Lesson 98 · C1

From Morocco to Egypt

A Moroccan understands an Algerian with hardly any effort, a Tunisian with some attention, and an Egyptian thanks to forty years of TV series. It doesn't work the other way: to Egyptians, Darija sounds far away. Five flag words will tell you which end of the continuum you're hearing.

Recognise each country's flag words.
Identify the shared Maghrebi feature: n- / n-…-u.
Turn another dialect into Darija.
Compare two dialect Wikipedias.

Twenty-four words

Words from Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt that Moroccans understand even if they don't use them, and vocabulary for talking about it.

“Now” in four countries

دَابَا daba now (Morocco)
دُرْكْ dork now (Algeria; eastern Morocco)
تَوَّا tawa now (Tunisia)
دِلْوَقْتِي dilwa'ti now (Egypt)

Tunisia

بَرْشَا barsha a lot (Tunisia)
فَمَّا famma there is (Tunisia)
شْنُوَّا shnuwa what? (Tunisia)
مْتَاعْ mta3 of (Tunisia)

Algeria

تَاعْ ta3 of (Algeria)
وَاشْ wash what? (Algeria)
In Morocco, a yes/no question marker.
رَانِي rani I am (Algeria)

Egypt

بْتَاعْ bta3 of (Egypt)
عَايِزْ 3ayez I want (Egypt)
إِيهْ eh what? (Egypt)
كِدَه kida like this (Egypt)

Talking about it

الْجّْزَايْرْ l-Jzayer Algeria
تُونْسْ Tunes Tunisia
مْصَرْ Masr Egypt
الْمْشْرْقْ l-Meshreq the Mashreq (Arab East)
الْمْغْرِبْ الْكْبِيرْ l-Maghrib l-kbir the Maghreb
فْهَمْ fhem to understand
قْرِيبْ مْنْ qrib men close to
بْعِيدْ عْلَى b3id 3la far from
الْمُسَلْسَلَاتْ الْمَصْرِيَّة l-musalsalat l-masriyya Egyptian TV series
Why Moroccans understand Egyptian.

Flag words

Four sentences about Tangier: two from Darija Wikipedia, two from Egyptian. Which are which?

طَانْجَا جَاتْ فْشْمَالْ لْغَرْبِي دْ لْمْغْرِيبْTanja jat f shmal l-gharbi d l-Maghrib
طَنْجَه هِي مَدِينَه مَغْرِبِيَّه شَمَال الْبِلَادTangah hiya madina maghribiyya shamal il-bilad
وِبْتِتْمَيِّز طَنْجَه بِإِنَّهَا النُّقْطَة بْتَاعِت الِالْتِقَاءwi btitmayyiz Tangah bi innaha n-nu'ta bta3it il-iltiqa'
لْمُوقَعْ دْيَالْهَا خْلَّاهَا تْكُونْ مُهِمَّةl-muqe3 dyalha khellaha tkun muhimma

How does line 3 say “of”? What prefix does the verb btitmayyiz carry?

The rule

Flag words give the country away:

“now”: daba (MA), dork (DZ), tawa (TN), dilwa'ti (EG).

“a lot”: bzzaf (MA, DZ), barsha (TN), awi (EG).

“there is”: kayn (MA), kayen (DZ), famma (TN), fih (EG).

“of”: dyal (MA), ta3 (DZ), mta3 (TN), bta3 (EG).

Shared Maghrebi feature: the first person takes n- in the singular and n-…-u in the plural: nekteb, nektbu. In Egypt: aktib, niktib.

Present: ka- (MA) vs bi- (EG).

Four dialects

Form	Say it	Means
دَابَا · دُرْكْ · تَوَّا · دِلْوَقْتِي	daba · dork · tawa · dilwa'ti	now: MA · DZ · TN · EG
بْزَّافْ · بْزَّافْ · بَرْشَا · أَوِي	bzzaf · bezzaf · barsha · awi	a lot: MA · DZ · TN · EG
أَشْ · وَاشْ · شْنُوَّا · إِيهْ	ash · wash · shnuwa · eh	what?: MA · DZ · TN · EG
كَايْنْ · كَايَنْ · فَمَّا · فِيهْ	kayn · kayen · famma · fih	there is: MA · DZ · TN · EG
دْيَالْ · تَاعْ · مْتَاعْ · بْتَاعْ	dyal · ta3 · mta3 · bta3	of: MA · DZ · TN · EG
نْكْتَبْ ← نْكْتْبُو (الْمْغْرِبْ الْكْبِيرْ)	nekteb → nektbu (l-Maghrib l-kbir)	I write → we write (all Maghreb)
كَيْكْتَبْ ← بِيِكْتِبْ (مْصَرْ)	kayekteb → biyiktib (Masr)	he writes: Morocco → Egypt
هَادْ الْمْدِينَة ← الْمَدِينَه دِي	had l-mdina → il-madina di	this city: Morocco → Egypt

Row 8: Egyptian puts the demonstrative after the noun.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: the idea of a continuum: Scots, Geordie, Dutch and Flemish show how neighbours understand each other.

