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 EEFITOURY, Abubaker Abdalla, 1943-
A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF LIBYAN ARABIC.

Georgetown University, Ph.D., 1976

Language, linguistics

Xerox University Microfilms, A"" Arbor, Michigan 48106

@ 1976

ABUBAKER ABDALLA ELFITOURY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR O F LIBYAN ARABIC

A Dissertation
submitted to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of Georgetown University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Languages and Linguistics

Abubaker A. Elfitoury

Washington, D. C.

September 1976
 GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Abubaker A. Elfitoury
The dissertation o f ................................................................................... entitled

A Descriptive Grammar of Libyan Arabic

...............................................................................................................................................

submitted t o the department o f .....~.~!!~.!!a.g'?S .and...Linguistics............... inpartial

Ph.D. in Linguistics
fulfillment o f the requirements f o r the d e g r e e o f .........................................................
in the G r a d u a t e School o f G e o r g e t o w n University has b e e n r e a d and a p p r o v e d by the
Committee:

Heod of Deportment

September 23, 1976

..................................................................
Date
 A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF LIBYAN ARABIC

Abubaker A. Elfitoury

The theme of this paper is a linguistic study of Libyan Arabic, the

variety of Arabic spoken in the North African country of Libya, particularly

the dialect spoken i n Tripoli. The study deals descriptively with t h s phon-

ology, morphology, and syntax of the dialect.

In the phonology part, sounds a r e classified and described in artil;&-

latory t e r m s a s well a s i n t e r m s of their distribution, ciustering, and their

influence on each other. A characteristic set of velarized consonants is

treated separately and compared with the corresponding plain ones, via vis

their positions and their relationship to the neighboring sounds in the same

word and the s a m e syllable.

Morphologically, the word is described in t e r m s of i t s root (strong,

hollow, and defective) and the pattern of vowels inserted between the radi-

cal consonants of that root. A triliteral v e r b in i t s third person masculine

singular form is ccnsidered the minimum basic form from which other

words may be derived. From such a verb, eight forms o r 'measure' of

verbs a r e derived in Libyan Arabic, through the process of affixation and

change in the vowel patterns. Verbs are inflected f o r tense, gender,

L J
r n u m b e r , mood, and person. The perfect and imperfect tenses a r e indi- 1
cated by attaching certain affixes to the form of the verb. Each tense

c a r r i e s i t s own usages and meanings.

From nouns, a certain number of verbal noun patterns, instance

nouns, unit nouns, and feminine nouns a r e derived. Nouns a r e also divided

into singular, dual, and plural, with the latter subdivided into 'sound' and

'broken' plural.

Also included under nlorphology a r e treatments of numerals, interro-

gatives, conjunctions, pronouns, and adjectives. From verbs various

patterns of participles (active and passive) a r e derived.

Syntactically, an attempt is made to study the types of sentences of

Libyan Arabic and the types of clauses within each type of sentence. Treat-

ments of negation, interrogation, and transformatio? into passive a r e also

related to the syntax of the sentence. Agreement between various parts of

the sentence (mainly between nouns and adjectives, and verbs and pronouns)

is also treated and considered an important featme. Equally characteristic

of Libyan Arabic is the modification of a noun by another noun, a phe-

nomenon linguists usually call 'annexion' i n reference to the fact that a

noun i s annexed to another. A noun i n Libyan Arabic is modified by a noun,

an adjective, a particle, 2 demonstrative, and many other elements. The

most common of ,ii is the noun-adjective modification structure.

L J
r Other particles associated with nouns (such a s the vocative / ~ a / ) ,
-1

a s well a s nouns that have specific meanings, a r e touched upon in this

study.
 TABLE O F CONTENTS

PART I: PHONOLOGY

Chapter

I. CONSONANTS. .................
Stops
Fricatives
Nasals
Laterals
Flaps
Semivowels
Velarized Consonants
Consonant C l u s t e r s

11. VOWELS. ...................

Long Vowels
Short Vowels
Diphthongs
Stress
Phonetic Change

PART 11: MORPHOLOGY

III. ROOTS AND PATTERNS. .............

IV. THE V E R B . ..................
Derivation
Measure I Verbs
M e a s u r e I1 V e r b s
Meiisiii-a Ill V e r b s
 Measure V Verbs
Measure VI Verbs
Measure VII Verbs
Measure W I Verbs
Measure X Verbs
Quadriiiteral Verbs
Inflection
The Perfect Tense
The Imperfect Tense
Inflection of the Imperative
The Inflection of /kle/ and /xde/

V. NOUNS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Berivatio~l
Inflection

VI. ADJECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Derivation: Participles and Their Patterns

Inflection

VII. NUMERALS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

From 1 Through 10
Numbers from 11 Through 19
Decades
Hundreds
Thousands
Larger Numbers
The Ordinal Numbers
The Fractions

VIII. PRONOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Independent Pronouns
Pronoun Suffixes
Indefinite Pronouns

iii
 Demonstrative Pronouns
Interrogative Pronouns
Relative Pronouns

M. P A R T I C L E S . . ................. 102

Prepositions
Relative Marker aad Conjunctions
Interrogatives

PART 111: SYNTAX

X. VERB STRUCTURES ............... 108

XI. THE NOUN

Modsication Structures
Demonstratives
Annexion Structures
Simple Annexion
Complex Annexion
/mta$/-construction
The Adjective

XII. AGREEMENT .
1Jouns and Adjectives
Definiteness
Pronouns and Verbs

XIII. SENTENCE TYPES ................ 132

The Simple Equational Sentence

Scnteilce Negation
Interrogation
The Topic-Comment Sentence
C ~ r n p o - ~Sentences
i;
Complex Sentences
 PREFACE

The Arabic described in this paper is the kind of Arabic used in every-

day conversation by the dwellers of the city of Tripoli, the largest city in

Libya, located on the western coast of the country. This paper is not intended

to be a study of the kind of Libyan Arabic spoken i n the eastern regions since

the latter differs, particularly in i t s phonology, from the one discussed here.

All that is intended in this paper i s to list and tabulate, by the descrip-

tive structural method, the main features of this dialect a s i t is spoken today.

This, a s f a r a s I know, i s the f i r s t attempt, in English, to study this dialect

in a purely linguistic sense. It is hoped that this study will be the point of

departure for m o r e detailed and systematic studies of this dialect and other

dialects of Arabic in general. I t is hoped also that other models of linguistics

will be applied to it,

This paper is a short reference grammar for all those who want to

learn something about Libyan Arabic, particularly teachers, linguists, and

students of Semitic languages o r dialects.

The material used in this paper comes from taped samples of conver-

sations and other native-spoken material. It was checked against my

idiolect and those of my friends.

 1
I would like to thank all those who contributed to the completion of

this paper, especially the members of my committee: Dr. R. R. Macdonald,

Cr. S. Sara and Dr. W. Erwin of Georgetown University, for their patience

in reading the paper and for their valuable advice.

A. EUitoury
Washington, D. C.
September 1976
 PART I

PHONOLOGY
 CHAPTER I

CONSONANTS

Libyan Arabic has thirty-four consonants, a number of which a r e

velarized (or emphatic). Table 1 shows the consonants of Libyan Arabic

described in articulatory terms. The velarized consonants are marked by

a dot under the corresponding nonvelarized consonants, with the exception

of /v which is not considered a velarized consonant.

The consonants in the table occur in contrast to each other in such

minimal p a i r s a s the following:

b-d /bal/ 'mind, attention' /dal/ 'the letter 'd"

b-m /b&/ 'only7 /m&s/ 'he touched'
b-w /blad/ 'country' /wlad/ 'boys'
m-w /g&rp~r/ 'h.e closed tightly7 /gGww~r/ 'he took pictures'
8 -f /8anya/ 'a second' /f any a/ 'vanishing '
t-k /tm11/ 'you (M) get bored7 /km11/ 'it ended'
d-g /dims/ 'always' /gima/ 'value'
a -Z /a h&r/ 'he went out7 /zhgr/ 'kind of perfume'
s-g /sef/ 'sword7 / ~ e f / 'summer'
s-S / s ~ m / 'poison' /&m/ ' smell ! (imperative)'
t-n /tar/ 'revenge' /nar/ 'fire'
d- n /dayxr/ 'he is doing7 /nayrr/ 'bright'
d- 1 /dam/ 'it lasted' /lam/ 'he blamed'
r-1 /r&ww~n/'he mixed' /l5ww1n/ 'he colored7
/:as/ 'head' la^/ 'ace7
/kid 'he ate' /gle/ ' he fried'
/q1sm5h/ 'dividing7 / ?1sm5h/ 'his name'
/ x h r a / 'concrete7 / h h r a / 'red (Feminine)'
 3

TABLE 1

**The sounds in parentheses a r e used in scattered rural areas in the

east and the west but may be heard in the speech of people from those areas
migrating to the city of Tripoli.
r 5 -r /~s51/'honey' /Is2il/ 'he washed'
h-b /harib/ 'escaping' / b a r ~ b / 'he fought'

Since many of the sounds in Libyan Arabic differ substantially from

those in many other languages, i t may be worthwhile describing them

articulatorily. The phonetic symbols used here a r e those that a r e widely

used by American linguists. Phonemes a r e written between slant lines;

allophonic variants between square brackets. The wedge sign over the

vowel icd.icates a short vowel.

Stops

A stop is a sound tha.t is formed by a complete closure of the a i r pass-

age through the mouth. Libyan Arabic has the following stops:

/b/: a voiced bilabial stop. Produced, like its English counterpart,

with the lower lip against the upper lip. It may become voiceless when it

occurs before a voiceless obstruent; e. g. /h5bs/ 'jail', /b@!/ 'onions'.

Otherwise i t is always voiced. Its position in a word like all consonants of

Libyan Arabic may be initial, medial, o r final.

/bahi/ 'good'
/sSibC a/ 'seven'
/hlib/ 'milk'

/t/: a voiceless dental stop. Produced with the tip of the tongue

against the back of the upper teeth. It is different from the English stop

which is alveolar; i. e. the tongue touches the a r e a beyond the upper teeth.
L J
r /tarix/ 'history'
/ktab/ 'a book'
/but/ 'fish7

/d/: a voiced dental stop. Produced with the tip of the tongue touching

the upper teeth while the vocal bands are vibrating.

