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Learning Darijaالدارجة

Lesson 47 · B1

The Green Gate is closed

“Written”, “closed”, “known”: the participle that tells you what state something was left in. Darija builds it with one pattern, meCCuC, and with it you finally read Ibn Battuta in his own words, seven centuries on.

  • Form the passive participle: mektub, mesdud, ma3ruf.
  • Tell it from the active: kateb versus mektub.
  • Describe a city, its gates and buildings.
  • Read an original passage of Ibn Battuta with help.
1

Twenty-four words

The last family is Classical Arabic from Ibn Battuta's text: for reading, not speaking.

State left (passive)

  • مْكْتُوبْ mektub written; fate

    mektub: “it was written”. The “maktub” of novels.

  • مْحْلُولْ me7lul open

    From 7ell. Shops, doors, windows.

  • مْسْدُودْ mesdud closed

    From sedd.

  • مَعْرُوفْ ma3ruf known

    From 3ref.

  • مَبْنِي mebni built

    From defective bna: ends in -i.

  • مَشْهُورْ mash-hur famous
  • مْزَوّْقْ mzewweq decorated

    Form II passive: m- + zewweq.

Who does it (active)

  • كَاتْبْ kateb writing; writer

    Active of kteb.

  • سَاكْنْ saken living; resident
  • زَايْرْ zayer visitor
  • مْسَافْرْ msafer traveller

    Form III active: m- + safer.

The city

  • الْمَرْسَى l-mersa port; harbour
  • السُّورْ s-sur city wall
  • الْبُرْجْ l-burj tower
  • الصّْوْمْعَة s-sum3a minaret

    The Maghrebi word; further east, mi'dhana.

  • الْقْبُورْ l-qbur graves
  • الْمَنَارَة l-manara lighthouse; minaret

    Alexandria's was one of the Wonders.

  • الزّْلِّيجْ z-zellij zellige (glazed tilework)

    The mosaic tiles of Moroccan buildings.

From the classical text

  • بَابْ bab door; gate

    Classical plural abwab; Darija biban.

  • أَبْوَابٌ abwab (Classical) gates
  • يُفْتَحُ yufta7u (Classical) is opened

    Internal passive, lesson 45.

  • لَمْ أَرَ lam ara (Classical) I did not see

    lam + verb: the classical past negative.

  • مِثْلَهُ mithlahu (Classical) its like

    Darija b7alu.

  • بِلَادُ biladu (Classical) the land of

    biladu l-hind, India.

2

Active and passive

Four sentences describing a state. None has a conjugated verb saying who did it.

  1. الْبَابْ مْسْدُودْ، مَا تّْفْتَحْ حْتَّى نْهَارْ الْجُّمْعَةl-bab mesdud, ma ttfte7 7tta nhar j-jem3a
  2. هَادْ الشّْيْ مْكْتُوبْhad sh-shi mektub
  3. الْمْدِينَة مَعْرُوفَة بْالْمَرْسَى دْيَالْهَاl-mdina ma3rufa b l-mersa dyalha
  4. السُّورْ مَبْنِي بْالْحْجَرْs-sur mebni b l-7jer

What do mesdud, mektub, ma3ruf, mebni share? How do they start?

The rule

The active participle (lesson 37) is the doer: pattern CaCeC, kateb, writing, writer.

The passive participle is what the action was done to: pattern meCCuC. kteb → mektub, written; sedd → mesdud, closed; 3ref → ma3ruf, known.

Defectives end in -i: bna → mebni. Forms II and III add m- in front: mzewweq, decorated.

It works like an adjective and agrees: l-bab mesdud, l-7anut me7lula, d-dyur mebniyyin.

Verb, active, passive

Verb → active · passiveSay itMeans
كْتَبْ ← كَاتْبْ · مْكْتُوبْkteb → kateb · mektubwrite → writer · written
حَلّْ ← حَالّْ · مْحْلُولْ7ell → 7all · me7lulopen → opening · open
سَدّْ ← سَادّْ · مْسْدُودْsedd → sadd · mesdudclose → closing · closed
عْرَفْ ← عَارْفْ · مَعْرُوفْ3ref → 3aref · ma3rufknow → knowing · known
بْنَى ← بَانِي · مَبْنِيbna → bani · mebnibuild → builder · built
قَلّْقْ ← مْقَلّْقْqelleq → mqelleqworry → worried
الْبَابْ مْحْلُولْ · الْبِيبَانْ مْحْلُولِينْl-bab me7lul · l-biban me7lulinthe door is open · the doors are open
الدّْيُورْ مَبْنِيِّينْ بْالطّْوبْd-dyur mebniyyin b t-tubthe houses are built of mud brick

Row 6: in Form II, active and passive almost merge: mqelleq, worried.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: -ing versus -ed. “Writing / written”, “boring / bored”: you already keep doer and receiver apart. Darija does the same with two patterns.

