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Learning Darijaالدارجة

Lesson 84 · B2

Prince of travellers

The last B2 lesson goes back to Ibn Battuta, seen this time through today's Moroccans in Darija Wikipedia. The text isn't adapted. If you can read it without stumbling, B2 is done.

  • Read a real ary.wikipedia text straight through.
  • Spot the B2 structures in it.
  • Use a relative clause with a resumptive pronoun.
  • Write a short biography in Darija.
1

Twenty-four words

Biography, travel, historical geography and the vocabulary of fame. Several are Fusha words, as befits written Darija.

A life

  • تْوْلْدْ twled to be born
  • مَاتْ mat to die
  • الضّْرِيحْ d-dri7 mausoleum
  • الْقَاضِي l-qadi judge; qadi
  • الْمُؤَرّْخْ l-mu'arrikh historian

The journey

  • الرَّحَّالَة r-ra77ala great traveller

    Intensive pattern: lesson 73.

  • الْأَسْفَارْ l-asfar travels

    Formal plural.

  • تْسَارَى tsara to roam; travel round
  • مْتّْابْعَة mttab3a in a row
  • وْصَلْ تَالْ wsel tal to reach as far as

    tal: variant of 7tta l.

Ibn Battuta's world

  • الْمْغْرِيبْ الْكْبِيرْ l-Maghrib l-kbir the Maghreb

    “Greater Maghreb”: North Africa.

  • الشَّامْ sh-Sham the Levant; Syria
  • الْحِجَازْ l-7ijaz the Hijaz

    The region of Mecca.

  • الشِّينْوَا sh-Shinwa China

    Darija form.

  • الْحَبَشَة l-7abasha Abyssinia; Ethiopia

The book

  • تّْعْرَفْ tt3ref to become known

    tt-.

  • تّْرْجَمْ ttrjem to be translated

    tt-.

  • التَّرْجَمَة t-tarjama translation
  • الْغَرَائِبْ l-ghara'ib curiosities
  • الْعَجَائِبْ l-3aja'ib wonders

Name and fame

  • تْسَمَّى tsemma to be called
  • أَمِيرْ amir prince
  • مَعْرُوفْ بْ ma3ruf b known as
  • الطَّنْجِي t-Tanji from Tangier

    Adjective of origin in -i.

2

B2 in one article

Four lines from the article. Each reviews something from B2. What?

  1. كَانْ مْنْ أَوَّلْ النَّاسْ لِي تْسَارَاوْ لْعَالَمْkan men awwel n-nas li tsaraw l-3alam
  2. مْشَى لْبْزَّافْ دْ لْبْلَايْصْmsha l bzzaf d l-blayes
  3. كْتَابْ اللِّي تَيْهْضَرْ فِيهْ عْلَى لْأَسْفَارْ دْيَالُوktab lli tayhder fih 3la l-asfar dyalu
  4. تّْعْرَفْ فْ لْعَالَمْ كُلُّو وْ تّْرْجَمْ لْ بْزَّافْ دْ لّْوغَاتْtt3ref f l-3alam kollu u ttrjem l bzzaf d l-lughat

What pronoun is in fih, and what does it refer to? What construction is tt3ref?

What you're reviewing

Written Darija with Fusha (65): amir r-ra77ala, l-asfar.

Ordinal and elative (70, 71): men awwel n-nas.

Pattern (73): ra77ala, intensive CaCCaCa.

Broken plural of a loan (63): l-blayes.

tt- in written Darija: tt3ref, ttrjem.

Relative with a resumptive pronoun: when the relative involves a preposition, it goes after the verb with a pronoun: l-ktab lli kayhder fih, “the book he talks in”.

Focus (68): huwa lli…

One structure per row

FormSay itMeans
الْكْتَابْ تّْعْرَفْ وْ تّْرْجَمْl-ktab tt3ref u ttrjemthe book became known and was translated
كَانْ مْنْ أَوَّلْ النَّاسْ لِّي تْسَارَاوْ لْعَالَمْkan men luwwel n-nas lli tsaraw l-3alamhe was among the first to travel the world
أَمِيرْ الرَّحَّالَةamir r-ra77alathe prince of travellers
بْزَّافْ دْ الْبْلَايْصْbzzaf d l-blayeslots of places
الْكْتَابْ اللِّي كَيْهْضَرْ فِيهْ عْلَى الْأَسْفَارْl-ktab lli kayhder fih 3la l-asfarthe book in which he talks about his travels
سَافَرْ تْمَنْيَة وْ عْشْرِينْ عَامْsafer tmenya u 3shrin 3amhe travelled for twenty-eight years
ابْنْ بَطُّوطَة هُوَ اللِّي مْلَى الْكْتَابْIbn Battuta huwa lli mla l-ktabIbn Battuta is the one who dictated the book
كُونْ مَا كْتْبُوشْ، عْمّْرْنَا مَا كُنَّا نْعْرْفُوkun ma-ktbush, 3emmerna ma-kunna n3erfuif they hadn't written it down, we'd never have known

Row 5: fih points back to l-ktab. Leave it out and the sentence limps.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “the book he talks about” — English strands the preposition too. Darija does the same.

Costly: the pronoun. English leaves the preposition bare; Darija attaches the pronoun: fih, “in it”.