/dims/ 'always'
/bde/ ' he began'
/blad/ 'country7

/Is/: a voiceless velar stop. Produced with the back of the tongue touch-
ing the velum (the soft palate area). I t terds to be palatal before front vowe1.s

and velar before back vowels.

/ktiba/ 'writing7
/flukd 'bat'
/xuk/ 'your brother'

/g/: a voiced velar stop. Produced with the back of the tongce tc.;ch-

ing the velum while the vocal bands a r e vibrating. It becomes palatal before

front vowels and velar before back vowels.

/grrd/ 'monkey'
/migly/ 'fried'
/!rig/ 'road7

/q/: a voiceless uvular stop. Produced with the back of tlnc tsngzc

contacting the uvula in such a way that the flow of a i r is stopped. The

normal Libyan reflex of Standard Arabic /q/ is /g/; /q/ does occur, how-

ever, in a few proper names and words of religious connotation, such as:

/qiit5r/ 'Qatar'
L / & l y ~ y m a /'resurroetioil day'
 /?/: a voiceless glottal stop. Produced by a complete closure of the

vocal bands followed by a sudden release of the air. It does not exist a s a

sound unit in English but it is close to the initial of the word 'ouch'. In

Libyan Arabic it may occur initially, medially, o r finally. Initially its

presence is random anci noncontrastive. In macy i n s t z ~ c e sthe stop c a ~ n o t

be heard unless the word is preceded by a preposition o r some other particle.

Also, initially it occurs often in imperative forms of verbs. It may be heard

in the following words when they a r e pronounced in the Standard Arabic

pronunciation:

/?5rn1b/ 'rabbit7
/s?Zil/ 'he asked'
/w5ba?/ ' e p i d e ~ i cdissass7

Generally speaking stops a r e aspirated o r unaspirated in f r e e variation

when they occur initially in a stressed syllable. Also, they may be released

o r unreleased in f r e e variation when they occur finally.

Fricatives

A fricative is a scund that is produced when the breath s t r e a m is

caused to pass through a narrow constricticm in the mouth creating audible

friction. Libyan Arabic has:

/f/: a voiceless labiodental fricative. Produced with the lower lip

Lcontacting the upper teeth. It is alw2.j;~voiceless except when i t occurs J

r b e f o r e a voiced obstruent, where it becciiii;~ voiced, e. g. /fZlil/ 'radish'. 1
The voiced counterpart /v/ exists only in foreign words used by speakers

living mainly in the cities. People living in the countryside use the voiceless

fricative.

/flus/ 'money' /vlilvula/ 'valve'

/?5sf1r/ 'yellow' /kurva/ 'curve'
/sef/ 'sword' /katS&viti/ 'screwdriver'

/8/: a voiceless interdental fricative. Produced with the tip of the

tongue between the upper and lower teeth. It is not very common in the speech

of Libyans. In the city of Tripoli and its vicinity it is consistently replaced

by the dental stop /t/. The following examples may be heard in the speech

of those in Tripoli but belong to a r e a s where such sounds a r e used.

/@manya/ 'eight'
/ 35nQa/ 'female'
/Bul@/ 'one third'

/ 8 / : a voiced interdental fricative. Produced with the tip of the tongue

between the upper and lower teeth while the vocal bands a r e vibrating. It

is very r a r e in Libyan Arabic. People consistently use /d/ instead of i s / .

However, the following examples may still be heard in some a r e a s around

Tripoli:

/a el/ 'tail'
/wu81n/ 'ear'
/yax~d/ 'he takes'

/s/: a voiceless dental fricative. Produced with the tip of the tongue
J
r n e a r the back of the upper tzeth, creating a narrcw ccnstriction through 1
which a i r flows with audible frictiun.

/ § m i d 'fat'
/fsad/ 'corruption7
/nas/ 'people'

/z/: a voiced dental fricative. In producing it the tip of the tongue

approaches the back of the upper teeth while the vocal bands are vibrating.

/zman/ 'old times7

/ r ~ z g / 'fortune, property'
/loz/ 'nuts7

/S/: a voiceless alveopalatal fricative. Produced with the blade of the

tongue almost touching the a r e a on the borders of the alveolar ridge and the

palate, creating a channel through which air flows. It may be voiced when it

occurs before a voiced obstruent; e. g. /Sdug/ 'cheeks7.

/Sahi/ 'tea7
/magi/ 'he is walking7
/murS/ 'glass'

/2/: a voiced alveopalatal fricative. Produced with the blade of the

tongue almost touching the a r e a on the borders of the alveolar ridge and

the palate, forming a channel through which air flows, while the vocal bands

a r e vibrating.

/ Z l h / 'large scissors'
/dZaE/ 'chicken'
/tak/ 'crown7
 /x/: a voiceless uvular fricative. English has no equivalent, but the 7
final sound of the German 'Bach7 is very close to it. It is produced with the

back of the tongue almost touching the a r e a between the velum and the be-

ginning of the uvula, leaving a channel through which air flows creating

audible noise. It becomes slightly more forward before front vowels and

m o r e back before back vowels,

/xay~f/ 'he is afraid'

/duxxan/ 'smoke, tobacco'
/w@x/ 'dirt'

/a/: a voiced uvular fricative. Produced with the back of the tongue

almost touching the border a r e a between the velum and the uvula, forming

a channel through which a i r flows, while the vocal bands a r e vibrating. It

becnmes slightly m o r e forward before front vowels and m o r e back before

back vowels.

/ifali/ 'expensive'
/ ~ g i r / 'small, young'
/fruX/ 'became empty7

/b/: a voiceless pharynegeal fricative. It is heard when the

pharyngeal walls shrink together forming a narrow channel through which

air passes with force. There is no equivalent to this sound in English.

/ e a r / 'donkey'
/b$&r/ 'sea'
/m1141/ 'salt'
r /5/: a voiced pharyngeal fricative. It is the voiced counterpart of the 7
preceding sound with less audible noise when the a i r flows through the

channel. The vocal bands a r e vibrating.

/Cru?a/ 'bride'
/ n & ~ ~ a'ewe'
/
/ba$/ 'he sold'

/h/: a voiceless glottal fricative. It is heard when air passes through

the glottis making a breathy sound. Similar to the f i r s t sound of English

hope. It may be voiced intervocalically o r before voiced obstruents.

/hd~yya/ ' a present'

/sah11/ 'easy'
/xalih/ 'leave him'

Nasals

A nasal sound is ona that is produced when the breath is interrupted at

some point in the mouth while the velum is lowered to allow the air to pass

through the nose. Libyan Arabic has:

/m/: a voiced bilabial nasal. It is produced with the two lips coming

together while the nasal passage is open. It becomes labiodental when it

occurs beiore /f/ but remains bilabial elsewhere.

/ m o d 'bananas'
/smah/ 'his name'
/nom/ 'sleeping'

/n/: a voiced dental nasal. It differs from the cor~espondingEnglish

nasal only in the fact that the latter is alveolar. It may vary io articulation J
r a w o r d i n g to the consonant following it; but remains dental prevocalically o r 1
in final position.

/nas/ 'people'
/tnin/ 'two'
/C en/ 'eye'

Laterals

A lateral sound is one which is produced when the flow of air is halted

a t the center in such a way that it i s forced to flow along the sides of the

tongue. Libyan Arabic has two laterals, one of which will be dealt with

here and the other treated under velarized consonants:

/I/: a voiced dental lateral. In its production the tongue contazts the

upper teeth with a i r flowing along the sides of the tongue. If we use the

English distinction between clear (plain) and dark (velarized) /1/ we find that

this corresponds to the English clear /1/. It may be voiceless when it occurs

before voiceless obstruents; e . g. /Iszz/ 'tongue', / l t h m u / 'they got to-

gether'. It is voiced elsewhere.

/lon/ 'color'
/mlik/ 'good, fine'
/haw11/ 'he tried'

Flaps

A flap is a sound produced with tb.e tip of the tongue making a quick tap

against the upper teeth. Libyan Arabic has two flaps, one of which will be
L _I
r d e a l t with h e r e and the other treated under velarized consonants.

/r/: a voiced dental flap. When the tongue taps quickly against the

a r e a just behind the upper teeth this sound results. When doubled o r in final

position it becomes a t r i l l because its clustering involves m o r e than one tap

by the tongue against the upper teeth.

/r ih/ 'wind'
,'XI%/ 'autumn'
/far/ 'mouse'

- -
Semivowels

/w/: a high back rounded semivowel. Froduced with the lips rounded

m d the dorsurn of the tongue raised.

/wen/ 'where'
/Caw~d/ 'ke repeated'
/irew/ 'puppy (diminutive)'

//y/: a high front unrounded semivowel. Produced wiih the lips spread

apart and the front of the toiigue raised high.

/yalul/ 'he eats'

/ b y a g 'charcoal'
/~Ziy/ 'nothing'

Velarized Consonants

Libyan Arabic, like other Arabic dialects, has a set of -velarized

consonants. A velarized consonant may b e defined a s on2 that i s produced

with the blade of the tongue somewhat depressed while the back is slightly
L. J
r r a i s e d , narrowing the velar channel. In the pronunciation of velarized con- I-

sonants there is also m o r e muscular tension involved.

The consonants d 8 p 2. q a r e velarized in Libjan Arabic.

When one of them occurs in a word it causes the velarization of all other

consonants in the same syllable and in certain circumstances even in the

whole word. It may be convenient, therefore, to label f 4 6 g g 1 m F

a s "primary velarized consonants*, and the ones velar ized under their

influence as "secondary velarized consonants". 1 All plain consonants in

Libyan Arabic may be velarized because of the influence of the primary

velarized ones, but no velarization sign will be written under these secondary

velarized consonants in this paper. 2

All the primary velarized consonants a r e phonemically distinct from

their plain counterparts: t d 8 s z 1 m r. The following are minimal

pairs contrasting the two sets:

Plain Velarized

/tin/ 'figs' /fin/ 'clay, mud'

/da'i/ 'he broadcasted' /ga'i/ 'he was lost'
/yiiSb%/ 'he slaughters' /yZ@biih/ 'he calls on'
/sgb/ 'he insulted' /@b/ 'he poured'

' ~ r n e s t Abdel-Massih, An Introduction to Moroccan Arabic (Ann Arbor:

The University of Michigan, 1973), p. 5.

