Hi everyone! Today we’re going to talk about a distinctively Arabic construction, the 2iDaafe (إضافة). The broad outlines of the Syrian system are more or less the same as they are in fuS7a. But as usual there are some differences in forms and usage that you need to be aware of. What is an 2iDaafe? The 2iDaafe is used to express all sorts of relationships between different nouns and translates most uses of the possessive ‘s, ‘of’ and juxtaposition of nouns in English. I won’t spend too long talking about the general semantics here because they’re more or less the same as their fuS7a counterparts. Note that only the last noun can carry the definite article, and that this makes the whole structure definite or indefinite: ...

Hi everyone! Another fuS7a to shaami redux post. Today we’ll be talking about demonstratives: ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘those’. While in some respects the Syrian system here resembles that of fuS7a, it diverges enough that it probably needs to be looked at piece by piece. We’ll start with the demonstrative pronouns, which will look fairly familiar, and then move on to other things that have no fuS7a counterpart. Demonstrative pronouns The independent demonstrative pronouns are as follows: ...

Hi everyone! Continuing today with our fuS7a to shaami reboot, I’d like to briefly introduce the independent pronouns. If you’ve studied fuS7a, the distinction between independent and attached pronouns (which we’ll cover in another post) will not be new to you. The system Syrian has eight distinct pronouns. Their independent versions are as follows: Singular Plural أنا 2ana I, me نحنا ni7na we, us انتي 2inti you (f.) انت 2inte you (m.) انتو 2intu you (p.) هو huwwe he, him هي hiyye she, her هنه hinne they, them ...

Hi everyone! In the last few posts I’ve been working my way back through our fuS7a to shaami series and trying to update it. Today, though, I’ll be taking a break from that in order to do something a bit more advanced: a video transcription. Specifically, we’ll be looking at a clip from the Syrian TV series بقعة ضوء (Spotlight). I’ve uploaded the scene, complete with Arabic subtitles, below. This way, you can follow exactly what they’re saying in Arabic – hopefully allowing you to develop your listening skills. You can then work your way through the transcription and translation below. You can find the rest of the episode here if you feel like seeing how it plays out. ...

Hi everyone! In this post we’re going to talk briefly about adjectives. If you know your basic fuS7a and have read the last two posts on nouns and number, how adjectives work should come fairly naturally to you. The main difference is that they make far fewer distinctions than in fuS7a. As we will see, not only do they have no case marking, but they also have a far simpler number system than either their fuS7a counterparts or, in fact, than Syrian nouns. ...

Hi everyone! In this post we’ll be looking at how Syrian handles ‘number‘: singulars, plurals, duals etc. Plural The plural of a noun is used to refer to two or more of that noun – unlike fuS7a, which uses plurals for three or more and uses its dual form for two. Syrian plurals are formed in a dizzying range of ways. Although there are patterns, the only reliable solution is to learn them as you encounter their singulars. Still, it’s worth briefly looking over the options, if only so you can recognise them when they pop up. ...

Hi everyone! In the last few posts we looked at the ‘phonology’ of Syrian Arabic (its inventory of sounds, its stress system, correspondences with fuS7a and sound changes caused by adding suffixes). It’s now time to consider some different types of words and how they interact with one another. In this post, I will be talking about the most basic building block of any sentence: the noun. Specifically, I’ll be talking about three fundamental properties of the noun and how they work in Syrian: case (or more accurately word endings), gender, and definiteness. I’m going to leave number (singular, plural etc) for a later post in order to save space. ...

Hi everyone! In the last few posts we have looked at various aspects of Syrian phonology (its sound system, its stress system) and how these aspects correspond to fuS7a. Before moving on to various other bits of grammar, we need to briefly consider how sounds interact with grammar more broadly (morphophonology). Specifically, I’m going to talk about two very commonly applied rules that you will encounter all the time when dealing with suffixes: lengthening of final vowels and deletion of almost-final vowels. ...

Hi everyone! In the last two posts we have been looking at the ‘phonology’ of Syrian Arabic (its inventory of sounds and its stress system). Before going on to look at other bits of the grammar, I wanted to write something about correspondences with fuS7a. Beginners’ dialect classes often teach spoken Arabic as a sound-substitution game: apply a few sound changes to the fuS7a words you know and hey presto! – you’re speaking 3aammiyye. This is a terrible idea. For one thing, constantly translating in your head is no path to fluency. But more importantly, the vocabulary used in speech is not simply a modified version of fuS7a vocabulary. You can’t predict whether a fuS7a word will have a direct Syrian counterpart. Nor can you predict exactly how a counterpart that is used will be pronounced. You have to learn Syrian vocabulary as a system in its own right. ...

Hi everyone! In my last post we looked at the sounds of Syrian Arabic broadly defined. In this post we will look at two other important phonological features: the stress system and the helping vowel. Stress Stress is the emphasis placed on a particular syllable above others. The Syrian stress system (and the system of Eastern dialects more broadly) is more or less identical to the one you were probably taught for fuS7a. I won’t spend too much time on it because it should be fairly familiar. The rules should be applied in order: ...