Darija lesson 87: first of all

1

Twenty-four words

The first family is connectors, several from Fusha. The rest, the report's vocabulary: water, farming, climate.

Connectors

أَوَّلًا awwalan firstly
ثَانِيًا taniyan secondly
زِيدْ عْلَى هَادْشِّي zid 3la hadshi on top of that
بْعِبَارَة أُخْرَى b 3ibara ukhra in other words
بْصِفَة عَامَّة b sifa 3amma in general
مَثَلًا mathalan for example
كِيفْ قُلْتْ kif qult as I said
فْالْخْتَامْ f l-khtam to conclude

Water

الْجّْفَافْ j-jfaf drought
الشّْتَا sh-shta rain
السّْدّْ s-sedd dam; reservoir
الْفْرْشَة l-fersha water table; aquifer
الْبِيرْ l-bir well
تَحْلِيَة مَا الْبْحَرْ ta7liyat ma l-b7er desalination

Farming

الْفْلَّاحَة l-fellaha farming; farmers
الْمَحْصُولْ l-ma7sul harvest; crop
الْغْلَا l-ghla high prices
الْهِجْرَة لْلْمْدِينَة l-hijra l l-mdina rural exodus

Climate

الْمُنَاخْ l-munakh climate
السّْخُونِيَّة s-skhuniyya heat
قْتَصْدْ qtased to save; economise

The report

الرُّوبُورْطَاجْ r-roportaj report (feature)
From French.
الْخْبِيرْ l-khbir expert
الشَّاهْدْ sh-shahed witness

2

Tying speech together

Four lines from the report. Each has a hinge. What does it do: order, add, pick up, or rephrase?

أَوَّلًا، خَصّْنَا نْفْهْمُو شْنُو هُوَ الْجّْفَافْawwalan, khassna nfehmu shnu huwa j-jfaf
زِيدْ عْلَى هَادْشِّي، الْفْلَّاحَة هِيَ اللِّي كَتْخْلّْصْzid 3la hadshi, l-fellaha hiya lli katkhelles
هَادْ الْمُشْكِيلْ، كِيفْ قُلْتْ، مَاشِي جْدِيدْhad l-mushkil, kif qult, mashi jdid
بْعِبَارَة أُخْرَى، كُلّْ قْطْرَة كَتْحْسَبْb 3ibara ukhra, koll qatra kat7seb

In line 3, how is the topic picked up again? Why wouldn't huwa be enough?

The rule

Ordering: awwalan, taniyan, f l-akhir; men jiha… u men jiha ukhra.

Adding: zid 3la hadshi, 7tta hiya.

Rephrasing: ya3ni, b 3ibara ukhra.

General and specific: b sifa 3amma, mathalan, b d-dabt.

Picking up: spoken Darija uses demonstrative + noun: had l-mushkil, dakshi lli qulna, kif qult. A bare huwa three sentences from its noun gets lost.

Closing: f l-khtam, l-khulasa.

Hinges

Form	Say it	Means
أَوَّلًا… ثَانِيًا… فْالْأَخِيرْ	awwalan… taniyan… f l-akhir	firstly… secondly… finally…
مْنْ جِهَة… وْ مْنْ جِهَة أُخْرَى…	men jiha… u men jiha ukhra…	on the one hand… on the other…
زِيدْ عْلَى هَادْشِّي، الْأَسْعَارْ طَالْعَة	zid 3la hadshi, l-as3ar tal3a	on top of that, prices are rising
بْعِبَارَة أُخْرَى، الْمَا مَا بْقَاشْ كَافِي	b 3ibara ukhra, l-ma ma-bqash kafi	in other words, there isn't enough water any more
هَادْ الْمُشْكِيلْ مَاشِي جْدِيدْ	had l-mushkil mashi jdid	this problem isn't new
دَاكْشِّي اللِّي قُلْنَا عْلَى السّْدُودْ	dakshi lli qulna 3la s-sdud	what we said about the dams
بْصِفَة عَامَّة… وَلَكِنْ بْالضَّبْطْ…	b sifa 3amma… walakin b d-dabt…	in general… but specifically…
فْالْخْتَامْ، الْحَلّْ فْإِيدِينَا كَامْلِينْ	f l-khtam, l-7ell f idina kamlin	to conclude, the solution is in all our hands

Rows 5 and 6: pick up with a demonstrative, not a pronoun.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “firstly”, “in other words”, “on the other hand”, “to conclude”: near one-to-one.

Free: “this problem”, “what we said”: English cohesion works the same way.

Costly: “it” carries a long way in English writing. In spoken Darija, repeat the noun with had.

Your mistake, not someone else's

Three sentences on, you pick up the topic with huwa. The listener has lost track.

×وْ هُوَ مَاشِي جْدِيدْStray pronoun far from its antecedent.

✓وْ هَادْ الْمُشْكِيلْ مَاشِي جْدِيدْ“And this problem isn't new”.

The longer you talk, the more had and dak.