2 ~ r i m a r yvelarized consonants may occur anywhere in a word and

constitute an indispensable part of the root. Secondaiy ones a r e limited in
I
distribution, mainly in the vicinity of a velarized consonant.
L _I
r /billillah/ 'he wetted it' /b%$.h/ 'by God, oath'
/malit&/ 'his fortune' /rpalitgh/ 'his sweater'
/rg/ 'he quivered' /~i4f/ 'shelf'
/zoz/ 'husSand7 / ~ o g / 'two'

These may be described in articulatory t e r m s as follows:

/!/: the velarized counterpart of /t/. Produced with the tip of the

tongue touching the beginning of the alveolar ridge. The center of the tongue

is lowered while the dorsum is somewhat raised.

/kasa/ 'a glass'

/b@~n/ 'stomach'
/klibbut / 'coat'

/g/: the velarized counterpart of /d/. The tongue touches the front

area of the alveolar ridge. The center of the tongue is depressed while the

back is raised.

/d?iy/ 'light'
/ b $ a ~ a / 'merchandise'
/mrid/ 'sick'

/!/: the velarized counterpart of / 8 / . Produced with the tip of the

tongue between the teeth. The central part of the tongue is depressed; the

back is raised. In the speech of most people it is often replaced by the

emphatic alveolar stop /$/, although the interdental may be used by few

speakers here and there in different areas.

/{u hr/ 'nooc'

/mu ? a h h a / 'demonst~ation'
/ r liS/ 'thick'
 /p/: the velarized counterpart of /s/. Produced with the tongue a 1

little farther back than /s/, still forming a narrow constriction through

which air flows creating audible friction. The central part of the tongue is

depressed; the back is raised.

/gwani/ 'plates'
/bgara/ 'joking'
. .
/hums/ 'chick peas'

/?/: the velarized counterpart of /z/. It is produced a little farther

back than /z/; i. e. with the tip of the tongue touching the a r e a immediately

behind the upper teeth, creating a passage through which air passes with

friction. The center of the tongue is depressed; the back is raised,

/ ~ m @ / 'he swallowed'
/ b ~ e / 'he paid'
/p?/'rice'

: the velarized (or dark) counterpart of the plain /I/; produced

farther back than the latter. c he tongue touches the upper teeth, the a i r

flowing along the sides. The center of the tongue is depressed; the back

is raised.

/!amba/'bulb'
/bzI.ll&/ 'by
God'
/$I/
'shado~nr, shade'

m : the velarized counterpart of the voiced bilz-bial nasal /m/.

A i r passes through the nasal passage while the o r a l passage is blocked.

The lips a r e closed; the center of the tongue is depressed, while the back is
L I
L-I
rraised. It becomes labiodental when it cccurs before /f/ but remains 7
bilabial elsewhere.

/ q r a / 'a woman'
/iZuq~<a/ 'Friday'
/ y C q / 'he swims'

/r/: the emphatic counterpart of the plain flap /r/. Produced farther

back in the mouth with the tip of the tongue tapping against the a r e a behind

the upper teeth. The center of the tongue is depressed; the back is raised.

It becomes a trill when doubled.

/?av 'he got lost'

/furm/ 'heap'
/G/ 'disgrace'

Consonant Clusters

Libyan Arabic has two-consonant clusters and three-consonant clusters

with the former more prevalent. In consonant clusters the articulation of

each consonant is completed and no intervening vowel occurs to break up the

cluster. The two-consonant clusters may be initial, medial, o r final:

Initial

/bruda/ 'breeze, cool zir'

/tlata/ 'three'
/drus/ 'lessons'
/gb&l/ 'he accepted'
/sbul/ 'corn'
.hBe/ 'he complained'
/Zbgd/ 'he pulled'
/ g r ~ g / 'he drowned'
L
 /xudra/ 'vegetables'
/nma/ 'bee'
/21bna/ 'cheese'
/mut$a/ 'enjoyment'
/ y ~ s b ~ g'he
/ advances'
/ 75~$5h/'his land'
/ f a a/ 'short'
/rngnfa/ 'exile'
/ d h g a / 'drums'

Final

/b~~;il!+/ 'exactly'
/5 11m/ 'knowledge'
/kgrg/ 'burn'
/$ilrb/ 'war'
/firrm/ 'molar tooth'
/@Zr/ 'lap'
/g5rg/ 'piastre'
/ t h r / 'dates'

Three-consonant clusters a r e fo.,nd in initial and medial position only:

Initial

;mZrZth/ 'he is woundeci'

/nsmkf/ 'he is heard'
/nxn%/ '!IS is strangled'
/ntf&/ 'it (M) is inflated'
. .
/ntriih/ 'he lay down'

Medial

/mgZi5mza/ 'she is sitting'

/ m ~ t ~ & t r s i n'they
/ a r e arrogant'
/miidria) 'school'
/ y ~ s t ~ ~ $ S 'they
l y / hurry up'
 CHAPTER I1

VOWELS

Libyan Arabic has a total of eight vowels, five long: i, c, a, u, o and

three short: I, 2, and u. Many of these vowels have allophonic variations.

Before a r e the vowels in tabular form, with descriptions thereafter.

TABLE 2

Front Central Back

-

High

Low high

Mid

Low

Long Vowels

Libyan Arabic vowels do not have a diphthongal quality and, generally

speaking, they a r e tenser than the English vowels.

All long vowels become shorter when they occur in final position. All

long vowels become shorter before a stressed syllable.

L
18
r /i/: a high-front unrounded vowel. Similar to the English vowel in 1

seat, and even closer to the French vowel in &iy 'quick'.

/e/: a mid-front unrounded vowel. It is longer than the English vowel

in laid, but without any diphthongization.

/ ~ r e t / 'I bought'
/kleb/ 'dog (diminutive)'

a : a low-central vowel; produced farther f r . ~ I Cin the mouth than the

English vowel in father. It becomes m o r e retracted in the vicinity of a

velarized consonant.

/ h a d 'hot7
/friar/ 'lighthouse'
/dyar/ 'rooms'

It is used in the environment of no

An allophone of this vowel is [a].

velarized consonants.

[b5ggael] 'grocer'
[f &llaeh] 'farmer'

/o/: a mid-back rounded vowel, l o n g e ~and involves more lip rounding

than the English vowel.

/bol/ 'hear'
/mola/ 'owner'
/lon/ 'color'

/u/: a high-back rounded vowel. -

Similar to the English vowel in boot.

/ful/ 'beans'
/ m u d 'knife'
/sbul/ 'corn'
L
 Short Vowels 1

Libyan Arabic short vowels occur finally only r a r e l y but they do occur

initidly and medially .

/I/: a low-high front unrounded vowel. Phonemically different from

/i/ and contrasts with it.

/5r1d/ 'became cool'

/s115 a/ 'merchandise7
/ y b ~ s / 'became dry'

A nonphonemic variant of /I/ is a short, slightly centralized and round

r s such words as /f&llrs/ 'went bank-

vowel between [a] and [I]. It o c c ~ ~ in

rupt', /ygb51t/ 'he sends'. Hereafter this will be written /I; whenever it

occurs.

/5/: a low-front ceniral vowel. It is longer than the English schwa,

altho'tgh in fiiial position i t comes close to it.

/!~Zifla/ 'party'
/dgrs/ 'lesson'
/rngktrb/ 'office'

An allophonic variant of this vowel is [E], close to the English vowel

in s.It occurs in the environment of an unstressed closed syllable.

[dorek] 'your turn'
[ktabek] 'your book'
[gaher] 'staying late a t night7

/u/: a low-high back rounded vowel, similar t o the English vowel in

r /( 7)ummuk/ 'your mother7
/ymugg/ 'he sucks'
/duii/ 'shade'

These vowels contrast with each other a s follows:

i- e: /grins/ ' epilepsy' /grena/ 'we studied'

i- a: / y ? i ~ / 'it happens7 /ypay/ 'left7
i- u / $ r i d 'groom' /$rus/ 'pride'
i- 0: /lim/ 'lemon, oranges7 /lorn/ 'blaming'
e- a: /xdena/ 'we took7 /xdana/ 'he took us7
e-u: /irena/ 'we ran7 /ZrulBh/ 'they r a n to him'
e-o: / l e d 'until7 /Ion/ 'color'
a-u /5ras/ 'weddiiigs' /Crus/ 'pride7
a-o: / g a d 'he lifted7 /gom/ 'people7
u- 0: /flu/ 'win, (imperative)' /fez/ 'dice'
Short vowels

1-2: /h~bb/ 'love, (imperative)' /hZibb/ 'pimples7

I-u: /brll/ 'pull out (impera- /gull/ 'tuberculosis7
tive) '
u : /b5Sd/'after2 /bufd/ 'distance7

Contrasts between short and long vowels

I-i: /11m/ 'gather ! (impera- /lim/ . oranges7

t ive)'
a : /i35rfi/'legal7 /Sarsi/ 'my street'
U-u: /rvz/ 'rice7 /rus/ 'weigh! (imperative)'

Diphthongs

Libyan Arabic has the following s e t s of diphthongs.

t F r o n t i n g diphthongs

I : /miyya/ 'hundred' /xt~yya/ 'mistake7

/ay/: /bayra/ 'puzzled, Fem. ' /rayha/ 'lost, Fem. '
/uy/: /buy/ 'my father7 /xuy/ 'my brother'
y : /B&y/'nothing7 /l$iy/ 'alive7

Retracting diphthongs

/ew/: occurs mainly in diminutive forms:

/ ~ r e w / 'puppy, dim. ' /hlew/ 'good: sweet'
/aw/: /bawl~t/ 'she tried7 /$awd~t/ 'she repeated'
5 : /?5wn%/ 'there he is' / & w f ~ r /'more difficult7
/uw/: this diphthong is tile least common:
/ m r v w a / 'courtesy7 /duwwa/ ' speech, argument'

Stress

Stress in Libyan Arabic is, to a large extent, predictable. Stress

rules nlay be summarized in the following:

1. Primary s t r e s s is assigned to the final syllable if it has either

of the following:

a. A long vowel followed by a consonant, a s in:

/duxxAn/ 'tobacco, smoke7

/mlizkGm/ 'having cold'
/fzr5n/ 'mice'

b. A short vowel followed by two consonants:

/lgCwfgt/ 'I turned'

/barfit/ 'I fought'
/ f g r r i ~ t / 'I furnished7

2. If each of the last two syllables has a short a vowei followed by a

single consonant s t r e s s falls on the antepenult. J

 2. /mu sK Ma/ 'aid'
/bgr&ka/ 'blessing'
/ m @ k h a / 'court'

3. In all other cases stress fails on the pen-it.

/nir8rvb/ 'we drink'

/ y I s t k r i ~ ~'he/ recalls, gets back'
/y~tmkhtku/ 'they a r e not serious'
/m~tbghdla/ 'she is in bad condition'
/ m u s t i ~ f a / 'hospital'

Phonetic Change

Assimilation

Assimilation is a common phenomenon in the speech of Libyans. The

most common type is regressive. The following examples a r e the most

common types, and a r e by no means exhaustive. 1

Non-velarized to velarized

tfi
ti -- ....
dd
tt
/t$ur/ -- /gfiur/ 'it hurts'
/t+ir/ -- /ttir/ 'it flies'
s t -- s t
-. /m%stra/ ..
fl /m&stra/ 'ruler'
Voiceless to voiced

td -dd
t z -- dz
-
/td&ww~r/ / d d & w r r / 'she looks for'
/tzi%wg~t/-- /dz&wg~t/'It i s painted'
kg -- gg / i a k g*abl/ -- / t a g gi%bl/ 'he came to you first'

lJ?or m o r e details and elaboration s e e E s t e r Panetta's 'L7Arabo

parl la to a Bengasi, ' Vol. 11, Bengasi, 1943. J
r Voiced to voiceless

gk-- kk /!~igkurn/ -- /&ikkum/ 'your (Pl. ) way'

dt -- tt /25551dtha/ -- /Zi'iC~ttha/ 'I stretched it'

Point of articulation

nb -- mb /krunb/ -- /krumb/ 'cabbage'

nf -- mf /nfl%/ A /mfl2g/ 'it burst'

Other

ts -- ss /ts&gm~t/ -- /ss*m~t/ 'it straightened'

nr -
t?; -- ii
rr
In -- nn
/ti%ww~z/-- /iizww~z/ 'he got married'
/ m ~ nrah?/ -- / m ~ rr a w 'who saw him'
/wsulna/ -- /wsunna/ 'our arrival'
nl -- 11 / m k n 11k/- /&nil hk/ 'where did you get, (the
right to.. .)'
 PART I1

MORPHOLCGY
 CHAPTER 111

ROOTS AND PATTERNS

Most Arabic words consist of a basic number of consonants and a

variety of vowels that may be inserted between those consonants. The con-

sonantal body is normally called the -

root of the word while the variety of

vowels a r e called patterns. The structure of words of Libyan Arabic will be

understood best if we adhere to these two basic morphological concepts.

Roots usually cai.q- 2 general idea of the meaning of the word, while the

patterns may specify it. The root /xnb/, which has something t o do with

'stealing', f o r example, may be used with different vowels giving various

specific meanings a s follows:

/xn&b/ 'he stole'

/xan~b/ 'thief'
/xnibz/ 'theft;'
/x~nba/ 'stealing'
/ m k n u b / ' stolen'
/y~xnrb/ 'he steals'

Roots in Libyan Arabic may be divided into triliteral roots (i. e. those

consisting of three radical consonants), guadriliteral roots and, very rarely,

roots of m o r e than four radicals. The triliteral root is the most commol?.

type, followed by the quadriliteral. Both may be further subdivided into

Istrong roots and weak roots. The f i r s t a r e those that consist of c o n s ~ n a n t s J

ronly; the second a r e those that may include a vowel besides the consonants. 1

The vowel may occur medially o r finally. Included under strong roots a r e

what i s called doubled roots; i. e. roots in which two of the radicals a r e

identical. Following i s an example of each type and its subdivisions. Each

root has the general meaning indicated.

Triliteral roots

Strong -
Weak

/fth/ 'opening7 / d ~ x /'getting

~ dizzy'
/hrb/ 'escaping' /lvm/ 'blaming'
/smt/ 'hearing' /mSV/ 'going'
/rgV/ 'climbing7

Doubled

/mss/ 'touching'
/Sdd/ 'holding'
/hss/ 'feeling'

Quadriliteral roots

Strong Weak

/drhb/ 'rolling' /mSkv/ 'shuffling (cards)'

/ x r b ~ / 'scribbling' / t ~ r x / 'dating (historically)'
/tr&m/ 'translating7 /hvhv/ 'singing (baby) to sleep'

l ~ o more
r details see Richard S. Harrell, A Short Reference Grammar
of Moroccan Arabic (Washington, D. C. : Georgetown University Press,
1962).

2~ stands for a vowel. Any long vowel may occur in that position.

L
r Doubled

/drdr/ 'sprinkling'
/m~m;/ 'rinsing'
 CHAPTER IV

THE VERB

Derivation

Libyan Arabic has a definite number of derivational measures, or

classes (to be discussed in detail later), for verbs, for associated adjec-

tives, and nouns. These measures correspond to the Standard Arabic mea-

sures which a r e numbered I to X, with the first being simple and the rest

derived from it. For convenience, the radical consonants of the root a r e

symbolized a s follows: 'F' for the first radical: 'C' for the middle, and

'L' for the last one. For example, a verb like /xn5b/ 'he stole' will be

symbolized 'FTZ1L'. For doubled verbs the symbols Fr5' will be used. For

quadriliteral root the last symbol 'L' will be repeated.

Libyan Arabic has eight of the ten standard Arabic measures of the

triliteral verbs. It does not have measures corresponding to the Standard

Arabic measures IV and M. The eight measures a r e a s foilows.

l ~ e a s u r e sa r e patterns against which forms of the verb a r e derived

from the basic form, which i s the first measure.
 Measure I Verbs

This measure is the simplest and the most common of all. It has

the patterns /&L/ for strong verbs, /FBW/ f o r doubled verbs, /FTe/

f o r final-weak verbs, and / F ~ L / for middle-weak verbs. Examples:

Strong verbs Final-weak v e r b s

/Criif/ 'he knew' /rme/ 'he threw'

/ilmug/ 'he became /ige/ 'he found'
furious'
/ s m ~ n / 'he became fat'

Doubled verbs Middle-weak verbs

/hBll/ 'he opened' /dar/ 'he did'

/r&dd/ 'he returned /xan/ 'he betrayed'
(transitive)' / ~ a b / 'he browht'
/d&ss/ ' he hid'

Measure II Verbs

The verbs of this measure a r e characterized by the doubling of the

middle radical. Most a r e transitive verbs with the pattern /F%PC%L/

-
Strong verbs

/sBll&/ 'he fixed, repaired'

/bBtt~l/ 'he dismissed'
/s&r/ 'he whistled'
/kirr~rnIm/ 'he poisoned'

'~iddle-weak verbs a r e also called 'hollow' verbs; final-weak verbs

a r e called 'defective'. Both t e r m s are used in this paper.
 1
rThe hollow verbs1 of this measure take -yy o r -ww a s the doubled middle

consonant.

/t&yy~b/'he cooked'
/z%ww~i/'he married, (trans.)'
/silyy~b/ 'he left'
/z&ww~g/ 'he painted'

The defective verbs have the pattern /~gCya/.

/%lla/ 'he elevated'

/d&nna/ 'he moved close'
/gillla/ 'he prayed'

A s it is noticeable from the examples above, the doubled middle consonant

i n all the verbs is preceded and followed by a vowel. The preceding vowel

is /5/ while the following vowel may be /2/ o r /I/. This measure has no

doubled verbs a s a separate subclass since the doubling is a characteristic

of the verbs of this measure in general.

Measure I11 Verbs

The pattern for this measure is / F ~ ' ~ I Lo/r /F~'%L/. Only a limited

lor, to state the case m x r preciseiy, those verbs which correspond

t o hollow verbs of Measure I:

Measure I Measure II

/!ab/ 'It is cooked' /t5yy1b/ 'he cooked'

/dar/ 'he turned' /h5ww1r/ 'he turned, (trans. )'

T h e r e are, strictly speaking, no hollow verbs in Measure II since the middle

Lposition is filled with a (double) consonant. _I
rnumber of verbs, mainly transitive, have this pattern. It remains the
1

same for strong verbs and hollow verbs, with the middle consonant for

the latter being -y or -w. For defective verbs it is / ~ a f a / .

Strong and hollow verbs

/sarn&/ 'he forgave'

/rank./ 'he fought, reprimanded'
/xas~m/ 'he argued with'
/5 aw~n/'he helped'
/ f a y ~ n /'he examined'

Defective verbs

/hada/ 'he came close'

/iada/ 'he antagonized'
/nada/ 'he called'

Measure V Verbs

The patterns for this measure a r e /~FBMIL/ for strong and hollow

verbs and / t ~ i l f f a /for defective verbs. Hollow verbs take -yy or -ww as

the doubled middle consonant. This measure differs from Measure II in

having a prefixed t-. The t- usually changes the meaning of the verb into

semi-passive and sometimes into reflexive. While Measure II verbs mav

mean something like 'to cause to do something', Measure V verbs indicate

'entering the state' caused by Measure I1 verbs. It may also mean 'to do

something oneself', e. g. /t52111rn/. 1

l ~ a C.r Bateson,
~ Arabic Language Handbook (Washington, D. C. :
LCenter for Applied Linguistics, 1967)' p. 33. .--I
I
Strong and hollow verbs

/ t ~ g g g ~ g'he
/ became upset'
/tm&rr~n/'he trained (himself)'
/tlawwrn/ 'it became colored'
/thgyyrr/ 'he became puzzled'1

Defective verbs

/tnghha/ 'he removed (himself)'

/th&6a/ 'he became relieved'
/tw%fa/ 'he died7

Measure VI Verbs

This measure has the sa-cne pattern as Measure III plus a prefixed t-.

