Algerian Arabic

Algerian Arabic
Dziria, دزيرية
Native to Algeria
Native speakers
 27 million (2012)[1]
3 million L2 speakers in Algeria (no date)[2]
Arabic script, Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3 arq
Glottolog alge1239[3]

Algerian Arabic, or simply Algerian (known as Darja or Dziria in Algeria), is a language derived from a variety of the Arabic languages spoken in northern Algeria. It belongs to the Maghrebi Arabic language continuum and as such it is partially mutually intelligible with Tunisian and Moroccan.

Like other varieties of Maghrebi Arabic, Algerian dialects have a mostly Semitic vocabulary,[4] with significant Berber and Latin (African Romance)[5] substrates and numerous loanwords from French, Ottoman Turkish and Spanish.

Algerian Arabic is the native language of 75% to 80% of Algerians,[6] and is mastered by 95% to 100% of them.[6] It is essentially a spoken language used in daily communication and entertainment, while Classical Arabic is generally reserved for official use and education.

Dialects

Algerian Arabic includes several distinct dialects belonging to two genetically different groups: pre-Hilalian and Hilalian dialects.

Hilalian dialects

Hilalian dialects of Algeria belong to three linguistic groups:[7]

  • Eastern Hilal dialects:[8] spoken in Hautes Plaines around Sétif, M'Sila and Djelfa;
  • Central Hilal dialects:[9] of central and southern Algeria, south of Algiers and Oran;
  • Mâqil dialects:[10] spoken in the western part of Oranais (noted for the third singular masculine accusative pronoun h, for example, /ʃʊfteh/ (I saw him) that would be /ʃʊftʊ/ in the other dialects).

Modern koine languages, urban and national, are based mainly on Hilalian dialects.

Pre-Hilalian dialects

Pre-Hilalian Arabic dialects are generally classified in three types: urban, "village" sedentary and Jewish dialects. Several Pre-Hilalian dialects are spoken in Algeria:[7][11]

  • Urban dialects are in all of Algeria's big cities. Urban dialects were formerly also spoken in other cities such as Azemmour and Mascara, where they are no longer spoken.
  • Lesser Kabylia dialect (or Jijel Arabic) is spoken in the triangular area north of Constantine, including Collo and Jijel (it is noteworthy for its pronunciation of [q] as [k] and [t] as [ts] and characterised, such as other Eastern pre-Hilalian dialects, by the preservation of the three short vowels).
  • Traras-Msirda dialect is spoken in the area north of Tlemcen, including the eastern Traras, Rachgun and Honaine (it is noted for its pronunciation of [q] as [ʔ]) ;
  • Judeo-Algerian Arabic is no longer spoken after Jews left Algeria in 1962, following its independence.

Phonology

IPA phonemes as transliterated in this article:

27 consonants:

/b/ /p/ /t/ /dʒ/ /ħ/ /χ/ /d/ /r/ /z/ /s/ /ʃ/ /sˤ/ /dˤ/ /tˤ/ /ʕ/ /ʁ/ /f/ /v/ /q/ /ɡ/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /h/ /w/ /j/
b p t j ḥ x d r z s š ṣ ḍ ṭ ε γ f v q g k l m n h w y
ب‎ پ‎ ت‎ ج‎ ح‎ خ‎ د‎ ر‎ ز‎ س‎ ش‎ ص‎ ض/ظ‎ ط‎ ع‎ غ‎ ف‎ ڥ‎ غ/ق‎ 1 ݣ/ڨ‎ 2 ک/ك‎‎ ل‎ م‎ ن‎ ه‎ و‎ ی/ي‎
  • ^1 The letter Ghayn (غ) is only pronounced /q/ in some Berber loanwords.
  • ^2 The letter ݣ is only used in western Algeria, near the Morocco border (especially in Oranie). Elsewhere, it is written ڨ (especially in Kabylia).

The voice "Ch" (t͡ʃ) is used in some words in the Algerian dialect like "تشينا" /t͡ʃina:/ (orange) or "تشاراك" /t͡ʃa:ra:k/ (A kind of Algerian sweets) but remains rare.

