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Learning Darijaالدارجة

Lesson 70 · B2

The vanquished imitate the victor

In 1377 Ibn Khaldun wrote that the vanquished always imitate the victor: in dress, in weapons, in customs. Six centuries on, the line works for fashion, English and social media. To argue about it you need superlatives: the best, the worst, most, at least.

  • Form the superlative with a noun: 7sen blasa.
  • Say “most”, “at least”, “at most”.
  • Pass judgement with ma-kayn 7sen men.
  • Read and discuss a text by Ibn Khaldun.
1

Twenty-four words

Elatives and set phrases, plus the vocabulary of the text: victor, vanquished, imitate, custom.

Elatives

  • حْسَنْ 7sen better; best

    Irregular elative of mzyan.

  • كْفَسْ kfes worse; worst

    From khayb, via another root.

  • كْثَرْ kter more; most
  • قَلّْ qell less; least
  • أَهَمّْ ahemm more important

    From Fusha, very common.

  • أَصْعَبْ as3eb harder; hardest

Set phrases

  • عْلَى الْأَقَلّْ 3la l-aqell at least
  • بْالْكْثَرْ b l-ktar at most
  • كْثَرْ وْ كْثَرْ kter u kter more and more
  • حْسَنْ مْنْ وَالُو 7sen men walu better than nothing
  • الْكْثَرْ دْيَالْ l-ktar dyal most of

The text

  • الْغَالِبْ l-ghalib victor
  • الْمَغْلُوبْ l-maghlub the vanquished

    Passive participle.

  • قَلّْدْ qelled to imitate
  • تْشَبّْهْ بْ tshebbeh b to resemble; copy

    Form V.

  • الْكَمَالْ l-kamal perfection

What gets copied

  • اللّْبَاسْ l-lbas clothing
  • الْعَادَاتْ l-3adat customs
  • السّْلَاحْ s-slah weapons
  • الْحَاكَمْ l-7akem ruler

Discussing the text

  • الْمُؤَرّْخْ l-mu'arrikh historian
  • الْمُقَدّْمَة l-muqaddima the Muqaddima; introduction
  • صْحِيحْ s7i7 true; right
  • مُبَالَغْ فِيهْ mubalagh fih exaggerated
2

The best, most, at least

Four lines from the Darija summary. Look at what follows kter and 7sen.

  1. الْمَغْلُوبْ دِيمَا كَيْقَلّْدْ الْغَالِبْl-maghlub dima kayqelled l-ghalib
  2. كْثَرْ حَاجَة كَيْقَلّْدُوهَا هِيَ اللّْبَاسْkter 7aja kayqelduha hiya l-lbas
  3. الْكْثَرْ دْيَالْ النَّاسْ كَيْتْبْعُو الْحَاكَمْl-ktar dyal n-nas kayteb3u l-7akem
  4. هَادِي حْسَنْ فِكْرَة قْرِيتْهَا هَادْ الْعَامْhadi 7sen fikra qritha had l-3am

Does 7aja have the article in line 2? And fikra in line 4? How do you say “most”?

The rule

Elative + noun, no article = superlative: 7sen blasa, the best place; kter 7aja, the thing most…; as3eb kelma, the hardest word.

kter / qell act as nouns: l-ktar dyal n-nas, most people.

Set phrases: 3la l-aqell, at least; b l-ktar, at most; kter u kter, more and more; 7sen men walu, better than nothing.

Judgement: ma-kayn 7sen men…, there's nothing better than…; ma-kayn kfes men…, nothing worse than…

Irregulars: mzyan → 7sen, khayb → kfes, bzzaf → kter, shwiya → qell.

Judging

FormSay itMeans
حْسَنْ بْلَاصَة فْالْمْدِينَة7sen blasa f l-mdinathe best place in town
كْثَرْ حَاجَة كَيْقَلّْدُوهَا هِيَ اللّْبَاسْkter 7aja kayqelduha hiya l-lbaswhat they copy most is clothing
الْكْثَرْ دْيَالْ النَّاسْl-ktar dyal n-nasmost people
خَصّْكْ سَاعَة عْلَى الْأَقَلّْkhassek sa3a 3la l-aqellyou need an hour at least
مِيَّة دِرْهَمْ بْالْكْثَرْmiyya derhem b l-ktara hundred dirhams at most
كْثَرْ وْ كْثَرْ كَيْلْبْسُو بْحَالْهُمْkter u kter kaylebsu b7alhummore and more they dress like them
هَادْشِّي حْسَنْ مْنْ وَالُوhadshi 7sen men waluthis is better than nothing
مَا كَايْنْ كْفَسْ مْنْ الْكْذُوبْma-kayn kfes men l-kdubthere's nothing worse than a liar

Row 1: no “the” anywhere in Darija.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “better” and “worse” are irregular in English too, just like 7sen and kfes.

Free: “at least”, “at most”, “more and more”: one-to-one set phrases.

Costly: “the best place” — drop “the”. And “most people” needs dyal: l-ktar dyal n-nas, “the most of the people”.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You translate “the best place” word for word and the article lands on the noun.

×حْسَنْ الْبْلَاصَةArticle on the noun after the elative.

✓حْسَنْ بْلَاصَة“The best place”.

The article can go on the elative alone: l-7sen, “the best one”, with no noun.

3

Ibn Khaldun: the vanquished imitate the victor

A real extract from the Muqaddima (1377) chapter on imitation. Ibn Khaldun lived in Fes and knew al-Andalus well. Below, a Darija summary written for this lesson, using the lesson's superlatives.

