3alaa al-aqal

yawm min al-ayaam

wakhir 3an wayh-ii!

bi 9-9udfah

aruu7 daakhil

bi 6-6agaag!

shuufii-nii!

3alaa gawlat...

If my husband wasn't already employed as a game designer, I think he would have got a job as a comedian, since he's already one part-time. As soon as he wakes in the morning, his routine begins.

"3alaa gawlat Gollum: 'good morning my precious'," he says in Gollum's creepy and  decidedly unromantic voice.

As he pours coffee beans into the grinder, I can see the cogs in his brain ticking. He is just dying to say it. So he does. "3alaa gawlat Tony Montana, 'say hello to my little friend.'"

With that, he grinds the beans madly to dust.

"3alaa gawlat Freddie Mercury, 'another one bites the dust!'"

"bas!" I wail, covering my ears. (bess)

He holds up his hands as if to say, no more. But as he puts on his jacket and prepares to leave, I'm treated to another: "ِ3alaa gawlat The Terminator, 'hasta la vista, baby'."

fii-nii...

Work finished late, so I had to run like crazy to the festival. Surely the acts never ran on time? I'd been wanting to catch a live performance of The Black Keys for a while and here at last they were, in our town.

I missed their performance by a few minutes. Defeated, I found my way to the food tent where Theyab was queuing.

"a7is abchii," I complained. He looked confused.

"'I feel I cry?'" he chuckled, imitating my bad Kuwaiti. "shinuu ya3nii?" ('What does that mean?')

"yaa3nii ... I feel like shedding a tear."

"Oh, you don't say it like that. Use a7is when you feel things outside you.  For example, a7is bi l-hawaa al-baarid ('I feel the cold air') or a7is inn-ik za3laan ('I feel that you're sad'). But when the feeling is inside, say fii-nii."

"Ah! I think I know this one. Is it like when your mum once said fii-nii nawmah? I asked ('I feel like sleeping').

He laughed. "Yes. And you'd say fii-nii bawlah if you feel like peeing and fii-nii kaakaa if you feel like going for a..."

"Got it!" I said brightly. "So you'd use a noun after fii-nii. So how do I say 'I feel like crying' in Kuwaiti?"

"fii-nii bachyah," he confirms (fee-nee-betch-ya). Then he asks: "Hang on, are you sure fii-ch bachyah? You seem pretty upbeat right now."

"I suppose being a language geek has its advantages," I smiled.

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
زعلان	za3laan	sad (m)
زعلانة	za3laanah	sad (f)
زعلانين	za3laaniin	sad (pl)
بولة	bawlah	pee
كاكا	kaakaa	poo
بچية	bachyah	crying
أحس بالهوا بارد	a7is bi l-hawaa baarid	I can feel the cold air
اجس أنك زعلان	a7is inn-ik za3laan	I feel you're sad
شنو يعني؟	shinuu ya3nii?	what does that mean?
يعني...	ya3nii…	it means…

bi l-magluub

Fact: today's word was taught to me by a one-year old, making it rather essential vocabulary. It also reminded me how interested children are in pointing out how things look and how they work.

This particular baby was excited to shout bi l-magluub! when one of his play blocks was on its head. Or exclaim duur! duur! when one of his toys started to spin around.

But I noticed it was his mum who would say if his t-shirt was bi l-3aks or his hair was m3gad. He was so interested in the world around him, but relatively disinterested in anything too closely related to him.

On that note, I had no trouble imagining it would also be his mother's observation that dar-ah 3afsah.

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
بالعكس	bi l-3aks	inside out
دور! دور!	duur! duur!	round and round
معقد	m3gad	tangled
دره عفسة	dar-ah 3afsah	his room is a mess

bidaal

Today's word follows the same qaa3idah that we encountered in last fortnight's post 3ugub baachir.

When the adverb bidaal is followed by a noun it looks like this:

7u6 gafsah bidaal shawkah

However, when bilaal is followed by a verb, it requires the extra word maa which can be seen in the following example:

shraayik bidaal maa inruu7 maakdawnaaldz inruu7 bargar king?

So to summarise:

bidaal + noun
bidaal maa + verb

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
حط!	7u6!	Put! (>m)
حطي!	7u6ay!	Put! (>f)
شرايك	shraayik	What do you think (>m)
شرايچ	shraayich	What do you think (>f)
حط قفشة بدال شوكة	7u6 gafsah bidaal shawkah	Put a fork instead of a spoon
شرايك بدال ما نروح ماكدونالدز نروح برقر كنج؟	shraayik bidaal maa inruu7 maakdawnaaldz inruu7 bargar kinj?	Shall we go to Burger King instead of McDonalds?
قاعدة	qaa3idah	a rule

3ugub baachir

3ugub baachir is a noun that brings to mind a thousand films, most of which are ridiculously cheesy.