Free: most of B2: “he's the one who”, “among the first”, “if they hadn't…”.

Your mistake, not someone else's

The most stubborn B2 error: a relative with a preposition and no resumptive pronoun.

×الْكْتَابْ اللِّي كَيْهْضَرْ عْلَى الْأَسْفَارْPreposition relative with no pronoun.

✓الْكْتَابْ اللِّي كَيْهْضَرْ فِيهْ عْلَى الْأَسْفَارْ“The book in which he talks about his travels”.

Likewise: d-dar lli sakna fiha, “the house I live in”; s-sa7eb lli mshit m3ah.

3

Ibn Battuta, in Darija Wikipedia

The article's first two paragraphs, word for word. No new glosses: anything you don't know you've met in B2. The third paragraph is left out because it has a wrong date.

مُحَمَّدْ بْنْ عَبْدْ اللَّهْ بْنْ مُحَمَّدْ اللَّوَاتِي الطَّنْجِي، اللِّي مَعْرُوفْ بْ بْنْ بَطُّوطَة (تْوْلْدْ فْطَنْجَة فْ 24 فْبْرَايْرْ 1304، وْ مَاتْ فِيهَا فْ جْوَايْهْ 1368)، كَانْ رَحَّالَة وْ مُؤَرّْخْ وْ قَاضِي مْغْرِيبِي تْسْمَّى أَمِيرْ الرَّحَّالَة لْمُسْلِمِينْ.

كَانْ مْنْ أَوَّلْ النَّاسْ لِي تْسَارَاوْ لْعَالَمْ، وْسَافَرْ 28 عَامْ مْتّْابْعَة.

مْشَى لْبْزَّافْ دْ لْبْلَايْصْ مْنْهَا لْمْغْرِيبْ لْكْبِيرْ وْ مْصَرْ وْ لْحَبَشَة وْ الشَّامْ وْ لْحِجَازْ وْ لْعْرَاقْ، وْ وْصَلْ تَالْ شِي بْلَايْصْ فْ الشِّينْوَا وْ لْهِنْدْ وْ إِفْرِيقْيَا.

فْعَامْ 1355، كْتَبْ كْتَابْ «تُحْفَة النُّظَّارْ فِي غَرَائِبْ الْأَمْصَارْ وْ عَجَائِبْ الْأَسْفَارْ»، اللِّي تَيْهْضَرْ فِيهْ عْلَى لْأَسْفَارْ دْيَالُو،

وْ لِي تّْعْرَفْ فْ لْعَالَمْ كُلُّو وْ تّْرْجَمْ لْ بْزَّافْ دْ لّْوغَاتْ بْحَالْ لْفْرَانْسَاوِيَّة، لْبُرْتُغَالِيَّة وْ لْإِينْݣْلِيزِيَّة.

“Ibn Battuta”, ary.wikipedia

«بن بطوطة», Wikipedia en darija (ary.wikipedia.org), autores de Wikipedia. Dos primeros párrafos, literales; vocalización de Learning Darija · CC BY-SA 4.0

Did you follow?

  1. Where and when was he born?

    Show answers

    Tangier, 1304.

  2. What were his occupations, according to the article?

    Show answers

    Traveller, historian and judge.

  3. How many years did he travel?

    Show answers

    Twenty-eight in a row.

  4. Which languages has his book been translated into?

    Show answers

    French, Portuguese and English, among others.

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.

1Fill the gap

Each gap reviews a B2 lesson.

تعرفأولفيههوبلايص

  1. الكتاب ___ فالعالم كلو
  2. كان من ___ الناس اللي سافرو
  3. الكتاب اللي كيهضر ___ على الهند
  4. ابن بطوطة ___ اللي ملى الكتاب
  5. زار بزاف د ال___

2Pick the right one

The correct form.

    1. حْسَنْ رَحَّالَة
    2. حْسَنْ الرَّحَّالَة
    3. الرَّحَّالَة حْسَنْ
    1. الْمَرَّة التَّالْتَة
    2. التَّالْتَة مَرَّة
    3. مَرَّة تَالْتَة الْ
    1. عْمّْرُو مَا رْجَعْ
    2. عْمّْرُو مَا رْجَعْشْ
    3. عْمّْرُو رْجَعْشْ
    1. جُوجْ بْلَايْصْ
    2. جُوجْ بْلَاصَاتْ
    3. بْلَاصْتَيْنْ

3True or false?

According to the article.

  1. He's called the prince of Muslim travellers.

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

4Transform

Using the structure in brackets.

  1. تُرْجِمَ الْكِتَابُ (دَارِجَة)

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

5A biography

Write a ten-sentence biography of a Moroccan figure. Use at least five B2 structures.

تْوْلْدْكَانْهُوَ اللِّيتّْعْرَفْمْنْ أَوَّلْبْالْمُنَاسَبَة

The rest is in the B2 book

The B2 book
Show answers
1. Fill the gapتعرف · أول · فيه · هو · بلايص
2. Pick the right one1-a, 2-a, 3-a, 4-a

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

  • Read a real ary.wikipedia article.
  • Spot the B2 structures.
  • Use a relative with a resumptive pronoun.
  • Write a biography in Darija.