Algerian Arabic
Algerian Arabic is a dialect derived from the form of Arabic spoken in northern Algeria. It belongs to the Maghrebi Arabic language continuum and is partially mutually intelligible with Tunisian and Moroccan.
Like other varieties of Maghrebi Arabic, Algerian has a mostly Semitic vocabulary. It contains Berber and Latin influences and has numerous loanwords from French, Andalusian Arabic, Ottoman Turkish and Spanish.
Algerian Arabic is the native dialect of 75% to 80% of Algerians and is mastered by 85% to 100% of them. It is a spoken language used in daily communication and entertainment, while Modern Standard Arabic is generally reserved for official use and education.
Dialects
The Algerian language includes several distinct dialects belonging to two genetically different groups: pre-Hilalian and Hilalian dialects.Hilalian dialects
of Algeria belong to three linguistic groups:- Eastern Hilal dialects: spoken in the Hautes Plaines around Sétif, M'Sila and Djelfa;
- Central Hilal dialects: of central and southern Algeria, south of Algiers and Oran;
- Mâqil dialects: spoken in the western part of Oranais.
Pre-Hilalian dialects
are generally classified into three types: Urban, "Village" Sedentary, and Jewish dialects. Several Pre-Hilalian dialects are spoken in Algeria:- Urban dialects can be found in all of Algeria's big cities. Urban dialects were formerly also spoken in other cities, such as Azemmour and Mascara, Algeria, where they are no longer used.
- The lesser Kabylia dialect is spoken in the triangular area north of Constantine, including Collo and Jijel.
- The traras-Msirda dialect is spoken in the area north of Tlemcen, including the eastern, and Honaine ;
- Judeo-Algerian Arabic was no longer spoken after Jews left Algeria in 1962, following its independence.
Phonology
Consonants
In comparison to other Maghrebi dialects, Algerian Arabic has retained numerous phonetic elements of Classical Arabic lost by its relatives; In Algiers dialect, the letters ?? ذ,ظ and ث ??are not used, they are in most cases pronounced as the graphemes د,ضand ت respectively. This conservatism concerning pronunciation is in contrast to Algerian Arabic grammar which has shifted noticeably. In terms of differences from Classical Arabic, the previous /r/ and /z/ phonemes have developed contrastive glottalized forms and split into /r/ and /rˤ/; and /z/ and /zˤ/. Additionally /q/ from Classical Arabic has split into /q/ and /g/ in most dialects. The phonemes /v/ and /p/ which are not common in Arabic dialects arise almost exclusively from loanwordsThe voiceless "Ch" is used in some words in the Algerian dialect like "تشينا" or "تشاراك" but remains rare.
Dissimmilation
A study of Northwestern Algerian Arabic showed that laterals /l/ or /ɫ/ or the nasal consonant /n/ would be dissimilated into either /n/ in the case of /l/ or /ɫ/; or /l/ or /ɫ/ in the case of n when closely preceding a corresponding lateral or nasal consonant. Thus /zəlzla/ has become /zənzla/, conversely /lʁənmi/ "mutton" becomes /lʁəlmi/.Assimilation
The same study also noted numerous examples of assimilation in Northwestern Algerian Arabic, due to the large consonant clusters created from all of the historical vowel deletion: examples include /dʒaːʒ/ "chicken", becoming /ʒaːʒ/ and /mliːħ/ "good", becoming /mniːħ/. An example of assimilation that occurs after the short vowel deletion is the historical /dərˤwŭk/ "now" becoming /drˤuːk/ and then being assimilated to /duːk/, illustrating the order in which the rules of Algerian Arabic may operate.Vowels
The phonemic vowel inventory of Algerian Arabic consists of three long vowels: //, //, and // contrasted with two short vowels: // and /ə/. Algerian Arabic Vowels retains a great deal of features in relation to Classical Arabic Arabic phonology, namely the continued existence of 3 long vowels: //, //, and //, Algerian Arabic also retains the short close back vowel // in speech, however the short equivalents of // and // have fused in modern Algerian Arabic, creating a single phoneme /ə/. Also notable among the differences between Classical Arabic and Algerian Arabic is the deletion of short vowels entirely from open syllables and thus word final positions, which creates a stark distinction between written Classical Arabic, and casually written Algerian Arabic. One point of interest in Algerian Arabic that sets it apart from other conservative Arabic dialects is its preservation of phonemes in loanwords that would otherwise not be found in the language: /Nasal vowel|/, /y/, and // are all preserved in French loanwords such as /syʁ/ or /kɔnɛksiɔ̃/.Grammar
Nouns and adjectives
Conjunctions and prepositions
| English | Algerian Arabic | Notes of usage |
| but | beṣṣaḥ | is also used "wa lakin" |
| if | ila, ida, lakan, kun | used for impossible conditions and comes just before the verb |
| if | lukan, kun | for possible conditions, Also used is "ida" and "kan" |
| so that, that | baš, bah | |
| that | belli | |
| as if | ki šγul, tquši, tqul, tgul | |
| because | xaṭar, xaṭrakeš, εlaxaṭer | |
| when | ila | |
| before | qbel ma / gbel ma | used before verbs |
| without | bla ma / blach | used before verbs |
| whether | kaš ma | used before verbs |
| under | taḥt | |
| over, on top of | fuq or fug | |
| after | mur / mura / Baεd / wra | |
| before | qbel / gbel | used only for time |
| next to, beside | quddam or guddam | is also used "ḥda" |
| at | εend | |
| with | mεa | |
| among, between | bin, binat | |
| same as, as much as | εla ḥsab, qed, ged, kima | amount |
| oh, oh so much | ya, ah |
Some of them can be attached to the noun, just like in other Arabic dialects. The word for in, "fi", can be attached to a definite noun. For example, the word for a house has a definite form "ed-dar" but with "fi", it becomes "fed-dar".
