attexa saxxata
"a "a "a "a "a "a "a
hen" goose" pigeon" duck" cucumber" melon" match, a matchbox"
An instance noun, which is also feminine, is formed by the suffixation of the feminine marker to a Stem I verba! base form. In (C)vCvC type verbal forms the vowel of the second syllable is elided on suffixation. Thus,
71
The Noun
aJ
raxx
"to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to "to
eat" hit, to strike" drink" go out" lick" fall" solve" ring, to tinkle" cut" knock"
akli (iagbi sagbi tal)a lat5:a waq)a /:Ialli ganni qa~~a
taxxa
"a (type of) food" "a blow" "a drink" "an outing" "a lick" "a fall" "a solution" "a tinkle" "a cut" a knock"
..
There are some CB fs nouns with a feminine marker which have no ms equivalents, and which are not derived from collectives or verbal forms.
)albi qagyi cagpa?i !:zayyi maga mantiga qasoga mewa
"box" "village" "bed" "snake" "woman" " minaret" "spoon" "fruit"
tiiwi madini 1adasi bazzuni 5 biiqa miikina tanniiga ~alata
"frying-pan" "town" "lens" "cat" "bouquet" "machine" "petticoat" "salad"
Some fs substantives do not take a feminine marker. These substantives may refer to female creatures, double parts of the body or some natural everyday elements.
amm banat adan gaga! sam as ~'
"mother" "girl, daughter" "ear" "foot, leg" " sun
.
1en
.."sister" eye ..
id nag
"hand, arm" "fire"
5 The f.s. substantives l:tayyi and bazzuni refer to a snake and a cat of either sex. The form hagg "tomcat" is sometimes used when a distinction is made between a male and a female cat. No such distinction, however, is made when referring to a snake.
Morphology
72
2.3.3.1 The feminine of adjectives of colour and defect The feminine marker of adjectives of colour and defect in CB is -ii. In MB the feminine marker is -a. Thus compare, CB ms aswad azgaq a8qag atwal axxas aS'ma
'black" 'blue" 'blond" "stupid" "dumb" "blind"
CB fs soda zagqa saqgd tota xagsa S'amyd
MB fs soda zcirga scigra tala xcirsa S'cimya
2.3.3.2 The feminine marker -iiyi In CB unit nouns are frequently formed by the suffixation of the feminine marker -iiyi, denoting a single unit in a collective substantive.
becjiiyi nagmiiyi saggiiyi mozayi S'anbiiyi
"an egg" "a star" "a courgette, a marrow" "a banana" "a grape"
tamiitiiyi /:ziilabiiyi namliiyi dabbeniiyi
"a tomato" "a hailstone" "an ant" "a fly"
2.3.3.3 The feminine marker -ayyi Relative adjectives ending in -i have corresponding feminine forms ending in -ayyi. Thus compare, ms
fs
ma~gi
m~gayyi
kanadi gusi yaS'qilbi sanni sm agmani iitilgi agnabi
kanadayyi gusayyi yaS'qilbayyi sannayyi siS'ayyi agmanayyi iitilgayyi agnabayyi
"Egyptian" "Canadian" "Russian" "Jacobite" "Sunni" "ShiCite" "Armenian" "Assyrian" "foreigner"
The Noun
73
am "Muslim" (m.s.) has a corresponding f.s. form ending in .6 ...'1.,; masalmayyr. -ayr•
masl
cornpare a~s~ the following m;.s. kalab agn:ed_! . ..a bazziini gmedayyr .. a bliiZ wagdi a tannoga wagdayyi "a qalam banafsagi "a wagdi banafsagayyi "a mez qahwtiJi "a maktabi qahwtiJayyi "a stib J:zanttiwi "a banat J:zanttiwayyi "a
and f.s .•~djectives of colour: grey do~. g~ey cat .. pmk blouse pink petticoat" purple crayon" purple flower" brown table" brown desk" dark young man" dark girl"
2.3.4 Number 2.3.4.1 The dual The dual markers in CB are -en (m.s.) and -ten (f.s.), which are suffixed to the base forms of substantives. In CaC~C type forms a is elided in the masculine, but retained in the feminine dual form, in keeping with the rules of vowel elision. 7 ms
sahgen kalben mezen abnen mudigen
fs "two months" "two dogs" "two tables" "two boys, two sons" "two headmasters"
santen kalabten magten banten mudigten
"two years" "two bitches" "twice" "two girls, two daughters" "two headmistresses"
The dual of feminine unit nouns ending in -tiyi is formed by the elision of final -i and the suffixation of the feminine dual marker
-ten.
6 This was the form commonly U!;ied at one time to denote a Muslim woman. Nowadays most people tend to use the form masalmi which corresponds to MB masalma < LA muslima. 7 See 1.5.2. above.
be{liiyi nagmayi pagdiiyi sallayi f:ziililbtiyi
"an egg'' "a star" "a curtain" "a pen nib" "a hailstone"
>be(lilyten > nagmtiyten > pagdayten > sallayten > f:zalilbtiyten
"two "two "two "two "two
eggs" stars" curtains" pen nibs" hailstones"
2.3.4.2 The plural The plural is formed either by suffixation or by changing the morphemic shape of the singular. The plural which is formed by suffixation is known as the sound plural, "because all the vowels and consonants of the singular are retained in it", while the other is referred to as the broken plural "because it is more or less altered from the singular by the addition or elision of consonants, or the change of vowels" (Wright, I, 1955: 191-2). The sound plural is formed by the addition of -in to masculine, and -at to feminine nouns respectively. The sound plural is largely confined to participles, nouns denoting habit or profession, and most adjectives. Many feminine nouns ending in -iiyi or -ayyi take the sound feminine plural. ms
mp
f:zalu t;a{lim sagzt; basat; lebas begad
f:zalwin lJa{limin sagz"lin baslJin lebsin begdin
mxalla~
mxal~iT)
mkassag kaddiip gayyiig xabbaz sam mas qaddis masif:zi yazidi
mkasgrn kaddabin gayytigin xabbazin sammtisin qaddisin masif:zayyin yazidayyin
ma~gi
m~gayyin
silgi
silgayyin
"handsome" "great" "fast, speedy" "ugly" "dressed, wearing" "cold" "having finished" "broken" "liars "jealous" "bakers" "sacristans" "saints" "Christians" "Yazidis" "Egyptians" "Syrians"
..
The Noun fp giihbtit tala bat ~ayyaga sayyagat maialli magalliit massiil:za massii/:tiit hQ.lubayi l)atabayat i,a!wi l)alwiit faKifi sagzfiit kanadayyi kanadayyiit )agaqayyi lJagiiqayyiit
fs gafrbi calaba
75
"nuns" "students" "cars" "magazines" "rubbers" "hailstones" "pretty" "honourable, of good reputation" "Canadian (adj.), Canadians" "Iraqi (adj.), Iraqi women"
Sound masculine plural adjectives can sometimes qualify feminine substantives. Thus, it is possible to have both baniit l)alwiit and baniit l)alwin "pretty girls"; be{liiyiit mkasgiit and be{layat mkasgfn "broken eggs"; taffiil:zat /:liim{liit and taffiil:zat /:liim{iin "sour apples". The plural of relative adjectives Relative adjectives ending in -i I -ayyi ordinarily take the sound plural -in I -at where the substantive refers to people. Where it refers to animals or inanimate objects, the relative adjective, qualifying a sound masculine or feminine plural noun, is in the feminine singular. ms siib sagi talmid masf/:li giihab fgansaskiini walad badawi
> > > >
fs banat anglizayyi giihbi ba~giiwayyi mumattala itiilayyi mudiga sannayyi
> > > >
baniit anglizayyiit giihbiit b~giiwayyiit mumattaliit ~tiilayyiit mudigat sannayyiit
"English girls" "Basran nuns" "Italian actresses" "Sunni headmistresses"
>
katab lJagabayyi /:la~an aglandayyi
"Arabic books" "Irish horses"
but kteb t;agabi b~iin aglandi
mp sabiib sagayyin taliimid masi/:layyfn gahbiin fgansaskiinayyin wled badawayyin
"Syrian young men" "Christian pupils" "Franciscan monks" "Bedouin children"
fp
>
Morphology
76 ddftag qahwa?i qanun sag}i sayyaga yabanayyi magalla amagkanayyi gagidi almanayyi bazzuni iganayyi
>
da{etag qahwa?ayyi
"brown note-books" "statutory laws" "Japanese cars" sayyaga.t yabanayyi magallat amagkanayyi "American magazines" gagayad almanayyi "German newspapers" "Persian cats" bazezin igdnayyi
> qawenin sag}ayyi
> > > >
The plural of masculine substantives ending in -i Masculine substantives ending in -i frequently denote habit or profession. These substantives have a plural ending -ayyi. (lag ami sagsagi afandi saxtaci asci ataci t;agabanci
>
> > > > > >
l:zagamayyi sagsagayyi afandayyi saxtacayyi ascayyi utacayyi fJagabancayyi
"thieves" "layabouts" "gentlemen" "cheats" "cooks, chefs" "dry-cleaners" "coachmen, horsedrawn carriage drivers"
The broken plural There are several broken plural patterns in CB. The following are some of the more frequently occuring with examples: (i) CCaC/ CCeC
CCaC is the adjectival plural pattern, while CCeC with imala is the substantive pattern.
qway twa! qlem tiel
"strong" "tall" "pencils" "hills"
sman q$tig /:I bel gmel
"fat" "short" "ropes" "camels"
kbag m/.af wled zbet;
"big" "clean" "children" "lions"
gdad $till
"ancestors" "buckets"
glad xdud
"skins" "cheeks"
(ii) CCaC(v)/ CCoC
qlab tbUl
"hearts" "drums"
The Noun "roofs" "bottles"
stab
btuli 'fhe
fgox ?sildi
"chicks" "lions"
77
gdog syilga
"cooking-pots" "straps"
eeoc
pattern can also occur as a disyllabic form with an ctic vowel breaking up the initial consonant cluster. anaPty
gaftin t;ayiln
"eyelids" "eyes "
bayilt nagum
"houses" "stars"
bafiln goyilm
"stomachs" "clouds"
(iii) CvCvCvC
sawega) "streets" madegas "schools" mantifjag "glasses"
gawegab " socks" qanebal "bombs" ma~titag
"rulers"
manedog "cushions" masekal "problems" matli1am "restaurants"
(iv) CvCvCvC
dakekin "shops" 1awemid "pillars"
dawelib "cupboards" mazemig "psalms"
bazezin "cats" manesig "pamphlets"
1a~tifig
qa~tiqis
ta~li.wig
"sparrows"
"cuttings"
"pictures"
(v) (C)vCvCv There are a number of adjectives of this pattern in which the vowel of the second syllable is invariably d. Substantives of this pattern have e as the vowel of the second syllable.
kasali yattimi zaweli ager;Ji
"lazy" "orphans" carpets" "lands"
..
gaf:tasi 1atti.Si f:tayeyi asemi
"asses" "thirsty" "snakes" "names"
gasami f:tabali malehi awefi
"ignorant" "pregnant" "nightclubs" "very capable people"
~ere are other less frequently occurin~ broken plural patterns,
hke CvCvC, CvCvC, C1vC 2 C 2 vC 3 and C1vC
c 2 vC 3 .
(vi) CvCvC "handbags" qabab "glands" xata!
"rooms" "plans"
xagaq gatat
"rags" "corpses"
78
Morphology
(vii) CvCvC nfgan
"mice"
"fires"
"neighbours"
grgan
(viii) C1vC 2 C2 vC 3 This is an adjectival pattern of which the following are the most frequently occuring examples: )attaq
"old"
gaddad
"new"
sattag
"clever"
kattab xotfag
"clerks" "guests"
)am mal
"labourers" "merchants"
sayyab sakkan
"old men" "inhabitants"
taggag
2.4 Numerals 2.4.1 Cardinal numbers The cardinal numbers from 1 to 20, as used in enumeration, are as follows: 1 wel:zad 2 tnen 3 tlati 4 dgba)a 5 xamsi
6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15
satti sab)a tmeni tas)a )asga
addfas tnafas tlatta)as agbiita)as xamasta)as
16 17 18 19 20
sattafas zbatafas tmentafas
9
tasa)
ta~atafas
fasgrn
Numbers 3 to 10 occur in the construct. 3 tlat 4 agba)
5 6
xamas satt
7 8
saba) tman
10 )asag
The numerals 30, 40, 50, etc. are: 30 40 50 60
tletin agbafin xamsin sattfn
70 sab)in 80 tmenin 90 tas1in 100 mayyi
The construct of mayyi is mit.
200 mften 300 tlatmayyi, etc.
Numerals
79
Other numerals are:
112 mayyi w atnalJas 420 agbalJmayyi w lJasgrn, etc.
Jl wel)ad w atletin 52 tnen w xamsin 74 agbalJa w sablJin
The numerals for the thousands are: 1000 2000 3000 4000
5000 xamastalti.f 6000 sattalaf 7000 sabalJtalaf, etc.
ala[ alfon tlattalaf agbalJtalti.f
2.4.2 Ordinal numbers The ordinal numbers 1 to 10 are as follows: ms awwal tani talat gabat; xamas sadas siibat; taman tiisat; lJiiSag
fs ala tli.nayi talata gabalJa xli.masa sadasa sabalJa tli.mana ttisalJa lJasaga
"first" "second" "third" "fourth" "fifth" "sixth" seventh" "eighth" "ninth" "tenth"
..
Ordinal numbers have two main functions, namely as adjectives or as elatives. Where they occur as adjectives, they follow the substantives they qualify and inflect for gender. Where they function as elatives they precede the substantives and do not inflect. Thus compare,
ay-yom ag-gabat; gabat; yom at-talmidi t-tiinayi tiini talmidi
"the "the "the "the
fourth day" fourth day" second pupil (fs)" second pupil"
Morphology
80
2.5 The Pronoun 2.5.1 Subject pronouns 8 The following are the independent subject pronouns: lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
ana anta anti hawwa hayyi
lcp
nal:zna
2cp
an tam
3cp
hamma
2.5.2 Object pronouns 2.5.2.1 Direct object pronouns The following are the direct object pronouns suffixed to verbs: post-vocalic -ni -k -ki -nu -ha I -wa -na -kam -ham I -wam
post-consonantal -ni lcs 2ms -ak -ki 2fs 3ms -u -a 3fs -na lcp 2cp -kam 3cp -am
2.5.2.2 Indirect object pronouns The following are the indirect object pronouns suffixed to verbs: lcs 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
-li -lak -alki -lu -la
lcp
-alna
2cp
-alkam
3cp
-lam
8 The subject pronouns affixed to perfective and imperfective verbs have already been dicussed in 2.1, p. 43-47.
The Pronoun
81
5_3 Double object pronouns a verb takes a double object, the indirect object is suffixed the verb and the direct object follows independently. In such ~~ses the direct object is ya- + the pronominal suffix. Thus,
~ere
sammalJatli yiiha dazza/na yanu gabU1kam yaham $awwagalna yakam
"She let me hear it (fs)" "He sent it (ms) to us" "They brought them to you (cp)" "He photographed you (cp) for us"
2.5.4 Possessive pronouns The following are the possessive pronouns suffixed to nominal forms: post-consonantal -i lcs 2ms -ak -ki 2fs 3ms -u -a 3fs lcp -na 2cp -kam 3cp -am
post-vocalic -yi -k -ki -nu -ha 1-wa -na -kam -warn
2.5.5 Demonstrative pronouns The demonstrative pronouns in CB are: ms fs cp
hiida hiiyi hadi5li
"this" "this" "these"
hadiik I hadiika hadik I hadiki hadoliik
2.5.6 The relative pronoun The relative pronoun in CB is either 1 or (a)lli. Thus, gii aban }ammi 1 kiin ab amegka "My cousin, who was in America, has come back." hiida 1-bet kanna gaJ:t nastaginu. "This is the house we wanted to buy."
"that" "that" "those"
82
Morphology
naga/:1 bal-amtal:uin alii siifu ~afab aktig "He passed the exam which he found very difficult." bant gfgtinna hayyi lli fenu falayya axilyi "Our neighbour's daughter is the one my brother has his eye on."
2.5. 7 Interrogative pronouns The interrogative pronouns in CB are: manu "who?" sanu; s (preposed); (postposed) "what?" slon "how?" sqad (s)kam "how many?" les "where?" ay; ayya wen
es
2.6 Adverbs The CB adverbs indicating place, time and manner place "here" honiki honi hag-gaha I "this side" hadik ag-gaha I hadak a~-~ob ha~-~ob " outside" gawwa bagga fal-yamin fal-yasag "on the right" "forwards" liwaga liqaddam time hay-yom mbeg/:la gada man waqat da.Jaman fala fill manner hakki bal-fagal 8wayya yaw
as
"how much?" "why?" "which one?"
are: "there" "that side" "inside" "on the left" "backwards"
"today" "yesterday" "tomorrow" " early" "always" "always"
maggat man zaman matill ga2san fad gas taqgzban
"sometimes " "a long time ago" "as long as" "immediately" "directly" "about"
"thus, in this manner" "quickly" " a little" "slowly"
male/:1
"well"
/:lei ktig
"quickly" "a lot, very much"
Prepositions
83
z. 7 Prepositions 'fhe following are the main prepositions in CB: b man ben qaddam yamm dayag rabat
"in" "from" "between, among" "in front of' "near" "around" "under"
"on" t;an CJala t;and wayya "with" matal "like" waga "behind" qbal "above" foq ~ob "to" I dayag mandag "all around"
"about" "at, at the house of' "facing" "towards"
2.8 Conjunctions The following are the main conjuntions in CB: ida bass
"if' "but" lo ... lo ... "either ... or ... "
lo
lakan w
"if, or" "but" "and"
aw "or" baCJden "then"
SYNTAX 3.1 The Verb Phrase CB verbs can be divided into four syntactically different forms, the perfective, the imperfective, the imperative and the participle. There are two aspects, the non-progressive and the progressive, corresponding to the perfective and the imperfective respectively. "Aspect refers to the manner in which the verb action is regarded or experienced" (Quirk et al., 1972: 90). Time, which is "a universal concept" (ibid., 84), is divided into three parts, past time, present time and future time. 3.1.1 The perfective The perfective ordinarily expresses a completed action in an unspecified past time. sama~
x-xabag "I heard the news." gabalna wgad 'They brought us flowers". axti f!ayyafat ab sugya "My sister spent the summer in Syria." nkasagat saCJati "My watch broke." banu bet aqbal bema "They built a house opposite ours." gabat banat "She gave birth to a daughter."
All actions referred to in the examples above can be determined by adding a modifier. sama~
x-xabag hay-yi5m "I heard the news today."
The Verb Phrase
85
mbeg!:za gabalna wagad "Yesterday they brought us flowers." axti ~ayyafat ab-sugya qabal santen "My sister spent the summer in Syria two years ago." nkasagat safati qabl aswayya "My watch broke a short while ago." t;am 1-awwal banu betam aqbal betna "Last year they built their house opposite ours." giibat banat hay-ytim a~-~abal:z "She gave birth to a daughter this morning."
3.1.1.1 The perfective of stative verbs can sometimes refer to the present when it occurs with a present verb modifier. Stative verbs are verbs which refer to an unchanging condition or state, as, for example, to see, to believe, to contain, to love, to hear, to know, etc. hassa) )agaftu manu ~adfq w manu )ada "Now I know who is a friend and who is a foe." had- daqfqa ftaham sqa- a)ni "Now (this moment) he understands, what I mean." hassa) saftu b)eni sltin qay)amala "Now I see with my own eye(s) how he treats her." hal-la!:z(ja sa)agtu aqdag al:zabbam "This instant I feel I can love them."
3.1.1.2 A present verb modifier occuring with the perfective of a dynamic verb refers to an action just completed. Dynamic verbs can be activity verbs like, to ask, to work, to write, to read, to listen, to look at, to throw; or process verbs like, to change, to grow, to deteriorate, to improve, etc. hassa) qagetu g-gagzdi "I have just read the newspaper." had-daqzqa labastu hada 1-ablaz "I have just this moment put this blouse on." hal-la!:zcja katabtu 1-maktab "I have this instant written the letter." ma)a 1-asaf huwwa ma htini had-daqfqa tala) "I am sorry he is not here, he has just gone out."
86
Syntax
3.1.1.3 Where a perfective verb is preceded by either ida or lo "if', it denotes an action that has not taken place. lo git gib xabaz wayyak "If you come bring some bread with you." ida katabti ansiiJ aktabi aktag man $a{a/:zi'en "If you write an essay, write more than two pages." li5 sa[tanu 1-marwtin sa/mali IJalenu "If you see Marwan give him my regards." ida gal:zo 1 pagzz xalliham yzagan al-lilvg "If they go to Paris let them visit the Louvre." 3.1.1.4 In subordinate clauses introduced by balki I balkat or gubbamti "perhaps, in case", the perfective can refer to a future time. gal:z atgak bab qabbati maftol:z balki daqq at-talafi5n "I shall leave my bedroom door open in case the phone rings." Ia taqbalin maw!Jad yom ax-xamis gubbamti IJagabki tagen wayydna "Don't accept an appointment on Thursday, in case you feel like coming (out) with us." qaltallu ysallamli IJala amira balki ~tig IJandu waqat ymagg IJalaya "I told him to give my regards to Amira perhaps he will have time to drop in on her." ma qaygid yxabbagam gal:z yagkab al:z~tin gubbamti t;fall btilam "He does not want to tell them he is going horse-riding in case they worry."
3.1.2 The imperfective The imperfective is ordinarily used to indicate a timeless incomplete action that does not occur at any definite time. The imperfective is said to be situational, that is to say it is generally used to state a fact or provide certain information. ysaq logi "He drives a lorry." tadgas mosiqa klasikayyi "She is studying Classical music." adaggas ab kallayyat al- ban at "I teach at the Girls' College."
The Verb Phrase
87
xuyi ydaxxan sabfl a k . , "MY brother smo es a p1pe. yastagal bal-S:ayada lli yamm ag-gasag "He works in the (medical) practice that is near the bridge." yalS:abiln futbol ab siilJ.at al-madgasi "They play football in the school courtyard."
Where an imperfective occurs with a modifier it can refer to a habitual action. ysilq logi baz-zboS: magga "He drives a lorry once a week." tadgas moslqa kllislkayyi kax- xamls w sabat "She studies Classical music on Thursdays and Saturdays." adaggas ab-kallayyat al-banli.t agbaS: maggli.t bas-sahag "I teach at the Girls' College four times a month." axilyi ydaxxan sabfl baS:d al-S:asa "My brother smokes a pipe after supper." yastagal bal-S:ayada lli yamm ag-gasag al-5:a$ag "He works in the (medical) practice near the bridge in the afternoons." yalS:abiln futbol ab siilJ.at al-madgasi kal yom gamS:a 'They play football in the school courtyard every Friday."
3.1.3 Verbal particles 3.1.3.1 The particle preceding the perfective In CB the perfective is rarely preceded by a particle. The only exception being kan which is a particle that is fast becoming obsolete. Although kan has been known to occur with all persons of the perfective, it is nowadays more commonly found preceding a 3rd person verb. In such cases kan semantically approximates the -mi$ element in the Turkish mazi nakli. In other words, kan + the perfective conveys the idea of reported speech. kan S:agabu 1-falam "He liked the film." (That is to say, I am told he liked the film, although he did not tell me so himself.)
88
Syntax kan txaggagat man kallayyat at-tabbayyi "She graduated from the Medical College." (It is a well know fact that she graduated, although I did not witness the eventn myself.) kan saf maxratat sagyanayyi "He saw Syriac manuscripts." (I was told he saw Syriac manuscripts ' but I did not witness him seeing them.) kan tagadawa 1-~anCJatam 'They dismissed their maid." (I am told that is what happened.)
3.1.3.2 Particles preceding the imperfective The particles that ordinarily precede the imperfective are prefix qa-, denoting a continuous action that is taking place in the present, and the independent particle ga/:1, denoting a future event or action. qa- qatatmassa bal-bastan "She is walking in the garden." (She is actually walking at the moment.) qanastagi xabaz man hada 1-fagan ag-gadid "We are now buying (our) bread from this new bakery." ( We are in the habit of buying our bread from there, and we shall continue to do so until some future date.) qatatbax tabix betangan w la!:zam "She is cooking an aubergine and meat stew." (She is at the moment preparing it.) qanadgas nal:zat ab maCJhad al-faniln ag-gamila "We are studying sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts." (We are enrolled at the Academy, and are studying there.)