The pattern for strong and hollow verbs i s / t ~ a $ : ~ (and

/ rarely / t ~ a 5 u ~ / ) .

The pattern for defective verbs is / t ~ a S

a/. The verbs of this measure have

a reciprocal meaning.

Strong and hollow verbs

/tna&~f/'he argued (with somebody)'

/thar~b/ 'he fought (with somebody)'
/&awur/ 'he consulted (with somebody)'

Defective verbs

/tpafa/ 'he settled the matter (with somebody)'

/tra$a/ 'he became reconciled (with somebody)'
/tbara/ 'he played (against somebody)'

'1n many instances the t- assimilates to the following consonant, It

may be an assirnilzition of voiceless to voiced (/td&rr~b/-- / d d s r r ~ b / 'to
train (one~clf')o r it may be a total assimilation (/ts&wwug/ -- /ss$,wwug/
'to go to the market place7).
L J
 Measure VIT Verbs

This measure is the same a s Measure I with a prefixed n-. It has

a semi-passive, and sometimes rdlexive, meaning. Its patterns a r e as

follows: / ~ F T ~ Lfor PT/ for doubled verbs, /nFa T/ for

/ strong verbs, / n ~ g

hollow verbs, and / n ~ g e /for defective verbs.

- verbs
Strong Hollow verbs

/nibZid/ 'it was pulled7 /ndar/ 'it was done7

/nzb&t/ 'it was controlled' /ngal/ 'it-was said'
/nFr@/ 'it was burned out' /nba5/ 'it was sold'

Doubled verbs Defective verbs

/nd&ss/ 'It was hidden7 /n3re/ 'It was bol?ght7

/np&bb/ 'It was poured' /ngre/ 'It was read'
/nb&ll/ 'It was wetted':! - /nbze/ 'It was paid'

Measure VIII Verbs

for strong verbs, /Ft2 SF/ for doubled

This has the pattern /E'~GL/

verbs, /F'ta'f/ for holiow verbs, and /Ftre/ for defective verbs. It differs

frcm Measure I in that i t has an infixed -t- after the first radical.

'1n the speech of some people the prefix is In-.

'when the o- is followed by a voiced bilabial stop the n- usually

assimilates to it, creating an /m/ effect; e. g. /nbne/ -- /mbne/ 'it was
.
Lbuilt ' 1
 Strong verbs Hollow verbs

,'ltS%b/ 'it was played' /xtar/ 'he chose'

/ntf&x/ 'it was inflated' /&tag/ 'he was nostalgic'
/Ithgm/ 'it was welded'

Doubled verbs Defective verbs

/ l t h m / 'It was gathered' /sthe/ 'he became shy'

/lt%zz/ 'he was dismissed' /btie/ 'he was plagued'
/ft&kk/ 'he was relieved'

Measure X Verbs

This measure has the prefix st-. For strong verbs the pattern is

/ s ~ % F ~ I L /f ,o r doubled verbs i t is /stF& $r/; for hollow verbs /stFa?/; and

f o r defective verbs the pattern is /stii~Pa/.

Strong verbs Hollow verbs

/ s t & ~ i r b /'he wondered' /strah/ 'he rested'

/sthnlrk/ 'it became haunted' /stfa:'/ 'he was optimistic'
/st&bl~d/'he became stupid'

Doubled verbs Defective v e r b s

/ s t b e g / ' he deserved' /stZibla/ ' he was plagued by'

/stm&rr/ 'he continued' /st&rxa/ 'he slowed down'
/stl&dd/ 'he enjoyed the /st%Sna/ 'he took c a r e of'
taste'

'some weak middle roots also take /S~BFSIL/ where the is usually
/-w/ o r /-Y/; e. g. /stahw~n/ 'he underestimated', / s t ~ w 1 1 / 'he became wild'.
L J
 Quadrili t e r a l Verbs 1
Quadriliteral verbs a r e divided into simple f o r m s and derived forms.

The pattern for the simple strong verbs is /FB<L IL/ (sometimes /FBSL&L/)

and only r a r e l y / F & ~ L U L / . For hollow verbs (in which the weak item is

usually the second) the pattern is /Fof IL/; f o r defective verbs i t is / ~ o 5 a / o r

Strong verbs Hollow verbs

/dZirh~b/ 'he rolled' / t o r ~ x / 'he dated, historically'

/ ~ i i r b ~ t'he
/ put i n sequence'
/d5irkafi/ 'he swung'
/x5rb1&/ 'he scribbied'

Defective verbs

/m&&ka/'he shuffled (cards)'

/hoha/ 'he sang (baby) to sleep'

There a r e many reduplicat;,or~si n quadriliieral roots. In some verbs the

second and the fourth radicals a r e repeated; e. g. /s&11111/ 'he turned up-

side down'. IL a few other verbs the f i r s t and the third a r e reduplicated;

e. g. /'uiirb~&/ 'he dug out', . .

tart^&/ 'he shattered'. In still other verbs we

find multiple reduplication; i. e. the f i r s t and the third as well a s the second

. .
and the fourth, all in the same word, e. g. /t3gt1g/ 'he knocked7, /f&tf~t/

'he crushed.
I Derived Quadriliteral Verbs

Derived verbs a r e formed by prefixing a t- to the simple quadri-

literal verbs in the same way a s Measure V triliteral verbs a r e derived

from Measure 11. The addition of t- gives the meaning of semi-passive.

The patterns a r e the same a s those of the simple verbs plus the prefix t-.

Strocg --
verbs Hollow verbs

/txgrb15/ 'it was scribbled' /ttorrx/ 'it was dated7

/ddgrhrb/ 'it was rolled' /tpob~n/ 'it was washedp1
/dd&rgah/ 'it was swung'

Inf'lec tion

Verbs in Libyan Arabic a r e i~iflectedfor the following:

Tense: Perfect and imperfect

Mood: Indicative and imperative

Number: (Singulas (S) and plural (PI. )

Gender: Masculine (M) and feminine (F)

Person: First, second, third.

Inflectional affixes may be prefixes, s-&fixes, o r a combination of

both. The perfect tense is indicated by attaching suffixes; the imperfect by

prefixes (and in some cases also by suffixes). An inflectional affix i s added

to a verb stem (which is, of course, a combination of a root and a pattern).

NO derived defective verbs have been observed in Libyan Arabic.

L J
rVerb stems may be divided into: (a) strong stems, which end in a short
1

vowel plus a consonant, such a s /bb&s/ 'he jailed'; (b) doubled stems in

which the last radical is doubled, such a s /bgll/ 'he wetted'; (c) hollow stems

(those ending in a long vowel plus a consonant), such as /mat/ 'he died'; (d)

defective stems, ending in a vowel, such as /xde/ 'he took'.

The Perfect Tense

Strong Verbs

The perfect tense of strong verbs is formed by the addition of suffixes

to verb stems, The suffixes are:

I -t
we -na
you (MS) -t
you (FS) -ti
you (Pl.) -tu

he -6
she -It
t liey -u

These suffixes may be added to the eight measures of the triliteral verbs md

to the quadriliteral verbs. Some internal changes may result but, as we will

see, the patterns a r e in genera! quite consistent. The following example

is an inflectional paradigm of a Measure I verb:

r / ~ r & b /'he drank'

you (MS) /8r&bt/

you (FS) /~rgbti/
you (PI. ) /Sr&ba-

he /sr&b/
she /Surbg/
they / ~ u r b-u /

A s may be seen from this paradigm, the third person masculine singu-

l a r lacks any kind of suffix (6 indicates lack of inflection). This same form

i s considered the simple form from which all others a r e derived. Arabic

does not have an infinitive foriii a s in English. The third person masculine

singular of the perfect i s therefore considered the base form.

in the third person feminine singular and the third person plural form

the stem vowel not only shifts back to a place between the first and the

second radicals but also changes to /u/ in some verbs (like / ~ r & b / )and lo

/I/ in others, like the following:

/sk&n/ 'he lived (at)'

' ~ o t ethat the forms for the second person masculine singular and
the first person singular a r e identical in the perfect tense.
L J
r you (MS) /skht/
you (FS) /skbti/
you (Pl. ) /smtu/

he /s kiln/
she /s~knrt/
they /s&ld

This shift is characteristic of verbs of Measures I, VII, and VIII. Examples:

/nir&d/ 'he was dismissed7 /nfih&s/ 'he was jailed'

I /ntr &dt/ /nfib&st/
we /+ma/ /nFb&snd

you (MS) /ntr2idt/ /nhbgst/

you (FS) /ntr&dti/ /nbbbassti/
you (PI. ) /nir~td /nbbbasstu/

he ,'??;rM/ /nhb&s/
she /ntu_rd~t/ /ibLbslt/
they /n$grdy/ .-
/nh~bsu/

I
..
/nts&b/ 'he stood upright'
/nt&ibt/
/ r t 5&d/ ' he shivered'
/rt5adt/
we ..
/nts&bna/ /rt S a d n d

yo2: (MS) /n!?&bt/ /rt ~ a d t /

you (FS) /nts&ti/ / r t $adti/
you (Pl. ) /n{&btu/ /rt Sadtd

he /nt s%b/ /rt5~/

she /n&br t/ / r t ~$drt/
they ..
/ntvsbd /rtr fd d

In Measures 11, 111, V, VI, and X, this vowel shift does not occur.

Instead the vowel of the seccqd syllable drops completely. The following
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rare examples:

Measure 11: Measure III:

/$ikkrr/ 'he closed' /sang!/ 'he pardoned'

I /g&kkrrt/ /sa.m&t/
we /g&kkTrna/ / sam&na/
you (MS) /$ikkIrt/
you (FS) /?&klurti/
you (Pl, ) /s5khrti~]

he /@klur/
she /siikkr~t/
they /&ikkru/

Measure V. Measure VI:

/tm&rr~n/'he trained /tqar~k/ 'he fought (with somebody)'

(himself)'
I /tm&rr~nt/
we /tm&rr~nna/

you (MS) /tm&rr~nt/

You (FS) /tmgrr~nti/
you (Pl. ) /tmarr~ntu/

he /tm&rr~n/
she /tm2rrmt/
they /tmgrrnd

Measure X:

/st?ifhl/ 'he hurried'

I / s t 3 81lt/
we /st&(i~lna/

you (MS) /st&$B~lt/

You (FS) /stii~iZ~lti/
you (Pl. ) /st&(81ltu/
 he
she
they

Doubled Verbs

Verbs with a doubled final radical of Measures I, VII, VIII, and X have

the vowel /e/ inserted before the suffixes, in the perfect tense, in all the

persons except the third person feminine singular and the third person plural.

