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Learning Darijaالدارجة

Lesson 62 · B1

Sharja, bloka, konekta

Your phone's batri is low, you sharja it, it bloka. Half of Darija's technical vocabulary comes from French, but it's conjugated in Arabic. Many roots you know already: charge, block, connect, motor.

  • Recognise a French loan even when it sounds different.
  • Conjugate borrowed verbs.
  • Know which plural a loan takes.
  • Read a technical article in Darija.
1

Twenty-four words

Nearly all from French; the notes flag the two that aren't. English often shares the root: charger, battery, motor, connection.

The phone

  • الْبُّورْطَابْلْ l-portabl mobile phone

    French portable.

  • الشَّارْجُورْ sh-sharjur charger
  • الْبَاطْرِي l-batri battery
  • الرِّيزُو r-rizu signal; network

    French réseau.

  • الْكُونِيكْسْيُونْ l-koneksyon connection

Borrowed verbs

  • شَارْجَا sharja to charge
  • بْلُوكَا bloka to freeze; get blocked
  • كُونِيكْطَا konekta to connect; go online
  • سُونَا sona to ring

    French sonner.

  • بَارْطَاجَا partaja to share

    French partager.

  • طِيلِيشَارْجَا telesharja to download

    French télécharger.

The car

  • الْمُوطُورْ l-motur engine

    French moteur.

  • الرُّوِيضَة r-rwida wheel

    Not French: from Spanish rueda.

  • لِيصَانْصْ lisans petrol; gas

    French l'essence, article included.

  • الْمَازُوطْ l-mazut diesel

    French mazout.

  • الْفْرَانْ l-fran brake

    French frein.

  • الصُّوڭَانْ s-sugan driving

    Not French: Arabic sag, to drive.

Two kinds of plural

  • بْشْكْلِيطْ ← بْشَاكْلْ bshklit → bshakel bicycle → bicycles

    Broken plural, like a native word.

  • فَرْشِيطَة ← فْرَاشْطْ forshita → frashet fork → forks

    French fourchette. Broken plural.

  • طُومُوبِيلْ ← طُومُوبِيلَاتْ tomobil → tomobilat car → cars

    Plural in -at.

At home

  • الْكْلِيمَاتِيزُورْ l-klimatizur air conditioning

    French climatiseur.

  • الْبْرِيزْ l-briz socket

    French prise.

  • الْفْرِيجِيدِيرْ l-frijidir fridge

    From the Frigidaire brand.

  • التْرِيسِينْتِي t-trisinti electricity

    French électricité, worn down.

2

French verb, Arabic conjugation

Four everyday sentences. Find the French verbs: what prefixes and endings do they carry?

  1. الْبَاطْرِي خْوَاتْ، خَصّْنِي نْشَارْجِي التِّيلِيفُونْl-batri khwat, khassni nsharji t-tilifun
  2. الْبُّورْطَابْلْ دْيَالِي تْبْلُوكَا مْلِّي طِيلِيشَارْجِيتْ الْفِيلْمْl-portabl dyali tbloka mlli telesharjit l-film
  3. هَادْ الْبْشَاكْلْ كُلّْهُمْ مْكْرْيِينْhad l-bshakel kollhum mkeryin
  4. مَا كُونِيكْطِيتْشْ، مَا كَايْنْشْ الرِّيزُوma-konektitsh, ma-kaynsh r-rizu

How does the verb end in the past? In the present? Does it take n-, t-, ka- like an Arabic verb?

The rule

A French verb comes in with -a in the past and -i in the present: sharja, “charged”; kaysharji, “charges”. It conjugates like qra / yqra.

It takes everything Arabic: n-, t-, ka-, ma-…-sh, -it: sharjit, ma-konektitsh.

Participle with m-: msharji, charged.

Plurals: old loans take a broken plural: bshklit → bshakel, kuzina → kwazen. Recent ones take -at: tomobilat, portablat.

Always the Arabic article: l-motur, t-tilifun.

How a loan goes native

FormSay itMeans
شَارْجَا ← كَيْشَارْجِي ← مْشَارْجِيsharja → kaysharji → msharjicharged → charges → charged (adj.)
بْلُوكَا ← كَيْبْلُوكِي ← مْبْلُوكِيbloka → kaybloki → mblokifroze → freezes → frozen
كُونِيكْطَا ← كَيْكُونِيكْطِيkonekta → kaykonekticonnected → connects
شَارْجِيتْ التِّيلِيفُونْsharjit t-tilifunI charged the phone
بْشْكْلِيطْ ← جُوجْ بْشَاكْلْbshklit → juj bshakelbicycle → two bicycles
طُومُوبِيلْ ← جُوجْ طُومُوبِيلَاتْtomobil → juj tomobilatcar → two cars
الْبُّورْطَابْلْ تْبْلُوكَاl-portabl tblokathe phone has frozen
مَا كُونِيكْطِيتْشْma-konektitshI haven't connected

Rows 5 and 6: the older the word, the more Arabic its plural.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “to google”, “googled”. English also takes a foreign word and gives it native endings. Darija does the same.