With verbs of motion and verbs that do not imply a continuous action qa- (also qa- before a-) + the imperfective refers to the future. CJammi qaysafag al-amegka "My (paternal) uncle is travelling to America." (My uncle has not set off yet, but he is intending to in the near future.) ana w axilyi qangol:z las-sinama "My brother and I are going to the cinema." (We have not gone yet, but we are going to go.)
The Verb Phrase
89
ana qa-anzal lal-balad qatgidin se? "I am going down to town, would you like anything?" (I shall be going to town soon.) qattfg at-tayytiga s-s6Sa 'la8ga "The plane will take off (fly) at ten o'clock." (lt will fly later, but at the moment it is still on the ground.) tawfiq qayaftab maf'lam ab datroyt "Tawfiq is going to open a restaurant in Detroit." qanwaHila 'lata ma
gab nastagi bet 'lal-babag "We shall buy a house by the sea." gab ygobon lal-'lagaq ba~-~ef "They will go to Iraq in the summer." gab yazga'l asgag masmas ab-basttinu "He will plant apricot trees in his garden." gab at
ta'lalu 1-honi da8awwafkam a~-~awag mal al-aklil "Come here so I can show you the wedding photographs." slon ysawwun silan da-at
90
Syntax
3.1.4 Auxiliary verbs 3.1.4.1 Auxiliary verbs with the perfective The most frequently occuring auxiliary verb with the perfective . kti.n "to be", which can occur in the perfective as kan, or in th~ imperfective as ykan. kti.n + the perfective refers to an action that was about to happen but which did not. kan tzawwag lo ammu mti. maddaxli "He would have got married, had his mother not interfered." kanna wa~alna hassa5: lo tti.IS:in man waqat "We would have arrived by now, had we set out early." kantu gabtu b sayyagtak lo aS:gaf txallfni asaqha "I would have gone in your car, had I known you would let me drive it." kti.n + the perfective frequently refers to an action or an event that had taken place before another. kan laqa saga/ /amman xti.li talab mannu yastagal wayyti.nu "He had already found work when my (maternal) uncle asked him to work with him." waqt alli ~agat at-tawra kantu tagaktu bagdad "When the revolution took place I had already left Baghdad." /amman ~ganna stagu talavazyon kanna nabna stagena wehad qablam "When our neighbours bought a television we had already bought one before them."
When a perfective verb is preceded by the imperfective auxiliary verb, ykan, a future perfect is expressed. !amman tagga5: man almanya tkan tlallamat almti.ni maleb "When you return from Germany you will have learnt good German." baS:ad kam sani tkan kabagat hai-sagaga matag "In a few years' time this tree will have grown a metre." gada tkiin stalamat maktabi "Tomorrow you will have received my letter."
The Verb Phrase
91
1_4.2 Auxiliary verbs with the imperfective 3._ + the imperfective refers to a habitual action that used to take klan e in the past, but which no longer does.
p ac
kantu astagal ab sagakat an-nafa! "I used to work in the oil company." hada g- gaggal kan kal yom yastagi moz !amman kanu wledu zgag 'This man used to buy bananas every day when his children were young." kal aha! bagdad kiinu ynaman 'lala $-$ata(l ba$-$e{ "All the people of Baghdad used to sleep on the roof in summer."
The imperfective ykun, preceding the imperfective of the main verb, ordinarily occurs in the 3rd person singular to express a wish or a hope. ykun yagi 'lad "I do wish he would come." ykan t(labb ham-ma(lbas "I do hope she will like this ring." ykun tat$aggaf male/:! 'landam "I wish she would behave herself at their house." ykan yanga(lon ab axag as-sani "Let us hope they pass the examination at the end of the year." ykun na'lgaf wen nanzal "I wish we knew where to get off."
The verbs (labb "to love, to like, gad "to want", and the third person singular verb 'lagab + the pronominal suffix "to feel like", occur frequently as auxiliaries preceding the imperfective. These auxiliaries occur in the perfective and the imperfective. Where the auxiliary is in the perfective the construction refers to an indefinite action that may or may not have taken place. (labb yafiaggaf 'lalekam "He wanted to be introduced to you." (He may still not have been introduced to you.) gadna nsufkam man hada ffina man waqat "We wanted to see you, that is why we came early." (We managed to see you by coming early.)
92
Syntax S:agabni ago}]. las-sawed mbog a}J.abb al-baldan al-begdi "I felt like going to Sweden because I like cold countries."(! may or may not have gone.) S:agabam y6.kliln $a/atat xass w axy6.g "They felt like eating a lettuce and cucumber salad." (They felt like having some. although they may or may not have eaten any.)
Where the auxiliary verb is in the imperfective the construction refers to a future time. The auxiliary can occur with prefix qa-. y}J.abb yatlallam gasam "He would like to learn drawing." qat}J.abb atsafag al amegka "She would like to go to America." ngid nabni qabbi foq al-gagag "We want to build a room on top of the garage." qangzd ansaggal abanna b madgasat al-gazwit "We want to register our son in the Jesuit school."
The imperfective of S:agab + the pronominal suffix can only occur with prefix qa-. qayaS:gabam yafta}J.on madgasi lal-ammayyin "They would like to open a school for the illiterate." qayaS:gabna n6.xad bet xalati 1 babal "We feel like taking my aunt and her family to Babylon."
3.1.4.3 Other auxiliaries Some independent verbs like q6.m "to get up, to start doing s.t.", ga}J. "to go", $6.g "to be, to become", bada "to start", can occur as auxiliaries with the imperfective. However, verbs of motion, like q6.m and g6.}J. can also occur with the perfective. !amman S:agafat aku }J.agami bal-bet q6.mt atlayyat "When she knew there was a burglar in the house, she began to scream." q6.m ysabni w yqalli ana m6. aswa se "He started to curse me and tell me I was worth nothing."
The Verb Phrase
93
galJat atgfb tamata man as-soq "She went to get tomatoes from the market." galJna nfaggagam 5:a1a 1-maS:ga{i "We went to show them the exhibition." sagu yS:atbiina 1es rna ga/:lna 1 S:andam ;'They started remonstrating with us why we did not go to (visit) them." $agtu axaf man ka1 taqqa "I began to get scared of every bang." ga $-$e[ w badena nasgab sagbat begad "Summer has come, and we have started to drink cold (soft) drinks." {iagabata amma w badat tabki "Her mother smacked her and she started to cry." qam taS:ani a/:lsan wagdi b bastanu "He gave me the best flower in his garden." qamtu sallamtu 5:a1ayya "I greeted her." gii./:1 gab maga man kanada les asbayam banatna honi? "He went and got a wife from Canada, (so) what's wrong with our girls here?" ga/:lna xabagnaham bas rna kii.nu ba1-bet "We telephoned them, but they were not at home."
3.1.4.4 Double auxiliaries The perfective kan + the perfective or imperfective of the verbs babb and gad can occur as double auxiliaries preceding an imperfective verb. The three-verb construction refers to a continuous past time where an event or action that could have taken place did not. kantu agid adgas tabb bas dagagati rna kanat 5:a1yi kafayi "I wanted to study medicine, but my grades were not high enough." kan qaygid ykamma1 dagii.satu 16.kan a{i-fj,aguf mii. s6.5:adat "He wanted to finish his education, but circumstances did not help." kanna n/:labb ansiifu qaba1 maysafag "We would have liked to see him before he went away (lit. travelled)."
94
Syntax kiinat qatl)abb tagi wayyiiyi bas talaCJ CJanda saga! "She would have liked to come with me, but it turned out she had work to do."
3.1.5 The imperative There are two types of imperative in CB, the simple and the compound. 3.1.5.1 The simple imperative The simple imperative, which was discussed in the section on morphology, deals with the second persons only. mse man honi "Get away from here!" (m.s.) xadlu ciiy a! abak 'Take some tea to your father!" (m.s.) xabginu 'Telephone him!" (f.s.) gzbilna qahwi "Bring us some coffee!" (f.s.) smaCJu mosiqa CJagabayyi "Listen to Arabic music!" (c.p.) gtahdu datanga/:16n "Work hard so you would pass the examination!" (c.p.)
3.1.5.2 The compound imperative The compound imperative deals with the first and third persons, and is usually made up of a compound construction, comprising the particle xalli "let" + the pronominal suffix, followed by an imperfective verb. xallina nat$aggaf matal rna ngzd "Let us do as we please (lit. wish)." xallinu yakal aklu "Let him eat his food." xallayam yagon "Let them come." xallini adig biili 1 nafsi "Let me look after myself."
The Verb Phrase
95
xallayya tkammel dagiisata "Let her finish her education." xallinu ya/:lki "Let him speak."
xalli + the pronominal suffix can occur as an independent imperative in the second persons, where the meaning conveyed is "to stay". xallik honi "Stay here!" (m.s.) xalliki qeldi "Stay sitting!" (f.s.) xallikam t.landna hay-yom "Stay at our house today!" (c.p.)
3.1.6 The participle 3.1.6.1 The active participle The active participle ordinarily refers to a timeless event or action. The active participle inflects for gender and number. nal:zna semt.lin binu "We have heard of him." yqill ketabli maktilb "He says he has written me a letter." gal:ztu l t.landa laqetawwa nezli las-soq "I went to her house, and found that she had gone down to the market." $adiqati geybi man al-madgasi "My friend is absent from school."
The active participle of durative verbs, like saf "to see", labas "to wear", refers to an action that started in the past and which is still effective. t.lammati lebsi l:zwes nahiig al-al:zad "My aunt is wearing her Sunday best clothes." (My aunt put on her clothes, and she is still wearing them.) ana semt.la !:zagaki bagga "I am hearing movement outside." (I started hearing movement outside, and I am still hearing it.)
Syntax
96
taygin man fag/:latam abnam gega1 ba1ad agba1 asnin ab amegk "They are thrilled Oit. flying because of their happiness) thei~ son is coming back after four years in America." (They were happy when they first found out he was coming, and their happiness continues.) abuyi ma6aggab asli5n rna }agaftinu "My father is surprised how you (f.s.) did not recognize him." (My father was surprised when he first found out, and he is still surprised.) $addaq hawwa nesi antam zalllanin "Believe me, he has forgotten you (c.p.) are not on speaking terms." (He is still unaware you are not on speaking terms.)
The active participle of verbs of motion can refer to a future time. na/:lna msefgin ab llid al-agbig "We are going away at Easter." ana nezli 1 bagdad gada "I am going down to Baghdad (i.e. to the city centre) tomorrow." mudig sagakatna gaya/:1 hay-yom al xanaqin w gegalJ ballad yi5men "The director of our company is going to Khanaqin today, and coming back in two days' time." na/:lna mesyin man honi s-sa1a xamsi "We shall set off from here at five o'clock." msaggaf 1 al honi balld acf.-r.jahag "He is coming here in the afternoon."
The active participle of verbs of motion can refer to a past time when it is preceded by the auxiliary verb kan, or when there is in the sentence a verb modifier referring to a past time. !amman sa{tanu kan gegalJ man as-satt "When I saw him he was coming back from the river." matal hay-yom qabal sani kanu kallatam msefgin lal-mi5$al "A year ago today they had all gone away to Mosul."
saggaf "to honour with one's presence" is often used sarcastically in CB to mean "to come".
The Verb Phrase
97
wasalna lam-mal:zarra s-saSa tas1a bas kan mesi qatag astambill "W.e arrived at the station at nine o'clock, but the Istanbul train had (already) left." nahna gay/:zin lam-matl:zaf mit magga "'
kan nayyam 1andna mbegl:za "He was sleeping at our house yesterday." kanna nalbas tablayyat lam- madgasi "We used to wear overalls to school." kan beqi 1andi na~ dinag "I had half a dinar left." kanat qe'ldi honi bas hassa1 tala1at al fi5q "She was sitting here, but now she has gone upstairs." kantu l:zessi b waga1 gas bas hassa1 rna qayi5ga1ni gasi "I had a headache, but now my head is not aching (any more)." 3.1.6.2 The passive participle The passive participle which functions as an adjective, in that it agrees with the substantive it qualifies in gender and number, ordinarily refers to an event or action that is still effective.
sabbak qabbati maksog "My bedroom window is broken." (It is still broken.) tayyal bastankam gadid maq~il~ "Your garden lawn is newly cut." (It looks like it has just been cut.) dafotagki kallatam masqoqin "All your (f.s.) exercise books are torn." (They are torn at this moment.)
98
Syntax hii.y al-beljtiyi masl6qa "This egg is hard-boiled." (It has been hard-boiled and is still here.) gantati ma}:!tfita h6ni "My handbag has been placed here." (It is still where it was placed.) 1-f:!alib makbab fJal-mez "The milk is spilt on the table." (One can still see that it has been spilt.)
The passive participle can refer to a habitual action when it occurs with a modifier. d-dakktin mazdild kax-xamis "The shop is closed every Thursday." btib ak-kanisi kal waqat mafto/:1 "The church door is always open." stilJata dii2aman maksoga "Her watch is always broken." kal mti tatbax anltiqiha maxbil~a "Whenever she cooks we find her flustered." kal mti ngol:z al fJandam ansuf kalbam magbilt "Every time we go to their house we find their dog tied up." When the passive participle is preceded by ktin it refers to a past event. d-dakktin ktin mazdud "The shop was closed." btib ak-kanisi ktin maftol:z "The church door was open." stifJata ktinat maksoga "Her watch was broken." !amman ktinat qatatbax ktinat maxbu~a "When she was cooking she was flustered." kal mti kanna ngol:z al fJandam kalbam ktin magbilt "Every time we went to their house their dog was tied up."
The Noun Phrase
99
3.Z The Noun Phrase A noun phrase is a word, or a group of words, consisting of nominal Iements only, with a pronoun or a noun as the head or main part. ~e head can be preceded by an article or another noun, and followed by an adjective, a prepositional phrase or a relative clause. The noun phrase functions as subject, object or complement. The following are examples of the noun phrase as subject: hawwa "he"
] ] honi baq-qabbi "is here in the Milsa "Musa" (proper name) ] room."
banat "girls" ] qaygol:zon lam-madgasi "are going to school." m-maga "the woman" ] qatgol:z las-saga! "is going to work." banat l:zalwi "a pretty girl" ] qatamsi yammu "is walking beside . .. hIm. kalab aswad "a black dog" ] ] qayamsi "is walking." g-gaggal at-tawil "the tall man" ] The first four examples are single noun phrases, while the last three examples are referred to as appositional noun phrases. In each of the last three noun phrases the first noun functions as an identifier while the second noun acts as a postmodifying adjective. In the first two examples the single noun phrase is followed by an adverb of place, honi "here" and a postmodifying prepositional phrase baq-qabbi "in the room". The noun phrase as object The following are examples of the noun phrase as object:
saftu axta 1-agges "I saw Grace's sister." qa~a$U 1-abnu 1-agbig "He punished his eldest son." laqetu xamas dananig bad-dagab "I found five dinars in the street." stagena xyag w tamara man al-baqqal "We bought cucumber and tomatoes from the grocer."
!UU
Syntax
In the above four sentences the noun phrase objects are axt 1-agges "Grace's sister", abnu 1-agbig "his eldest son", xamas dano.nt "five dinars" and xyag w tamttta "cucumber and tomatoes" respective}:. The noun phrase as complement The complement ordinarily occurs at the end of a sentence, and can function as both subject and object. subject complement zog axatki gaggiil malel:z "Your sister's husband is a good man." abnam atlazz azdaqii2i "Their son is my dearest friend." asgiig bastiinna kallata a8giig matmaga "All the trees in our garden are fruit trees." banat gigiinna hassa5: ~iigat tiilaba giima5:ayyi "Our neighbours' daughter is now a university student." object complement 5:ayyanilni mudigat madgasi "They appointed me the headmistress of a school." $a/;Jagat sa5:ga a$[ag "She tinted her hair blond." t~awwagtak a.J:zsan ansiin "I thought you were the best person." ntaxabilnu ga2is as-sagaka "They elected him the director of the company." In the above sentences the complements are gaggiil male/:! "a good man"' a5:azz azdaqii2i "my dearest friend"' asgag matmaga "fruit trees", flilaba giima5:ayyi "a university student", mudigat madgasi "the headmistress of a school", a~fag "yellow", al:zsan ansiin "the best person", and ga2is as-sagaka "the director of the company" respectively. Noun phrases are frequently conjoined. In one of the above examples of object noun phrases, viz. xyag w tamata, the two single noun phrases are conjoined by the conjunction w "and". The following are more examples of conjoined noun phrases:
The Noun Phrase
101
m-maga w ag-gaggal g6.(u5 las-sinama ''The woman and the man went to the cinema." habib w 5'6.dal a§tag talamid ab ~affi ;,Habib and Adel are the cleverest pupils in my class." kalabna aswad w /:talu yanu "Our dog is black and beautiful." l6gi gbig w wa~ax ragas sayy6.gati "A big and dirty lorry splashed my car."
3.2.1 Concord When an adjective qualifies a substantive it agrees with it in number and gender. A masculine adjective, therefore, qualifies a masculine substantive, and a feminine adjective qualifies a feminine substantive. ms kalab aswad gaggal male/:t talmid s6.fag aban na5's6.n h~an qahwa?i sa5'ag 5'agabi
"a black dog" "a good man" "a clever pupil" "a sleepy boy" "a brown horse" "Arabic poetry"
fs
"a "a "a "a "a "a
kalbi soda maga male!:za talmidi s6.tga banat na5's6.ni bazzuni qahwa?ayyi gagidi tagkayyi
black bitch" good woman" clever pupil" sleepy girl" brown cat" Turkish newspaper"
Where a substantive is determined by the definite article, the adjective is also determined. g- gaggal al- male/:t s-sa5'ag al-5'agabi g-gagidi 1-fgansawayyi t-talmidi s-satga
"the good man" "the Arabic poem" "The French newspaper" "the clever pupil"
A plural substantive is ordinarily qualified by a plural adjective. A broken plural adjective is of common gender, qualifying both masculine and feminine substantives.
Syntax
102 wled sattag bantit sattag kleb sad kalbtit sad gawegin gaddad sayytigtit 5:attaq fallti/:lin /:lafftiy taffti/:ltit f:iamag
"clever children" "clever girls" "black dogs" ''black bitches" "new neighbours" "old cars" "barefoot gardeners" "red apples"
The sound masculine plural adjective sometimes qualifies feminine, as well as masculine dual and plural substantives. ms waladen na5:stinin kalben magbatrn taltimid saxifin xatttig m?addabin
"two sleepy children" "two tied up dogs" "silly pupils" "polite guests"
fs
"two bitter cucumbers" "two dilapidated buildings" "sour apples" "lovable girls"
xytigten maggin bantiyten mhaddamin taffti/:ltit /:ltimrjin bantit ma/:lbabin
The sound feminine plural adjective occurs sometimes with feminine plural substantives referring to human beings. This is a fairly recent development in CB, showing the influence of LA, particularly in the speech of the better educated. 2 naswtin gayyagtit gahbtit fganstiwayytit ttilabtit mu?addabtit bantit maf:ibabat
"jealous women" "French nuns" "polite students" "lovable girls"
Broken plural substantives, referring to animals and inanimate objects are frequently qualified by feminine singular adjectives. sntin 5:tigayyi byat 5:atiqa katab anglizayyi ~awag amlawwani 2 Cf. 2.3.4.2
"false teeth" "old houses" "English books" "coloured pictures"
The Noun Phrase kleb makliibi !:za~an a~fli
!:zayeyi semmi
103
"dogs with rabies" "thoroughbred horses" "poisonous snakes"
Where a dual or a plural substantive is determined by the definite article the qualifying adjective is also determined. k-kalben as-sild t-talabten as-sattag s-sabebik az-zgag n-naswan as-silgayytit
"the "the "the "the
two black dogs" two clever students" small windows" Syrian women"
3.2.2 Adjectives as substantives Some adjectives may function as substantives. In such cases they can be determined by the definite article. f-faqaga yat
3.2.3 Possession Possession in CB is of two kinds, simple and compound. Simple possession involves the suffixation of the possessive pronouns to nouns. kalb "dog" + lcs possessive pronoun -i > kalbi "my dog" bet "house"+ lcp possessive pronoun -na > betna "our house"
104
Syntax
aban "boy" + 2c.p. possessive pronoun -kam > abankam "your son" qalam "pencil"+ 2f.s. possessive pronoun -ki > qalamki "your pencil" l:zzem "belt" + 3m.s. possessive pronoun -u > l:zzemu "his belt" axat "sister" + 3f.s. possessive pronoun -a > axta "her sister" Compound possession is subdivided into two categories, and unmarked. The marked possessive compound involves of particle mal (m.s.l p.) I malat (f.s./p.) "of, belonging to" two nominal elements. Thus: head noun phrase + mal I malat + modifying noun
marked the use between phrase
s-sabebzk am-maftol:za mal bet gzganna "The open windows of our neighbours' house." m-masekal mal kall al-5'alam "The problems of all the world." t-tayyaga g-gadzdi malat ag-gays al-5'agaqi "The new plane of the Iraqi army." s-samsayyi x-xa{iga malat gaddati "My grandmother's green umbrella." In the above examples the head noun phrase is determined by the definite article. Where the reference is to a collective substantive the head noun phrase can occur without the definite article. kafofi l:zageg mal aklili "Silk handkerchiefs from my wedding." dafotag gadidi mal ~aff as-sadas "New exercise-books of the sixth form." taffo/:1 stagkan mal sagagatna "Starking apples from our tree." matagat madanayyi mal al-5'agaq "Civil airports of Iraq." mal I malat agrees with the head noun I noun phrase it follows. Thus, if the head noun I noun phrase is masculine singular or plural the particle following is mal. If it is feminine singular or plural the particle is malat. mal I malat occurs also with the possessive pronominal suffixes.
The Noun Phrase mali malak malki malu mala malna malkam malam
I I I I I I I I
malati malatak malatki malatu mtilata malatna mtilatkam malatam
105
"mine" "yours (m.s.)" "yours (f.s.)" "his"
"hers" " ours " "yours (c.p.)" "theirs"
With the pronominal suffixes mal follows a masculine singular noun I noun phrase, while mtilat follows a feminine singular noun I noun phrase. hay malati "This (f.s.) is mine." s-samsayyi malatkam "The umbrella is yours." hada 1-lbes malu "These underpants are his." m-masat malak "The comb is yours (m.s.)." However, the particle following a plural noun I noun phrase is usually mtilat. Thus compare: hadoli s-sayyagat malatam "These cars are theirs." but hadoli s-sayyagat mal bet 5'ammi "These cars belong to my uncle's." k-katab malatki ba$-$a[f "Your books are in the classroom." but k-katab mal gorg ba$-$aff "George's books are in the classroom." $-$anediq ax-xa§ab malatna honi "Our wooden crates are here." but $-$anediq ax-xasab mal xalati honi "My aunt's wooden crates are here."