وَالسَّبَبُ فِي ذٰلِكَ أَنَّ النَّفْسَ أَبَدًا تَعْتَقِدُ الْكَمَالَ فِي مَنْ غَلَبَهَا وَانْقَادَتْ إِلَيْهِ […].

وَلِذٰلِكَ تَرَى الْمَغْلُوبَ يَتَشَبَّهُ أَبَدًا بِالْغَالِبِ فِي مَلْبَسِهِ وَمَرْكَبِهِ وَسِلَاحِهِ […].

وَانْظُرْ ذٰلِكَ فِي الْأَبْنَاءِ مَعَ آبَائِهِمْ، كَيْفَ تَجِدُهُمْ مُتَشَبِّهِينَ بِهِمْ دَائِمًا، وَمَا ذٰلِكَ إِلَّا لِاعْتِقَادِهِمُ الْكَمَالَ فِيهِمْ.

وَانْظُرْ إِلَى كُلِّ قُطْرٍ مِنَ الْأَقْطَارِ كَيْفَ يَغْلِبُ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ زِيُّ الْحَامِيَةِ وَجُنْدِ السُّلْطَانِ فِي الْأَكْثَرِ، لِأَنَّهُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ لَهُمْ.

[…] كَمَا هُوَ فِي الْأَنْدَلُسِ لِهٰذَا الْعَهْدِ مَعَ أُمَمِ الْجَلَالِقَةِ، فَإِنَّكَ تَجِدُهُمْ يَتَشَبَّهُونَ بِهِمْ فِي مَلَابِسِهِمْ وَشَارَاتِهِمْ وَالْكَثِيرِ مِنْ عَوَائِدِهِمْ وَأَحْوَالِهِمْ.

وَتَأَمَّلْ فِي هٰذَا سِرَّ قَوْلِهِمْ: الْعَامَّةُ عَلَى دِينِ الْمَلِكِ.

Muqaddima, in Fusha (extract)

ابْنْ خَلْدُونْ كَيْقُولْ بْلِّي الْمَغْلُوبْ دِيمَا كَيْقَلّْدْ الْغَالِبْ، حِيتْ كَيْضَنّْ بْلِّي هُوَ حْسَنْ مْنُّو.

كْثَرْ حَاجَة كَيْقَلّْدُوهَا هِيَ اللّْبَاسْ، وَلَكِنْ حْتَّى السّْلَاحْ وْ الْعَادَاتْ.

الْكْثَرْ دْيَالْ النَّاسْ كَيْلْبْسُو بْحَالْ الْجِّيشْ دْيَالْ الْحَاكَمْ.

وْ كَيْعْطِي مْثَالْ: الْأَنْدَلُسْ فْوَقْتُو، اللِّي وْلَّاوْ فِيهَا النَّاسْ كْثَرْ وْ كْثَرْ بْحَالْ الْجِّيرَانْ الْمَسِيحِيِّينْ دْيَالْهُمْ.

Summary in Darija

Ibn Jaldún, al-Muqaddima (1377), cap. XXIII del libro II, «El vencido imita siempre al vencedor». Texto de ar.wikisource.org con cortes marcados […]; vocalización y resumen en darija de Learning Darija · dominio público

Did you follow?

  1. Why do the vanquished imitate the victor?

    Show answers

    They believe the victor is perfect.

  2. In what do they imitate him?

    Show answers

    Dress, mounts, weapons and customs.

  3. What example from his time does he give?

    Show answers

    Al-Andalus imitating the Christian kingdoms to the north.

  4. Which saying does he explain?

    Show answers

    “The common people follow the king's religion”.

4

Check

Two here, three more in the B2 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the B2 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Pick the right one

The well-formed superlative or phrase.

    1. حْسَنْ بْلَاصَة
    2. حْسَنْ الْبْلَاصَة
    3. الْبْلَاصَة الْحْسَنْ
    1. الْكْثَرْ دْيَالْ النَّاسْ
    2. كْثَرْ النَّاسْ الْ
    3. النَّاسْ الْكْثَرْ
    1. حْسَنْ مْنْ وَالُو
    2. مْزْيَانْ مْنْ وَالُو
    3. حْسَنْ وَالُو
    1. كْثَرْ وْ كْثَرْ
    2. بْزَّافْ وْ بْزَّافْ
    3. كْثَرْ كْثَرْ مْنْ

2Fill the gap

With the elative or set phrase.

على الأقلبالكثركفسحسن

  1. خصك تقرا ساعة ___ فالنهار
  2. الطريق كتدي عشرين دقيقة ___
  3. ما كاين ___ من الغدر
  4. هادا ___ كتاب قريتو

3True or false?

According to the text.

  1. The vanquished believe the victor is perfect.

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

4Superlative

Rewrite with the elative in brackets.

  1. بْلَاصَة مْزْيَانَة بْزَّافْ (حْسَنْ)

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

5Is he right?

In six sentences, give your view on Ibn Khaldun's thesis today. Use superlatives.

حْسَنْكْفَسْالْكْثَرْ دْيَالْكْثَرْ وْ كْثَرْعْلَى الْأَقَلّْ

The rest is in the B2 book

The B2 book
Show answers
1. Pick the right one1-a, 2-a, 3-a, 4-a
2. Fill the gapعلى الأقل · بالكثر · كفس · حسن

The B2 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 superlative: 7sen blasa.
  • Say “most”, “at least”, “at most”.
  • Judge with ma-kayn 7sen men.
  • Discuss a text by Ibn Khaldun.