6 vowels: 3 long vowels:

  • /aː/ /sˤɑːħəb/ friend
  • /iː/ (as in "ski") e.g. قريت /qri;t/ I read, in the past
  • /uː/ (as in "flu") e.g. تِلِفون /tilifuːn/ phone

3 short vowels:

  • /a/ (as in "man") [æ], e.g. سامح /sæməħ/ forgave, [e] (as in "men") e.g. قَهوَة, or a shorter version of a as in father [ɑ], e.g. /rɑbbi/ my God
  • /i/ (as in sit) e.g. هِيَ /hijjɑ/ she
  • /u/ (as in foot) e.g. قُبَّة /qub:ɑ/ dome

plus the schwa, which replaces /e/ in some positions e.g. انتَ /ənte/

Arguably, one of the most notable features of Maghrebi Arabic dialects, including Algerian Arabic, is the collapse of short vowels in some positions: Standard Arabic كِتاب kitab (book) is /ktæb/

kalam كَلام (speech) is /klæm/

The feature is also sometimes present in Levantine Arabic. Standard Arabic words containing three syllables are simplified:

/ħɑdʒɑrɑ/ حَجَرة is /ħɑdʒrɑ/.

Algerian Arabic is particularly rich in uvular, pharyngeal, and pharyngealized ("emphatic") sounds. The uvular and emphatic sounds are generally considered to be q, x and ṣ, ḍ, and ṭ respectively.

Non-emphatic /r/ and emphatic /rˤ/ are two entirely separate phonemes, almost never contrasting in related forms of a word.

/ərrɑmle/ الرَّملة (sand), as in arrive
/jədʒri/ يجري (he runs), as in free

Original /q/ splits lexically into /q/ and /ɡ/ in most dialects but /q/ is preserved all the time in all of the big cities such as Algiers, Oran, Constantine, etc. and all of the montagneious regions; for all words, both alternatives exist.

Grammar

Nouns and adjectives

EnglishAlgerian Arabic
drinkšrab
skysma
waterma
woman / womenmra / nsa
firenar
bigkbir
man / menrajel / rjal
daynhar / yum
moonqmer
nightlil
breadxubz
smallṣγir
sandrmel
winter / rainšta / mṭar
ballbalun
napkinservita
toilet / bathroombit-el-ma / bit-er-raḥa / Twalat

Conjunctions and prepositions

EnglishAlgerian ArabicNotes of usage
Butbeṣṣaḥis also used "wa lakin"
Ifila, ida, lakan, kunUsed for impossible conditions and comes just before the verb
IflukanFor possible conditions, Also used is "ida" and "kan"
So that, thatbaš
Thatbelli
As ifki šγul, tquši, tqul
Becauseεla xaṭer
Whenila
Beforeqbel maUsed before verbs
Withoutbla maUsed before verbs
Whetherkaš maUsed before verbs
undertaḥt
over, on top offuq or fug
aftermur / mura / Baεd / wra
beforeqbelUsed only for time
next to, besidequddam or guddamis also used "ḥda"
atεend
withmεa
among, betweenbin, binat (plural)
same as, as much asεla ḥsab, qed, kima,amount
oh, oh so muchya, ah

Some of them can be attached to the noun, just like in other Arabic dialects. The word for in, "fi", can be attached to a definite noun. For example, the word for house has a definite form "ed-dar" but with "fi" , it becomes "fed-dar".

Gender

There is the masculine and the feminine. Masculine nouns and adjectives generally end with a consonant while the feminine nouns generally end with an a.

Examples:

  • [ħmɑr] "a donkey", [ħmɑrɑ] "a female donkey".

Pluralisation

Hilalian dialects, on which the modern koine is based, often use regular plural while the wider use of the broken plural is characteristic to pre-Hilalian dialects.

Unlike Classical Arabic's use of the suffix -un for the nominative, Algerian Arabic uses, for all cases, the suffix -in, used in Classical Arabic for the accusative and the genitive:

mumen (believer) → mumnin

For feminine nouns, the regular plural is obtained by suffixing -at:

Classical Arabic: bint (girl) → banat
Algerian Arabic: bent → bnat

The broken plural can be found for some plurals in Hilalian dialects, but it is mainly used, for the same words, in pre-Hilalian dialects:

Broken plural: ṭabla → ṭwabəl.