106
Syntax
b-bazezin miilatna sad "Our cats are black." but b-bazezin miil ifgiinna sad "Our neighbours' cats are black." miil + the pronominal suffix can sometimes follow a defined or undefined plural noun, where the noun in question is a collective substantive. tafteb miilam "their apples" batt miilkam "your (c.p.) ducks" sagag miilna "our trees" wagad miilki "your (f.s.) flowers" n-nal:zal miilam "their bees" t-tamag miilna "our dates" miil + the modifying noun frequently functions as an adjective, as, for example, maniic}.ag miil samas "sun-glasses" sii}a miil id "a wristwatch" miikina miil id "a hand sewing-machine" sayyiiga miil agga "a car for hire; a taxi" kleb mal ~ed "gun dogs" sagal miil igiin "Iranian handicraft" kondaga mal bet "house-shoes"
The Noun Phrase
107
silan mal tamag "date-syrup" mgabba mal masmas "apricot jam" dondagma mal fastaq "pistachio ice cream" kanisa mal agman "an Armenian church"
The unmarked possessive compound consists of two nominal elements occuring as a construct. The first element is undetermined, while the second is determined by the definite article or a pronominal suffix, unless it happens to be a proper name when no determiner is needed. Where the first nominal element ends in a vowel (-a/ -i}, -t is added to the first element of the construct. aban 5'ammi "my uncle's son" qabbat 5'ammi "my uncle's bedroom" kteb axuyi "my brother's book" ma~tagat axuyi "my brother's ruler" sa5'b al-5'agaq "the Iraqi people" 5'ii~amat al-5'agiiq "the capital of Iraq" taffo/:1. as-sani "this year's apples" gantat al- banat "the girl's handbag" ma~ig al-5'iilam at-tiilat "the destiny of the Third World" badiiyat al-a~lii/:1. az- zaga5'i "the beginning of the agrarian· reform" bet amelda "Imelda's house"
Syntax
lVO
sawega~
bagdad
"the streets of Baghdad"
sahag nfsan "the month of April''
l:zkayyat t:.iali baba "the story of Ali Baba"
angz1 yul:zanna "the Gospel according to John"
naba?at asat:.iya "the Book of Isaiah" 3.2.3.1 Cardinal numbers Cardinal numbers in CB may occur in the construct. we/:zad (m.)/ wal:zdi (f.) "one" is never used in the construct. tnen "two" is only used in the construct when emphasis is required, as, for example,
t:.iandu tnen banat ma tlati "He has two daughters, not three."
ma kan aku bal- qat:.ia geg atnen gayaiil "There was no one in the auditorium, except for two men." Otherwise "two weeks", "two books", "two girls", etc. are expressed by the dual.
zbot:.ien "two weeks" banten "two girls" l:zazzogten "two puzzles"
sahgen kagten bazzunten
"two months" "twice" "two cats"
The feminine form tanten occurs on its own, usually as an answer to a question when the reference is to two feminine units, or the time. Sometimes tanten can be used interchangeably with the masculine form tnen.
kam mozayi akalti? "How many bananas have you eaten?" tanten or tnen
kam kanisa aku b mal:zallatkam? "How many churches are there in your district?" tanten or tnen
The Noun Phrase
109
s-sa2a bes or bes as-sa2a? "What time is it?" tanten ''Two o'clock." The following are examples of cardinal numbers in the construct:3
tlat naswan satt awgud tasa} ~awag
"three women" "six flowers" "nine pictures"
xamas katab "five books" tman banat "eight girls" 2asag sayyagat "ten cars"
As can be seen from the above examples, the substantives occuring with the cardinal numbers 2-10 are all in the plural. The substantives occuring with the numbers 11 onwards are in the singular, as, for example, tlatin sani "thirty years" xamsin maga "fifty women" tnen w sattin bet "sixty-two houses" mit dakkan "a hundred shops" a/fen af:i~an "two thousand horses" mit ala{ dfnag "a hundred thousand dinars" tlattalaf w sattin saxa~ "three thousand and sixty people"
3 The construct forms of the numbers 3-10 and 100 are given in 2.4.1 in the morphology.
Syntax
uu
3.3 The Closed-System Items The closed-system items ordinarily consist of articles, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections and vocatives. 3.3.1 Articles 3.3.1.1 The definite article The definite article in CB is usually 1-. However, it is frequently assimilated to the consonantal sound it precedes. In LA and. MB a distinction is made between "sun" and "moon letters", the former assimilative, and the latter non-assimilative, as, for, example, LA a!+ sams
al
+
qamar
> as-sams > al-qamar
"the sun" "the moon"
In CB however, there is no such clear-cut distinction, and the majority of CB consonants are assimilative. Thus compare:
MB 1-warad 1-yom 1-xatt 1-kursi 1-barad 1-/:larr
CB w-wagad y-yom x-xatt k-kagsi b-bagad /:l-/:lagg
"the "the "the "the "the "the
flower" day" line, the handwriting" chair" cold" heat"
The definite article is not assimilated before consonants like 1 or 2 in order to avoid articulatory problems. It is also rarely assimilated in loan words from LA. 4
1-S'amag 1-S'a~fog
1-adab 1-awedam 1-pa~iita
1-kiirata
"the age" "the sparrow" "the upbringing, manners; toilet" "the good people" "the simplicity" "the calamity"
1-S'agiiq 1-S'anab 1-amag
"Iraq" "the grapes" "the order"
1-asam "the name" 1-mu2tamag "the congress" 1-gani "the rich man"
4 There is a great deal of fluctuation in the assimilation of the definite article among CB speakers as a result of MB majority influence, and possibly due to LA interference.
111
The Closed-System Items
'fhe definite article carries no lexical meaning, and is used to give definite status to the substantives and adjectives it is prefixed to. g-gawegab 1-1aiTabi f-{aqeg 1-azgaq
"the "the "the "the
socks" doll" beggar" blue one"
s-samak k-kastaban 1-axxas s-saxif
"the "the "the "the
fish" thimble" dumb one" silly one"
Some place names are preceded by the definite article, while others are not. Thus compare: 1-1agaq "Iraq" igan "Iran" 1-ugdun "Jordan" 1abnan "The Lebanon" s-sa1dan "SaCdun" (a district of Baghdad) kaggadat magyam "Karradat Maryam" (a district of Baghdad)
The names of the majority of the Iraqi provinces are preceded by the definite article. "Basrah" 1-ba~ga 1-mantafak "Muntafik" "Dulaym" d-dalem "Mosul'' 1-mo~al
1-ka{a d-diwanayyi s-salemanayyi n-nagaf
"Kufa" "Diwaniyyah" "Sulaymaniyyah" "Najaf'
3.3.1.2 The determination marker fagad fagad and its syncopated variant {add "one, some", is a common feature of the dialects of Baghdad, which Blanc (1964: 118) calls the "indetermination marker". fagad I {add precedes singular nouns, and occasionally dual and plural nouns, especially when they follow cardinal numbers in the construct. Although fagad I {add does not define the noun it precedes, it tends to particularize the item it refers to. Thus compare: gagga1
"a man"
fagad gagga1
man {lag banat magga
"a view" " a girl'' "once"
fagad man{iag fagad banat fagad magga5
5 fadmagga and fadgiis are used as adverbs "straightaway" respectively.
"one man, a particular man" "a certain view" "a specific girl" " once, one particular occasion"
meaning "at once" and
Syntax tnen atlati
"two or three" fagad atnen atlati "some two or
alaf "a thousand" satt maggti.t "six times" wled "children" tyiig 'birds"
fagad fagad fagad fagad
~awag
fagad
/:lalwi
"beautiful pictures"
three" alaf "some thousand" satt maggat "some six times" awled "some children" atyiig S:agib~ "certain strange birds" $awag balwi "some beautiful pictures"
fagad I fadd occurs in forms beginning with some-, like someone, somewhere, etc. fagad wel:zad fagad se fad waqat fad yom
"someone" (m.s.) "something" "sometime" "someday"
fagad wal:zdi fad ma/:lall fad zaman fad sakal
"someone" (f.s.) "somewhere" "sometime" "somehow"
3.3.2 Pronouns Pronouns ordinarily act as nouns, hence their name. Unlike nouns, however, pronouns do not occur with determiners. Other differences between pronouns and nouns is that the former are a closed-system item, while the latter are an open-class item. Pronouns show a case-contrast for subject and object and a person distinction, as well as a gender-contrast, in the second and third persons singular. 3.3.2.1 Subject pronouns In CB, as in all Arabic dialects, the subject is an intrinsic part of the verbal form, as, for example, aktab "I write"< base pattern -ktab + subject pronominal prefix akatabu "they wrote" < base pattern katab + subject pronominal suffix -u
In the first example neither part of the verbal form, viz. a- or -ktab can occur independently. In the second example katab can occur without the pronominal suffix, in which case it would mean "he wrote", since the subject implied in the perfective base form is the third person masculine singular subject pronoun. Since the bou~d subject pronouns are implied in the verbal forms, the inde-
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113
pendent subject pronouns are used when stress is required. Thus compare: saddat a!- btib "She shut the door" hayyi saddat al-btib "It was her who shut the door" katabli maktii.b "He wrote me a letter" hawwa katabli maktiib "It was him who wrote me a letter" xtibagtak "I phoned you (m.s.)" ana xtibagtak "It was I who phoned you" gabtii.lna wagad "You (c.p.) brought us flowers" antam gabtii.lna wagad "It was you who brought us flowers" safntikam "We say you (c.p.)" nal:zna safntikam "It was us who saw you" tkallalti "You (f.s.) got married" anti tkallalti "It was you who got married"
3.3.2.2 Direct object pronouns Direct object pronouns are ordinarily suffixed to the verbal forms, as, for example, samaOOnu "I heard him" l:zabasni "He imprisoned me" nasa/:zntikam "We advised you (c.p.)"
:Syntax
xaggabawa "They wrecked it (f.s.)"
qay/:labba "He loves her"
gal:z yatgaka "He is going to leave her"
qayanfafni "He is useful to me"
gal:z ybahda1am "He is going to reprimand them"
jhaminu "Understand it!" (f.s.)
xallanu "Leave 1t. . ,.. ( c.p. ) ktabu "W. . ,.. (m.s. ) nte 1t. sammawam "Smell them!" (c.p.) xagmasatni bau;anati "My cat scratched me" 1-mudig qczyQ$am "The headmaster punished them" hadoli gassokam "These people cheated you (c.p.)" sal:zaqata sayyaga "A car ran her over" 3.3.2.3 Indirect and double object pronouns Some verbs in CB take an indirect object. The indirect object suffix differs from the direct in having morpheme -1-, implying the idea of action to, or at, or for someone, as, for example,
gamazla "He winked at her"
qalli "He said to me"
gabntilkam "We brought (to) you"
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samal:zlu "He allowed him" haffatlam "She fanned them" fagasatlu "She spread for him" sabagniilam al-qabbi ;,We painted the room for them" !:zagaqatla tannogata "She burnt her petticoat for her" gattabatli !:zwesi "She tidied my clothes for me" qabaliilna abanna bal-madgasi "They accepted our son (for us) at the school" !:zagazntilna log bas-sinama "We reserved ourselves a box at the cinema" xayyattilla bliiz al CJid miltida "I sewed a blouse for her for her birthday" talaCJlu l:zabb CJala gabinu "Spots have appeared on his forehead" There are several verbs in CB which take a double object. In a construction in which two object pronouns occur, the pronoun referring to the person for whom the action is performed comes first, as, for example,
nassiinayytinu "He made me forget it" talltikytiham "He gave them to you (m.s.)" fahham akyiinu "He made you (m.s.) understand it" faggagtawwamytiha "You (c.p.) showed it (f.s.) to them" CJallamathayyiinu "She taught it (m.s.) to her" s aggablinuyytinu "You (f.s.) gave it to him to drink"
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116
3.3.2.4 The anticipatory pronominal suffix An anticipatory pronominal suffix followed by the object it refers to introduced by prefix 1-, is of common occurence in CB. The con~ struction involving an anticipatory pronominal (ant. pro.) suffix, (subject + verb + ant. pro. suffix + l + object), has the same semantic value as a subject + verb + direct object construction. Thus: qagetu 1-akteb qagetilnu lal-akteb and "I read the book" fata/:lu s-sabebik and fata/:lawwam las-sabebik 'They opened the windows." saddu m-madgasi and saddawa lam-madgasi "They closed down the school" tagattam ax- xtidmi and tagattawa lax- xtidmi "You (c.p.) sent away the maid."
The ant. pro. suffix implies definiteness, and hence cannot approximate a construction involving an indefinite object. Thus compare: gammartu $awag "I collected pictures." qa$$ basis "He cut grass." sammeti wagdi "You (f.s.) smelt a flower." /:lagaqtu xabaz "I burnt bread."
gammaltawwa la$-$awag "I collected the pictures." qa$$U la/:l-/:lasis "He cut the grass." sammetayya law-wagdi "You (f.s.) smelt the flower." /:lagaqtilnu lax-xabaz "I burnt the bread."
The ant. pro. suffix occurs also in nominal constructions, involving possessions, as, for example, magru 1-axilyi "my brother's wife, my sister-in-law" kalbu l-aban gzgtinna "our neighbours' son's dog" $a/:l/:lata l-$adiqati "the health of my friend" la1abem lal-awled "the children's toys"
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3. 3.3 Prepositions Prepositions express a relationship between a verb/ noun/ noun hrase/ pronoun and another element, usually referred to as the P.object" of the preposition. There are a number of prepositions in CB. the most frequently occuring being b "in" and I(-) "to". The following examples show the occurrence of the preposition in a sentence or a nominal phrase.
hattetu gantati fi5q at-talliiga ;,1 put my handbag on top of the fridge." /-abgi hawwena 'lala k-kagsi "Here is the needle on the chair." siifagtu I amegka ba~-~ef "I went to America in the summer." gabtu xabaz man af-fagan "I brought bread from the bakery." katabna b qa/am ag~ii~ "We wrote with a pencil." 1-bazzilni gawwa 1-mez "The cat is under the table."
3.3.4 Conjunctions Conjunctions ordinarily connect two items. The most common conjunction in CB is w "and" which connects verbal-verbal and nominalnominal elements. verbal-verbal gii siifna w gii/:l "He came, saw us and went." t/:labb tazbab w tagkab al:z~iin "She likes to swim and to go horse-riding." /:lagaqu w xaggabu ka1 se "They burnt and wrecked everything." t-teg tag w wakka 'la1a sagagat a1-'lagmilt "The bird flew and landed o~ the pear-tree."
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Syntax
nominal-nominal garnil w fa{lal bal-bastan "Jamil and Fadel are in the garden." ana w axti nafs at-till "My sister and I are the same height." ~-~alex w al-rnazbal:z rnal:zalten ab-bagdad "Sulaykh and Masbah are two Baghdad quarters." abu z6gi w abu aS'azz ~adiqati axwi "My husband's father and the father of my dearest friend are brothers." Other conjunctions in CB are ida "if'; 16 which functions as both "if' and "or"; aw "or"; bass "but"; ldkan "but"; baS'den "then"; rnb6g "because"; 1a?ann "because"; 16 ... 16 ... "either ... or ... ", etc. The following examples show the occurrence of the conjunction in sentence contexts: ida @tu a@b1ak hadayyi wayyayi "If I come I shall bring you a present with me." 16 ta1aS'at la1- bastan qattaS'a1na agbaS' xarnas wagdat "If you go out to the garden pick us four or five flowers." natgadda hassaS' 16 nasrnaS' axbag et;i-{lahag qabal? "Shall we have lunch now. or shall we hear the noon news before (we have lunch)?" rna S'andi rnanaS' ida xtageti hada aw hadak "I have no objection if you (f.s.) choose this or that." kan gal:z yastagi1u pantag6n bas rna yaS'gaf l:zagmu "He was going to buy him a pair of trousers, but he does not know his size." kanat qatgid tadgas tabb lakan gayyagat fokga w dagasat handasa "She had wanted to study medicine, but then she changed her mind and studied engineering." gal:ztu 1as-s6q baS'den rnaggetu S'a1a rnaggagit "I went to the market then I dropped in on Marguerite." rna qaygid yagi wayyana rnb6g S'andu saga! "He does not want to come with us because he has got some work."
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stagetu moz 1a2ann abilyi yl:zabb a1-moz aktig "I bought bananas because my father likes bananas very much." qti1 1o ygiba1na hawwa 1-maktilb 1o yxalli axilnu ygibu "He said he would either bring us the letter himself or let his brother bring it."
3.3.5 Interjections Interjections are exclamations expressing emotion. An interjection does not occur in a sentence but is sometimes used to initiate one. The following are some of the more frequently occurring interjections in CB: oy
ax ox walli yalla mse
an expression of dissatisfaction an expression of pain an expression of pleasure or satisfaction "get away from here!" "come on!" which is frequently reduplicated as mse mse "go on!" implies incredulity and even dissatisfaction. This particle inflects for number, thus: mso mso. which occurs also as dagol:z gob "go on! get away!" implies incredulity and perhaps dissatisfaction. This interjection inflects for gender and number to agree with the gender and number of the person(s) addressed.
In each of the following examples an interjection initiates a sentence. oy htida 1-azda/:ltim asqadd y{iawwag "Oh, this traffic jam is so annoying!" tix sanni qayogaCJni "Ouch, my tooth is aching." ox s1on man{iag 1:za1u "Oh, what a beautiful view!" walli ana z;aCJltini wayytiki "Get away from here! I am angry with you." yalla manu yqill ax-xabagayyi ~adaq? "Come on! Who says the news is true?" mse mse baCJyilni rna qti~addaqki "Go on! I swear I do not believe you!"
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Syntax
dagobu gobu les ana ga8imi rna qti-aftaham "Get away (c.p.)! Am I so innocent that I do not understand!" 3.3.6 Vocatives A vocative is a nominal element added to a sentence or clause optionally, denoting the person(s) to whom it is addressed. A vocative in CB is frequently expressed by the particle ya preceding a proper name or noun I noun phrase. The vocative particle + the noun 1 noun phrase may occur in initial, medial or final position.
ya astag banat ba~-~aff wen kanti yom ax-xamis "You, who are the cleverest girl in the class, where were you on Thursday?" ya klemontin wenki? "Clementine, where are you?" ana saftiiki yti banti kanti qe2di qaddam "I saw you, my girl, you were sitting in front." hay ad-danyi slon qatatgayyag yom }an yom ya bibi "How this world is changing from day to day, Granny!" A vocative may also be a proper name or noun I noun phrase without a particle.
sesil xalliki b afgansa 1-bayiit absan honiki "Cecile, stay in France, life is better over there." stagetillak hadayyi qalbi "I bought you a present, my darling." abn al-kalb tfakkag taqdag atgasni? "Son of a bitch! Do you think you can cheat me?" Another vocative particle is walak "hey you (m.s.)" which inflects for gender and number to give walki (f.s.) and walkam (c.p.). It should be stressed that the use of this particle is a very familiar. and perhaps impolite way of addressing people.
walki ba1adki honi? "Hey you (f.s.)! Are you still here?" walkam sbikam tagsin? "Hey you (c.p.)! What's the matter with you, are you deaf?"
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121
walak ana rna qa-a/:zki wayyak "Hey you (m.s.)! I'm not talking to you!"
A person may be addressed familiarly by the use of the verbal form aqiil "l say" initiating a sentence, or formally by starting a sentence with "please", gaga?an or man far;Jal- + the pronominal suffixes. aqill wen /:lii!fin as-sagbat? "I say, where have you put the soft drinks?" aqill hada 1 labastinu sqadd basa) "I say, what you are wearing is so hideous." gaga?an taqdag atqalli wen mawqaf al-ba~ "Please, could you tell me where the bus stop is." gaga?an agid gaqam tala{on 1a?ala bal-ba~ga "Please, I'd like the phone number of a family in Basrah." man far,llak hada 1-akteb wen aqdag alqi matlu? "Please (m.s.), where can I find a book like this one?" man far,lalki sili 1-mez wayyayi "Please (f.s.), could you carry the table with me." man far,lalkam xallilni amagg "Please (c.p.), could you let me pass."
3.4 The Sentence A sentence is the largest grammatical unit consisting of different parts of speech, like nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, etc. There are three types of sentence, the declarative, the negative, and the interrogative. A sentence can be either simple, containing one nominal or verbal clause only, or complex, containing an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses; or it can be compound, containing two or more independent clauses joined by coordination. 3.4.1 The declarative sentence A declarative sentence ordinarily functions as a statement, and consists of a subject and predicate. The predicate is either nominal or verbal, depending on the type of clause.
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122
3.4.1.1 The simple declarative sentence 3.4.1.1.1 The nominal sentence The shortest type of a simple declarative sentence consists of one subject and one predicate only. In nominal sentences the two nominal elements, the subject and the predicate, are frequently followed by a postpositional copula yti- + a pronominal suffix. 6 The postpositional copula functions as an affirmation of the predicate. Although its use seems to be optional nowadays, 7 the postpositional copula tends to emphasize the predication, as, for example, (1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
{5)
(6)
hayyi l)alwi "She is pretty" hayyi l)alwi ytiha "She is pretty" or "she is indeed pretty" anta siifag "You (m.s.) are clever" anta safag yak "You are clever" or "you are indeed clever" htida t-talmid dabang "This pupil is a blockhead" htida t-talmid dabang yiinu "This pupil is certainly a blockhead" wledna naymin "Our children are asleep" wledna naymin yiiham "Our children are definitely asleep" antam kalkam ma5'ziimin 5'andna "You are all invited to our house" antam kalkam ma5'ziimin yiikam 5'andna "You are all definitely invited to our house" banat axiiyi 1-azgegi bam-madgasi "My brother's younger daughter is at school"
6 Blanc (1964: 124) suggests, that the usage of the postpositional copula, which is a hallmark of CB, "is old-fashioned and obsolescent". 7 Cf. Blanc (ibid.). Single-word constructions, such as malel:t "he is good" are rare, and the postpositional copula seems to be compulsory, giving · malel:t ylinu.
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123
banat axuyz 1-azgegi bam-madgasi yaha "My brother's younger daughter is clearly at school''
3.4.1.1.2 The verbal sentence There are five different elements in a verbal sentence, viz. (S)ubject, (V)erb, (O)bject, (C)omplement and (A)dverbial. The shortest type of a simple verbal sentence consists of SV elements only. Longer sentences can have different combinations of SVOCA, with SV always present and occuring in initial position, and OCA frequently occurring in post-verbal position. 8 The various combinations which make up a simple sentence can be of two, three, four or even five-element patterns, as, for example, SV, SVO, SVA, SVOO, SVOC, SVOA, SVCA, SVOOA, SVOCA. Thus:
SV
0-0 A OC- A OA CA
sv gti "He came" qtil "He said" namna "We slept" aka/at "She ate" qattikal "She is eating" gal:z yotkallal "He is going to get married"
8 While 0 invariably occurs in post-SV position, A, and to a lesser extent C, can occur in pre-SV position, as, for example, mbegQa saftunu "I saw him yesterday"; l)alwi ~iiyga bantu "his daughter has become beautiful."
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Syntax
SVO
gabtilnu "I brought it" safniinu "We saw him" katab maktilb "He wrote a letter" miigseJ qayasmal mosiqa "Marcel is listening to music" axti qatadgas gusi "My sister is studying Russian" aban 'lammi qayatzawwag banat xayyiitatna "My cousin is going to marry our dressmaker's daughter"
SVA
gii honi "He came here" 'liidal ysilq bel "Adel drives fast" ~adiqati kan atgayyagat aktig "My friend (f) has changed a lot" abilyi qaysiifag qagiban "My father will be going away soon" maietu bal-'lagal "I walked quickly" gab tabdi 1-'lat[a gada "The holiday will start tomorrow"
svoo
taS'iini bzemu "He gave me his belt" sammaS'atna mosiqa kliisikayyi "She made us listen to classical music" {lagabatu gasdi "She slapped him; she gave him a slap" na~abniinu na~eba
"We gave him advice" hadatu xa~la man saS'ga "She gave him a lock of her hair" labbasata tannogata "She put her skirt on for her"
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125
5vooA
saggabatu d-dawa fagad kag)a "She gave him the medicine to drink in one gulp" r;fagabu abgi honi "He gave him an injection here" qatsawfu 1-fa1am ba1-}aga1 "She is showing him the film quickly" t;allama geyiir;la male/:! "He taught her gymnastics well" xabbagatu x-xabagayyi b ka1 bagud "She broke the news to him very coolly" }assetanu biimya w ap1iiw qabl a8wayya "I gave him a supper of okra and rice a short while ago"
SVOCA
yantaxbanu mandabam ka1 magga "They elect him as their representative each time" t~awwagtanu siitag aktig "I imagined him to be very clever" }iima1awwa xiidmi honiki "They treated her like a servant there" magtu sawwatu as}ad man qaba1 "His wife made him happier than before" siifa /:la1wi ktig "He found her very beautiful" ~a/;Jagna biib betna azgaq "We painted the door of our house blue"
3.4.1.2 The complex declarative sentence S, V, 0, C and A are elements of clause rather than sentence structure (Quirk et al., 1972: 342). A complex sentence, made up of an independent clause, and one or more dependent clauses, therefore, can have more than one S, V, 0, C and A. (1) a/:labba 1 }ammati 1a?anna ktig ma1e/:la
"I love my aunt because she is very nice" (2) sqadd qii-atlab }alenu 1 abni bas hawwa rna male/:1 yiinu "I am really exerting myself for my son, but he is not good (i.e. worthy)"
Syntax
.. ,u
(3) iibi axaki wayyaki !amman tagen gada
"Bring your brother with you when you come tomorrow" (4) ida ~ayyanuni bas-sagaka ga/:l astagal male/:!