3ugub on its own however, is a great word to use when you want to make longer sentences in Kuwaiti. Although I'm still at the stage where I can just about string together two-word responses, a girl can dream of a brighter linguistic tomorrow. Although it's not certainly going to come 3ugub baachir (forgive me).

Pair the word 3ugub with any noun and you're on your way: 

3ugub an-naadii, raa7 asba7 ('after the gym, I'll take a bath'). 

If you use 3ugub with a verb, then you'll need to add the word maa :

3ugub maa na'6aft al-bayt, tabii-nii aghasil al-mawaa3iin ('having cleaned the house, you want me to do the washing up?').

To quickly summarise:

After + noun = 3ugub

After + verb = 3ugub maa

With all this talk of the future, I'll briefly speak about verbs in Kuwaiti. One of the best pieces of news I ever received is that Kuwaiti only has two tenses, past and present. To see how the past and present tense look in Kuwaiti, check out this link. 

So what about the future tense, I wondered at the time. Well more good news, to form the future tense you simply take the present tense of any verb and stick the word raa7 before it: 

3ugub maa akhidh dawsh, raa7 aruu7 as-suug ('after I take a shower, I'll go to the market').

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
أسبح	asba7	I take a bath
بسبح	b-asba7	I will take a bath
راح أسبح	raa7 asba7	I will take a bath
اسبح	asba7	I take a bath
عقب ما اخذ دوش	3ugub maa aakhidh dawsh	After I take a shower
… عقب ما نظفت البيت	3ugub maa na’6aft al-bayt …	Having cleaned the house …

t3araf 3alaa...

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

I was waiting for shaakh9 but then I got a phone call: someone else is now coming, too. I'm a little tired, but entertaining shakh9ayn isn't too much work.

Then another phone call. More ashkhaa9 coming. In a few minutes, the TV dinner-for-two has become a 7aflah.

When Theyab returns home, I'm confused. He comes accompanied, but with twenty miniature action figures.

"digiigah … where are an-naas?" I ask.

"Here they are. t3arif-ay 3alaa Rabbid, Assassin and their friends," he says, setting up his newly-received special-edition figurines on the dining room table.

"This is actually tragic," I say, slinging off my apron. "As much as I hate to say it, 9udt-nii!"

شخص	shakh9	1 person
شخصين	shakh9ayn	2 people
اشخاص	ashkhaa9	3 - 10 people
حفلة	7aflah	Party
الناس	an-naas	The people
تعرف على	t3araf 3alaa ...	I'd like to introduce you to ... (>m)
تعرفي على	t3arafay 3alaa ...	I'd like to introduce you to... (>f)
صدتني	9udt-nii	You (m) got me
صدتيني	9udtii-nii	You (f) got me

jiddaam

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

The mall jiddaam Fatimah's house. As she could probably tell you herself, al-muul fii-h waayid ashaa'. Too many things, actually. Fatimah often gets miltaayah when she starts window-shopping. That is, until she gets the call that says:

"Come home Fatimah, lunch is ready."

"ana fii T-Tariij!" is her reply. 

Fatimah's house may be jiddaam the mall, but she still drives as-sayyaarah there. Why walk when you can drive? While that may be true, Fatimah often forgets where she parks the car. So each time, tabdii to play a game with herself to try and find it.

"Hmm... khal-nii afakkir. That one looks like sayyaarat-ii. But actually mine is aSghar. Ah, I remember parking yem a blue Lamborghini," she muses.

She takes the elevator up to ad-duur al-yaay. No luck there, either. A guy in uniform passes by - he must work here.

"war-nii where the blue Lambo is!" she demands.

The guy's eyes light up. "Of course, Madame! Your car is over there, see? warraa the really ugly old one."

Fatimah goes beetroot red. Does she confess that in fact she is the owner of the as-sayyaarah al-khaaysah? 

"Thank you. That will be all," she says, trying to be aloof.

The guy chuckles. "I know that your car is al-khaaysah! Don't you remember that tis'alii-nii where your car is parked almost every other week?"

	تبدي	tabdii	She starts
Verbs	ورني	war-nii !	Show me! (>m)
	تساليني	tis’alii-nii	You (f) ask me
	ملتاية	miltaayah	Distracted (f)
Adjectives	اصغر	aSghar	Smaller
	خايسة	khaaysah	Rubbish (f)
	المول	al-muul	The mall
Nouns	السيارة	al-sayyaarah	The car
	الدور الياي	ad-duur al-yaay	The next floor
	انا في الطريج	ana fii T-Tariij	I'm on my way
Phrases	المول فيه وايد اشاء	al-muul fii-h waayid ashaa’	The mall has many things
	خلني افكر	khal-nii afakkir	Let me think
	جدام	jiddaam	In front of
Prepositions	يم	yem	Next to
	ورا	warraa	Behind

How was today's post?