Article

The article el is indeclinable and expresses definite state of a noun of any gender and number. It is also prefixed to each of that noun's modifying adjectives.

It follows the solar letters and lunar letters rules of Classical Arabic: if the word starts with one of these consonants, el is assimilated and replaced by the first consonant:

t, d, r, z, s, š, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, l, n.

Examples:

rajel → er-rajel "man" (assimilation)
qeṭṭ → el-qeṭṭ "cat" (no assimilation)

Important Notes:

  • When it is after lunar letters consonant we add the article le-.

Examples:

qmer → le-qmer "moon"
ḥjer → le-ḥjer "stone"
  • We always use the article el with the words that begin with vowels.

Examples:

alf → el-alf "thousand"

Verbs

Conjugation is done by adding affixes (prefixes, postfixes, both or none) that change according to the tense.

In all Algerian Arabic dialects, there is no gender differentiation of the 2nd and 3rd person in the plural forms. However, there is also no gender differentiation of the 2nd person in the singular form in pre-Hilalian dialects unlike Hilalian ones where it has been preserved.

Person Past Present
Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st - t - na n - n(e) - u
2nd (m) - t - tu t - t - u
2nd (f) - ti - tu t - i t - u
3rd (m) - - u i/y(e) - i/y(e) - u
3rd (f) - t - u t(e) - i/y(e) - u
  • Example with the verb kteb "To write":
Person Past Present
Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st (m) ktebt ktebna nekteb nekketbu
2nd (m) ktebt ktebtu tekteb tekketbu
2nd (f) ktebti ktebtu tekketbi tekketbu
3rd (m) kteb ketbu yekteb yekketbu
3rd (f) ketbet ketbu tekteb yekketbu
Person Past Present Future Present continuous
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st (m) ktebt ktebna nekteb nekketbu Rayeḥ nekteb Rayḥin nekketbu Rani nekteb Rana nekketbu
2st (f) ktebt ktebna nekteb nekketbu Rayḥa nekteb Rayḥin nekketbu Rani nekteb Rana nekketbu
2nd (m) ketbt ktebtu tekteb tekketbu Rayeḥ tekteb Rayḥin tekketbu Rak tekteb Rakum tekketbu
2rd (f) ktebti ktebtu tekketbi tekketbu Rayḥa tekketbi Rayḥin tekketbu Raki tekketbi Rakum tekketbu
3rd (m) kteb ketbu yekteb yekketbu Rayeḥ yekteb Rayḥin yekketbu Rah yekteb Rahum yekketbu
3rd (f) ketbet ketbu tekteb yekketbu Rayḥa tekteb Rayḥin yekketbu Raha tekteb Rahum yekketbu

Future tense

Speakers generally do not use the future tense above. Used instead is the present tense or present continuous.

Also, as is used in all of the other Arabic dialects, there is another way of showing active tense. The form changes the root verb into an adjective. For example, "kteb" he wrote becomes "kateb".

Negation

Like all North African Arabic varieties (including Egyptian Arabic) along with some Levantine Arabic varieties, verbal expressions are negated by enclosing the verb with all its affixes, along with any adjacent pronoun-suffixed preposition, within the circumfix ma ...-š (/ʃ/):

  • « lεebt » ("I played") → « ma lεebt-ši /ʃ/ » ("I didn't play")
  • « ma tṭabbaεni-š » ("Don't push me")
  • « ma yṭawlu-l-ek-š hadu le-qraεi » ("Those bottles won't last you long")
  • « ma sibt-š plaṣa » ("I couldn't get a seat / parking place")
Person Past Present Future Present continuous
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st (m) ma ktebt-š ma ktebna-š ma nekteb-š ma nekketbu-š ma Rayeḥ-š nekteb ma Rayḥin-š nekketbu ma Rani-š nekteb ma Rana-š nekketbu
2st (f) ma ktebt-š ma ktebna-š ma nekteb-š ma nekketbu-š ma Rayḥa-š nekteb ma Rayḥin-š nekketbu ma Rani-š nekteb ma Rana-š nekketbu
2nd (m) ma ketbt-š ma ktebtu-š ma tekteb-š ma tekketbu-š ma Rayeḥ-š tekteb ma Rayḥin-š tekketbu ma Rak-š tekteb ma Rakum-š tekketbu
2rd (f) ma ktebti-š ma ktebtu-š ma tekketbi-š ma tekketbu-š ma Rayḥa-š tekketbi ma Rayḥin-š tekketbu ma Raki-š tekketbi ma Rakum-š tekketbu
3rd (m) ma kteb-š ma ketbu-š ma yekteb-š ma yekketbu-š ma Rayeḥ-š yekteb ma Rayḥin-š yekketbu ma Rah-š yekteb ma Rahum-š yekketbu
3rd (f) ma ketbet-š ma ketbu-š ma tekteb-š ma yekketbu-š ma Rayḥa-š tekteb ma Rayḥin-š yekketbu ma Raha-š tekteb ma Rahum-š yekketbu