Gender
Algerian Arabic uses two genders for words: masculine and feminine. Masculine nouns and adjectives generally end with a consonant while the feminine nouns generally end with an a.Examples:
- "a donkey", "a female donkey".
Pluralisation
The regular masculine plural is formed with the suffix -in, which derives from the Classical Arabic genitive and accusative ending -īna rather than the nominative -ūna:
For feminine nouns, the regular plural is obtained by suffixing -at:
The broken plural can be found for some plurals in Hilalian dialects, but it is mainly used, for the same words, in pre-Hilalian dialects:
Article
The article el is indeclinable and expresses a definite state of a noun of any gender and number. It is also prefixed to each of that noun's modifying adjectives.It follows the solar letters and lunar letters rules of Classical Arabic: if the word starts with one of these consonants, el is assimilated and replaced by the first consonant:
t, d, r, z, s, š, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, l, n.
Examples:
Important Notes:
- When it is after lunar letters consonant we add the article le-.
- We always use the article el with the words that begin with vowels.
Verbs
Verbs are conjugated by adding affixes that change according to the tense.In all Algerian Arabic dialects, there is no gender differentiation of the second and third person in the plural forms, nor is there gender differentiation of the second person in the singular form in pre-Hilalian dialects. Hilalian dialects preserve the gender differentiation of the singular second person.
- Example with the verb kteb "To write":
Future tense
Also, as is used in all of the other Arabic dialects, there is another way of showing active tense. The form changes the root verb into an adjective. For example, "kteb" he wrote becomes "kateb".
Negation
Like all North African Arabic varieties along with some Levantine Arabic varieties, verbal expressions are negated by enclosing the verb with all its affixes, along with any adjacent pronoun-suffixed preposition, within the circumfix ma...-š :- « lεebt » → « ma lεebt-š »
- « ma tṭabbaεni-š »
- « ma yṭawlu-l-ek-š hadu le-qraεi »
- « ma sibt-š plaṣa »
is not used when other negative words are used
- ma qult walu
- ma šuft tta waḥed
- ma šuft ma smeεt.
Verb derivation
- Causative: is obtained by doubling consonants :
- Passive:It is obtained by prefixing the verb with t- / tt- / tn- / n- :
The adverbs of location
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Most Algerian Arabic dialects have eight personal pronouns since they no longer have gender differentiation of the second and third person in the plural forms. However, pre-Hilalian dialects retain seven personal pronouns since gender differentiation of the second person in the singular form is absent as well.| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ana | ḥna |
| 2nd | n'ta | n'tuma |
| 2nd | n'ti | n'tuma |
| 3rd | huwwa | huma |
| 3rd | hiyya | huma |
Example: « ḥatta ana. » — "Me too."
| Person | Algerian Arabic |
| I am | rani |
| You are | rak |
| You are | raki |
| He is | rah or Rahu |
| She is | Rahi or Raha |
| We are | rana |
| You or Y'all are | raku or rakum and |
| They are | rahum and |
Example: « Rani hna. » — "I'm here." and « Waš rak. » "How are you." to both males and females.
Possessive pronouns
Dar means house.| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | i | na |
| 2nd | k | kum |
| 3rd | u | um |
| 3rd | ha |
Example :
« dar-na. » — "Our house" Possessives are frequently combined with taε "of, property" : dar taε-na — "Our house.", dar taε-kum...etc.
Singular:
taε-i = my or mine
taε-ek = your or yours
taε-u = his
taε-ha = hers
Plural:
taε-na = our or ours
taε-kum = your or yours
taε-hum = their or theirs
"Our house" can be Darna or Dar taε-na, which is more like saying 'house of ours'. Taε can be used in other ways just like in English in Spanish. You can say Dar taε khuya, which means 'house of my brother' or 'my brother's house'.
Interrogative pronouns
Verbal pronouns
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ni | na |
| 2nd | k | kum |
| 3rd | u / h / hu | hum |
| 3rd | ha | hum |
Examples:
Demonstratives
Unlike Classical Arabic, Algerian Arabic has no dual and uses the plural instead. The demonstrative is also used for "it is".| Interrogatives | Algerian Arabic | Emphasized |
| This | had, Hadi | hada, hadaya , hadiyya |
| That | dak, dik | hadak, hadik |
| These | hadu | haduma |
| Those | duk | haduk |
Sample text
The text below was translated from Kabylie, in Auguste Moulieras's Les fourberies de si Djeh'a.| Buzelluf | Sheep Head | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Waḥed en-nhar, jḥa med-lu baba-h frank, baš yešri buzelluf. šra-h, kla gaɛ leḥm-u. bqa γir leɛdem, jab-u l baba-h. ki šaf-u qal-lu: "waš hada?" Qal-lu: "buzelluf". -A šmata, win rahi wedn-u? -win rahum ɛini-h? -win rah lsan-u? - U el-jelda taɛ ras-u, win Rahi -You vile, where are its ears? -Where are its eyes? -Where is its tongue? -And the skin of its head, where is it? French loanwordsAlgerian Arabic contains numerous French loanwords.
=verb |