"If they employ me in the company, I shall work well" (5) ktig nas ygon lab-b~a waqt alii yatnawalan awledam
"Many people come to church when their children take their first communion" (6) bass a~ig ~andi flus ga/:l a$tagz1ki qmii.S txaytifki mannu tannoga "As soon as I shall have some money, I shall buy you material so you can make yourself a skirt out of it" (7) naga/:ltu bal-amta/:lan lakan axti ma naga/:lat w man hada maqhoga "I passed the exam, but my sister did not pass and that is why she is upset" (8) saftawa qatatmaSsa lamman ga/:ltu b sayyagati bas hayyi ma safatni "I saw her walking when I went in my car, but she did not see me" In sentences (1) and (2) the independent clause is dependent nominal clause, while in (3) and (5) it is dependent verbal clause. In (4) the dependent clause beginning of the sentence. In each of (6), (7) and (8) dependent clauses.
followed by a followed by a occurs at the there are two
(6)
[bass a~ig ~andi flus][ga/:l a$tagzlki qmii.S][txaytifki mannu tannoga]
dependent
independent
dependent
(7) [ naga/:ltu bal-amta/:lan] [ lakan axti ma naga/:lat] [ w man hada maqhoga]
independent
dependent
dependent
(8)
[Saftawa qatatmassa] [ lamman ga/:ltu b sayyagati] [bas hayyi ma stifotni]
independent
dependent
dependent
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).4.1.3 The compound declarative sentence A compound sentence is ordinarily made up of two or more independent clauses joined by co-ordination. The most frequently occuring co-ordinator is the particle w "and". Other common coordinating particles are lakan and bass "but"; aw and lo "or". Conjoined clauses in a compound sentence are usually referred to as conjoins. These are ordinarily semantically related to each other. (1) hayyi zgegi yaha lakan kallas qawayyi
"She is small, but she is strong." (2) hadoli ~inayyin lo yii.banayyin yii.ham (3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
"These (people) are Chinese or they are Japanese." sa'lgu tawil w pantagonu masqoq "His hair is long and his trousers are torn." 'ladal w salwa tkallalu qabal santen w hassa'l hamma b wasantan "Adel and Salwa got married two years ago, and they are now in Washington." amagg asilfak gada li5 yamkan axabgak "I shall drop in to see you tomorrow, or I might phone you." masa lam-madgasi bam-matag w hassa'l qayqal)l) "He walked to school in the rain, and now he is coughing."
(1), (2) and (3) are made up of two nominal conjoins each, while (4) consists of a verbal conjoin followed by a nominal, and (5) and (6) consist of two verbal conjoins each. In (1) the second clause, referring to the same subject, introduces a contrast. In each of (2) and (5) the second clause is an alternative to the first. In (3) the second clause is an addition to the first. In (4) the second clause is chronologically sequent to the first, and in (6) the clause is a consequence of the first. The following compound sentences consist of three conjoins each:
baqat bal-bet w gasalat sa'lga w ba'lden giiJ:Lat namat "She stayed at home and washed her hair, and then she went to bed." (2) yamkan angol) las-sinama li5 ngol) lal-ma(lam li5 nabqa bal-bet "We shall go to the cinema, or we shall go to the restaurant, or we shall stay at home." (1)
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Syntax
l)att kam diniig ab idu w hawwa ykayyaf w ydig balu CJalek maleJz "Put a few dinars in his hand, and he will be pleased and wiil look after you well." (4) yakgah gigiinu w ana ma qa-aflaggab la2an grgiinu mazCJagrn "He hates his neighbours, and I am not surprised, because his neighbours are tiresome."
(3)
(1) consists of three chronologically sequent clauses. (2) has three clauses, with each clause occuring as an alternative to the other two. In (3) the second and third clauses are consequences of the first, and the third clause is a sequent of the second. In (4) the second clause is a comment on the first, and the third clause is an explanation of the second.
3.4.2 The negative sentence 3.4.2.1 The simple negative sentence A negative sentence is formed by the addition of a negative particle immediately before the predicate in a simple nominal sentence, and before the verb, or the auxiliary verb, or the verbal particle in a simple verbal sentence. There are three negative particles in CB, mil which is prenominal, and mii and Iii which are preverbal. mil in subject implied nominal sentences: mil bagCJa yaha "She is not rude" mil /:liima{i yiinu "It is not sour" mil gaddad yiiham "They are not new" mil gasimi yaki "You are not ignorant" mil in subject stated nominal sentences: hal-akli mil taybi yaha "This food is not tasty" hada g-gaggal mil aban CJammi yanu "This man is not my cousin"
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129
s-satr hay-yom mil xabat yanu "The river is not choppy today" m-ma(lebas mtilati mil dahab yaham "My rings are not gold" ma. which frequently occurs wirth a short vowel as rna, negates all verbs and verbal constructions. rna gado se "They did not want anything" rna tlallamtu miisiqa "I did not learn music" rna qa- aqdag asmaS: !f6tki "I cannot hear your voice" rna ga(l yatkallal has-sani "He is not getting married this year" aban S:ammati rna qayagi S:andna hal-ayyam "My cousin (paternal aunt's son) is not visiting us these days" rna gagaS:at axti man as-siiq baS:ad "My sister has not come back from the market yet" matgo(len wayyanu "Don't (f.s.) go with him!" matasgabiln waski "Don't (c.p.) drink whisky!" mataddaxal ab amgi "Don't (m.s.) interfere in my business!"
As can be seen from the above examples, ma is frequently affixed to an imperative verb. hi, which often occurs with a short vowel as Ia, negates an imperative verb in simple sentences. latqallu se "Don't (m.s.) say anything to him!" latafta(len as-sabbak "Don't (f.s.) open the window!" latgzbilnu wayyakam . "Don't (c.p.) bring him with you!" latxalli a(lad yafj.(lak S:alek "Don't (m.s.) let anyone laugh at you!"
IJO
Syntax la'tatfaggaftn tQfagguf banat bala tagbayi "Don't {f.s.) behave like girls with no manners!" latlawdawam CiQf-~agaf "Don't (c.p.) accustom them to spending (money)!"
3.4.2.2 The complex negative sentence Complex negative sentences are formed by the addition of negative particles to complex declarative sentences. hiiy ax-xabzi ma maf:zgi5qa yiiha hadiki ma(lgoqa "This piece of bread isn't burnt, the other one is" ma tawil yiinu walaw abanu gaggiil tawil "He is not tall, even though his father is a tall man" ma kaddiibi yiiha (latta li5 kall an-niis qiilu hayyi kaddiibi "She is not a liar, even if everybody said she was a liar" mastagetu badli gadldi da-albasa b Clid al-agbig "I did not buy a new suit so that I could wear it at Easter" may~ig al-kalab yfilt Cial-bet (latta idii cjall aClawwi "The dog must not go into the house even if he goes on barking" latat~awwag aku aftag mannu "Don't (m.s.) think there is anyone cleverer than him" latqalalu yastagal ida ma qaygzd "Don't (c.p.) tell him to work if he doesn't want to" latgibuli hadayyi ham-magga idii ga(ltam lal-ugdun "Don't (c.p.) bring me a present this time if you go to Jordan" latxallaya ta(lmal kall ak-kagiisi "Don't (f.s.) let her carry all the chairs"
3.4.2.3 The compound negative sentence In compound negative sentences both clauses are usually negated. ma negates a first nominal, while mii and Ia negate a first verbal conjoin. The negative particle of the second and subsequent conjoins is ordinarily the compound walii, made up of the two elements w(a) "and" and Iii "no, not". ma (lalu walii basaCl yiinu "He is neither handsome nor ugly" d-danyi ma mgaymi walii kallas amsamsi yiiha "It is not cloudy, nor is it very sunny"
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ma gaf:ttu 1 2andu wala xabagtanu "I did not visit him, nor did I phone him" hadi5li kallatam rna yat?ammaniln wala yat~addaqiln "All these (people) cannot be trusted nor can they be believed" la hayyi gbigi wala hayyi zgegi "She is neither old nor young" la katab wala xallani aktab "He did not write, and he did not let me write" sayyagati mil f:tamga wala xar,lga wala zagqa "My car isn't red, nor is it green, nor is it blue" rna saftilnu wala sama2tu wenu wala 2agaftu 2annu se "I did not see him, nor did I hear where he was, nor did I know anything about him" latgi5/:t wala tatladdab wala tt;fayya2 ay waqat 2alayam "Don't go, nor put yourself to any trouble, and don't (even) waste any time on them"
3.4.3 The interrogative sentence There are three kinds of interrogative sentences in CB. They are sentences which are initiated by interrogative particles; syntactically declarative sentences which are realized as interrogatives by means of a falling-gradually rising( . . . , / ) intonation pattern; and tag-appended sentences. Interrogative sentences, moreover, can be divided into two groups according to whether the answer expected is yes-no or a reply supplying the missing information. 3.4.3.1 Interrogative sentences intitiated by interrogative particles These are formed by the introduction of interrogative particles at the beginning of declarative sentences, and expect answers other than yes-no. manu hay al-banat? "Who is this girl?" manu qalki ana gaf:t atkallal? "Who told you I am getting married?" sli5n kefkam hay-yi5m? "How are you today?" sli5n saftaya 1 amelda? "How did you find {lit. see) Imelda?"
132
Syntax sqadd S:amgu abanki? "How old is your son?" sqad tat$awwagen na/:ttag /:tatab? "How much wood do you think we need?" swaqat mawgudi bal-bet dazilgki? "When are you at home so I can visit you?" swaqat yabdi 1-falam? "When is the film starting?" sxabag kal hal-aka! na/:tna nafagen atlati bass? "How come all this food, we are only two or three people?" sxabag qatabqa bal-bet hay-yom? "How come you (ms) are staying at home today?" kam bet S:andu )amid kallayyatkam? "How many houses has the dean of your college got?" kam magga 9 tzaS:alti wayyanu? "How many times did you get annoyed with him?" ay dagas hada? "Which lesson is this?" ay we/:tad 9 qayaS:gabki /:latta astagilki yanu? "Which one do you like so I can buy it for you?" wen gantati? "Where is my handbag?" wen xalletaya 1 banatki? "Where did you (fs) leave your daughter?" les anta axag we/:tad ba$-$a[f? "Why are you the last in class?" les qayatladda S:alenu? "Why is he molesting him?" bes at-tamata hal-mawsam? "How much are the tomatoes this season?" bes astagetaya I ham-mazhagayyi k-kgastal? "How much did you buy this crystal vase for?"
9 kam and ay invariably precede nominals. They may, however. occur in verbal sentences provided they precede quantifiers like wel:zad "one" and magga "once", or nouns functioning as quantifiers, as in the following example, kam banat txaggagat man al-kallayyi has-sani "how many girls graduated from the college this year?"
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sanu "what" and saku "what is there" (< s- "what" + aku "there is") introduce nominal elements only. sb- "what is the matter with ... "occurs with pronominal suffixes, while "what" is prefixed to verbal forms.
s-
ScJnU hal-/:zagaki bagga?
"What is this noise outside?" sanu gaJyak ab gaJis gamhugayyat amegka? "What's your opinion of the American president?" saku axbag man abankam w magtu? "What news are there from your son and his wife?" saku CJandkam adgiis yti wled? "What homework have you got, children?" sbik rna qataf:zki wayyayi baCJad? "What's the matter with you that you are not talking to me any more?" sbaya xtilati nsalla malef:za? "What's the matter with my aunt, I hope she is well?" sbikam nasetu kal se qalntilkam ytinu? "What is the matter with you (c.p.) have you forgotten everything we told you?" sbinu htida stiyaq at-taksi rna qayandall? "What's the matter with this taxi driver that he does not know the way?" slaqeti gawwa 1-mez? "What did you (f.s.) find under the table?" stalabat man papa nawel ygzblak bal-CJid? "What did you ask Santa Claus to bring you at Christmas?" ssawwet bad-daftag alli .taCJak yanu amil? "What did you do with the note-book Emile gave you?" 3.4.3.1.1 Exclamatory and rhetorical questions Most interrogative particles can introduce exclamatory or rhetorical questions, as, for example, manu yadgi wen $tig ay-yom "Who knows where he is today!" wen hawwa w wen ana "What a difference there is between him and me!" {lit. "where is he and where am I!")
134
Syntax sqad l:zalwi banta lax-xayytita10 "How pretty the dressmaker's daughter is!" kam magga qaltalki ma taftal:zen al-btib ida rna ta5:agfin manu "How many times have I told you not to open the door if you do not know who it is!" sltin matkabbag ~tiyag /:zanna 10 "How arrogant Hanna has become!" bes at-tin bas-soq "How much do figs cost in the market!" sxabag rna qaya5:gabam al:zad "How come no one appeals to them!" les na/:zna y-yom ambegl:za na5:gafam "Is it only recently that we got to know them!" Oit. "why, did we only know them today or yesterday!") swaqat ana qaltu rna l:zabbetanu x-xafib banti "When did I (ever) say I did not like my daughter's fiance!"
3.4.3.2 Declarative questions Declarative questions are syntactically equivalent to statements, but differ from them in intonation. Declarative questions with a fallinggradually-rising intonation pattern expect a yes-no answer. qaystifgon kallatam ba!f-~ef? "Are they all going away in the summer?" t?aggafat 5:alenu ba/:1-l:zafti? "Did she get to know him at the party?" gtibula hadayyi man amegka? "Did they bring her a present from America?" t?axxagtam bal-azdal:ztim? "Did you (c.p.) get delayed in the traffic jam?" xalleti malal:z bal-apltiw? "Did you (f.s.) put any salt in the rice?" mudig madgasatam htida lli ktin abnu wayytiyi bal-kallayyi? "Is the headmaster of their school the one whose son was with me at college?" lO sqadd "how, how much" and slon "how" function as adverbs in exclamatory sentences. See 3.4.4.1 below.
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satti w atlatfn talmid w talmidi gal)o safga? "Did thirty-six schoolboys and schoolgirls go on a school outing?" xall~ti atgul)atki lli kanti badetaya qabal xams asnin? "Did you finish your thesis, the one you started five years ago?" banatkam t
rna tamam? "Isn't that right?" tamam 16 lti? "Is that right or not?" rna ~adaq? "Isn't that true?" rna ~abel)? "Isn't that correct?" rna hakki? "Isn't that so?" e lo Ia? "Yes or no?" ~abeb 16 galat? "Right or wrong?" tal ~amgu rna qa~~ag wayyaham rna tam am? "All his life he did not let them down, isn't that right?" ana lli qaltalki hilda g-gaggiil rna maleb alki tamiim 16 Iii? "It was I who said to you that this man was not good for you, is that right or not?" kiinat tat/a~ wayyiinu qabal rna tnesanu rna ~adaq? "She used to go out with him before they got engaged, isn't that true?" hiiy awwal magga qatangab amiga b amtal)iin fizya rna ~abeb? "This is the first time that Amira passes a physics exam, isn't that correct?"
136
Syntax ana ybayyan zaiTaltilki rna hakki? "It seems I've upset you, isn't that so?" qaggagat taqbala las-sagli b dakken ~arnrni e 16 Ia? "(I take it) you've decided to accept the job at my uncle's shop, yes or no?" yqalan gada gal:z a$ig rnuljahagat $al:zel:z 16 galat? "They say that there is going to be a demonstration tomorrow, is that right or wrong?"
3.4.3.4 Negative interrogative sentences Negative interrogative sentences are negative declarative sentences with the same falling-gradually rising intonation pattern as in declarative questions. In a negative interrogative sentence the negative particle is rna in prenominal and rna in preverbal position. Negative interrogative sentences ordinarily expect yes-no answers. rna rnalel:z gztarn kalkarn hay-yorn? "Isn't it good you all came today?" rna hada aban ~arnrnu 1 gozef alii kan bat-tabbayyi? "Isn't that Joseph's cousin, the one who was at the medical college?" rna as rna ganet axt ag- gahbi lli tdaggasna qawa~ad? "Isn't she called Janet, the sister of the nun who teaches us grammar?" sayyagatkarn rna soda yaha? "Isn't your car black?" rna~gaf rna hawwa lli ~aggafna ~alenu bal-ba$ga? "I don't know, isn't he the one we met in Basrah?" sanu hada lli b idki rna rnaktilb ali? "What's that in you hand, isn't it a letter for me?" rna saftayarn kanu kallatarn qe~din bas-sayyaga? "Didn't you see them, they were all sitting in the car?" rna qatgol:z banatki 1 nafs arn-rnadgasi wayya banatna? "Doesn't your daughter go to the same school with our daughters?" rna qaya~gabkarn tatrna8siln bal-bastiin? "Don't you (cp) feel like having a stroll in the garden?" rna qay?attag ~alenu hal-rnal:zit al-~alrni? "Isn't this learned atmosphere having any effect on him?"
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A negative imperative construction, with the particle rna prefixed to an imperfective verb, frequently implies "why don't you do s.t.?" when it occurs with interrogative intonation. Thus compare: negative imperative
negative interrogative
matg6h wayyanu
matgol:z wayyanu?
"Don't go with him!"
"Why don't you go with him?"
mata~lj'adin
mata~lj'adfn
al foq
al f6q?
"Don't (fs) go upstairs!"
"Why don't you go upstairs?"
matgzbanu 1 honi
matgibunu l hi5ni?
"Don't (cp) bring him here!"
"Why don't you bring him here?"
matadgas kfmya
matadgas kfmya?
"Don't (ms) study chemistry!" "Why don't you study chemistry?" mal:zadd "nobody, anybody" (< rna "no, not" + al:zad "somebody") frequently occurs in negative interrogative sentences. mal:zad qayallam
may~fg yqa~on
wagad man as-sal:za 1-lj'amamayyi?
"Hasn't anybody told them they must not pick flowers from the main (public) square?"
les
rna tagen mal:zad yaqdag ywa~~alki?
"Why don't you come, can't anybody give you a lift?" mal:zad
wa~~alalkam
ax- xabag axayi gagalj' man kanada?
"Nobody gave you the news that my brother came back from Canada?" mal:zad qaygfd ba1ad aplaw?
"Nobody wants more rice?" 3.4.4 Adverbs and adverbial clauses Adverbs deserve a special mention. According to Quirk et al. (1972: 26 7) "the adverb class is the least satisfactory of the traditional parts of speech. Indeed it is tempting to say simply that the adverb is an item that does not fit the definitions for other parts of speech." The adverb has two main functions: (1) as a modifier (2) as a clause constituent
Syntax 3.4.4.1 Adverbs as modifiers Adverbs function as modifiers of verbs or adjectives, as, for example da2aman ysaq f:zel "He always drives fast" kan kal waqat ysafag al labnan "He always used to travel to Lebanon" gawabni bal-t;agal t;ala maktabi "He answered my letter quickly" tf:zammalat kal magat;l absagat;a "She endured every illness bravely" kallas sat;idin yaham "They are very happy" 1- falam al safnanu mbegf:za kan aktig f:zalu "The film we saw yesterday was very nice" slon ~at;ab kan dagas )alm an-nabat "How difficult the botany lesson was!" sqad saxifi anti t~adqen kal se "How stupid you (f.s.) are, you believe everything!"
The adverb kallas "very" occurs also as a modifier of other adverbs, as, for example, ma f:zabbetu asaq kallas f:zel "I did not like to drive very fast" wa~alna lal-f:zalla man ba)qoba kallas absat; "We reached Hilla from BaCquba very quickly" ma samat;na ay ~or lazam fat 1al-bet kallas baskat "We did not hear any noise, he must have gone into the house very quietly" ana asaf banatkam gaf:z tangaf:z ab kall amtaf:zanata kallas bashali "I think your daughter is going to pass all her exams very easily"
3.4.4.2 Adverbs as clause constituents A clause consists of a group of words which occur as a grammatical unit. A subject and a verb are essential elements of clause structure, whqe an object, a complement and an adverb are, on the whole,
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139
optional. Adverbs as clause constituents can be divided into two groups, those that are an integral part of a clause and those that are peripheral to clause structure. Where an adverb is integrated into a clause it is referred to as an adjunct. Where an adverb is peripheral to t~e clause.' .which can fu~ction jus~ as easil~ w~thout it, it is called etther a dtsJunct or a conJunct. As tts name tmphes, a conjunct has a connective function in a clause, while the function of a disjunct is non-connective. The following are examples of adverbial clauses where the adverb in each case is an adjunct: mii gal:zna lab-befa yom al-al:zad liikan kanna honiki s-sabat bal-lel "We didn't go to church on Sunday, but we were there Saturday night" !amman tagak al-l:zafli t;fef as-sagaf kanna kalna naqdag na!la<.l wagiinu b kall ashfili "When the guest of honour left the party we could have all gone out after him very easily" ana 1-l:zaqiqa mii aqdag a~addaq hawwa biiq al-aflils "I personally can't really believe that he stole the money" nal:zna nqaddag mawqafki kal taqdig "We fully appreciate your (f.s.) situation" ya<.lgaf adgilsu ma<.lgafi ~atl:zayyi bass "He knows his lessons only superficially" qamu yatniiqasiln ab ~ot <.liili ktig "They started to argue in a very loud voice"
The majority of disjuncts in CB are prepositional phrases. Most disjuncts are loans from LA, and hence tend to occur in educated speech. The following examples show the occurrence of disjuncts in CB: ab kal ~agiil:za ana agaggal:z as-safag bat-tayyiiga "In all honesty, I prefer travelling by plane" badiln mugiimala mii at~awwag aku al:zsan mannak al hal-magkaz "Without any flattery, I do not think there is anyone better than you for this position" ana afat;ft;ial tagon kalkam wayyiina gaddayyiit "I prefer that you all come with us, seriously"
140
Syntax ba1a saqa qayaiJgabki pantagonu g-gadid "Joking apart, do you like his new trousers?" atmannii1kam kall as-saiJiida man ka1 qa1bi "I wish you every happiness, with all my heart" tabiJan ana awiifaq lJala kal se qatqiilu bas gab alJiigt;fak ab naqta wel)di "Of course, I agree with you on everything, but I shall disagree with you on one point"
In the above examples the adverbials or disjuncts are peripheral to the sentences they occur in. Each sentence would have the same clause structure and semantic value if it were to occur without the disjunct. Because ab kal !fagli/:la "in all honesty"; badiin mugiima1a "without flattery"; gaddayylit "seriously"; bala saqa "joking apart"; man kal qalbi "with all my heart"; tabiJan "of course" are not integrated into the sentences, they can occur in initial or final position. Conjuncts, like disjuncts, are peripheral and hence not integrated into sentences. Yet conjuncts tend to have a closer relationship with sentences than disjuncts do. This is primarily because conjuncts function as connectives whereas disjuncts do not. The following are examples of conjuncts: ba1-awwa1 ktabaya lal-ma/:lfiit;ia 11 maswaddi w baiJden bayt;iaya "At first write out the poem in rough, and then copy it out in neat" askagki iJa1a 1-akteb w ba1-munlisaba a/:labb aqalki iJagabni ktig "I thank you for the book, and incidentally I'd like to tell you that I liked it very much" tnenna iJandna nafas waghat nat;iag aw bal-a/:lga nafs at-tafkig "We both have the same point of view, or rather the same way of thinking" qaba1 ma tatzawwag liizam talqi bet aw iJala 1-aqall at?aggag saqqa "Before you get married you must find a house, or at least (you must) rent an apartment"
11 This is the name applied to short poems, usually learnt by heart at school, hence its name (< l:tafarJ "to learn by heart").
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q6.l gal:z yatfa$al bfkam ab awwal fag$a 'lala kal l:zal rna gal:z yxallfkam bala axbag mannu "He said he would get in touch with you at the earliest opportunity, at any rate he is not going to leave you without any news from him" abilyi w 'lammi wa'ladani yantoni saga! mahma ykan ga!:z ysaglilni wayyahom "My father and uncle promised to give me work, whatever happens they are going to let me work with them" latotxa$$a$ bal-6.d6.b awwalan al-6.d6.b maku manna manfa'la hay-yom t6.nayan kal wel:zad al ya'lgaf ma$la/:zatu yadgas 'lalilm t6.latan alli yatxaggag man qasm al-6.d6.b rna yalqi sago! "Don't specialize in arts, firstly there is no benefit from the arts nowadays, secondly anyone who knows what is good for him studies sciences, thirdly the person who graduates from an arts faculty finds no work."
