Arabic-L:LING:response to dialect question word corrections

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Tue 09 Apr 2013
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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Date: 09 Apr 2013
From:Jonathan Lange <jonathanlange at yahoo.com>
Subject:response to dialect question word corrections

Dear t, and list members,

I believe this is a problem of using Arabic letters for dialect. What folks
here (I am in Tunis and have been for three years) say generally has an
extra 'y' sound (linguists on the list help me, is this a 'glide'?) between
the 'a' and 'sh'.  Thus it becomes 'waqtaysh' rather than 'waqtaash',
although the latter exists too.  There is a range of pronunciation
depending upon the region and person along this dipthong (same with
'qadaysh' and ''alaysh').

There is 'shqawlak' ('what do you think?'), 'shtahibb?', 'sha'amalt?' as
well ('what do you want', 'what did you/I do?') - I never hear these with
an 'alif' sound before them, but am told that some people do pronounce them
that way.

I have heard 'fayn', but also have been told by some Tunisians that 'this
is Egyptian' (a remark which seems to be belied by the usage), however
'wayn' is far, far more common (at least in Tunis).

The point about 'ay' is valid, as in 'sh'amalt lil-qatous?' - 'anahua'
('what did you do to the cat?' - 'which one?'), but 'ay' does exist.  Ex.
'Ay haaja najim na'amilha?' ('which thing can I do?').

'Hal' usage is rare, but definitely exists, primarily in the south of
Tunisia.  Ex.:

North - "Yakhi jaat al-fatuura wala la?" - "Did the bill come or not?"
South (rarely) - "Hal hatha saheeha wala la?" - "Is this true or not?"

I did not invent these, but passed everything by a native Tunisian
informant/fiancee before posting :) .

-Jonathan

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