Examples:

Mesasure I: Measure VII:

/d5ff/ 'he pushed' /n$&rr/ 'he was hurt'

I /dSf et/ /n@rret/
we /dgf ena/ /n#irrena/

you (MS) /dSfet/ /ndarret/

you (FS) /d&Efeti/ /nd&rreti/
you (Pl. ) /dSfetu/ /iaiirretu/

he /dSf/ /ndarr/
she / d S f ~t/ / n & r r ~t/
they /diLffu/ /n&irru/

Measure VDI: Measure X:

/It Sf / ' he wrapped / s t b e g / 'he deserved'

(himself)'
I /lttiffet/ /sth%get/
we /Itgfena/ /st6iiggena/

you (MS) /ItAffet/ /stb5gget/

you (FS) /ltgfeti/ /sth&geti/
you (PI. ) /lti~f~etu/ i sthiiggetu/
r he
she
they

Hollow Verbs

Hollow verbs a r e s o called because they have the long vowel /a/ before

ths f i ~ aconsonant
l i n place of the second radical. When the perfect tense

suffixes a r e added to these verbs the vowel changes into /u/ o r /I/, un-

predictably, in the first and second persons--that is, where the suffixes

begin with a consonant. Hollow verbs a r e found in Measures I, VII, VIII,

and X. Examples:

Measure I:

/fag/ 'he woke up7 /?am/ 'he fasted'

I /f1gt/ /;umt/
we /f ~ g n a / /;vmna/

you (MS) /f~gt/ /~umt/

you (FS) /f~gti/ /pumti/
you (Pl. ) /f1gtu/ /;umtu/

he /fag/ /am/
she /fag~t/ /;am~t/
they /fagd /;amu/

Measure VII:

/man/ 'he was betrayed' /nhaz/ 'he was biased to'

I /nxunt/ /nh~zt/
we /mu nna/ /&ma/

you (MS) /nxunt/ /n@ zt/

you (FS) /m~nti/ /n@zti/
you (Pl. ) /nxuntu/ /npzztu/
L
r he /man/ /npaz/
she /nxan~t/ /nhaz~t/
they /nxanu/ /nhazu/

Measure Vm:

/xtar/ 'he chose/ /ltam/ 'he was blamed'

I /xt.~rt/ /ltumt/
we /xt~rna/ /lt umna/

you (MS) /xt~rt/ /It-t/

you (FS) /xt~rti/ /Iturnti/
you (PI. ) /xt~rtu/ /ltumtu/

he /xt ar/ /Itam/

she /xtar~t/ /Itam~t/
they /xtaru/ /ltamu/

Measure X:

/st$ar/ 'he felt ashamed' /st&@/ 'he became furious'

of'
I rt/ /stru@t/
we /st t ~ r n a / /st &dna/

you (MS) /stf~rt/ /st Xu fit/

you (FS) /st h t i / /st 8u dti/
you ( ~ 1). /stf~rtu/ /st # v ~ t y /

he /strar/ /st lad/

she /st Far1t/ /sta+t/
they /st f a r d /st8 a d d

Defective Verbs

Defective verbs a r e those that end in the vowels /e/ o r /a/. In verbs

ending in / a / , this changes to /e/ before the suffixes of the first and second

persons. In all verbs, the final /e/ o r /a/ i s dropped before the feminine
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 1
rand plural third person suffixes. These changes occur in all eight measures

of triliteral verbs and in quadriliterals. The following a r e examples from

Measure I and X.

Measure I: Measure X:

/mse/ 'he went' /st&rxa/ 'he relaxed'

I /nGet/ /stgrxet/
we /mSena/ /st$irxerzzi/

you (MS) /mSet/ /stgrxet/

you (FS) /m8eti/ /stZirxeti/
you (PI. ) /mgetu/ /stgrxetu/

he /mSe/ /s t5rxa/
she /m31t/ /st%rx~t/
they / m ~ d /s tgrxu/

The Imperfect Tense

The inflectional affixes of the imperfect tense may be prefixes,

suffixes, or a combination of both. The imperfect zffiics a r e as follows:

l ~ h i applies
s also to such r a r e biliteral verbs as /zB/ 'he came'
and /re/ 'he saw', which a r e conjugated as follows:

I
we
YOU (MS)
you (FS)
you (Pl. )
he
she
they

Notice that in the third person feminine and plural the second ras',ical drops
completely and the suffix is attached to a monoradical stem.
L _I
 you (MS) t(1/2i/U)
you(FS) t(1/2/U). . . i
you (PI. ) t(~/a/~) ...
u

he y(~/a/U)
she t(~/a/U
they y(~/a/U) . ..u
Suffixes a r e always vowels. Prefixes may be consonants alone o r

consonants plus one of the vowels enclosed in parentheses. Prefixes a r e

consonants alone if the verb stem begins with a single consonant; and a

consonant plus one of the vowels if the stem begins in a cluster of two

consonants o r more. As shown in the following examples (from Measure I),

prefixes a r e combined with suffixes only in the second person feminine

singular form and in the plural forms.

/b811/ 'he opened' /rb8t/ 'he tied' /lTtib/ ' he played'

I /nh111/ /nvrbut/ /n&lCtb/
we /GL11ld
-9 /srbtu/ .- /ngl$bd

you (MS) /*ll/ /turbut/ /t&lS&b/

you (FS) /tb~lli/ /Grbti/ /t%lfbi/
you (PI. ) -.
/%111u/ /GrbiQ.- /talCbu/

he /yJh111/ /=rbut/ /y&l$&b/

she /th111/ /tvrbut;/ /t&lS&b/
they 151 lld /zrbtu/
0- /y 2lTbu/

When this combination of prefixes and suffixes a r e added to different

verbs some changes take place in different measures. The following a r e

~ e x a r n p l e sof those changes. --I

r ~ t r o n g Verbs

When the imperfect tense affixes a r e added to strong verbs the stem

vowel drops in the second person feminine singular and in all the plural

forms, creating a cluster of three consonafits in the middle. This is true

of strong verbs of all measures except VII and VIII. T h t foiiowing is an

example of Measure 11.

/s?Lff~r/ 'he whistled'

I /nsiiffrr/
we /n+fru/

you (MS) /tsaff~r/

you (FS) /t&fri/
you (PI. ) /t+fru/

he /y$iff~r/
she /tgiiff~r/
they /ysaffru/l

In Measures VII and VIII the stem vowel does not drop but, instead,

it changes i t s position. It moves back to a place between the first and second

radicals instead of its previous position between the second and the third.

This happens i n the second person feminine singular and in the plural forms;

that is, with any (vowel) suffix.

' ~ o t i c e that in the plural forms and in the second person feminine
singular the F is doubled, in the pronunciation of Libyans, despite the fact
that it occurs before a consonant; i t is, therefore, different from /nsafry/
c w e travel', /tsafri/ 'you (FS) travel', etc. J
r /ngrilb/ 'he was hit/
I /nun$ ub/
we /nvn+!rbs/

you (MS) /tun$ru b/

you (FS) /tun&rbi/
you (PI. ) /tun$urbu/

he /yundrub/
she /tun&-" b/
they /y u ngu T~IJ-/

When the imperfect prefixes a r e added to s t e m s beginning with w- o r

y- the prefixes merge with these sounds, resulting i n a long high back vowel

f o r w- and long high front vowel for y-; e. g.

/wgilf/ 'he stood' / y b ~ s / 'it became dry'

I /nuguf/ /nib1 s/
we /nugfu/ /nibsu/

YOU (MS) /tuguf/ /tib~s/

YOU (FS) /tugfi/ /tibsi/
you (PI. ) /tugfu/ /tibsu/

he /yuguf/ / y i b ~s/
she /tugof/ /tib~s/
they /yugfd /yibsu/

Hollow Verbs

In hollow verbs of Measure I, the stem vowel in the imperfect is

different from the stem vowel in the perfect. The stem vowel /a/ i n the

perfect changes, unpredictably, to /i/ in such verbs a s /fag/ -- /yfig/ 'he

wakes up' and to /u/ in such verbs a s /bas/ -- /ybus/ 'he kisses'. In still

Lother verbs the /a/ does not change at all. Examples: J

r /a/ - /i/
/fag/ 'he woke up'
/a/ -- / u /
/bas/ 'he kissed'
i /dig/ /nbus/
we /nfigu/ /iibus-d

you (MS) /tfig/

you (FS) /tfigi/
you (Pl. ) /tfigd

he /yfig/
she Itfig/
they /yfigu/

/ a / 4 /a/
/bat/ 'he spent the night'
I /nbat/
we /nbatu/

you (MS) /tbat/

you (FS) /tbati/
you (Pl. ) /tbatu/

he /ybat/
she /tbat/
they /ybatu/

Defective Verbs

In defective verbs the final vowel of the stem (normally /e/ or /a/)

changes to /i/, eliminating the distinction between masculine and feminine

in the second person singular. This i s the case in defective verbs of

Meas-ires I, 11, 111, and Vm, and in quadriliteral verbs such a s /hoha/ 'he

sang (the baby) to sleep'. Examples:

r Measure I: Measure 11:

/ k e / 'he bought' /@ills/ 'he sweetened'

I /n1i3ri/ /nhZdli/
we /nrSru/ /nF&llu/

you (MS) /t19ri/ /tp&lli/

you (FS) /t~Sri/ /tpU/
you (PI. ) /t~&ru/ /tpgllu/

he /y~Sri/ /yp&lli/
she it~Srii it~alli/
they /yrSru/ /yb&~lu/~

Measure ITI: Meamre Vm:

/nada/ 'he called on . . .' /rtme/ 'he lay down'

I /nnadi/ /nrrtmi/
we /nnadu/ /mrtmu/

you (MS) /tnadi/ /t~rtmi/

You (FS) /tnadi/ /t~rtmi/
you (PI. ) /tnadu/ /t~rtmu/

he /ynadi/ /y~rtrni/
she /tnadi/ /t~rtmi/
they /ynadu/ /y~r~.c,'

The quadriliteral /hoha/ 'he sang (the baby) to sleep':

you (MS) /thohi/

You (FS) /thohi/
you (PI. ) /thohu/

l ~ o t i c ethat the /i/ is omitted when the plural suffix i s attached.