In the above examples ba'lden "then"; bal-mun6.saba "incidentally"; bal-af:zga "rather"; 'lala 1-aqall "at least"; 'lala kal f:zal "at any rate"; mahma ykan "whatever happens"; and awwalan ... t6.nayan ... t6.latan "firstly ... secondly ... thirdly" are all conjuncts connecting dependent clauses or noun phrases to main clauses. All adverbial clauses, be they adjuncts, disjuncts or conjuncts may be classified according to the type of adverb they contain. 12 Thus, an adverbial clause consisting of an adverb of time would be called an adverbial phrase of time, an adverbial clause with an adverb of place would be referred to as an adverbial clause of place, etc. 3.4.5 Cleft sentences A cleft sentence is so called because it consists of a clause divided into two parts, each with its own verb. In CB cleft sentences frequently consist of a relative clause introduced by (a)l I (a)lli. The relative clause helps to give additional information about a noun I noun phrase which is always defined.
12 See morphology, 2.6
142
Syntax hay al-banat alii kanat q~di honi hay axta 1 ~onya "This girl who was sitting here is Sonya's sister" 1-astad ta5'ani 1-akteb alii katabu hawwa qabal santen ''The teacher gave me the book which he wrote two years ago" fjayya5'tu samsayyati hadik al-leli lli kii.nat qatmattag w {ialamat "I lost my umbrella that night when it was raining and pitch black" qatastagal ab kallayat al-handasa lli hassa5' at!:zawwalat lalwazigayyi "She is working at the engineering college which has now moved to the Waziriyya district" ma qaya5'gabni as-saga! al qa-astaglu hal-ayyam "I am not liking the work I am doing these days" hay am-maga 1 kanti takgahaya saftawa mbegl:za bsaga5' ag-gasid "That woman whom you used to dislike, (well) I saw her yesterday in Rashid Street"
In all the above sentences the relative clause functions as a postmodifier of the defined or focused noun or noun phrase. There is another type of cleft sentence in CB which does not involve a relative pronoun, and where the focused element is an adverb. bama anna tadgas ab gadd qaggagna na5'foya man al-amtal:zan "Because she studies hard, we decided to excuse her from the exam" la?annu tmaggafj ma qadag yofi b wa5'du w yaxadna lal!:zabbanayyi "Because he became ill, he could not fulfil his promise and take us to Habbaniyya" matalkam kammaltam amgawwi w gitam maggu 5'ala gadditi "Since you made the effort and came, drop in on my grandmother" lamman ga ab w ma gaga5' man kanada 5'agaftu ma ga!:z yagga5' has-sani "When August came and he did not return from Canada, I knew he would not come back this year"
A BRIEF SOCIOLINGUISTIC SURVEY
4.1 Triglossia vs. diglossia Ferguson's definition of diglossia (1959) that (H)igh and (l)ow, two varieties of one language, refer to the formal and the everyday respectively, like classical and vernacular Arabic, has been extended by Fishman (196 7) to include two totally different languages. Fishman gave Paraguay, with its two official languages, Spanish and Guarani, as an example of a diglossic community. Fishman and others have also recognized the co-occurrence of three or more languages, or varieties of one language, in a given community, which they called triglossia and polyglossia, (Abdulaziz Mkilifi, 1978 [ triglossia]; Gumperz, 1964; Fishman 1967 and Platt, 1977 [polyglossia]). Some scholars have found, moreover, that the vernacular, or a L variety for one group of speakers, can function as a H variety for another group, (Gumperz, 1964; Platt, 1977; Krysin, 1979; Eckert, 1980). In Baghdad LA is the H variety shared by MB and CB speakers. MB is the L variety for Muslim Baghdadis, whereas it is another H variety for Christian Baghdadis, falling between LA and their own CB dialect, which is their L variety. MB functions as a H variety for Christian Baghdadis, since it is not learnt at home and not spoken with in-group members, but used in situations requiring a certain level of formality and perhaps more guarded behaviour. 1 CB speakers, therefore, are triglossic because they use three distinct varieties of Arabic, viz. LA, MB and CB, for three different communicational purposes, in highly formal, less formal, 2 and informal situations respectively. 1 In my Christian primary school in Baghdad in the early fifties, the conversation between the teachers, who were all Christian women at that time, and the pupils, was often in CB. But whenever a teacher referred to the text or assumed a more serious tone, even with a Christian child, she would switch· to MB. 2 Some CB speakers think that MB is closer to LA than CB. Cf. Ghanima, op.cit., p.302.
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A Brief Sociolinguistic Survey
The following examples were provided by two CB speakers. Each example is divided into three parts, (i) in CB, (ii) in MB, and (iii) in LA, demonstrating the triglossic repertoire of CB speakers:
1. (i) (ii) (iii)
2. (i) (ii) (iii)
stagetu gawantit mal $e[ staret naftinif $efiyya staraytu fastitina $ayfiyya "I bought summer dresses." kan sama) anta honi sama1 anta hnti laqad sami1a annaka hunti "He heard you were here."
3. (i) (ii) (iii)
axilyi gah yatkallal gada axilya ra/:1 yatzawwag bticar sayatazawwagu axi gadan "My brother is getting married tomorrow."
4. (i) (ii) (iii)
1-kalab agbig ytinu 1-calab cabir al-kalbu kabirun "The dog is big."
5. (i)
htida s-siltin mil malel:z ytinu htiga 1-dabas mil zen htiga 1-dibsu laysa gayyidan "This date syrup is not good."
(ii) (iii)
6. (i) (ii) (iii)
gasalet al:zwesa qabal rna tmartag xaslat ahdilmha gabal rna tumtur gasalat fiytibaha qabla an tumtir "She washed her clothes before it rained."
7. (i)
ktinu kallatam qe2din lamma wa$allam al-xabag ctinaw kulhum gti1din man Wo$alalhum al- xabar ktinu gamiluhum gtilisina 1indama wa$alahum al-xabar "They were all sitting down when the news reached them."
(ii) (iii)
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145
8. (i) (ii) (iii)
ta1ana plaw kan tabaxatu gaddatu ntana tamman tabxata bibita qaddama lana aruzzan tabaxathu gaddatuh "He gave us rice which his grandmother had cooked."
9. (i) (ii)
tagadawam man al-madgasi mbog kasali yaham tardohum man al-madrasa cef kaslanin taradilhum min al-madrasati li?annahum kaslaniln "They expelled them from school because they were lazy."
(iii)
lO.(i) (ii) (iii)
hay-yom qayagi5n IJandna xattag hal-yom dayagun IJadna xattar saya?tfna 1-yawma zuwwar ''Today guests are coming to (visit) us."
11. (i) (ii) (iii)
abilyi ma}gaf asbinu ybayyan IJalenu za1lan abilya madri sbi ybayyan }ale za1liin Ia adri rna huwa 1-amru maiJa walidi yabdu annahu musta?un "I don't know what is the matter with my father, he seems to be angry."
12.(i) (ii) (iii)
giganna IJandam aban aw banat gzranna IJadhum walad w abnayya gzranuna IJindahum !fabiyyun wa bint "Our neighbours have a son and a daughter."
13.(i) (ii) (iii)
kan qayaliJab caqqi w qas can daya[IJab duiJbu[ aw Xa!far kana yaliJabu bil-dal:w1 wa xasir "He was playing marbles and lost."
14. (i) (ii) (iii)
!ftam;iagatu las-saiJa tnaiJas aw baiJden ga!:zat namat natrata 1as-sa1a tnaiJas aw baiJden ral:zat namat intazarathu l:zatta 1-saiJa 1-taniya IJasara tumma gahabat ila 1-nawm "She waited up for him until twelve o'clock, and then she went to bed."
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4.2 Variation within CB There is a fairly high level of phonological variation within CB which is not only noticeable in the difference between the speech of one idiolect and another, but can also be found in the repertoire of the same speaker. This variation, therefore, does not appear to be related to social variables, like gender or generation. For example, one elderly woman informant gave both tmiim and tamiim "complete, whole", while a man from the younger group of informants provided the two variants nhiig and nahiig for "day". This variation can be detected in the examples provided by Blanc's informants. Blanc (1964: 80) cites nhiig as the CB equivalent of MB nhar, whereas he gives sagiib "wine" as the CB variant of MB sriib. Blanc (p 82) gives biyilt "houses", for which I have both bayat and byilt. Similarly for Blanc (p 83) fosad "corrupt", gehal "child", !:zefi "barefoot"; (p 85) kasliin "lazy", (p 86) fagl:ziin "glad", I have fosad and fasad, giihal, 3 kasliin and kasliin, fagl:ziin and fag/:ziin, respectively. In my data also sayyiiga and sayyiiga "car", and tayyiiga and tayyiiga "aeroplane", seem to be in free variation. Another form, nes appears to be in free variation with ntis "people". Jastrow (1979: 53) gives nits as the form current in Mosul, and nes in both Bdi:tzani and Mardin. For "schools", Blanc (p 87) gives both maderas and madiiras. Apart form the elii vocalic variation, I have found in my data examples of this form with glr consonantal variation. Thus: maderas, madaras and madegas . Blanc also gives cawedar "tents", for which I have only cawedag. gbig "big" with initial g, was used more frequently by my informants than its variant kbig which both Oussani (p 97) and Blanc (p 81) give to the exclusion of gbig. Evidence that this form is current in some qaltu dialects was provided by Jastrow (1973: 15 and 1978: 47) who found it in Mardin. 4 As far as morphological variation is concerned, for the plural of the pattern CaCeC!C, Blanc (p 89) gives the following examples: xabebiz "bakers", xayeyit "tailors", and mal:zelil "quarters", for which I have xabbiizin, xayyiitfn and mal:zalliit respectively. For maqe~i~ "scissors", I have also mqii$i$. Blanc says (p 99) that some Stem I verbs of the base form CvCvC have a dual pattern of CaCaC and CdCdC, as, for example labas and labas "to wear", samaiJ and sama1 3 I have not come across gehal with imiila. 4 See 1.1.4.
Variation within CB
147
"to hear", kabag and kaba~ "to grow". This feature is still current in the CB of my informants. For the third person plural of Stem I perfective verbs of the CaCa pattern, I have both bano and bano "they built"; baqo and baqo "they stayed". Blanc (p 102) gives bano with long 6 only, while Jastrow (1979: 46) gives bano with short o for the qaltu dialects he has surveyed. In third person pronominal suffixes gemination occurs frequently. Blanc (p 122) gives the following forms: CJalayya "on her" CJalayyam "on them" I have also come across these forms without gemination, thus: falaya and CJalayam. Similarly, in pronominal suffixes in verbal forms my informants gave both giibawwa and giibawa "they brought her", and fagadawwam and fagadawam "they expelled them, they sent them away", etc. An interesting variation at the syntactical level was provided by three informants who used the independent pronouns instead of the postpositional copula, as, for example,
siitag hawwa taCJbiini ana sahgiinin na!:zna
for for for
gaddati CJaguzi hayyi
for
mii xos awedam hamma
for
siifag yiinu "he is clever" taCJbiini yiini "I (f.s.) am tired" sahgiinin yiina "we are staying up late" gaddati 1aguzi yiiha "my grandmother is old" mii xos awedam yiiham "they are not nice people"
This variation within CB is rare, and could be attributed to hypercorrection. Particle kan preceding a past tense verb, which still occurs in CB, does not seem to have been recorded by Blanc. The following CB text which appeared in Oussani's article shows the occurrence of kan separating a past tense verb from its auxiliary, kiin. The transliteration of the text has been adapted according to the system I have used throughout this work.
5 See 2.1.1.1
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mbe/:la ga/:ltu S:and abayi bas-soq w mti saftilnu honiki mbogar kan kan gtil:z al geg maken w-azS:altu ktig w baS:du rga)tu lal-bet w qaltala I-ammi w xabbartawa w hayyi hammena n/:la$agat aktig. w lamma $tig al-masa sa2altu abayi w qaltalu wen kanat yti abuyi hal-yom a$-$aba/:1 w hawwa gtiwabni w qalli yti Naladi kantu gahtu las-soq /:latta atallaS: a$-$anediq alii wa$[atni mbe/:la man or6pa w bai:Jdu sawwafni ytiha w afga/:lna baya ktig.
The following translation of the text is by Oussani, and has been reproduced here verbatim. When I had gone yesterday to (see) my father in the market, I did not see him there; he had gone to some other place. I was very much disappointed. Then I went home and told my mother and informed her. She, too, was very much disappointed. When the evening came, I asked my father, and said to him: "Where were you this morning, father?" He answered and said to me: "My boy, I had gone to the market to take out the trunks which had been sent to me yesterday from Europe." Thereupon he showed them to me, and we both liked them very much. In the above text Oussani uses both g < r and r as in mbogar "because"; rgaltu "I returned"; xabbartawa "I told her", and ga/:ltu "I went", geg "other", ktig "very", fga/:lna "we were happy", or as he translates it, "we both liked". This shows that there was variation in CB in the use of g and r, even at the turn of the century, and that this variation is not altogether a new development. Oussani uses baS:du "then" which still occurs in CB, although baS:den seems to be more common nowadays. mbogar "because" is no longer current, having been replaced by mb6g. 6 There is no glottal stop between particle 1- and ammi "my mother", which occurs in the Arabic text as Iammi. lamma "when", which occurs in the text, is the older variant of lamma or !amman provided by my younger informants. There is variation also in the realization of yawtiS I yawtis "slowly". Oussani, elsewhere in his article, gives yawtis. Among my informants, the older ones seemed to prefer yawtiS while the younger ones invariably preferred yawtiS. In the text there is /:latta "so that", an archaic variant of /:latta, which is far more common nowadays. 6 My older informants were not familiar with mbogar.
Levelling or non-levelling
149
4.3 Levelling or non-levelling Most CB salient features are levelled during CB non-CB interaction. Some sociolinguists, like Dorian (1973) and Trudgill (1983; 1986), have found that levelling can sometimes be long-term resulting in the complete reduction of certain salient features. CB appears to be under a great deal of threat from several directions. Blanc (1964) found that certain overtly stigmatized features, like dental t for interdental 1. and the postpositional copula, were optional among the speakers he interviewed. According to some of my older informants, these and other CB features are Christian markers which many young people do not want to retain in their speech. Most of my younger informants saw the postpositional copula and particle kan as redundant. These two features, therefore, may well become obsolete in due course. The imtila is another feature which is frequently being levelled. Most LA loans are realized with medial ti, as, for example, tamtitil "statues"; maxtizon "shops". Other well-established forms seem to be shedding the imtila also. maken "place", which appears in Oussani's text, was invariably realized as maktin by my informants. madegos "schools", which appeared in the speech of the older informants, was frequently realized as madtiros by the younger members of the group. This variant was also recorded by Blanc (p 87)_7 Although at the present time nes and ntis are in free variation, ntis could well become the only variant, just as it appears to be in the Mosul dialect, (Jastrow 1979: 53). Dentals for interdentals appear to be fairly stable among the Christians I spoke to. As Blanc found (p 19), t is the interdental which is more frequently realized by CB speakers. The following LA and non-Arabic loanwords occur in CB with the interdental of the donor language: tamttil ta2attur tayatar tarapi
7 See 4.2 above.
"statue" "influence" "theatre" "therapy"
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Loans with d and rj usually occur with their corresponding dental variants in CB. In my data only two LA forms were realized with d These were mugil "broadcaster" and mugakkarat "memoirs". The~ were no instances of forms with LA rj. LA loans like munarjrJama "organization"; ganan "suspicions"; marjhar "appearance", were realized with CB g. g for r seems to be quite stable also. Dentals for interdentals, and g for r do not appear to be undergoing long-term levelling. In spite of the fact that the diffusion of LA forms into CB is seen by some Christian Baghdadis as a threat to their dialect, it should be remembered that most LA loans are not replacing CB forms, but are filling lexical gaps in the dialect. The most immediate danger to CB which could lead to dialect death, similar to the fate Dorian (1981) predicted for Scottish Gaelic is due to social, rather than to linguistic factors. CB speakers nowadays' are scattered throughout the world. Since the 1960s many have settled in non-Arabic speaking communities, either individually or in small groups, where they have little chance of speaking CB. In spite of the fact that many Christian Baghdadis who are living abroad appear to have preserved their dialect, it is difficult to predict whether they will be able to maintain it indefinitely, and to pass it on to the next generation.
TEXTS The following transcribed texts were selected from numerous recordings of CB speech made in Baghdad and London. In order to give an overview of the dialect as a whole, the twenty texts were transcribed from recordings by twenty different speakers of varying ages. All recordings which were marred by constant repetition or hesitation were avoided. Only recordings of spontaneously produced speech with a narrative slant were chosen, since these needed little or no editing. Texts which gave a personal view of Baghdadi or Iraqi culture and way of life seemed appropriate to include here, because they contained a larger number of CB forms and expressions than texts with a more general bent. Footnotes were restricted to a minimum and used only where an expression or a lexical item appeared vague or contradicted CB phonology or grammar. Many informants expressed the wish to remain anonymous. It is not difficult, however, to tell in some texts whether the speaker is male or female, elderly or young.
152
Texts
Text 1 sarr dogla binu madd w gazag. ba$-$e{ yanqa$ mayy as-sarr w tatla(j binu gazag tabqa till a$-$e{ ila an yagi b-bagad wam-matag w tatgarta g-gazag. kanu bat.iar;l t.ia2ilat bagdad yJ:zarron matol bayat azgegi man sa(jaf naxal )ala g-gazag ysammawam cagadfg ... almafgad cagdag. hadi5li b-sakal xayam yaham. kall alli )andam cagdag ysawwan (jazfmi binu (jal aqall magga aw magten ba$-$e{ ya(jazman azdoqa2am w aqagabam w yashagi5n la$-$aba]J.. akal w kef w mi5siqa ... bal-awwal kanat mi5siqa sagqayyi yaS'ni calgi bagdad ... maqam ... al-gabbanci w nar;lam w salima ~.. baS'den $ago ygzban agani faygaz 2 w J:zatta amm kaltam 3 ... w maggat mi5siqa gagbayyi matal atwfst hay ag-gaq$a mal as-sattinat wal-bitalz war-ri5lang asti5nz. na]J.na kanna bal-(jaraq ansammi 1-bitalz xanafas matl al-J:zasaga. addakkag sani b sahag ab ysammiinu (jandna ab al-lahhab kanna kall yi5men taqgiban angi5/:t al-S'and azdoqa2 S'andam cagdag w nashag las-saS'a tleti agba)a $-$aba/:t. naggaS' lal-bet halkanin. bass kanna natwannas aktig w hadi5lak al-ayyam man a/:tsan ayyam qar;fr;lenaham. kan aku S'a2ilat matmakkanfn S'andom matogat. kanna natlaS' bammati5g angi5/:t al-naH as-sart w-ancayyat w nazba/:1. kan aymagg man yamna $ayyadin samak talS'en yat$ayyadiin sabbiit w bazz. 4 aktag $ayyadin dagla yazba]J.i5n male/:1. hayyi s-sabti/:ta bas-sarr mii halqad sa]J.J:zayyi yiiha w xatag. yqiiliin aku kosag bas-sarr bass ana b-S'amgi rna saftu se man hada w ana qar;fr;letu aktag sababi azba/:1 bas-saft.
1 These are the Iraqi singers Mu]:lammad al-Qabbanchi, popularly known as al-Gubbanchi, Na~im al-Ghazali and Salima Murad. 2 The Lebanese singer. 3' The famous Egyptian singer. 4 Two types of large freshwater fish found in Iraqi rivers.
Translations
153
Translation 1 The river Tigris has high and low tides. In the summer the water of the river decreases and small islands appear in it which stay all summer until the cold and the rain come and the islands become submerged. Some Baghdadi families used to put up little palm-leaf huts on the islands which are called cariidfg ... singular cardiig. These are like tents. Everyone who had a cardiig would give a party in it once or twice in the summer. They would invite their friends and relatives and stay up until morning. Food and fun and music .. . At first it used to be Oriental music, that is Iraqi classical music .. . maqiim ... Al-Gubbanchi, Na<;iim and Sali:ma ... Later they started to bring songs by Fayruz and even Umm Kulthum ... And sometimes Western music, like the Twist, that dance of the sixties, and the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. We, in Iraq, used to call the Beatles "beetles", like the insect. I remember one year in August, (which) they call "flaming August" in our part of the world, we went practically every other day to friends, who had a cardiig, and we used to stay up until three or four o'clock in the morning. We would go home exhausted. But we used to enjoy ourselves very much, and those days were among the best we have ever spent. There were well-off families who had motorboats. We used to go out in the motorboat as far as the middle of the river, and we would dive in and swim. Fishermen used to go past us on their way to fish sabbut and bazz. The majority of the Tigris fishermen swim well. Swimming in the Tigris is not that healthy and is dangerous. They say that there are sharks in the river, but in all my life I did not see anything of the kind, and I have spent most of my youth swimming in the river.
154
Texts
Text 2 madgasati kanat madgasat banat w madgasi ah1ayyi. ab-bagdad kanat am-madegas a1-abtada?ayyi 1-/:lakilmayyi max.talata wam-madegas at-tanawayyi 5 kallata mil maxtalata yaha. lakan aktag am-madegas al-abtada?ayyi al-ah1ayyi 16 la1-banat 16 la1-walad. baS:den !fago yaftaf:i6n madegas ahlayyi maxtalata bax-xamsinat was-sattinat. am-madgasi 1-ah1ayyi taqba1 manu rna kiin. tabS:an ygidiin nes yadfa5:ii1am. ida we(lad gasab santen waga baS:(iam yantagad man am-madgasi 1-/:lakiimayyi mb6g ba1-S:araq S:a1a t-tagiqa 1-afgansawayyi ida tdlab gasab ab-axag as-sani yabqa b-!faffu yS:idu sani 1axxi. ida gasab ab-maw(i65: aw atnen yqiililn ta1a5: akma1 6 w yaqdag ida mtaf:ian bayam ab-axag as-sani w naga/:1 yat1a5: a1-!faff a5:1a. ida gasab magga 1axxi tabS:an yabqa b-nafs a!f-!faff aku maggat kanu t-talamid yanga/:!6n nagaJ:z S:af:z-l:zaffi. yaS:ni ykiln maS:adda1am ben ax-xamsin wax-xamsi w xamsin. waqta yqilliln talaS:o akma1 bal-maS:adda1. alii akma1 ba1-maS:adda1 yaxtag dagas aw dagsen yamta/:lan bayam /:latta yS:alli maS:adda1u w yanga/:1. madegas a1-S:araq hayyi abtada?ayyi w tanawayyi. w at-tanawayyi maqsiimi qasmen matawa!f~ata w aS:dadayyi. bam-madgasi a1abtada?ayyi satt !fafiif amtaf:ian !faff as-sadas ysammiinu l-balw16gya. al-matawaHata t1at asnin w a1-aS:dadayyi santen. ab-axag !faff ba1matawa~~ata w hawwa !f-!faff at-tdlat at-tanawi t-taldmid S:andem amtaf:zan baka16gya w wagiinu yaxtiig6n 16 fagaS: S:a1mi 16 fagaS: adabi ba1-aS:diidayyi lli baya !f-!faff ag-gabaS: wax-xiimas tiinawi. w ab-axag a!f-!faff ax-xamas yamta/:lniin amtaf:ziin baka16gya lax qaba1 mii yg6/:16n 1ag-giimaS:a aw a1-kallayyat at-tagbayi aw kallayi takn6l6gayyi.
5 In Iraq primary schools are usually co-educational while secondary schools are all single sex. 6 akmiil (lit. "completion"; "conclusion"). This implies that the result of th.e examination is not outright failure and that it is possible to resit the subjects one has failed in.