Other negative words (walu, etc.) are used in combination with ma to express more complex types of negation. ʃ is not used when other negative words are used

  • ma qolt walu ("I didn't say anything")
  • ma šuft tta waħed ("I didn't see anyone")

or when two verbs are consecutively in the negative

  • ma šuft ma smeεt ("I neither saw nor did I hear").

Verb derivation

Verb derivation is done by adding suffixes or by doubling consonants, there are two types of derivation forms: causative, Passive.

  • Causative: is obtained by doubling consonants :
xrej "to go out" → xerrej "to make to go out"
dxel "to enter" → dexxel "to make to enter, to introduce".
  • Passive:It is obtained by prefixing the verb with t- / tt- / tn- / n- :
qtel "to kill" → tneqtel "to be killed"
šreb "to drink" → ttešreb "to be drunk".

The adverbs of location

Things could be in three places hnaya (right here), hna (here) or el-hih (there).

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Most Algerian Arabic dialects have 8 personal pronouns since they no longer have gender differentiation of the 2nd and 3rd person in the plural forms. However, pre-Hilalian dialects retain 7 personal pronouns since gender differentiation of the 2nd person in the singular form is absent as well.

Person Singular Plural
1st ana ḥna
2nd (m) enta entuma
2nd (f) enti entuma
3rd (m) huwwa huma
3rd (f) hiyya huma

Example : « ḥatta ana. » — "Me too."

Person Algerian Arabic
I am rani
You are (m) rak
You are (f) raki
He is rah or rahu
She is rahi or raha
We are rana
You or Y'all are raku or rakum (m)and (f)
They are rahum (m)and (f)

Example : « Rani hna. » — "I'm here." and « Waš rak. » "How are you." to both males and females.

Possessive pronouns

Dar means house.

Person Singular Plural
1st i (Dari) na (Darna)
2nd (e)k (Dar(e)k) kum (Darkum)
3rd (m) u (Daru) (h)um (Dar(h)um)
3rd (f) ha (Darha) (hum) (Dar(h)um)

Example :

« dar-na. » — "Our house" (House-our) Possessives are frequently combined with dyal "of, property" : dar dyal-na — "Our house.", dar dyal-kum ...etc.

Singular:

dyal-i = my or mine

syal-ek = your or yours (m, f)

dyal-u = his

dyal-ha = hers

Plural:

dyal-na = our or ours

dyal-kum = your or yours (m, f)

dyal-hum = their or theirs (m, f)

"Our house" can be Darna or Dar taε-na, which is more like saying 'house of ours'. Taε can be used in other ways just like in English in Spanish. You can say Dar taε khuya, which means 'house of my brother' or 'my brother's house'.

Interrogative pronouns

Interrogatives Algerian Arabic
What ? waš ?
When ? waqtaš ?
Why? 3lah ? / 3laš ?
Which ? aš-men ? / ama ?
Where ? win ?
Who ? škun ?
How ? kifaš ?
How many ? šḥal ? / qeddaš ?
Whose ? taε-men ?

Verbal pronouns

Person Singular Plural
1st ni na
2nd (m) (e)k kum
3rd (m) u (after a consonant) / h (after a vowel)
/ hu (before an indirect object pronoun)		 hum
3rd (m) ha hum

Examples:

« šuft-ni. » — "You saw me." (You.saw-me)
« qetl-u. » — "He killed him." (He.killed-him)
« kla-h. » — "He ate it." (He.ate-it)

Demonstratives

Unlike Classical Arabic, Algerian Arabic has no dual and uses the plural instead. The demonstrative (hadi) is also used for "it is".