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r he /yho hi/
she /thohi/
they /yhohdl

Defective verbs of Measures V and VI do not change at all in the

imperfect. Their stems are, therefore, identical to those of the perfect,

ending in /a/. This /a/ is dropped before the suffix /i/ o r /u/. Examples:

Measwe V: Measure VI:

/tT&Sga/ 'he dined' /tw&ffa/ 'he died'

I / m t ~&%%a/ /mtwma/
we /n1t5gSgu/ /n~twiiffu/

you (MS) /trt5&S~a/ a/

/t~tw&ff
You (FS) /t~tf&S~i/ /t~tw&€fi/
you (PI. ) /t1tf &&~u/ /tItw&€fu/

he /y~tcagea/ /y~twMa/
she /t~t$il~.iia/ /t~twiiffa/
they /y~twii~y/ /y~twiiffu/

A different group of defective verbs is the.one in which the final

vowel (usually /e/) changes to /a/. This includes all verbs of Measures VII,

and some verbs of Measure I. Examples:

Measure VII: Measure I:

/ntse/ 'it was forgotten' /gre/ 'he read, studied'

I /n~ntsa/ /niigra/
we /nrntsu/ /nerd

' ~ l s oconjwated in the same way (i.e. with /i/ at the end) a r e bi-
literal verbs such a s h e / 'he came' which becomes / ~ i i / ,/y8u/, etc.
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 you (MS) /tmntaa/ /t&ra/
you (FS) /tmntsi/ /t&ri/
you (PI. ) /tmtscJ /t&ru/

he /ymntsa/ /y&ra/
she /t~ntsa/ /t@ra/
they /ymntsu/ /~&ru/

Inflection of the Imperative

The imperative forms of verbs a r e identical with, o r close to, the

basic forms of the second person of the imperfect. Some exceptions will be

noted later in the chapter. Imperative forms of verbs may be divided into

two groups: (a) a group that is formed from the imperfect by replacing the

consonantal element of the prefix by a glottal stop (leaving the vowel ele-

ment intact). This group includes: the strorz 22d defective verbs of

Measure I and all the verbs of Measures VII, VIII, and X. Examples:

Measure I

Strong verbs:

hnperf ect Imperative

/tugrub/ 'you (MS) drink/ /?usrub/ !

/tu>rbi/ 'you (FS) drink/ / 'uSrbi/ !
/tugrbu/ 'you (PI. ) drink/ /?uSrbu/!
,

Defective verbs:

/tmrmi/ 'you (MS) throw' / 71rmi/ !

/tmrmi/ 'you (FS) throw7 / '%mi/ !
/tmrmu/ 'you (PI. ) throw' / %rmu/ !
I Measure VII

Strong verbs:

/tunilug/ 'you (MS) get loose'

/tuntulgi/ 'you (FS) get loose'
/tuntulgu/ 'you (PI. ) get loose'

Doubled verbs:

/t~ndgss/ 'you (MS) hide (yourself)'

/t~nd&ssi/'you (FS) hide (pourself)'
/trndHssu/ 'you (PI. ) hide (yourself)'

Hollow verbs:

/t~ngam/ 'you (MS) get picked up'

/t~ngam/ 'you (FS) get picked up'
/t~ngamu/ 'you (Pl. ) get picked up'

Defective verbs:

/ t 1 n ~ 2 . /'you (MS) bend'

/t~@mi/ 'you (FS) bend'
/t~nbnu/ 'you jP1. ) bend'

Measure Vm

Strong verbs:

/t&ti%lrf/ 'you (MS) differ'

/tV~t'ahfi/'you (FS)differ'
/t&t&l~fu/ 'you (PI. ) differ'

Doubled verbs:

/t~ft&kk/'you (MS) become relieved'

/t~ftiZikki/ 'you (FS) become relieved'
/ t ~ f t i i k k d'you (PI. ) become relieved'
 Hollow verbs:

/t~btaz/ 'you (MSj need7

./t~btazi/ 'you (FS) need7
/trbtazd 'you (PI. ) need7

Defective verbs:

/ t ~ s t p /'you (%/IS) become shy7

/t~stfii/ 'you (FS) become shy'
/t~stbu/ 'you !PI, ) become shy7

Measure X

Strong verbs:

/t~st&C b ~ d /'you (MS) enslave'

/t~st&Sbdi/'you (FS) enslave7
/ t ~ s t & f b d d'you (Pl. ) enslave7

Doubled verbs:

/t&stii C ~ d d /'you (MS) get ready7

/ t & s t & ~ ~ d d'you
i / (FS) get ready7
/t&stZi.f~ddd'you (PI. ) get ready7

Hollow verbs:

/trstfal/ 'you (MS) become optimistic7 /?rstfal/!

/trstfali/ 'you (FS) become optimistic' / 71stfali/!
/t~sffa l d 'you (PI. ) become optimistic7 /71stfald !

Defective verbs:

/t1st5tna/ 'you (MS) except7

/t~sti?itni/ 'you (FS) except'
/t~st&tnu/'you (PI. ) except7

(b) A group that is f x m e d by omitting the imperfect prefixzs from the second

person forms, without making any other changes. This group includes: the
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rdoubled and hollow verbs of Measure I and all the verbs of Measures II, IU, 1
V, and VI. Examples:

Measure I

Doubled verbs:

h p e r f ect

/tC~dd/ 'you (MS) count' /$I dd/!

/ t ~ ~ d d i'you
/ (FS) count' /TI ddi/ !
/t 51ddd 'you (Pl. ) count' /51 d d d !

Hollow verbs:

/ddir/ 'you (MS) do'

/ddiri/ 'you (FS) do'
/ddiru/ 'you (Pl. ) do'

Measure If

Strong verbs:

/tf&ll%$/ 'you (MS) farm'

/tf&ll@/ 'you (FS) farm'
/tfiXllpu/ 'you (Pl. ) farm'

Hollow verbs:

/tn&ww~r/'you (MS) lighten'

/tn&wwri/ 'you ( FS) lighten'
/tn&wwru/ 'you (Pl. ) lighten'

Defective verbs:

/txlilli/ 'you (MS) leave'

/tx&lli/ 'you (FS) leave'
/tx&llu/ 'you (Pl. ) leave'
 Strong verbs:

/tman&$/ 'you (MS) object'

/ t m a n ~ i / 'you (FS) object'
/ t m a n ~ u / 'you (Pl. ) object'

Hcllow verbs:

/ t s a y ~ r / 'you (MS) go along with'

/tsayri/ 'you (FS) go along with'
/tsayru/ 'you (Pl. ) go along with'

Defective verbs:

/tt adi/ 'you (MS) antagonize'

/t f adi/ 'you (FS) antagonize'
/ t t a d d 'you (PI. ) antagonize'

Measure V

Strong verbs:

/ t ~ t b & r r ~ d'you
/ (MS) cool (your-self)'
/t~tBarrdi/ 'you (FS) cool (yourself)'
/t~tb&rrdu/'you (Pl. ) cool (yourselves)'

Hollow verbs:
/ '- - - - -
/tItlg nli-, Y W U ( ~ V L D ) change'
8%""'

/trtagyyri/ 'you ( FS) change'

/ t ~ t r ~ . ~ w'you
~ u /(Pl. ) change'

Defective verbs:

/ t ~ t g ~ d a'you
/ (MS) have lunch'
/ t ~ t l ~ d 'you
i / ( FS) have lunch'
/t~tugddu/ 'you (Pl. ) have lunch'
 Strong verbs:

/t~t~ar~ 'youl d (MS) fight' '

/ t ~ t ~ a r k i'you
/ (FS) fight'
/ t ~ t ~ a r . k u'you
/ (Pl. ) fight'

Hollow verbs:

/ t ~ t $ a w ~ n'you
/ (MS) cooperate'
1t1trawni/ 'you (FS) cooperate'
/ t ~ sawnu/
t 'you (PI. ) cooperate'

Defective verbs:

/t~tbara/ 'you (MS) compete with'

/t~tbari/ 'you (FS) compete with'
/ t ~ t b a r d'you (PI. ) compete with'

Among the few verbs that have irregular imperative forms a r e the

two biliteral verbs /ie/ 'he came' and /re/ 'he saw'. In the imperatives of

these two verbs, totally different stems are used; e. g.

/t Cala/ 'you (Ma come !' / ? ~ & b @'you

/ (MS) see!'
/t ~ a l i /‘you ( FS) come !' / ? ~ & b h i /'you (FS) see!'
/t$alu/ 'you (Pl. ) come !' /?Is~~u / (PI. ) see !
'you

'/gbah/ is actually an independent verb of i t s own, synonymous with

r e . Since /re/ has no imperative form the imperative of the other vsrb
ps used instead. J
 The Inflection of /kle/ a d /xcle/

The two verbs /Me/ 'he ate' and /xde/ 'he took' a r e irregular in

their inflection and behavior. These a r e basically defective triliteral

Measure I verbs, with the final radical being / e / . They behave as such

when they a r e inflected for the perfect; e. g.

you (MS) /klet/ /xdet/

you (FS) /Meti/ /xdeti/
you (PI. ) /kletu/ /xdetu/

he /Me/ /xde/
she /klrt/ / x d ~t/
they /klu/ /xdu/

When they a r e inflected for the imperfect, however, they become

strong verbs with the different stems: /-akl/ and /-axd/. Example:

you (MS) /tak11/ /turd/

you ( FS) /takli/ /taxdi/
you (PI. ) /taklu/ /taxdu/

he /yakrl/ /yax~d/
she /tahl/ /taxrd/
they /yaMu/ /yaxdu/
r1n the imperative they also have irregular forms that do not relate to the 1

imperfect forms. The stem in the imperative has /d a s the middle radical
and therefore behaves like a hollow stem; e. g.