Free: asymmetry: many Brits follow American English better than the reverse, thanks to TV. Same for Moroccans with Egyptian.

Costly: these aren't just accents: the grammar words themselves differ.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You watch Egyptian series and bta3 rubs off. Moroccans understand, but you sound like a TV actor.

×هَادْ الْكْتَابْ بْتَاعِيEgyptian possessive in Darija.

✓هَادْ الْكْتَابْ دْيَالِي“This book is mine”.

With Algerians and Tunisians you don't need to change anything: they understand you.

Tangier, in Egyptian and Darija

Real openings of the Tangier articles in Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia and Darija Wikipedia. There is no Algerian or Tunisian Wikipedia. Look for bta3it, bi- and kaman in the first, and dyal and jat in the second.

طَنْجَه هِي مَدِينَه مَغْرِبِيَّه شَمَال الْبِلَاد، وِبْتِطِلّ عَلَى الْبَحْر الْأَبْيَض الْمُتَوَسِّط […].

وِبْتِتْمَيِّز طَنْجَه بِإِنَّهَا النُّقْطَة بْتَاعِت الِالْتِقَاء الْبَحْر الْأَبْيَض الْمُتَوَسِّط وِالْمُحِيط الْأَطْلَسِي، وِكَمَان بِتْرْبُط الْمَغْرِب بِدُوَل أُورُبَّا، وِبِالذَّات أَسْبَانْيَا.

“Tangier”, Egyptian Wikipedia (arz)

طَانْجَا هِيَ مْدِينَة مْغْرِيبِيَّة جَاتْ فْشْمَالْ لْغَرْبِي دْ لْمْغْرِيبْ، مَا بِينْ لْبْحَرْ الدَّاخْلَانِي وْ لْمُحِيطْ لْأَطْلَسِي.

طَانْجَا جَاتْ فْضَفَّة لْجَنُوبِيَّة دْيَالْ مْضِيقْ دْ جْبَلْطَارْ، وْ قْرِيبَة بْزَّافْ مْنْ صْپَانْيَا.

“Tangier”, Darija Wikipedia (ary)

«طنجه», Wikipedia en árabe egipcio (arz.wikipedia.org), y «طانجا», Wikipedia en darija (ary.wikipedia.org), autores de Wikipedia. Comienzos de ambos artículos con cortes marcados […]; vocalización de Learning Darija · CC BY-SA 4.0

Did you follow?

Which two seas does Tangier join, per the Egyptian text?
Show answers
The Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
Which country does it link it to in particular?
Show answers
Spain.
How does each text say “of”?
Show answers
bta3it vs dyal.
What does the Darija text call the strait?
Show answers
mdiq d Jbeltar.

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.

1Match

Morocco to Tunisia.

1	دَابَا	a	فَمَّا
2	بْزَّافْ	b	تَوَّا
3	كَايْنْ	c	مْتَاعْ
4	دْيَالْ	d	بَرْشَا
5	شْنُو	e	شْنُوَّا

2Sort

Morocco or Egypt?

دْيَالْبْتَاعْدَابَادِلْوَقْتِيكَيْكْتَبْبِيِكْتِبْبْزَّافْأَوِي

Morocco

Egypt

3True or false?

According to both texts and the lesson.

The Egyptian text uses bta3it for “of”.

The rest is in the C1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The C1 book

4Into Darija

Turn each sentence into Moroccan.

الْكِتَاب بْتَاعِي (مْغْرِيبِي)

The rest is in the C1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The C1 book

5Your experience

In six sentences of Darija, say which Arabic dialects you understand and why.

كَنْفْهَمْقْرِيبْ مْنْبْعِيدْ عْلَىالْمُسَلْسَلَاتْالْجّْزَايْرْ

The rest is in the C1 book

The C1 book

Show answers

1. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c, 5-e
2. Sort	Morocco: دْيَالْ · دَابَا · كَيْكْتَبْ · بْزَّافْ / Egypt: بْتَاعْ · دِلْوَقْتِي · بِيِكْتِبْ · أَوِي

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

Recognise daba, dork, tawa, dilwa'ti.
Tell dyal, ta3, mta3, bta3 apart.
Explain the shared n-…-u feature.
Turn another dialect into Darija.