khansawlif!

When I hear people chatting in Kuwaiti, to my unaccustomed ears it sounds ... complex. Like a mash-up of sounds. That I can't make heads or tail of.

Only catching the odd word or two (normally an English kaliimaah, let's face it) in the middle of a sentence allows me a grasp of what's being said.

But sometimes I'll make out a Kuwaiti word without knowing its meaning. I'll wait until the conversation is over, repeating the mystery word in my mind so as not to forget it, then when the moment is right I'll ask, "oh by the way, shinuu ya3nii... (and then say the Kuwaiti word)."

But by the time I speak the word aloud, my lousy pronunciation plus the fact that the conversation is already old makes it impossible to get a straight answer.

Either I'll get given a look of: "I have no idea what you're trying to tell me" or one that seems to say: "I can't even remember what I was talking about 30 minutes ago. Sorry."

Today's word came about because I didn't wait around. My husband was telling a story. And as soon as the indecipherable waves of spoken Kuwaiti parted and sima3t the word sawlif ... I grasped his arms until my knuckles went pale and cried: "For the love of Louis C.K., what does sawlif mean?"

Ever the patient, kind and slightly bemused husband, he simply replied, "ya3nii 'chatting'."

"You mean you're chatting about chatting? I mean, about sawlif?"

He nodded. "Yes, so ... khansawlif!"

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
سمعت	sima3t	I heard
كليمة	kaliimah	a word
شنو يعني	shinuu ya3nii	what does it mean?

shdaraa-k?

Today we meet another contraction which has been formed from a crush of shinuu (what) darraa ('made realise') -ik (you, male).

The question shdaraa-k? could be made out of genuine curiosity, for instance: shdaraa-k that I'm going out on a secret date?

Depending on the tone however, the very same question could be bitterly ironic. shdaraa-k? you pout when somebody mean accuses you of having raas full of air. A more apt translation in English would be, 'how would you know?'

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
شدراك؟	shdaraa-k?	How do you know (>m)?
شدراچ؟	shdaraa-ch?	How do you know (>f)?
شدراكم؟	shdaraa-kum?	How do you know (>pl)?
راس	raas	a head
شنو دراني؟	shinuu daraa-nii?	How would I know?

khal-naa n3iid

Though today's word is written khal-naa n3iid you're more likely to hear it pronounced khan3iid. This type of shortening of 'contraction' is common in spoken Kuwaiti, and is worth listening out for.

Here are some other examples:

khanshuuf  from khal-naa nshuuf meaning 'let's see'

khanruu7 from is khal-naa nruu7 meaning 'let's go' 

khansawiih from khal-naa nsawii-ah meaning 'let's do it'

Today's word, whether contracted or said in full, is a good one to learn for those moments when you've tried (way too many times) to pronounce a Kuwaiti word and people are looking at you the way they might say, an exotic species from outer space.  With a quick khan3iid, you wipe the slate clean and swiftly move on to something else.

If however, you're on the other end of the communication struggle, by simply saying 3iid! (>m) or 3iiday! (>f) the person you're speaking to will repeat shinuu gaal, hopefully more slowly and with fewer verbal shortcuts.

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
عيد!	3iid!	Say that again (>m)!
عيدي!	3iiday!	Say that again (>f)!
عيدوا!	3iidaw!	Say that again (>pl)!
عيد	3iid	festival
شنو قال	shinuu gaal	what he said
شنو قالت	shinuu gaalat	what she said

maabii

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

It seems that I may have a weakness for the voice of actor Matthew McConaughey. Something that T. is less than happy about.

"widd-ich that you are married to Matthew McConaughey?" he asks one day.

"No!" I laugh. "Not after his last Oscars' speech! Why do you ask? Do you want to have a second wife or something?"

Cue a long, awkward pause.

"maabii," he says. "Anyway, 7abiibtii, it's not legal to marry virtual assistants. Yet."

ودچ	widd-ich	Do you wish (>f)
مابي	maabii	I don't want (that)
حبيبتي	7abiibtii	Darling

shtabii?

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

The word shida3wah is a contraction of two words, shinuu meaning "what (is)" and ad-da3wah or 'the invitation.' The literal translation "what's the invitation?" doesn't mean much, but judging by the way the phrase is used in a conversation, it equates to "are you serious?"

In spoken Kuwaiti, many words are contracted - and they tend to be heard often. Here are more examples:

• shtabii is a contraction of shinuu and tabii

• shitsawii is a contraction of shinuu and tsawii

• shraay-ik is a contraction of shinuu and raay-ik 

The above are all questions addressed to a male. In the table below, the same questions are asked to a female. Note the different endings.

شتبين	shtabiin	What do you want?
شتسوين	shtsawiin	What are you doing?
شرايچ	shraay-ich	What do you think?

shimsawiyyah?

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

	شمسوي؟	shimsawii ?	What’s your secret? (>m)
	شمسوية؟	shimsawiyyah?	What's your secret? (>f)
	شمسويين؟	shimsawiyyiin?	What's your secret? (>pl)

shida3wah

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Today's word shida:wah is a contraction of two words, shinu meaning "what (is)"
and ad-da:wah or "the invitation."

The literal translation "what's the invitation?" doesn't mean much, but judging
by the way the phrase is used in a conversation, it equates to "are you serious?"

In spoken Kuwaiti, many words are contracted - and they tend to be heard often.
Here are more examples:

• shtabii is a contraction of shinu and tabii

• shitsawii is a contraction of shinu and tsawii

• shraay-ik is a contraction of shinu and raay-ik 

The above are all questions addressed to a male. In the table below,
the same questions are asked to a female. Note the different endings.

شتبين	shtabiin	What do you want?
شتسوين	shtsawiin	What are you doing?
شرايچ	shraay-ich	What do you think?
شوف	shuuf	Look
مكياجها	makyaaj-haa	Her makeup