Translations
155
Translation 2
My school was a girls' school, and a private one. In Baghdad state primary schools were mixed, and all secondary schools not mixed (not co-educational). But the majority of private primary schools were either for girls or for boys. Then in the fifties and sixties they began to open co-educational private primary schools. Private schools accept anybody. Of course they want people who can pay them. If one failed two years running one would be expelled from a state school, because in Iraq it is according to the French system that if a pupil fails at the end of the (school) year he stays down in his class and repeats it another year. If he fails in one or two subjects they say he has not failed completely, and he would be able to go to a higher class if he is examined in them at the end of the year and is successful. If he fails (in them) one more time of course he stays down in the same class. There were times when pupils used to have borderline passes. That is when their average would be between 50°/o and 55°/o. In such situations they say that they failed in their average. The one who fails in his average chooses one or two subjects to be examined in so that he would increase his average and pass. Iraqi schools are primary and secondary. Secondary schools are divided into two parts, intermediate and preparatory. There are six classes in a primary school. The exam at (the end of) the sixth class is called the baccalaureate. The intermediate (section is) three years and the preparatory two years. In the last class of the intermediate (section), which is the third class of the secondary school, pupils take a baccalaureate examination, and after that they choose either the sciences or the arts division in the preparatory school which has the fourth and fifth secondary classes. At the end of the fifth class they take another baccalaureate examination before they go to university or to teacher training college or a technological college.
156
Texts
Text 3 na/:lna b-betna rna kan a/:lad ya/:lki bad-din "hada masfl:zi yanu. hay masalmayyi yaha. hada yahiidi yanu." bass gaddati kanat tasma1ni aqiil abana lladi fi s-samawati w as-salamu 1alayki ya magyam. kanat 2andna $an2a katolfkayyi w [amman kanat tasma2na ana w bibi qa- n$alli kanat at$ alii wayyana. e 2ala kall /:lal rna kan baba y/:zabb al:zad yqill se }an din geg nes. kan }andna azdaqii2 aktagam aslam w kantu at$awwag kallatna nafs as-se ya}ni kantu at$awwag $adiqati banat giganna hayyi hammena ga/:l tatnawal matli !amman Y$fg 2amga tman tasa2 asnin. !amman agbagtu $agtu a§}ag baf-fagaq ben adyan an-nes. hada se tabili xa$$atan ab-balad matl al-CJaraq baya man kall al-adyan. bam-madgasi kanna ngi5/:l lab-be2a kall al-banat a/-masi/:layyat rna }ada 1-pgotastan la?an madgasatna kanat madgasi katolikayyi .. . madgasat gahbat. awwal rna gal:ztu lam-madgasi kano aktag ab-banat masi/:layyat li5 asga?ilayyat 7 ya}ni yahiid hakki kanna nsammayam qabal. $adiqatna 1-masi/:layyat hammena rna kiino ya/:lkiln bad-din. ba2den $iigo yagi5n banat man baggat bagdad mii matlawwadin }ala l:zayiit madini gbigi. hadoli bass kano yas?aliin "anti sanu dinki?" wa/:ldi banat agbag manni b-aktig qalatli magga "anti na$ganayyi yaki." qaltiila "la Ia ana masi/:layyi." kantu ba2adni zgegi ma2gaf na$ganayyi w masi/:zayyi fagad se. za2altu w abkitu w hayyi tqalli "bali bali anti na$giinayyi." kanna q€ldin )al-}asa qalli biiba "sbiki banti?" qaltiilu "mii se." qalli '1azam aku se. md qa-ta/:lkilna y-yi5m }an a$fil[ki w adguski." sakattu swayya. ba}den qaltiilu "baba sanu na$gani $a/:leb mat! al-masf/:li?" qalli "e miiku fagaq. masi/:li ya2ni yatba2 al-masi/:l w na$giini yatba) yassi52 al-masi/:l alii kiin man an-ntzyaga." waqta kayyaftu w mii za2altu ba2ad ida a/:lad qalli "anti na$giinayyi yaki."
7 Up until the fifties Iraqi Christians frequently referred to Jews as asgii2flayyfn (lit. "Israelites"). This was considered a more polite form than yah ad "Jews". It was only when the word Israelite took on a political meaning that this practice was dropped.
Translations
157
Translation 3 In our house nobody spoke about religion. 'This man is a Christian. This woman is a Muslim. That one is a Jew." But my grandmother used to hear me recite "Our Father who art in heaven" and "Hail Mary". We had a Catholic maid, and when she heard my granny and me praying she used to pray with us. Anyway, Daddy did not like anyone saying anything about other people's religion. We had friends who were mostly Muslim, and I used to think that we were all the same, that is to say I used to think that my friend, our neighbours' daughter, was also going to make her first communion like me at the age of eight or nine. When I got older I started to be aware of the differences between people's (different) religions. That is natural, especially in a country like Iraq which has all the religions. At school we used to go to chapel, all of us Christian girls, except the Protestants, because our school was a Catholic school ... a school run by nuns. When I first went to school most of the girls were Christian or Israeli, I mean Jewish, that is what we used to call them in the past. Our Christian friends also did not talk about religion. Later girls from outside Baghdad, who were not used to life in a big city, started to come. Only those used to ask: "What is your religion?" One girl who was much older than me said to me: "You are a Christian Oit. Nazarene)." I said to her: "No, no, I am a Christian." I was still young and did not know that a Nazarene and a Christian were the same. I got angry and cried. She went on saying to me: "Yes, yes, you are a Nazarene." We were sitting down to supper (and) Daddy said to me: "What's wrong, my girl?" I said: "Nothing." He said to me: "There must be something. You're not talking to us today about your classes and lessons." I was quiet for a little bit. Then I said to him : "Daddy, what is a Nazarene? Is it true that it is the same as a Christian?" He said to me: "Yes, there is no difference. A Christian means (someone) who follows Christ, and a Nazarene follows Jesus Christ who was from Nazareth." It was then that I felt happy and I did not get angry after that if someone said to me: "You are a Nazarene."
158
Texts
Text 4 awwal a$an$6g 8 ya)ni ma:f)ad kahgaba?i saftilnu b-bagdad kan ab 6gazdi ... maxzan binu kall se ... bad/at lar-ragal wan-nasa? wal-atfal w atat bet 9 w-aqmasat w :fil[ w kall se (latta mati'am . .. maqha ... ng6/:l naqS:ad binu w nakal d6ndarma. kanat waqta d-d6ndarma ssilgayyi kan astahagat ba[-)araq. sqadd $ago yafta/:16n ma(lallat ybil6n baya d6ndarma w (lalawayyat silgayyi w labnanayyi. b 6gazdi kano yg!biln d6ndarma mat! ad-d6ndarma al-mash6ga b-damasq hay alii msawwayi man /:lalib sada 16 fastaq. baS:den qamo yatfannaniln y6m afgez y6m masmas y6m m6z 16 battex. kanna na/:lna ng6/:l al-6gazdi hakki bass nastamm hawa swayya. ida gadna nastagi se kanna ng6/:l a/-)and (lasso, yaS:ni maxzan (lasso axwan. abilyi kan yaS:gaf al-madig. S:ti?ilat (lasso kallatam sabtayyin hamma ashag S:a?ila sabtayyi b-bagdad. e fa awwal ma gabo ma$5:ad kahgaba?i b 6gazdi $agat an-nes atg6/:l tagkab binu yatfa5:6n w yanzaliln se gadid yanu b-bagdad. magga kantu bal- ma$5:ad wayya wa(ldi amm al- S:abayi kanat wayya wa/:ldi safiig. as-safiig qalatla 1-amm al-S:abayi "sl6n qatsilfin alma$5:ad?" qalatla "mil halqad fagad se male/:! yanu. al-ma$a5:ad abmQ$ag agbag w a(lsan b-aktig man hada. h6niki kall mQ$5:ad binu mgayi w maqc.iad." bass ban-nasbi 1-geg nes kan se )ar,/im. yqilliln !amman gabo awwal dagag kahgaba?i /-bagdad kano nes aktag yg6/:16n bass (latta yatla5:6n w yanzaliln. hadak al-waqat ana ma kantu b-bagdad kantu bag-gama)a b-amegka.
8 < the French ascenseur. 9 While enumerating the articles sold in the department store this informant reverted to the use of literary Arabic while retaining CB t for t i'n atilt "furniture"; "furnishings".
Translations
159
Translation 4 The first lift, that is elevator, that I saw in Baghdad was in Orozdi Back ... a department store which has everything ... clothes for men, women and children, household furnishings, materials, wool and everything, even a restaurant .. . a cafe . .. where we used to go and sit down to have ice cream. At that time Syrian ice cream was famous in Iraq. So many shops which sold Syrian and Lebanese ice cream and sweets opened (then). So at Orozdi Back they used to sell ice cream like the famous Damascus ice cream, the one which is made of plain milk or pistachio. Later they started to vary (it). One day (there would be) strawberry (ice cream), another day apricot, another day banana or melon. We used to go to Orozdi Back just for a breath of air. If we wanted to buy something we would go to Hasso's, that is Hasso Brothers' Store. My father knew the manager. All the Hasso family are Seventh-day Adventists. They are the best known Seventh-day Adventist family in Baghdad. Yes, so the first time they brought an electric elevator to Orozdi Back people started to go there and get into it to go up and down. It was a novelty in Baghdad. Once I was in the elevator with a woman wearing a 5:abaya. She was with a bareheaded woman. The bareheaded (woman) said to the one in the 5:abaya: "How do you find the elevator?" She said to her: "It's not all that good. The elevators in Egypt are a lot bigger and better than this one. There each elevator has a mirror and a seat." But according to other people it was fantastic. They say that when they brought the first escalator to Baghdad many people only wanted to go up and down. At that time I was not in Baghdad. I was at university in America.
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Text 5 ntaSagat as-sinama b-bagdad bal-agbaCJinat wal-xamsinat qaba1 ma yagi 1-ta1avazyon. at~awwag awwa1 mal:zattat ta1avazyon anfata!:zat ab-sant a1-xamsi w xamsin. qabl a1-talavazyon as-sinama kanat ahamm 1ahu 1-5:ti2ilat bagdad ya5:ni ba5:d as-sahgat ba1-abyat. as-sinama n65:en satwi w ~ayfi.. a~-~ayfi. bagga. ab-ayyam al:z-/:zagg ~a5:bi wel:zad yabqa gawwat banayi alla ida kanat ambaggadi. kall as-sinamat kan bayam maqa5:ad w 1ogat kall lOga baya agba5: kagasi. maggat ida kanna xamsi 16 satti na!:zgaz kagsi aw kagsayyen yl:zattawam ba1-1oga. nastiJ wal:zdam aw 5:a?ilat yaq5:adan bal-1ogat. gyagz1 w sabab w ganad yaq5:adan ab-maqa5:ad ysammawam abu 1-agba5:in w abu 1-sab'i:in. la?an awwal ma nfatal:zat as-sinamtit kan sa5:g al-maq5:ad a1-liqaddam agba5:in falas wal-a!:zsan sab5:in folas. baqo hakki ysammawam /:latta ba5:ad ma ~ago agla. a1-aflam al-amegakayyi hayyi IIi kanat sa5:bayyi aktag. awwalan amsawwayi male/:l w tanayan tagi las-sinamat al-mal:ztagama. qalfl 5:ti2ilat kano ygol:zon las-sinamat alii bayam aflam 5:agabayyi ya5:ni m~gayyi la?an aktagam kano b mal:zallat qadfmi w faqfgi. al-aflam al-amegakayyi kanat bal-laga 1-a~layyi wayya taggami bal-5:agabi wal-fagansi. as-sfnamti.t kanat aktig ala sa5:bayyi w baqat hakki ila awwal as-sattinat.
Text 6 bal-5:araq aku !:zagaki fannayyi qawayyi. man al-agba5:inat astahago 1-fannanin al-5:araqayyin bag- gasam wan-nal:zat. kan qabal yagon fannanin ogoppayyin lal-5:araq yagasman w aygaggon ~awag fotografoyyi lal-ti.tag al-5:araqayyi wal-mal:zallat al-qadfmi x~~atan ab bagdad w bal-mo~al. ma~awwagin a/man ahtammo b fQ$wfg al-bayat al-qadimi hadoli 1-bayam sanesil w /:los ab-nafoga w a§gag mat[ al-bayat al-aspanayyi ... al-andalusayyi. w gassamin angaliz ~ago yagon
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Translation S Cinemas in Baghdad became widespread in the forties and fifties before television arrived. I think the first television channel opened in 1955. Before television the cinema was the most important passtime for Iraqi families, that is to say after evemng gatherings in (people's) homes. There are two kinds of cinema, indoors {lit. for winter) and open-air (lit. for summer). Open-air is outdoors. On hot days it is difficult to stay inside a building except when it is air-conditioned. All cinemas had (individual) seats and boxes. Each box had four chairs. Sometimes if we were five or six we would book a chair or two which they would put for us in the box. Women on their own or families would sit in the boxes. Men, young men and soldiers would sit in the seats which they (still) call those at forty fils and others at seventy fils. That is because when cinemas first opened the price of a seat in front was forty fils, and the better (seat) seventy fils. They kept calling them that even after they became more expensive. It was American films which were more popular. Firstly they were well made, and secondly they came to respectable cinemas. Few families went to cinemas which showed (lit. had) Arabic films, that is Egyptian (films), because most of them were in old and poor quarters. American films were in the original language with subtitles in Arabic and French. Cinemas were very popular and remained so until the beginning of the sixties.
Translation 6 There is a strong art movement in Iraq. From the forties (onwards) Iraqi artists became well known in (the fields) of painting and sculpture. Previously European artists used to come to Iraq to paint and take photographs of Iraqi landmarks and old quarters, especially in Baghdad and Mosul. German photographers took an intere~t in photographing old houses, those which have overhanging windows and a courtyard with a fountain and trees, like Spanish ... Andalusian houses. And
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lal-t;araq w yagasman mana{lag mat;magayyi w agtamat;ayyi. bass al-fannanfn al-t;araqayyfn al-~aqeqa baddat;o. bax-xamsfnat bado 1-fannanfn yat;ag{lan lo~ti.t ab a/wan zaytayyi w mti.?ayyi 10 b mat;aga{l xa~~a. w qamo n-nes yastagon ~awagam. w astahago 1-fanntinfn al-t;araqayyfn ban-na~at wa~-~afag bas mil nafs ad-dagagi lli stahago baya bag-gasam.
Text 7 al-at;yad bal-t;araq ma kanat qa~at abadan. al-masalmfn t;andam at;yadam wal-aqallayyat matl al-masf~ayyfn, wal-yahiid wal-agman wal-atiigayyfn wal-akgad kallatam t;andam at;yadam. w tabt;an da?aman aku 1-at;yad al-watanayyi matal t;fd mflad al-malak w l]fd al-tatwig 11 hadoli bal-t;ahd al-malaki. bag-gamhiigayyi aku qabal kall se l]fd al-tawra 11 yat;ni agbatat;as tammiiz w yom ag-gays satti kaniin at-tani. ab at;yad al-masalmin kall al-awlti.d kano yalbasiin a~wes gadidi mlawwani 1-banat yagabtun sagayat tafta mlawwani b sat;gam. yagkabiin bat;-t;agabanat y~afqon w yganniin. al-banat hammena y~anniin idayam w gaglayam. bat;d al-masalmin kano 1-yahiid yahtammiin aktfg ab-at;yadam ... yom kipog w t;id gas as-sani malatam w !amman y~ttiin t;agazil bas-~to/:1 12 al-t;agziili msawwayi man sat;af naxal. kanna ngo/:1 al-t;and azdaqti.?na nsiif t;agazilam. hay qabal ma y~aqtun 13 al-yahiid man
10 There are no CB forms for oil or water colours, and so informants usually code-switch to literary Arabic. 11 With non-CB forms informants frequently retain the I of the definite article instead of assimilating it to the following phoneme. 12 This practice refers to the celebrations of Succoth or the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. 13 ~aqqat < ~aqqat gansayyatu "he renounced his (Iraqi} nationality" came to mean that an Iraqi Jew had left or was about to leave Iraq.
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English painters started to come to Iraq to paint architectural and social scenes. But Iraqi artists in fact excelled themselves. In the fifties (Iraqi) artists began to exhibit their oil and watercolour paintings in special exhibitions. People started to buy their pictures. They also became well-known for (their) sculpture and etchings, but not to the same extent as for (their) paintings.
Translation 7 There was no dearth of feasts in Iraq at all. Muslims have their own feasts, and (so do) the minorities like the Christians, the Jews, the Armenians, the Assyrians and the Kurds who all have their feasts. And of course there are always the national festivals, like the king's birthday and Coronation Day; these were during the monarchy. In the republic there is first of all the anniversary of the Revolution, that is on 14 July, and Army Day on 6 January. During the Muslim feasts all the children used to wear brand new colourful clothes, the girls used to tie coloured taffeta ribbons in their hair. They used to ride in horse-drawn carriages and clap their hands and sing. Girls also used to put henna on their hands and feet. After the Muslims it was the Jews who used to make the most of their feasts ... Yom Kippur and their new year (Rosh Hashanah) and when they put lJarzillas on the roofs. An lJarzilla is made of palm leaves. We used to visit our friends to see their lJarzillas. That was before Jews started leaving from the forties (onwards). How they used to enjoy their festivals! They would take with them hard-
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awaxag al-agbaCJinat. sqad kano ykayftln ab-aCJyacmm. yagdan wayyaham tabit 14 be{l w geg ygof:zon al-pagk as-saCJdan alli qageb man betna. kantu asufam yan~aban samawag w ysawwan cay bal-pagk. naf:zna 1-masif:zayyfn CJandna CJid al-milad w gas as-sani w CJid alagbig yaCJni l-fa~a/:1. al-ogtodoks w xtzy~atan al-agman CJid al-mflad CJandam yam satti kanan at-tani baCJad CJid gas as-sani. w aktag as-sanfn CJid al-fa~a/:1 CJandam ykan baCJad CJid al-fa~a/:1 malat al-katolik wal-apgotastan. kanat as-sani kallata CJandna b-bagdad malyani aCJyad. as-siCJa yaf:ztajlan ab CJid nawgoz bag-gabeCJ. ysammanu bal-CJaraq CJid dogt as-sani !amman as-sani ddog CJala noCJ f:zaywan. ysawwan ~awani kallata namnamat w yzawqawa b yas. kal ~fnayyi Iazam ykan baya tamag. yf:zattan asmoc; lan-nadag alli yandag se yf:zatt dambas bas-samCJa. se ktig f:zalu yanu. nes aktag y?amnan binu masalmin w masif:zayyfn. am-maga lli ma qa-y~igla wllid tandag ida ~agla aban aw banat atqom hayyi tsawwilam kall sani ~inayyi. xlilati nadagat ab ~fnayyat magt al-fallaf:z malatam. Iamman waladat awwal abna qalatla magt al-fallii/:1 "lazam kall sani tsawwflu ~inayyi hada as-sagar." qamat xalati kal nawgoz atsawwi ~fnayyi 1-abna ila an matat a!!a yagf:zama. al-masalmfn baCJa{l mannam y~adqon bal-qaddisin al-masif:zayyfn. kan aku waf:zdi maga masalmayyi naCJgafa qalatla 1-~anCJata 1-masif:zayyi "asCJalfli samc;a lal-CJadga yom al-af:zad." mbog abna kan qayf:zabb wa/:ldi ma mnasabi 1-CJa?alatam. !amman abna tagaka 1-hay w atnesan wayya waf:zdi yaCJagftln ahla ~agat ammu tdazz ajlas ab id ~anCJata lak- kan fsi.
14 .lit. "left overnight". Eggs and chicken were cooked on Friday afternoon and put on low embers to keep warm for the Sabbath.
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boiled eggs and boiled chicken and they would go to SaCdun Park which is near our house. I used to see them putting up samovars and making tea in the park. We Christians have Christmas, New Year and the Great Feast, that is Easter. The Orthodox, and especially the Armenians, have their Christmas on 6 January, after New Year. And most years their Easter falls after the Catholic and Protestant Easter. Our whole year in Baghdad was full of feasts. The ShiCites celebrate Nawruz in the spring. They call it in Iraq the revolving of the year, when the year revolves on a kind of animal. They prepare trays full of tidbits which they decorate with privet leaves. Each tray has to include dates. They (also) put candles for making wishes. Anyone wanting to make a wish sticks a pin in a candle. It's something very nice. Many people believe in it, (both) Muslims and Christians. A woman who has no children (usually) makes a wish. If she has a boy or a girl she has to prepare a tray for them every year. My (maternal) aunt made a wish in the tray of their gardener's wife. When she had her first child the gardener's wife said to her: "You must prepare a tray every year. That is a must." So my aunt began to prepare a tray for her son every Nawruz until she died, God have mercy on her soul. Some Muslims believe in Christian saints. There was a Muslim woman we knew who said to her Christian maid: "Light me a candle to the Virgin on Sunday." (This was) because her son was in love with a woman who was not suitable for their family. When her son left this (woman) and got engaged to someone whose family they knew, (his mother) began to send money to the church with her maid.
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Text 8 kal madgasi bal-2araq atxa~~a~ yom we/:lad bas-sani d-dagasayy;_ 1-~aff man a~fiifa ygo/:lon safga 1-xagag al-madini. qalil taliimid mii ygo/:lon. aku maggat awlad ahlam ma yxallawam ygo/:lon wayya baqayyat azdaqa.Jam. ygilz yxafiin 2alayam. bass al-aktagayyi yantazhiln al-fag~a w ygol:zon wayya ~affam. l-azbo2 kallu qabl as-safga ykilniln al-awliid fag/:liinin w magtahdin bam-madgasi. kantu ana w azdaqa.Ji ma naqdag nagfa qabal lelt as-safga halqad ma nkiln fag/:lanin. kantu axba~a I-ammi idii ma saftawa qat/:la{i{iagli gadayi las-safga. tqalli "abni ba2ad waqat." kantu aqom a~-~aba/:1 w bal-2agal agzd ago/:! lam-madgasi. yqalli abilyi "les al-2agali hay-yom?" !amman kantu o~al lam-madgasi ago/:! adawwag 2ala kall azdaqa2i w nat/a2 ab-ba~ mal am-madgasi. safgatna kano lo 1-babal lo lall:zalla naq2ad 2ala siita2 al-fagat lo 1-abu greb. honiki aku mazga2a w nahag w asgiig anqa{i{ii n-nahag nal2ab sambela w xatteba wal-baniit yaxdiln wayyiiham /:labal. w nagga2 kallatna ta2banin lal-bet al-magrab.
Text 9 1-mosiqa 1-S:ariiqayyi hayyi no2en 1-aklasikayyi was-sa2bayyi. 1-akliisikayyi ya2ni 1-maqam was-sa2bayyi 1-agani 1-badawayyi 1 bal-a~al. bass al-maqiim hawwa mafxagat al-2araq al-mosiqayyi. bal-waqt al-/:liidag kan atgayyag aktig mamma kan ab 2ahd al-2abbiisayyin. 15 mii2gaf idii l-alqii2 ba2du matal mii kiin qabal. liikan kan ~iig aq~ag man qaballi2an mastama2in qagn al-2asgzn mii 2andam lti nafs a~-~abag wa Ia waqat yaqdagon yabqon sii2iit yasma2on qiigi 1-maqam yalqi maqiim we/:lad waga laxxi. 2iid al-qiigi yalqi maqiim qa~eg lo tnen w 15 'It is generally believed that the contemporary Iraqi maqiim is a direct descendant of Abbasid court songs.
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Translation 8 Every school in Iraq dedicates one day in the school year for each one of its classes to go on an outing outside the city. There are few pupils who do not go. There are sometimes children whose parents do not allow them to go with the rest of their friends. Perhaps they worry about them. But the majority take the opportunity and go with their class. The whole week before the outing the children are excited and work hard at school. My friends and I could never get to sleep the night before an outing, so excited were we. I used to pester my mother if I did not see her preparing me a (packed) lunch for the outing. She used to say to me: "It's still early, my boy." I would get up in the morning and want to rush to school. My father would say to me: "Why the hurry today?" When I got to school I would go and look for all my friends and (then) we would get into the school bus. Our outings were either to Babylon or to f:lilla where we would sit on the bank of the Euphrates, or to Abu Ghraib. There is a farm there and a river and trees where we would spend the day playing leapfrog and hide-and-seek, and the girls used to take a skipping rope with them. We all used to go back home in the evening exhausted.
Translation 9 Iraqi music is of two kinds, the classical and the popular. The classical means the maqdm, and the popular (consists of) songs which are of bedouin origin. The maqdm, however, is the musical pride of Iraq. At the present time it has changed a great deal from what it was in the Abbasid era. I do not know whether the recitation is still as it used to be before. But (the maqam) has become shorter than before because twentieth century audiences have not got the same patience nor the time to be able to spend hours listening to a reciter delivering one maqam after another. So the reciter delivers one short maqam or two, and . then the orchestra starts to play a popular ditty or a folk song and the audience starts to clap to its rhythm and join in the refrain.