3

Report: the drought

A radio report written for this lesson, in news format. The people are invented and there are no figures: just the mechanism. Mark each hinge.

مْسَا الْخِيرْ. هَادْ الرُّوبُورْطَاجْ عْلَى الْجّْفَافْ، اللِّي وْلَّى هَادِي سْنِينْ مُشْكِيلْ كْبِيرْ فْبْلَادْنَا.

أَوَّلًا، خَصّْنَا نْفْهْمُو شْنُو هُوَ الْجّْفَافْ. بْصِفَة عَامَّة، هُوَ مْلِّي كَتْقَلّْ الشْتَا بْزَّافْ عْلَى الْعَادَة، عَامْ مُورَا عَامْ. وْ هَادْشِّي كَيْنْقّْصْ الْمَا فْالسّْدُودْ وْ فْالْفْرْشَة.

ثَانِيًا، شْكُونْ اللِّي كَيْخْلّْصْ؟ الْفْلَّاحَة هِيَ اللِّي كَتْخْلّْصْ الْأَوَّلْ. فَلَّاحْ مْنْ نْوَاحِي مْرَّاكْشْ قَالْ لِينَا: «الْبِيرْ دْيَالِي كَانْ فِيهْ الْمَا، دَابَا خَاصّْنِي نْحْفَرْ كْثَرْ وْ كْثَرْ».

زِيدْ عْلَى هَادْشِّي، مْلِّي كَيْقَلّْ الْمَحْصُولْ، كَيْطْلَعْ الْغْلَا فْالسُّوقْ، وْ بْزَّافْ دْ النَّاسْ كَيْهَاجْرُو لْلْمْدِينَة.

هَادْ الْمُشْكِيلْ، كِيفْ قَالْ لِينَا وَاحْدْ الْخْبِيرْ، مَاشِي غِيرْ دْيَالْ الشْتَا: مْنْ جِهَة، الْمُنَاخْ تْبْدّْلْ وْ السّْخُونِيَّة زَادْتْ؛ وْ مْنْ جِهَة أُخْرَى، كَنْسْتَعْمْلُو الْمَا بْلَا حْسَابْ.

شْنُو الْحَلّْ؟ الدَّوْلَة كَتْبْنِي مَحَطَّاتْ دْ تَحْلِيَة مَا الْبْحَرْ، وْ كَتْطْلُبْ مْنْ النَّاسْ يْقْتَصْدُو. بْعِبَارَة أُخْرَى، كُلّْ قْطْرَة كَتْحْسَبْ.

فْالْخْتَامْ، دَاكْشِّي اللِّي قُلْنَا فْالْبْدَايَة بَاقِي صْحِيحْ: الْجّْفَافْ مَاشِي غِيرْ مْشْكِيلْ دْيَالْ السّْمَا؛ حْتَّى حْنَا عَنْدْنَا فِيهْ دُورْ. تْصْبْحُو عْلَى خِيرْ.

Report: the drought

Did you follow?

What is drought, in general terms?
Show answers
Much less rain than usual, year after year.
Who pays first?
Show answers
Farmers.
What two causes does the expert give?
Show answers
Climate change and using water without restraint.
What is the state doing?
Show answers
Building desalination plants and asking people to save water.

4

Check

Two here, three more in the C1 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the C1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Sort

Orders, or picks up and rephrases?

أَوَّلًابْعِبَارَة أُخْرَىثَانِيًايَعْنِيفْالْأَخِيرْكِيفْ قُلْتْمْنْ جِهَةدَاكْشِّي اللِّي قُلْنَا

Orders

Picks up / rephrases

2Fill the gap

With the hinge that fits.

أولازيد على هادشيبعبارة أخرىفالختام

___، خصنا نعرفو السبب
الكرا غالي. ___، الخدمة قليلة
ما بقاش الما. ___، خصنا نقتصدو
___، شكرا على الإنصات

3True or false?

According to the report.

The drought has lasted several years.

The rest is in the C1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The C1 book

4Tie it

Rewrite with the hinge in brackets.

الْجّْفَافْ مُشْكِيلْ. هُوَ مَاشِي جْدِيدْ. (هَادْ)

The rest is in the C1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The C1 book

5Your talk

In ten written sentences, talk about a problem in your town, using six different hinges.

أَوَّلًاثَانِيًازِيدْ عْلَى هَادْشِّيهَادْ الْمُشْكِيلْبْعِبَارَة أُخْرَىفْالْخْتَامْ

The rest is in the C1 book

The C1 book

Show answers

1. Sort	Orders: أَوَّلًا · ثَانِيًا · فْالْأَخِيرْ · مْنْ جِهَة / Picks up / rephrases: بْعِبَارَة أُخْرَى · يَعْنِي · كِيفْ قُلْتْ · دَاكْشِّي اللِّي قُلْنَا
2. Fill the gap	أولا · زيد على هادشي · بعبارة أخرى · فالختام

The C1 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

Structure a long piece of speech.
Add and rephrase with zid 3la hadshi, b 3ibara ukhra.
Pick up with had and dak.
Follow a radio report.