Interrogatives Algerian Arabic Emphasized
This had (m), hadi (f) hada , hadaya (m), hadiyya (f)
That dak (m), dik (f) hadak (m), hadik (f)
These hadu haduma
Those duk haduk

Sample text

The text below was translated from Kabylie, in Auguste Moulieras's Les fourberies de si Djeh'a.

Buzelluf Sheep Head
Waḥed en-nhar, jḥa med-lu baba-h frank, baš yešri buzelluf. šra-h, kla gaɛ leḥm-u. bqa γir leɛdem, jab-u l baba-h. ki šaf-u qal-lu: "waš hada?" qal-lu: "buzelluf".

-A šmata, win rahi wedn-u?

-Kan ṭreš

-win rahum ɛini-h?

-Kan ɛma

-win rah lsan-u?

-Kan bekkuš.

- U el-jelda taɛ ras-u, win rahi

-Kan ferṭas.
 One day, Jha's father gave him one cent so he buys a sheep head. He bought it and ate all of its meat. Only an empty carcass was left. He brought it to his father. Then, when he saw it, he said: "what is that?" Jehha said: "a sheep head".

-You vile, where are its ears?

-It was deaf.

-Where are its eyes?

-It was blind.

-Where is its tongue?

-It was dumb.

-And the skin of its head, where is it?

-It was bald.

French loanwords

Algerian Arabic contains numerous French loanwords.

Algerian Arabic French loanword English meaning Algerian Arabic French loanword English meaning
Feršiṭa Fourchette Fork Pur Port Port
Fraz Fraises Strawberries utal Hôtel Hotel
Nurmalmu Normalement Normally Frijidar Réfrigérateur Refrigerator
Karṭa Carte Card Bumba Bombe Bomb
Buja (v) Bouger (v) Move (v) Tay Thé Tea
Farina Farine Flour Duntist Dentist Dentist
Tilifun Téléphone Phone šufur Chauffeur Driver
Valiza Valise Suitcase Paṣpur Passport passport
Ṭrunspur Transport Transportation Ṭunubil Automobile Car
Kazirna Caserne Barracks Kuzina Cuisine Kitchen
Fermliyya/Fermli Infirmière/Infirmier Nurse/Male nurse Blaṣa/Plaṣa place place/seat
Pyasa Pièce Coin Šarja (v) Charger (v) Load (v)
Karti Quartier District Jerda Jardin Garden
Girra Guerre war Riska (v) Risquer (v) Risk (v)
(G)Kravaṭa Cravate Tie Zigu Égout Sewer
Mikru Micro ordinateure Computer Kader Cadre Frame
Riẓu Réseau Network Ridu Rideau Curtain
Ṭabla table Table Biyyi Billet Ticket
Vista Veste Jacket Lappulis/El-bulisiyya Police Police

(v)=verb

See also

References

  1. ↑ Algerian Arabic at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Algerian Arabic at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005)
  3. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Algerian Arabic". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ↑ Elimam, Abdou (2009). Du Punique au Maghribi :Trajectoires d’une langue sémito-méditerranéenne (PDF). Synergies Tunisie.
  5. ↑ Martin Haspelmath; Uri Tadmor (22 December 2009). Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook. Walter de Gruyter. p. 195. ISBN 978-3-11-021844-2.
  6. 1 2 "Arabic, Algerian Spoken". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  7. 1 2 K. Versteegh, Dialects of Arabic: Maghreb Dialects, hteachmideast.org
  8. ↑ The Eastern Hilal also includes central Tunisian Bedouin dialects.
  9. ↑ The Central Hilal also includes Algerian Saharan Arabic.
  10. ↑ The Mâqil family of dialects also includes Moroccan Bedouin Arabic dialects and Hassaniya. Those of the Oranais are similar to those of eastern Morocco (Oujda area)
  11. ↑ D. Caubet, Questionnaire de dialectologie du Maghreb, in: EDNA vol.5 (2000-2001), pp.73-92
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