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ba2den yqilm ac-ctilgi ydaqq li5 pasta li5 gannayyi sa2bayyi al-mastama1in yqi5mi5n y~afqi5n 2ala nagmata w yastagkiln bag-gadd. mti baqa qaggii2 maqtim matal qabal. aktag al-magannin as-sabab yganniln agtini gadidi mat?atga b mi5siqa gagbayyi. awwalan hakki ni52 mi5siqa margob aktag w ttinayan mti baqa magannin qadimin y2almiln al-magannin as-sabtib alqti? maqiim 2ala t-tageqa t-taqlid.ayyj. 2ala kall /:!til ba2ad wel)ad yaqdag yalqi sahgiit wayya ciilgi bagdad ba/:1-bafliit li5 bal-a2giis ... sahgiit alii tabda man as-sii)a tas)a w tabqa ilii s-sii2a tliiti a~-~aba/:1 !amman al-flazmin yqadmiln al-xattagam paca. 16
Text 10 al-agman ab-bagdiid mil man as-sakkiin al-a~layyin matal baqayyat al-fa? at al- masil)ayyi matalan al- kaldiin w iiti5gayyin way-ya2qi5bayyin. bass al-agman ~iigi5 qasam mahamm man ag-giilayi 1-masi/:layyi bal-)ariiq. aktagayyat al-agman i5gtodoks. liikan aku mannam kiiti5lik. baflat;f mannam ysammawam agman mahiigagin hay !amman ygzdiln yfagqi5n benam w ben alli go qabal mannam alii ysammawam agman bagdad. al-agman al-mahiigagin kiino mii ya/:lkiln )agabi male/:1 w aktagam yal)kiln tagki w agmani. agman bagdad mii ya2agj'iln tagki w lagatam al-agmanayyi maxli5ta b kalamiit w )abiigiit )agabayyi ktigi. b qagn al-miit;fi kiino agman bagdad maqsilmin ben hadi5li lli yl)abbiln qay~ag gusya w ben alli yl)abbiln al-malaka vakti5gya. tab2an al-agman al-mahiigagzn gi5 b-badiiyat haq-qagan ba2d al-madiiba/:1 alii ~agat 4a44 al-agman. )adatan al-i5gtodoks may~eg yatzawwagun qagayab. aqall qagiibi beniitam lazam atkiln )ala ba)ad saba) maggiit. bass [latta Iii yanqagt;filn al-agman al-batgak man zamiin qiil yguz zawiig ben qagiiyab. w man hiida aku kam agmani matzawwag bant xalatu li5 bant )ammatu. 16 It is customary to eat tripe following a maqiim concert.
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There are no longer maqam reciters as before. Most young singers sing new songs influenced by Western music. Firstly, this type of music is more popular, and secondly, there are no longer old (style) singers (who can) teach the young singers maqam recitation according to the traditional method. Anyway, one can still find evening gatherings with (traditional) Iraqi music at parties or weddings ... evening gatherings which start at 9 o'clock and go on until 3 o'clock in the morning when the hosts offer tripe to their guests.
Translation 10 The Armenians in Baghdad are not among the original inhabitants of Iraq like other Christian groups, for example, the Chaldeans, the Assyrians and the Jacobites. But Armenians have become an important part of the Christian community in Iraq. The majority of Armenians are Orthodox. But there are Catholics among them. Some of them are known as "Refugee Armenians", that is when people want to differentiate between them and those who had come before them whom they call "Baghdadi Armenians". "Refugee Armenians" did not use to speak Arabic well and most of them speak Turkish and Armenian. "Baghdadi Armenians" do not know Turkish, and their Armenian language is mixed with a lot of Arabic words and expressions. In the last century "Baghdadi Armenians" were divided into those who liked the Czar of Russia and those who liked Queen Victoria. Of course "Refugee Armenians" came at the beginning of this century, after the massacres which took place against the Armenians. Ordinarily the Orthodox cannot marry relatives. The nearest blood ties (between relatives) have to be seven times removed. But in order not to allow the Armenian (population) to die out, a long time ago the Patriarch said that it was permissible for relatives to marry each other. That is why there are some Armenians who have married cousins Oit. a maternal aunt's daughter or a paternal aunt's daughter).
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Text 11 at-tamag man ahamm al-agdayi $-$a/:zl:zayyi. al-vittiminiit was-sakag binu magaddayi ktig. yqilliln al-badu $a/:z/:zatam malel:za yiiha mbog yiikliln tamag w xabaz w yasgabiln J:zalib taza. at-tamag anwas maxtalafi. honiki 1-xastiiwi yqilliln hiida al:zsan noCJ w ycf.iiyan w man hiida ygaffafiinu w yiiklilnu bas-sata. baCJden CJandna 1-/:zalliiwi walmaktilm alii l:zabbatu zgegi yiiha wal-bagban alii l:zabbatu gbigi yaha. hadoli 1-anwiiCJ maCJgofin male/:1. an-naxil alii bal-bayilt kallatam aniit. wab-basetin tamag xa$il$ayyi yazgaCJon naxil dakag. bag-gabeCJ yagon CJagab man ab-basetin w gaybin wayyiiham sam[ dakag. ydaqqon al-bibiin w yasJaliln ida al:zad ygid naxilu tatlaqqal:z. yatsallaqon hadoli matal aggedayyat naxal w yagabtiln kall saCJaf dakag ab saCJaf anta. tabqa hakki assam[ ilii awwal a$-$€[ lamma toqa'l as-sam[ ad-dakag l·vat-tamag yqom ybayyan.
Text 12 nal:zna b-betna kanna nl:zabb xabz al-aCJgoq. hiida noCJ xabaz yaxabzilnu wayya baqayyat al-xabaz lal-CJiiJila bass yl:zattiln binu lal:zam qima w maCJdanos w-akgafas w kammiln baCJ-CJagzn qabal mii yaxabzilnu bat-tannilg. kiin CJandna bab-bastiin tannilg w kiinat tagi maga CJagbayyi taxbazalna kall atlat ayyiim magga. hay am-maga kiinat atl:zabba I-ammi ktig. kalma tatlaCJ ammi 1-bagga tsilfa w hayyi qa-taxbaz kiinat tabtasam w atqill "nilg nilg talaCJ amnattannilg." kiinat tagi maggiit rna tal:zki w Iii tqill "slonkam" bass atgol:z dagn lat-tannilg w-atqilm taCJgan. magga agat w CJena 1-yasga soda. saJalata ammi qiilatla "sbiki /:zilgayya?" ... kiin asma /:zilgayya ... qiilatla "mii se. ana malel:za yiini les qa-tasJalin?" qiilatla ammi "lii ya /:zilgayya hay-yom anti mil CJala baCJacj.ki."17 hay atqalla "ana male/:za yiini" w hadiki tqalla "mii mbayyan CJaleki male/:za yiiki." baCJden xattayyi 17 lit. "you are not altogether" or "you are not up to scratch".
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Translation 11 Oates are among the most important nutritional foods. The vitamins and sugar in them are very nutritious. They say that bedouins are healthy because they eat dates and bread and drink fresh milk. Oates are different varieties. There is the xasUiwi which they say is the best variety and is long-lasting. That is why they dry it and eat it in winter. Then we have the /:lalliiwi, the maktilm which is smallgrained, and the barban which is large-grained. These are the best known varieties. The palm-trees (one finds) in houses are all female. In special palm-groves they plant male palm-trees. In spring bedouins from the groves come bringing with them male branches. They knock on doors and ask if anyone wants his palm-trees pollinated. These (men) climb (the palm-trees) like squirrels and tie each male branch to a female one. The branches stay (tied) in this manner until the beginning of summer when the male branches fall off and the dates start to appear.
Translation 12 In our house we used to like herb bread. That is a kind of bread which they bake with the rest of the bread for the family, except that they put in the dough ground meat, parsley and cumin before they bake it in an earthenware oven. We used to have an earthenware oven in the garden, and a bedouin woman used to come to bake us bread once every three days. That woman loved my mother very much. Whenever my mother went out to see her while she baked, (the woman) would smile and say: "Oh light, light, that has come out of the earthenware oven". There were times when she came and did not speak or say "how are you". She would just go straight to the oven and start to knead (the dough). Once she came with her left eye black. My mother asked her and said: "What is the matter, tfuriyya?" ... Her name was tfuriyya ... She said to her: "Nothing. I'm all right, why are you asking?" My mother said to her: "No, tfuriyya, today you're not yourself." (So they went on) this one would say (to the other): ''I'm all right", and the other would say to her: "You don't look all right".
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l:zugayya qamat tabki. xabbagata I-ammi zoga 4-agaba mbog ma ta5'atu kall ajlasa. hayyi xattayyi tastagal w atl:z~sal ajlas w hawwa yaq5'ad baq-qahwi yasgab cay w yal5'ab aqmag.
Text 13 bagdad baya swaq aktigi. qasam mannam mashogen matal soq as-sogga. hadoli b-bagdad al-qadimi bam-ma/:lallat alii bayam abyat qadimi w dagabin w sawega5' rna mballata. kantu agol:z wayya gaddati w gassalatna 1-soq al-agbig mbog kantu al:zabb al-~wat wal-alwan malat as-soq wam-mal:zallat al-qadimi wa law kiinat kallata tin w wa~ax w gel:za rna taybi. lakan al-manat;lag layqa lat-ta~ig ... maxazan al-aqmasat baya alwan l:zalwi a/:lmag w agq.ag w a~fag w banafsagi wa-qmasat talma5' w taghag ... wal-hagagat !amman maga tafliigak wayya bayya5' .. . ba5'den makanat ybi5'i5n bayam aka! w namnamat matal /:labb w l:zamma~ w loz w bahagat falfal a/:lmag w aswad w kammiln a~fag w dagsin qahwa?i. yan5'agfi1n hadoli ma/:lallat a!- 5'attagen man gel:zatam man ba5'ed. aku hammena mal:zallat ybi5'on bayam ~afag w an/:liis w yansama5' ad-daqq bayam man masafa.
Text 14 qabal mii tagi 1-koka kola wal-papsi kola wal-savan ap lal-5'ariiq kano n-nes ysawwiln sagbat bal-bet. ay bet wel:zad ygol:zlu bag-gabe5' aw a~-sef !amman at~ig l:zagga d-danyi yalqi sagbat begad. kanna na/:lna nsawwi anwa5' aktigi mnas-sagbat w naxzan al-abtuli bak-kalag alii maysilf samas aw ay nilg /:latta s-sagbat yabqa sani kiimli w mii yaxxab. 18 kano ymaggi5n bayya5'en ab sawega5' bagdad ybi5'i5n anwm as-sagbat bala gaz w binu gaz. alii binu gaz kano ysammanu namlet 18
<
yaxrab "to be spoilt"; "to spoil" where r is assimilated to x. See 1.1.2 on the treatment of r.
Translations
173
Then poor f:luriyya started to cry. She told my mother that her husband had beaten her because she had not given him all her money. She, poor (woman), used to work and earn money, while he Gust) sat in the coffee-house drinking tea and gambling.
Translation 13 Baghdad has a lot of old markets. Some of them are famous like the Shorja market. These are (situated) in old Baghdad, in quarters which have old houses, alleys and unpaved streets. I used to go with my grandmother and our washerwoman to the large market because I liked the sounds and colours of the market and old quarters, in spite of the fact that they were full of mud and dirt and an unpleasant smell. But the scenes were worthy of being photographed ... Fabric shops with beautiful colours, red, green, yellow and purple, and materials which shone and sparkled ... And the uproar when a woman would quarrel with a vendor ... Then there were places where they sold food and titbits like melon seeds, chick peas, almonds and spices, red and black pepper, yellow cumin and brown cinnamon. These spice shops could be felt from far away because of their smells. There were also places where they sold brass and copper, and one could hear the banging in them from a distance.
Translation 14 Before coca-cola, pepsi-cola and seven-up were brought to Iraq people used to make soft drinks at home. Any house one went to in spring or summer, when the weather became hot, one would find cold soft drinks. We used to make different kinds of soft drinks and store the bottles in the larder which did not see the sun or any light so that the soft drinks would keep a whole year and not spoil. Vendors used to pass through the streets of Baghdad selling different kinds of drinks, still and fizzy. Those which were fizzy were called
174
Texts
wal-bayyti.
19 lit. "refreshingly soothing for the heart". 20 A special kind of scented pink rose petals are used for extricating rose water. 21 As nawba qalbayyi "heart attack" is a loan from literary Arabic, the ·diphthong aw is retained. 22 lit. "the spots of youth".
Translations
175
ntimlet. When the vendors called out they used to say: "Cold, cold, refreshing drinks." At home my grandmother and the maid used to make soft drinks every year ... Rose water, orange blossom water, lemon, orange, apricot, pomegranate and raisin. The cook even used rose water in sweetmeats. We used to buy from the market ten or more kilos of rose petals which we would put in a pot, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. We used to fill (the pot) with water and put it on a slow fire. When the water boiled we would put a cane pipe in the pot and fix a long rubber tube to it which we would direct into a jug. When the steam came up the tube would start dripping rose water little by little. Orange blossom water is also made in the same way, and they say that it is good for the heart. Anyone who drinks orange blossom water avoids having heart attacks. Rose water is good for the skin. Before they discovered (cosmetic) creams, girls used to apply it to their cheeks and foreheads to stop acne developing. The soft drink which I liked best was raisin water. We used to put a kilo of raisins in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Two days later we used to drain the water and put it aside, and we would cover the raisins with fresh water. We would repeat the operation another time after a further two days. The water which was drained off the raisins we would put in a bottle in the refrigerator. A week later we used to start using it. If one left raisin water a year or more it fermented (lit. it became wine). Some Jews used to drink raisin water instead of wine during Jewish Passover.
176
Texts
Text 15 bat-tliiti w sattin abni 1-agbig gti/:1 al amegka l gtima1at andaytina. baqa honiki agba1 asnin w atlaggaf 1ala banat ahla man ~ttilya bala$al bass hayyi mawlildi b amegka. ba1den atkallalu w ga/:lo 1 ditr6yt yamm ahla hayyi. ana w ammu rna qadagna ngo/:1 lal-aklil bass axiinu 1-azgag mannu ga/:1 w angaram ab amegka. kan yastagal mikanik ab bagdad w b-ashiili laqa saga[ hi5niki. hawwa kan .vastagal ab ma/:lall $a/:lbu zog banti fa $ag yla/:1/:1 1ala axtu w zoga yg6/:16rt 1 amegka /:latta yafta/:lon mahall ta1migtit sayytigtit. [amman qaggago banti w zoga ygi5/:16n al ditroyt kan abni 1-azgag al-kali kan ga/:1 al )amman yastagal ab i5tel. baqena ana w magti bass ab bagdad. ya1ni ktin 1andna qagayab hayyi axwi tnen w amma w ana axat w axx. bat-tnen w sab1in atwaffat magti alla yag/:lama w baqetu /:lazin ma a)gaf aslon yamcja n-nahag. kanat /:ltilati t/:lazzan. ga abni lli hawwa b )amman yanu w qalli "baba lazam li5 tagi wayyayi lo tgo/:1 al amegka." qaggagru as afag al ditroyt. awwal ayytim hi5niki ltahetu swayya w nasetu /:lazni. ba1den $agat al-ayyam atbayyan tawili. n-nes ab amegka kallatam masgiilin w rna )andam waqat al a/:lad. kantu aq1ad ab wa/:ldi sti1at. ba1den qtimat banti gattabatli dgiis angalfzi b ma1had !an-nes alii matli gbag bas-sann w gayyin man geg baldan wayya ahlam. bam-ma1had yadagsiin angalizi /:latta yaqdagi5n ya/:lkiin wayya ahlam w xti~~atan a/:lfadam. ana a/:lfadi kallatam ya/:lkiln angalizi bass w rna aqdag atfciham wayyaham. rna qadagru adabbaga. ana a1gaf kam kalami angalizayyi w bass. w ba1ad at/at ashi5g kantu )ala nafs as-se. qaltillu 1-abni 1-agbig qaltillu "qatsilfni aslon dabang yani 16. a/:lsan w Ia adga man qabal." baqetu santen ab amegka w ba1den $allabtu w ~alletu w qamtu maseru. gagaltu 1 bagdad al )and axti. ~a/:le/:1 awladi kallatam bagga w bagdad rna baqa baya se man qabal lakan ba1ada madinati w madinat agdadi w al-ma/:lall alii madfilni baya magti alia yag/:lama.
Translations
177
Translation 15 In 1963 my eldest son went to America, to Indiana University. He stayed there for four years, and he met a girl whose parents are of Italian origin, but who was herself born in America. They later got married and went to Detroit (to be) near her family. His mother and I couldn't go to the wedding, but his younger brother went and fell in love with America. He used to work as a mechanic in Baghdad, and he found a job there easily. He used to work in a shop owned by my son-in-law, so (my son) started to urge his sister and brother -in-law to go to America so that they could open a car servicing shop. When my daughter and her husband decided to go to Detroit my youngest son had already gone to Amman to work in a hotel. My wife and I only remained in Baghdad. I mean she had (other) relatives, two brothers and her mother, and I had a sister and a brother. In 1972 my wife passed away, may God have mercy on her soul, and I was left grief-stricken not knowing how to pass (each) day. I was in a pitiable state. My son who is in Amman came and said to me: "Daddy, you must either come with me or go to America." I decided to go to Detroit. During (my) first days there I found some distraction and I forgot my grief. Then the days began to seem long. People in America are all busy and have no time for anyone. I used to sit for hours on end by myself. Later my daughter arranged English lessons for me at an institute for people who are like me, advanced in years and who have come from other countries with their families. At the institute they learn English so they can speak to their families, and especially their grandchildren. All my grandchildren speak only English, and I can't communicate with them. I couldn't manage it. I only know a few words of English and that's all. And three months later I was still on the same (words). I told my eldest son, I said to him: "Do you see how I am a blockhead, neither better nor wiser than before?" I stayed for two years in America, and then I crossed myself, prayed and got up and went away. I returned to Baghdad to my sister's. It's true that all my children are abroad and Baghdad has no longer anything left in it of the past, but it is still my home-town, and the home-town of my grandfathers, and the place where my wife is buried, God rest her soul.
178
Texts
Text 16 bas-sata kanna naqCJad nastagal ~at 16 ntaggaz. da?aman wal:zdi bal5:ti?ala tkun l:zamal w anqum kallatna nl:zar;fr;fagla ghez lat-tafal. ana wladi xamsatam stagaltalam ~af w ammi w xalati hammena. w wa~$e nalam CJala l:zwes mtaggazi CJand al-masegat. 23 kanu mashogin battatgfz w saglam aktig nar;fif 24 yanu. kanu ytagzun cagacaf dtiy~g mandaga dante! w al:zwes kallata baya kagt az-zambog ba~-~adag. baCJyuni 25 se badaCJa rna yaltaqa matlu baCJad. has sac; kas-se l:zar;fag yanu. banati tlatatam estago kas-se. gabonu man amegka w /:latta stago man honi. w Ia wahdi mannam rna taCJgaf tastagal ~af . .. Ia at~awwag saga! ~a{ e lakan Ia kgose lti tatgfz ... mCJawwadin 5:al:z-l:zar;fag.
Text 17 aku wel:zad gzgiinna sqad lawca. bass yl:zabb yal:zki w ybayyan ga?yu b kas-se man sayasi 1 mosiqa I CJalam 1 handasa l gamaCJ tawiibaCJ ... /:latta baf-filtbol yat~awwag hawwa yafham al:zsan man ag-geg. Ia yabqa CJandam ~anaCJ w lti fallal:z hawwa yr;fall yqallam "hakki hada sawwunu w antam rna qataCJagfiln hada." xattayyi magtu maskini lti tal:zki w Ia taski bass atgaggab at~allal:z mal:zall alli hawwa mxaggab binu. !amman ywaddi wal:zdi man banatu lad-daktog y~ig hawwa yqallu lad-daktog asbaya bantu. lamma d-daktog yqasmag CJalenu w yqallu "f/:za$a anta" yqum yfakkag ad- daktog qayastasigu w yqul baCJden "rna qattalkam? /:latta d-daktog yas?alni ga?yi ana." sqad gaggabu yar;IJ:lakun CJalenu w hawwa yfakkag bass qayas?alanu mbog maku al:zad yafham ab qaddu.
23 < The French rna soeur "sister" and the sound feminine plural ending -at. Many older women still use this form instead of the more common giihbiit "nuns". 24 When referring to handiwork na(;lif invariably means "neat". 25 Most Christians avoid using the name of God in oaths, and prefer expressions like ba1yuni (lit. "by my eyes").
Translations
17':1
Translation 16 In winter we used to sit and knit or embroider. There was always a pregnant woman in the family, and we would all (help her) prepare a layette for the baby. I knitted for all five of my children, and so did my mother and aunts also. And we ordered for them clothes embroidered by the nuns. They were famous for their embroidery and their work was neat. They used to embroider sheets with lace borders, and clothes with smocking on the bodice. I swear it was something exquisite and nothing like it can be found any more. Now everything is ready-made. My three daughters bought everything. They brought (things) from America, and even bought some here. Not one of them knows how to knit ... no, I think knitting yes, but not crochet or embroidery ... They're used to ready-made things.
Translation 17 There is a neighbour of ours who is very chatty. He loves nothing better than talking and expressing his opinion about everything, from politics to music to science to architecture to stamp collecting ... even football, he thinks he understands better than others. No servant or gardener stays with them (because) he keeps telling them: "Do this like that, and you don't know this." Poor thing, his wife is docile, she neither speaks nor complains. She merely tries to put right where he has caused damage. When he takes one of his daughters to the doctor he starts to tell the doctor what is wrong with his daughter. When the doctor makes fun of him and says to him: "You examine her", he starts to think that the doctor is consulting him, and he later says: "Didn't I tell you? Even the doctor asks me my opinion." They often tried to make fun of him, while he would think that they were just consulting him because there is no one who understands as much as he does.
180
Texts
Text 18 talali yalini welJ.ad talali al-{Oq w nazal yalini nazal algawwa. bass bal-liaraq yastalimaliln talali w nazal ab geg malina hammena. matalan t;adatan yquliln naza1 5:a1ayam IJ.agami mb6g a/:1.-IJ.agamayyi yat1a5:6n 5:a1a IJ.ayat liali . .. bayat bagdad kallata dayag mandaga IJ.ayatzn26 tab6q ... liad a/:1.-IJ.agami yat[af liala se magtafaf yanu w baliden yanzal lial-bet alii qaygid yb6q mannu. w yquliln ta1aliat IJ.ayyi 1 liandam mb6g a/:1.-IJ.ayyi tat1af man ta/:lat ... man nahag 16 man fasab ... w tatlalJ al f6q. ida qaltu matalan ta1a5: am-masmas yafni talaf t.lassagaga. bass ida qaltu nazal am-masmas yat.lni nazal las-s6q.
Text 19 nalJ.na bat.lad S:andna 1-agbag yaddaxaliln ab amug 1-azgag. matalan ana hassat; maga gbigi lakan ammi bat;ada tfakkag ana matal rna kantu qabal S:asgin sani taqdag atqalli "Ia tsawwen hada w Ia talbasin hadaka." alii yg6n man al-xagag rna yaqdag6n yatlJ.ammalan hakki se. axuyi w magtu w awledam kanu seknin ab labnan. /amman :tagat al-IJ.ali h6niki rna tangagali gagaliu 1 bagdad. bant axuyi famga tnen w fasgin tlati w liasgin sani. kanat tastagal ab bank ab begat w fanda sayyaga tg6/:l w tagi wayya azdaqa.Ja w $adiqata. f$awwagat xattayyi h6ni b bagdad taqdag tatlaf w tadxal aswaqat rna tgid w rna alJ.ad yqalla se ... hey ... hey ... ammi tqalli "hay sl6n banat yaha wen qatat:fawwag hayyi qelidi 27 b h6/iwad? hay bagdad h6ni. les hayyi aban yaha tat$aggaf matal rna qayafgaba 16 matal banat asqaqat? bahdaltawwa kagten 28 w rna fad."