Costly: agreement. “Closed” never changes in English; mesdud, mesduda, mesdudin do.

Costly: “is”. “The door is closed” needs a verb in English; l-bab mesdud doesn't.

Your mistake, not someone else's

The active participle came first (gales, mashi), so it's the one that comes out. With things that receive an action, the active says the opposite.

×الْبَابْ حَالّْ“The door is opening (something)”.

✓الْبَابْ مْحْلُولْ“The door is open”.

In Ibn Battuta's text you'll meet yufta7u, “is opened”, a classical internal passive. In Darija: kayttfte7 or kayt7ell.

3

Ibn Battuta in Alexandria

The course's first original text: the passage of the Rihla on Alexandria's gates and harbour, written in the fourteenth century. It is Classical Arabic, not Darija: read it with the Darija version below. The original comes from Wikisource; the vowel marks are ours.

وَلِمَدِينَةِ الْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةِ أَرْبَعَةُ أَبْوَابٍ: بَابُ السِّدْرَةِ وَإِلَيْهِ يُشْرَعُ طَرِيقُ الْمَغْرِبِ، وَبَابُ رَشِيدٍ، وَبَابُ الْبَحْرِ، وَالْبَابُ الْأَخْضَرُ،

وَلَيْسَ يُفْتَحُ إِلَّا يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ، فَيَخْرُجُ النَّاسُ مِنْهُ إِلَى زِيَارَةِ الْقُبُورِ.

وَلَهَا الْمَرْسَى الْعَظِيمُ الشَّأْنِ، وَلَمْ أَرَ فِي مَرَاسِي الدُّنْيَا مِثْلَهُ

إِلَّا مَا كَانَ مِنْ مَرْسَى كَوْلَمَ وَقَالِيقُوطَ بِبِلَادِ الْهِنْدِ، وَمَرْسَى الْكُفَّارِ بِسُرَادَقَ بِبِلَادِ الْأَتْرَاكِ، وَمَرْسَى الزَّيْتُونِ بِبِلَادِ الصِّينِ.

Ibn Battuta · Classical Arabic

Ibn Battuta, Tuḥfat an-nuẓẓār fī gharāʾib al-amṣār (s. XIV), «Las puertas de Alejandría y su puerto». Texto de ar.wikisource.org; vocalización y glosas de Learning Darija · dominio público

Did you follow?

  1. How many gates did Alexandria have?

    Show answers

    Four: the Lote-tree Gate, Rosetta Gate, Sea Gate and Green Gate.

  2. What was special about the Green Gate?

    Show answers

    It only opened on Fridays, for people going out to visit the graves.

  3. What does Ibn Battuta say about the harbour?

    Show answers

    He never saw its equal except in India, in Turkish lands and in China.

  4. Where did the road from the Lote-tree Gate lead?

    Show answers

    West, to the Maghreb: tariqu l-maghrib. It was his road home.

4

Check

Two here, three more in the B1 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the B1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Match

Each verb with its passive participle.

1كْتَبْaمَعْرُوفْ
2سَدّْbمْكْتُوبْ
3عْرَفْcمَبْنِي
4بْنَىdمْسْدُودْ

2Fill in

With the participle that agrees. No vowels.

محلولةمسدودمبنيةمكتوبمعروفين

  1. الحانوت ___ حتى للتسعود
  2. الباب ___، ما تدخلش
  3. الدار ___ بالطوب
  4. السمية ___ فالورقة
  5. الصنايعية ديال فاس ___

3True or false?

According to Ibn Battuta.

  1. Alexandria had four gates.

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

4Sort

Active or passive?

كَاتْبْ

Active (doer)

Passive (done to)

The rest is in the B1 book

7 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

5Your city, in participles

Describe a building or neighbourhood you know in five sentences, with passive participles.

مَبْنِيمَعْرُوفْمْحْلُولْمْسْدُودْمَشْهُورْ

The rest is in the B1 book

The B1 book
Show answers
1. Match1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c
2. Fill inمحلولة · مسدود · مبنية · مكتوب · معروفين

The B1 book: In preparation

Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.

Tell me when it is out

I can now

  • Form the passive participle with meCCuC.
  • Say open, closed, built, known, famous.
  • Tell kateb from mektub.
  • Read a passage of Ibn Battuta with help.