Syriac Arabic

Syriac Arabic is the colloquial Arabic language spoken in Syria .

The Syrian dialect is very closely related to the Lebanese , Palestinian and Jordanian dialects, so that in the Levant these dialects are often combined into a single dialect, Levantic .

Like all Arabic dialects, Syriac Arabic is mostly only spoken, while standard Arabic is generally used for correspondence . However, there is a tendency to write the dialect in writing. B. in some Internet forums in which many users write in the Arabic dialect (although often in the Latin alphabet using the Arabic chat alphabet , but recently also with the Arabic alphabet).

Syrian Arabic is not to be confused with the actual Syrian language , which is now almost completely displaced and belongs to Aramaic .

Meaning of Syriac Arabic

The music industry, as well as the proliferation of satellite television, have helped Syrian Arabic to be understood almost everywhere on the Arabian Peninsula. While pop music promoted the understanding of Levantine Arabic in general in the Arab world, in the area of television it is Syrian television productions that use series and telenovelas to spread the understanding of the Syrian dialect in particular. The great success of the series Bab al-Hara broadcast during Ramadan and similar television productions play a special role.

Differences in sound

The high Arabic interdental spirants ث th andذ ie in the dialect of the residents in the west of the country they are spoken like t or d, in some words also like s. The same goes for the emphatic ظ that of the residents like ز(voiced s ) is spoken. The letterج, spoken in standard Arabic [ d͡ʒ ] ( dsch as in jungle), sounds a bit softer in the Damascus dialect, namely [ʒ] (like g in floor). In much of the country, however, it is pronounced as it is in Standard Arabic.

Instead of the throat sound ق q In the urban forms of Syriac Arabic, a fixed paragraph ( Hamza ) isusuallyspoken. In words and idioms in religious or non-profane areas of life, however, the ability to always pronounce the letter close to the standard language predominates. Bedouins usually pronounce this sound in a strongly velarized manner as [g]. In some dialects of the north, the initial q becomes k . The pronunciation of k as [t͡ʃ] (ch) is very common among the Bedouins. The diphthongs ai and au are often contracted to form a long e and a long o ,respectively. In most syllables, unstressed short vowels arereducedto a Schwa sound or left out. This takes place to varying degrees and has, depending on the speaker, sometimes very strong deviations. In the north of the country there are dialects of Syriac Arabic thathave retainedthe final, short u of the conjugation of the verbs in the perfect from the standard languagein the first person(e.g. qultu or kultu instead of expecting ʿılt ).

Differences in grammar

As in all spoken Arabic dialects, the grammar in Syrian Arabic is simpler than in Standard Arabic. The main differences:

In contrast to the standard language, there are no different cases ( nominative , genitive , accusative ). The case endings and thus the nunation are omitted.
Subjunctive and apocopy ( jussive ) do not exist.
The negation of verbal clauses occurs both in the present and in the past through the particles ما mā (high Arabicلا lā for present andلم lam for past), nominal sentences are added withمو mū negated (high Arabic:ليس laysa with accusative).
The female plural verb forms commonly used in Standard Arabic are not used, nor are the verb forms of the dual.

Differences in vocabulary

There are also differences in vocabulary between the Syrian dialect and the standard Arabic language. In the case of the structural words, these differences are very clear. Sometimes only the sound is different, but sometimes completely different words are used than in Standard Arabic.

The list is intended to give a brief overview. It contains some structural words of the Damascus dialect and the counterpart commonly used in standard Arabic.

German	Standard Arabic		Damascus
as	عندما	ʿIndamā	وقت إللي	wa′t ıllī
also	أيضًا	ayḍan	كمان	arrived
then	ثم	ṯumma	بعدين	to bathe
there	هناك	hunāka	هنيك	hınīk
outside	في الخارج	fī l-ḫāriǧi	برا	barrā
inside	في الداخل	fī d-dāḫili	جوا	ǧuwwā
there are	يوجد	yūǧad ^u	فيه	fīh
nearly	بالكاد	bil-kād ⁱ	يدوب	yıdōb
Well	جيد	ǧayyid	كويس ، منيح	kwayyıs, mnīḥ
half	نصف	niṣf ^u	نص	nut
he has	له	lahu	اله	élō
here	هنا	hunā	هون	hōn
in	في	fī	ب	b-
Yes	نعم	naʿam	اي	ē
someone	أحد	aḥad ^un	حدا	ḥadā
now	الآن	al-ān ^a	هله	halla
coming (r, s)	القادم	al-qādim ^{et al}	الجاي	ıl-ǧāyy
next (r, s)	آخر	āḫar ^u	تاني	tānī
just	فقط	faqaṭ	بس	bass
or	أم	at the	ولا	wıllā
still	حتى الآن	ḥattā l-ān	لسا	lissā
very	جدا	ǧiddan	كتير	ktīr
since	منذ	munḏu	من	min
so	هكذا	hākaḏā	هيك	hēk
when	متى	matā	امتى	ēmtā
What	ما ، ماذا	mā , māḏā	شو	šū
because of	من أجل	min aǧl ⁱ	منشان	mınšān
little	قليل	qalīl	شوي	šwayy
but if	ليت	layta	يا ريت	yā rēt
such as	ك	ka	متل	mıtl
I want	أريد	urīd ^u	بدي	bıddī
really	فعلا	fiʾlan	ولله	wa-llāh
Where	أين	ayna	وين	whom
to	إلى	ilā	على ، ع	'Alá , 'a

Example sentence

The differences indicated above mean that a sentence formulated in Standard Arabic can be completely different in the Syrian dialect:

أريد أن أذهب إلي الجامعة غدا.

urīdu an aḏhaba ilā l-ǧāmiʿa ^ti ġadan ( Standard Arabic)

بدي روح عل جامعة بكرة.

bıddī rūḥ ʿal-ǧāmʿa bukrā (Damascus dialect)

(German: I want to go to university tomorrow.)