26 /:layliffn "walls" implies a number of walls, not necessarily in close proximity, while /:lfflin usually refers to the walls of one room. 27 qefdi (lit."sitting") in this context means "living". 28 kagten "twice" < kagga "once" is a variant of magten < magga.
Translations
181
Translation 18 To go up means to go upstairs and to go down means to go downstairs. But in Iraq they use to go up and to go down in other contexts as well. For example, they usually say a burglar went down to them, because burglars go up on a high wall ... All houses in Baghdad are surrounded by brick walls ... So the burglar goes up on something high and then he goes down into the house he wants to steal from. They say a snake has gone up to them, because a snake creeps up from below ... from a river or from undergrowth ... and goes up. If I said, for instance, that apricots have come up, it means they have appeared on the tree. But if I said apricots have gone down, it means they have appeared in the shops.
Translation 19 We still have older people interfering in younger people's business. For example, I am now a grown woman, but my mother still thinks I am as I used to be twenty years ago, and that she can say to me: "Don't do this and don't wear that!" Those who come from abroad can't stand such things. My brother, his wife and children used to live in Lebanon. When the situation there became unbearable they returned to Baghdad. My niece is about twenty-two or twenty-three years old. She used to work in a bank in Beirut and she had a car, (so) she used to go and come (as she pleased) with her male and female friends. She thought, poor thing, that here in Baghdad she could go out and come in whenever she wanted and no one would say anything to her ... ha ... ha ... My mother says to me: "What sort of a girl is she? Where does she think she is living, in Hollywood? This is Baghdad here. Why, is she a boy to do what she feels like, or (is she) like badly behaved girls? I told her off twice and it didn't do any good."
182
Texts
$a'iab aktig gil ammi w abilyi yatgayyag. 'iandam 'iaweyadam w taqalidam w yat$awwagon hamma ya'iagfiln aktag man alii azgag mannam. ana matlawdi yani mbog agbitu honi w a'igaf askat ma aqil1 se w ma agawab. lakan wal:zdi matal bant axilyi m'iawwadi }ala l:zaggayyata ma taqdag tat$awwag honi sqad yaddaxaliln ab amilg gegam.
Text 20 1-adab alu sa'ibayyi ktig. dug an-nasag fa$dag katab adab aktigi kas-sani ... ya'ini mil bass adab 'iagabi. man zaman kanna m'iawwadin 'iala dag al-hala1 ab ma$ag ta$dag taggamat man al-adab al-'ialami. atdakkag ab betna as-sagdab kan malyan katab ... gawiiyat w masgal:zayyat ... al-l:zagab w as-salam al-axwan kagamazof al-bu2asti2 al:zdab notagdam a lam wartar don kisot qa~$at madinaten . .. kanna ba$-~ef naqga ktig ... ayyam tawili w ma 'iandna madgasi ... ana w axilyi kanna naqga gawayat polisayyi matal agsin lapin w sag1ok holmz. 1-taggamat alii mawgudi 1-yom kallata malel:za yaha w atlaggaf alii yaqgon 'iagabi bass }ala 1-adab al-gagbi. taggamat kallata malel:za w mil bass adab aklasiki ... adab qagn al-'iasgzn w man ba1dan ~agat mashoga bal-adab matal baldan amegka g-gcmilbayyi. 'iandna magallat aktigi hammena S'an a1-adab al-'iagabi wal-adab al-'ialami matal magallat al-aqlam alli hayyi sahgayyi w wel:zad yaqdag yqilm ab bal:zat 'ian al-adab al-gagbi man dun ma. yaftagg yaqganu bal-laga l-a$layyi.
Translations
183
It is difficult for my mother's and father's generation to change. They have their customs and traditions, and they imagine that they know more than those who are younger than them. I am used (to their way of thinking) because I was brought up here, and I know how to keep quiet and not say anything, nor answer back. But someone like my niece who is used to her freedom can't imagine how much people here interfere in other people's business.
Translation 20 Literature enjoys a great deal of popularity. Publishing houses produce a number of literary books every year .. . I mean not only Arabic literature. A long time ago we were used to the Hilal publishing house in Egypt which used to publish translations of world literature. I remember in our house the cellar was full of books ... novels and plays ... War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Sorrows of Young Werther, Don Quixote, A Tale of Two Cities ... We used to read a lot in summer ... The days were long and we had no school . .. My brother and I used to read detective novels, like (the adventures) of Arsene Lupin and Sherlock Holmes. The translations available today are all good, and they introduce those who know Arabic only to Western literature. All good translations, and not only of classical literature ... Twentieth century literature, and from countries which have become well-known for literature, like the countries of South America. We have a lot of periodicals also about Arabic literature and world literature, like the periodical Al-Aqlam which is monthly, and one can carry out research about Western literature without having to read it in the original language.
GLOSSARY
The following is a selective glossary of terms common to CB. The majority are non-Arabic loan words, some of which occur in MB and JB also. Arabic words have generally been avoided, and only those which show variation in CB have been included. adab adabsaz admi afandi agr,la aku alaktgik Q$an~og
axxas
azfl 'labayi 'lagabani 'lagabanci 'laga~ a 'lagmilt flagos 'lagaqcin flagi 'lagzilli 'laguzi 'lalwi 'lamba 'laqqabi 'laqqoqa 'lay an
toilet (pl. adabat) bad-mannered (of common gender) good person gentleman; presentable (man) wood-worm there is electric, electrical elevator, lift dumb kindergarten woman's black cloak horse-drawn carriage horse-drawn carriage driver; coachman leasehold property pear bride; queen (as in }agos ab-bal:zag "queen of the sea") skull cap false (teeth, hair) tabernacle (usu. made of palm branches) old woman fruit and vegetable wholesale market mango pickle; mango scorpion (n. un.) frog (n. un.) to look at
Glossary
babag badiiSa badli baga bagbaS: bagbin bagqaS: bagram bahagat balam balamci bali balkon balloS:a banafsagi baq baqbaq baqq ba~at ba~ta ba~ton
bastoqa batba,t batgak biitgi battanayyi battex bawwaq bazzuni beS:a bagaS: bagbiid bargi bagsani bastanci
bes batal baS:yilni
185
slippers beautiful, exquisite suit (clothes) celluloid; plastic to make the most of s. t. purslane (bot.) (Portulaca oluracea) to cover with cloth to pout spice(s) rowing boat; small sailing boat oarsman; boatman yes, certainly balcony drain mauve, violet (colour) to steal to bulge, to protrude mosquitoes (n. un. baqqayi) to smack; to slap smack; slap walking stick large earthenware vat in which pickles are left to ferment to swell patriarch battery blanket melon thief, s.o. who is in the habit of stealing cat (n. un.) church; chapel insolent, rude awful; very bad screw communion wafer gardener how much? bottle believe me!, I swear (lit. "by my eyes")
186
bazz bibi biga blilz bobbi boy boyambiig bilgi
Glossary type of freshwater fish found in the Tigris and Euphrates granny; grandma beer; lager blouse doggy waiter tie, cravat pipe, (water) tap; petunia (bot.)
cola
tent remedy; solution bed sheet palm-leaf hut erected on islets which appear in the Tigris during the summer months quarter (as in ciigak siila "a quarter of an hour") wheel hammer Iraqi orchestral music ladle to topple to check (usu. oil and water in car) to dive (into water) rotten iron bed kick fork woman's white headscarf trimmed with small beads indigo (dye) dark blue calico; chintz wilderness; desert hopscotch
da'iam dabang dabb dabdab dagbin
to bump; to knock; to crash (car) blockhead; dolt to throw to become plump binoculars
ciidag ciiga cagcaf cagdiig cagak cagax cakac calgi camca caqlab cayyak cayyat cagak cagpiiyi calliiqa cangiil catiiyi cawit cawiti cit
cot
Glossary
187
dondarma diiliib diini
alley to tickle to complain, to grumble to chat way; road to nudge screwdriver cinnamon unconcerned; unperturbed to frown; to look disturbed to spoil; to indulge go-between; matchmaker small brass pot with long handle for making coffee pin (dambiis amegakani "safety-pin") lace to wear or try out s.t. new for the first time sweet fritters in syrup to send to look for; to ask about all around old measurement (usu. from the tip of the fingers of one hand to the middle of the neck) black specks found in rice which has not been picked over ice-cream cupboard bad person
r,laban r,lalamat r,lamm r,layan r,lagri
heel pitch black, darkness to hide to last straight ahead
e
yes boy; son Judas tree (bot.) (Cercis) wedding; marriage ceremony (Christian only)
dagbiini dagdag dagdam dagdas dagab dagg dagnafis dagsin dahgi dalgam dallal dalltil dalli dambiis dante! dassan datfi dazz dawwag dayag mandag dgii'l
dnen
a ban aggawan aklil
188
akmal
a~tawani
axat 'lagbid 'lalak 'langa~
'lataq fafon fag fagiil:zayyat fagad fag{agi faggog fall a fallii/:1 fall aS faggaga j'ehi folk a fandaq
{etal:z fitagci ftagg ggam
Glossary failure in one or two subjects at end of scholastic year examinations {tala'l akmal "he failed in one (or two) subject(s)") gramophone record sister; scar on face caused by mosquito bite large snake chewing-gum pears palm tree branch aluminium to boil cheerful one; a certain porcelain chick(s) wonderful gardener to wreck; to break; to pull down roundabout; paper windmill faint; colourless; insipid roundabout around which traffic circulates hazelnut(s) light (colour) mechanic to go round; to wander
glob
gram group glass (for drinking) light bulb
gada gadd gagbel gahag gahbi ga/:z.li gaqqa'l
tomorrow to retort, to prompt; refrain, prompting sieve to sparkle nun desk cobbler
ggup gla~
Glossary gasab gasstili gasdi gass gazuni geg gef:za gef:zan gakbi gaqlJa gassad
gal hagagat halqad ham hamag hammena
hiisa hassalJ hakki handalas
hie hoi f:zabb
f:zabbayi f:za{iag f:zagamat f:zagli f:zalaq f:za~bi f:za~wayi
f:zagami f:zagqa~
f:zazzoga f:zabb
189
to fail (in examination) washerwoman; washing machine slap to water, to sprinkle; to cheat window-sill other smell sweet basil (bot.) (Ocimum basilicum) knee patch cress (bot.) (Lepidium) giant; ogre noise, din, clamour this much, so much also uncivilised, uncouth also cow now thus; like this pitch (as in aswad handalas "pitch black") not sitting-room melon seeds (these are usu. fried or toasted with salt and eaten either separately or with mixed nuts) spot, pimple; pill, tablet ready-made waste, what a waste! baby's walking frame or support mouth (f:zalq as-sabalJ "snapdragon" (Antirrhinum)) measles stone, pebble (n. un.) (pl. f:za~u) thief, burglar to jibe; to taunt riddle, puzzle large earthenware vat where water is stored to keep cool
190
Glossary
/:lwes
pregnant fast dark-skinned story pool courtyard clothes
gaga'i gagg gagasi gahal gam gaddayyat gadag gadgi gagdam gahannamayyi gegi ganta tfgan go)an gogab gozi ggedi gugi
to endure, to bear, to put up with to pull; to take (pictures) molar young, youthful glass seriously cooking-pot smallpox (gadgi mayy "chicken-pox") mange bougainvillea (bot.) chicken (n. un.) (pl. geg) handbag, suitcase neighbour(s) hungry sock light brown mouse (ggedi n-naxal "squirrel") rose(s)
kafaskan
room at mezzanine level used for storing food for winter and other household necessities shoehorn card, postcard to unload in one go unkempt hair once (variant of magga) to chuckle cradle cardboard preacher rent, hire canvas footwear worn by Bedouin men
/:labli /:lei /:lanttiwi /:lkayyi
/:164
kagata kagat kagfat kagfas kagga kagkag kagok kagton kaguz kagwi kala
Glossary
191
kalabca kasi kasax kasi kaskas katttin kayyaf kadagi kef kaggiit kagkam kagt az-zambog kalag kampyiili katli kgafas kgesa kondaga kosag kax kap
handcuffs bowl to show off tile(s) frill(s) linen to be happy, to rejoice suede fun, merriment flat-leafed pungent herb of the Allium family turmeric (bot.) smocking, honeycombing larder bill of exchange kettle celery tops (kgafos ab-bfg "maidenhair fern") seersucker shoes shark hut, hovel cup
laS:!aS: laga lagmat lagwi lahiina lappa liistfk lataS: liix lbes 1/:lef laxxi log;. log(a)
to raise one's voice when talking to talk at length, to go on talking to mess up; to muddle; to confuse nonsensical chatter (n.); long-winded (adj.) cabbage mushy rice elastic to lick talkative person; boringly talkative the other (ms) knickers, pants quilt, bed cover the other (fs) lorry, truck box in cinema
mS:abbas maS:danos
frowning (ms) parsley
Iawea
192 maga~
maggag maggiit maggi5/:la magmag magqa mahal ma/:lbas mabfii(fa ma/:1/:ltig mtikina makkak mc'iku mal mal<Jon male/:1 mansal masqof ma~~ax
m~tabi
masxot mc'ifog mattaga mc'i{Ul miiwi maygon mazad mazba/:1 mazbaba mbaqbaq mbog ma<J(ia(i magagg mandag manqc'is manu maqflifa ma~aggal
masmc'ig massii/:la
Glossary stabbing pain (usu. stomach pain) to embitter sometimes swing to mumble (v.); marble (n.) broth excellent ring poem (short piece learnt by heart at school) shell(s) machine spool there is not belonging to damned, cursed; naughty good s .o. who has a cold grilled fish to insult bench unbalanced, mad engine, motor; motorboat thermos flask as long as blue chrism, unction sale, auction swimming-pool rosary protruding, bulging because bracelet drawer cushion tweezers who? pencil sharpener tape-recorder nail rubber, eraser
Glossary mastamal
mazgzb ma~~tzya
mewa mez mazgzb mgabba mhaffi m(laggag mikiinik min a mpagpag mqallam mqassab msanniiyi nabaq nadag naddiif nagbis niigang nammilni namnamiit niiqi5~
nasli nasnas na$giini niitog nayyam nazza/:1 nes nisiin nilmi
i5ggandi i5goppa
193
Iraqi type house with no intercommunicating rooms, and where each room has three blind walls and a fourth wall with a doorway leading to a courtyard or garden drainpipe lollipop; baby's dummy or pacifier fruit table drain-pipe jam fan banister, stair-rail mechanic vervain (bot.) ragged striped chapped verandah overlooking the river (bot.) Zizyphus spina Christi to vow; to make a wish carder hose pipe Seville orange(s) specimen tidbits, roasted nuts and seeds bell cold, catarrh to thrive Christian (ms) (fs na~giinayyi; cp na$iiga) watchman, guard asleep (ms) drain cleaner, sewage worker people engagement, betrothal lemon (nilmi /:liimad "lemon"; nilmi (lalu "sweet citrus fruit native to Iraq"; nilmi ba$ga "lime") organdie, fine muslin Europe
194 ogti
ogtodoks ogag
ore! opalin paca pacata pagapig pageam pagda pagk paket pancag panka pantagon pas ali paskali pasta p6.$
paskig paspas paysakal pagtaqal pagtaqali panti pip pliiw pokag poplin qabal qabiil qacag qaddis qadifa qagar qagib/-i qagnab~t
qagqat
Glossary bedcover; table-cover Orthodox Christian oven, cooker hotel opal-glass tripe napkin rags fringe (hair) curtain park packet, package to have a flat tyre (v.); puncture (n.) fan, ventilator trousers useless object tassel song, ditty; problem, dilemma bus towel to whisper bicycle orange(s) orange (colour) stingy large metal drum; dustbin rice poker (card game) poplin possible open day for visits among women contraband saint velvet to crunch godfather, godmother cauliflower to nibble
Glossary
qagyoli qahwa?i qa/:lat qa/:1/:1 qammat qamCi qapag qappilt qasab qasmag qasoga qassab qas qass
195
qat qaffan qawan(i) qayyad qazmilz qabbi qaffi qamas qasag qemag qgan qig qima qmag qilgi qilnayyi qilt<Jyyi
wooden bed brown dearth to cough to wrap (baby) in swaddling clothes, to swaddle whip lid, cover coat to make fun of s.o., to imitate s.o. to make fun of spoon to become chapped to lose (in a game) priest to fall short in one's duties; to overlook. s.o. suit (man's) to become mouldy record to register, to put down a name very short person (pejorative) room round flat-bottomed boat material, fabric peel, skin clotted cream (made from buffalo milk) 20 fils piece (old currency) tar ground meat gambling teapot sack box
radyo raqqi ratab raw{fa raya{ia rogan
radio watermelon salary kindergarten, nursery gymnastics, sport patent leather
qa~~ag
196
Glossary
stfkiin
to bathe, to take a bath; to swim pipe (smoking) vegetables plain (Tigris) barrier picnic to behave irresponsibly lout get well! to have a glazed look; to stare into space irrigation ditch satin to do, to make cheat cellar insurance chard (bot.) nib, pen-point leap-frog sesame-covered savoury bread rings sumac flowerpot bolt jacket (man's) date syrup iron (usu. in cagpiiyi sfsam "an iron bed") greyhound dinner jacket, tuxedo streets (usu. occurs in the plural, e.g. baniit asqliqlit "badly-behaved girls") small glass for drinking tea
sabbut sabboy sadag saf safqa sagiib saCJgayyi sakgiiyi
freshwater fish found in Tigris stock (bot.) (Malcolmia) turquoise to see hat wine vermicelli sweet (n. un.)
sabal:z I yazbal:z sabil sabzi siida saddi safga sagsag sagsagi saliimat salham sliqyi satan sawwa saxtaci sagdeb sagog{a salaq sallayi sam bela sam~t
sammliq sandani saqqlita satga siliin sis am slaqi smokan sqliqlit
Glossary saku salgam samga sat;sot; saqa sawegab sax bat sayyab sbant sdaflwa se sagag sam mas samzi sanu saxxtit skarn slon sqadd swaqat §wayya
what is the matter? turnip pose scatter-brained joke moustache to scribble old man dill that is too much! thing marrow verger watermelon what? matches how many? how? how much? when? a little
!fabboga !faffat !jagtiy !jagifi !fa/:le/:1 !!tilon !jam ax !jtinafl
blackboard to arrange palace palm-leaf hut true; correct; right guest room, best room in house to stay the course manservant (fs ~anfla maid) severe stomach pain quiet, hush to fail (in examination) to slap slap (n. un.) brass; zero cockroach sandals. bank (of the Tigris) picture; present
~angi
!janta !jaqat !fatag !fa!ga !fafag !jag!jag !jandtil !j6b !fOg a
197
198 ~oppa
~ac
tabasfg tablayyi tafta tagalalli
Glossary paraffin stove blame, fault
tala[ talla§;i
chalk apron, overall taffeta unbalanced (usu. in CJaqlu tagalalli "he is unbalanced") to fill up tin; useless dustbin; tin; can communion tank (water; oil) petticoat; skirt a dish of bread soaked in meat broth tyre lawn rifle wire; chicken wire dregs refrigerator
ta1a tabal tabtab tagad taggaz tagma tagrog tam bag tantal tantan tappas taqtaq taqtaqa tasat tasi tawi tawwax taxx
to give drum to pat to expel to embroider porch, verandah good-for-nothing to look cross or angry; to sulk very tall person (occurs also as tantawil) to strum to thresh about to bang, to make continuous noise noise washing urn metal water scoop frying-pan to overdo s.t. to knock
tagas tanak tanaki tanawal tanki tannoga tasgrb tayag tayyal tafga tel
Glossary taza ~bag ~gga
~ggahtit taw~ayi
toppa
tox wagdi wagwag walli wanwan waswas waswas wa~a~
wacc wen walki wayya xab~
xabtzya xabat xagaba xagbat xagat xagma8 xalti? xamxam xarxar xasxas xattayyi xatiln xattag xatteba xo
199
fresh card game heads (on coin) useless; nonsensical; bad made to order ball dark (colour) pink revolver go away! get lost! (of common gender) to moan to worry to whisper to squeak face where? hey you! (cp walkam; ms form is rare in CB) with to confuse; to mess up mess, untidiness murky; choppy (river; sea) ruin to spoil, to wreck smock; smock-frock to scratch toilet to become musty to drip to rattle what a pity!, poor thing! lady, madam guest(s) hide-and-seek (also occurs as xattela) (expletive which can best be translated as "by an¥ chance" eg xo ma qaltallu anta honi? "You didn't by any chance tell him you were here?")
Glossary
200
xos
xrit mrit yalla yamm yaxa
yes yaw
as
yezi za
zen zalaz zmal zog zillayyi
good (this adjective precedes the noun it qualifies and does not inflect for gender or number, eg xos maga "a good woman"; xos banat "good girls") utter nonsense come on! near, by collar privet (bot.) (Ligustrum vulgare) slowly, gently enough! saffron snail to blow horn wasp to sound (car) horn rich ginger to give s.o. food grudgingly (expletive expressing annoyance or disapproval) juvenile to decorate finger week good naughty donkey, ass husband carpet, rug
BIBLIOGRAPHY Abdulaziz Mkilifi, M.H. (1978): Triglossia and Swahili-English bilingualism in Tanzania. In Fishman (ed.), Advances in the study of societal multilingualism. The Hague: Mouton, 129-152. Abu-Haidar, F. ((1990): Maintenance and shift in the Christian Arabic of Baghdad. Zeitschrift fiir arabische Linguistik, 21, 47-61. Altoma S.J. (1969): The problem of diglossia in Arabic. A comparative study of classical and Iraqui Arabic. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Babu Si:laq, R. (1948): Tiirikh Na~ara l-1Iraq. Baghdad. Al-Bakri, H. (1972): Diriisiit fi 1-alfiil al-1iimmiyya al-maw~iliyya. Baghdad. Blanc, H. (1964): Communal dialects in Baghdad. Cambridge. Mass: Harvard University Press. Coke, R. (1925): The heart of the Middle East. London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd. Dorian N. (1973): Grammatical change in a dying dialect. Language 49, 413-438. --------- (1981): Language death: The life cycle of a Scottish Gaelic dialect. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Eckert, P. (1980): Diglossia: separate and unequal. Linguistics 18, 1053-1064. Ferguson C.A. (1959): Diglossia. Word 15, 325-340. Fiey, J-M. (1970): Jalons pour une histoire de l'eglise en Iraq. Louvain: Secretariat du Corpusco. (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 310, Subsidia, 36). Fishman, J. (196 7): Bilingualism with and without diglossia; diglossia with and without bilingualism. Journal of Social Issues 32, 29-38. Ghanima, Y.R. (1906): Al-Amthiil al-1iimmiyya fi 1-biliid al-1iriiqiyya Al-Mashriq 9, 297-302. Gumperz, J.J. (1964): Linguistic and social interaction in two communities. American Anthropologist 66: 6 (part 2), 137-153.
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Bibliography
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Language. Jrd edition. Volume I. Language. 3rd edition. Volume II.
.----- - - - - - - SEMITICA VNA - - - - - - - - - - - . Herau gegeben von Otto Jastrow Peter Behnstedt Die D ialekte der Gegeod \'On $a'dab (Nord-Jemen) 1987. XXVID , 327 Seiten, 27 Karten , 15 Abb. (ISBN 3-447-02665-0), br. , OM 154,2 Edward Y. Odisho The Sound System of Modem Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic) 1988. XVll. 146 Seitcn, 19 Abb. (ISBN 3-447-02744-4). br., DM 64,3 Otto Jastrow Der neuaramaische Dialekt von He.rtevin (Provinz Siirt) 1988. XXV , 234 Seiten, I Karte (ISBN 3-447-02767-3) , br. , OM 132,4 Werner Arnold Das Neuwestaramiiische I : Texte aus Bax'a 1989. X, 368 Seiten , Abb. (ISBN 3-447-02949-8), br., OM 88 ,-
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y : Grammatik 1991. XXI, 410 Seiten, 7 Abb. (ISBN 3-447-03099-2). br., OM 112,-
5 Olio Jastrow Der arabische Dialekt der .Juden von 'Aqra und Arbil 1989. XVI. 438 Seiten, Abb. (ISBN 3-447-02950- 1) br. , OM 112,6 Saad A. Sowayan The Arabian Oral Histor ical Narrative An Ethnographic and Linguistic Analysis 1991. Ca. 330 Scitcn. In Vorbereitung
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