Free: the roots. Charge, block, connect, motor, battery: English got them from French too.

Costly: the sound. French essence becomes lisans, with the article glued on. Say it aloud and think of the French spelling.

Your mistake, not someone else's

sharji sounds like an infinitive, “to charge”, so you leave it bare. Darija has no infinitive: the verb needs a person.

×خَصّْنِي شَارْجِي التِّيلِيفُونْNo person on the verb after khass.

✓خَصّْنِي نْشَارْجِي التِّيلِيفُونْ“I need to charge the phone”.

Like khassni nakul, not khassni kla.

3

An article on the car

A real extract from the Darija Wikipedia article “طوموبيل”. Count the French loans: there are more than ten. The spelling is the original's, not normalised.

طّْومُوبِيلْ ؤُلَا طّْونُوبِيلْ هُوَ مَرْكُوبْ تِيتْحَرّْكْ عْلَى رْبْعَة دْيَالْ رْوَايْضْ، وْ تَايْشْرُويهْ نَاسْ بْزَّافْ بَاشْ يْسْهَالْ عْلِيهُمْ مْتْلَا السّْفَرْ.

يْقْدَرْ يْهَزّْ لْبَاشَارْ أُولَا السّْلْعَة مْنْ بْلَاصَة لْ بْلَاصَة خْرَة، وَلَكِنْ تَايْحْتَاجْ لْ شِي فْيُولْ، بْحَالْ لِيصَانْصْ أُولَا لْمَازُوطْ، بَاشْ يْخْدَمْ لْمُوطُورْ.

الطُّونُوبِيلَة كِيكُونْ فِيهَا دُوزَانْ دْيَالْ التَّحَكُّمْ بْ الصُّوڭَانْ، الصْطَاصْيُونَاجْ، وْ الرَّاحَة دْ الرّْكَّابْ، زِيَادَة عْلَى الضّْوَاوْ.

مْعَا مْرُورْ الزّْمَانْ، تْزَادُو لِيهَا مْزِيَّاتْ وْ وْسَايْلْ دْ التَّحَكُّمْ، بْحَالْ لْمْرَايَة دْ اللُّورْ، لْكْلِيمَاتِيزُورْ، سِيسْتِيمْ دْ لْمْلَاحَة، وْ وْسَايْلْ دْ لْمُتْعَة بْحَالْ الرَّادْيُو وْ اللِّيكْتُورْ دْيَالْ الدّْيَاسْكْ.

أَغْلَبِيَّة دْ الطُّونُوبِيلَاتْ لِي كَايْنِينْ دَابَا كِيخْدْمُو بْ مُوطُورْ دْ لْحْرِيقْ الدَّخْلَانِي […]، وْ شِي وْحْدِينْ كِيخْدْمُو بْ التْرِيسِينْتِي ؤُلَا بْ لْهِيدْرُوجِينْ.

“Automobile”, ary.wikipedia (extract)

«طوموبيل», Wikipedia en darija (ary.wikipedia.org), autores de Wikipedia. Extracto con cortes marcados […]; vocalización de Learning Darija · CC BY-SA 4.0

Did you follow?

  1. What two names does it give the car?

    Show answers

    t-tomobil and t-tonobil.

  2. Which fuels does it name?

    Show answers

    lisans and l-mazut: petrol and diesel.

  3. Name three extras added over time.

    Show answers

    Rear-view mirror, air conditioning, navigation, radio or disc player.

  4. What else do some cars run on?

    Show answers

    Electricity or hydrogen.

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.

1Fill the gap

With the loan correctly conjugated.

نشارجيتبلوكاكونيكطيتبشاكل

  1. الباطري خوات، خصني ___ التيليفون
  2. البورطابل ___ و ما بقاش خدام
  3. ملي ___، لقيت الميساج ديالك
  4. شرينا جوج ___ للولاد

2Sort

Broken plural or -at plural?

بْشَاكْلْطُومُوبِيلَاتْفْرَاشْطْبُورْطَابْلَاتْكْوَازْنْشَارْجُورَاتْ

Broken plural

-at plural

3True or false?

According to the article.

  1. A car needs fuel for the engine to run.

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

4Conjugate

The borrowed verb, in the person and tense given.

  1. شَارْجَا (أَنَا، مَاضِي)

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

5Your phone

In five sentences, describe a problem with your phone or computer.

الْبُّورْطَابْلْشَارْجَاتْبْلُوكَاالرِّيزُوكُونِيكْطَا

The rest is in the B1 book

The B1 book
Show answers
1. Fill the gapنشارجي · تبلوكا · كونيكطيت · بشاكل
2. SortBroken plural: بْشَاكْلْ · فْرَاشْطْ · كْوَازْنْ / -at plural: طُومُوبِيلَاتْ · بُورْطَابْلَاتْ · شَارْجُورَاتْ

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

  • Recognise a French loan.
  • Conjugate sharja, bloka, konekta.
  • Choose between a broken plural and -at.
  • Read a technical article on ary.wikipedia.