Imperative: /kui/! 'you (MS)eat' /xud/! 'you (MS) take'

/kuli/! 'you (FS) eat' /xu&/! 'you (FS) take'
/ k u l d ! 'you (Pl. ) eat' /xudu/! 'you (PI=) take'
 CHAPTER V

NOUNS

Derivation

Derivation of Verbal Nouns

A verbal noun i s the noun that is derived from a verb. It often has the

meaning of an 'action' o r 'state', and in few instances, of action combined

with i t s result. Verbal nouns normally have abstract meanings but many

have acquired concrete meanings through different processes.

There a r e a number of patterns by which verbal nouns are derived.

These patterns vary according to the verb measure in question. Measure I

verbs, for example, have a wide variety of verbal noun patterns and they

cannot all be predicted. What follows is the patterns of most of the measures

in Libyzn Arabic arranged in numerical order, with examnles.

Measure I Patterns

This measure has the following patterns for verbal nouns:

A. Strong verbs: /FBFL/

Doubled verbs: / F B ~ F / - /FS sfan/

Hollow verbs: /FoC/ -, /~o'jan/, /Fef/ - /Fe$an/
Defective verbs: /F&'ii/, / F & $ L ~ /
L
 Strong verbs Verbal nouns

/nb&fi/ 'it barked' /n&bh/ 'barking'

/dr5b/ 'he hit' /d5r$ 'hitting'
/smiq/ 'he heard' / s h 5 / 'hearing'
Doubled verbs

/miidd/ 'he stretched' -

/m5dd/ /miiddan/ 'stretching'
/riidd/ 'to give hack' /riIdd/ -
/ r ~ d a n / 'giving back'
/lknm/ 'to gether' -
/ l h n i / / l h m a n / 'gathering'

Hollow verbs

/dab/ 'it melted' -

/dob/ /doban/ 'melting'
/mal/ 'it bent' -
/rnel/ /melan/ 'bending'
/had /I hana/
/Cia$/ /1da5a/
Defective verbs

/%re/ 'he r ~ i ~ ? /%&ri/

'running'
/mle/ 'he filled' /m&li/ 'filling '
/nse/ 'he forgot' /n%swa/ 'forgetting'
/she/ 'he forgot' /s5hwa/ 'forgetting'

B. SLrong verbs: /FI(IL/

Hollow verbs: / ~ i f a /

Examples:
Strong verbs Verbal nouns

/kd&b/ 'he lied' /hdrb/ 'lying'

/l5iib/ 'he played' /11 ' i ~ b / 'playing'

Hollow verbs

/har/ 'he became puzzled' /bira/ 'puzzlement'

b a r / 'he b ~ c a m ejealous' / ~ l i r a / 'jealousy '
rC. Strong verbs: /F~J$UL/

Doubled verbs: /FU qf/

Examples:

Strong verbs Verbai nouns

/bx&l/ 'he was stingy' /buxul/ 'stinginess'

..
/dh&k/ 'he laughed' ..
/du bu k/ 'laughing'

Doubled verbs

/El ~ B S /'he cheated'

D. Strong verbs: /F%$IL;

Examples:

Strong verbs

/bl%/ 'he swore' /hil11f/ 'swearing'

/~bAd/ 'he pulled' / i & b ~ d /'pulling'
/$gild/ 'he tied' /5&g1d/ 'tying'

E. Strong verbs: /F$&L/

Examples:

/gl~g/ 'he lost patience' /gl@/ 'loosing patience'

/tSZib/ 'he got tired' /tS&b/ 'tiredness'

F. Strong verbs: / ~ 5 u L /

Examples:

l p a t t e r n A of the doubled verbs may be used a s a verbal noun for

this verb too.
r- S t r o w verbs

/x@m/ 'he passed by' /x,,tum/ 'passing by'

/hr5b/ 'he escaped' / h u b / 'escaping'
/zr5g/ 'he sneaked out9 /zrug/ ' sneaking out'

G. Strong verbs: / F I S L ~ / - /Fo$La/

Examples:

Strong verbs

/xngb/ 'he stole' /x~nba/ ' stealing'

/xt&b/ 'he announced his /xutba/ 'engagement'
engagement'

H. Strong verbs: fa^/

Hollow verbs: /fi a ~ / ,/F'jaLa/

Examples:

Strong verbs and hollow verbs 'Jerbal nouns

/rg%d/ 'he slept' /rg ad/ ' sleeping'

/hbrl/ 'he became crazy' /hbal/ 'craziness'
/tab/ 'it became cooked' /tyab/ 'cooking'
/;am/ 'he fasted' /'sy am/ 'fasting'
bar/ 'he visited' /kyara/ 'visiting'

Measure II Patterns

Measure I1 has the following verbal noun patterns:

A. Strong verbs:
/~5aLa/
Defective
 Stronrr verbs and defective verbs

/d&bb~r/'he thought of something' /dbara/ 'thinking7

/f&ll*/ 'he farmed7 /flaba/ 'farming'

Defective verbs

/wggga/ 'he gave a message' / w ~ a y a / 'giving a nlessage'

,/ I.
,.
X-
C~~,/ c:+ ,,.A: ,c: -2'
IC O Q C ~ O L ~ G U /kfaya/ 's a~ sfyip!'
B. Strong verbs: / ~ I F $ ~ L /

Defective verbs: / t u ~ F e /

Examples:

Strong verbs

/x&ll~t/'he mixed7 /t~xlit/ 'mixing'

/ b & r r ~ d /'he cooled' /t~brid/ 'cooling'
/ l & ~ m r d / 'he cci!ected7 /t~lmid/ 'cc~llecting'

Defective verbs Verbal nouns

/w&rra/ 'he showed' /tuwre/ 'showing'

/g&wwa/ 'he strengthened7 /tugwe/ 'strengthening'

C. Strong verbs: / F S ~ L /

Defective verbs: /E'le/

Examples:

Strong verbs

/sgll.~rn/ 'he greeted7 /slam/ 'greeting'

/k&ll~m/'he talked to ... /klam/ 'talking7
 Defective verbs

/d&xia/ 'he sag! /8ne/ ' singing'

/$ills/ 'he prayed' /sle/ ' praying'

Measure 111 Patterns

The verbal noun patterns for Measure III a r e a s follows:

A. Strong verbs: /m ~ a l ; ~ a /

-
Defective verbs: / m ~ a 5 e / /m ~ a J a /

Examples:

Strong verbs

/(ay~n/ 'he examined' ;msayna/ 'examining'

/ s a y ~ r / 'he tolerated' /msayra/ 'toleration'
/har~b/ 'he fought' /'mFarba/ 'fighting'

Defective verbs

/ s a n d 'he suffered' /msane/ - /m5 ana/ ' suffering'

/ra$a/ 'he reconciled' /mr@e/ - /mrada/ 'reconciliation'

Verbal noun patterns for Measure V a r e the same a s those of

Measure 11.

Measure VI Patterns

For the verbal noun of Measure VI, the patterns of Measure III a r e

normally used. However, the following pattern is also heard, ;rlthough rarely.

A. Strong verbs: / t & ~ a f u ~ /

Examples:
L
r Strong verbs Verbal nouns

/t 5 a w ~ n /'he cooperated' /tii~awun/ 'cooperation7

/tla5Gb/ 'he cheated7 /tiila5ub/ 'cheating7

Measure VII Patterns

The verbal noun patterns for Measure VII a r e the following:

A. Strong verbs: /nF'15a~/

~ o l l o wverbs: / ? ~ ~ a $ a /

Examples:

Strong verbs

/ n s B t h / 'he got along well7 /nsziam/ 'getting along well7

/n'll&m&s/ 'he indulged' /niirmas/ 'indulgence7

Hollow verbs

/nhan/ 'he was insulted7 / 91hana/ 'insult'

/ndaf/ 'it was Groadcasted7 /?1da5a/ 'broadcast'

Measure VIll Patterns

Verbal noun patterns for verbs of Measure VIII a r e quite rare. Only

/ 71~t15al/is found. Examples:

/ ? ~ s t & n B C / 'he listened to7 / ? ~ s t ~ r n a F'Listening'
/
/71nt&s&b/ 'he belonged to7 / 71nt1sab/ 'belonging to7
/Ftad/ 'he got used to7 / ? ~ t t ~ y a d'getting
/ used to7
/xtar/ 'he chose' / 71xt1yar/ 'choosing7
r ~ e a s u r eX Patterns

The verbal noun patterns for Measure X a r e a s follows:

A. Strong verbs:
/ 3rstr FFa ~ /
Defective verbs:

Verbal nouns of all defective verbs of Measure X have /?/ a s a final

consonant.

Hollow verbs: / 71st1~ aa/f

Examples:

Strong verbs Verbal nouns

/ ? ~ s t & r i 5/g 'he got back' /?~st~ria$' 'getting back'

/ ? ~ s t + m ~ d /'he thanked (God)' / ? ~ s t ~ h m a d'thanking
/ (God)'

Defective verbs

/ ?1st55la/ 'he felt superior' / ? I S ~ I5la?/ 'feeling superior'

/?~st&tna/'he excepted' / 71st1tna?/ 'exceptingz
Hollow verbs

/ ? ~ s t g t a n / 'he asked the help / ? ~ s t ~ t a n a'asking

/ the help of'
of'
/?1st5ta$/ 'he was able to' / ? ~ s t ~ t a f a'being
/ able to'

Quadriliteral Verb Patterns

Simple and derived quadriliteral verbs have the following verbal noun

patterns:

A. Sound verbs: / ~ F $I L ~ L /

L Weak second radical verbs: / t ~ o r i ~ /

 Sound verbs

/GSlbdg/ 'he splashed' / t s i l ~ g /Y p i a s l ~ n g ~

4

/z&lb&v'he tricked' /tz~lbib/ 'tricking'

/l&E11f/ 'he wrapped' /t11f lif / 'wrapping'
/b&&b~&/ 'it sprinkled7 /tb19bi&/ 'sprinkling'

Weak second radical verbs

/tor~x/ 'he dated (historically)' /ttorix/ 'dating7

/?ogrr/ 'he insured' /tgogir/ 'insuring'
/txox~m/ 'he became crazy' /txoxim/ 'becoming crazy'

Derivation of Instance Nouns

An instance noun is one that indicates a specification (or a specific

instance) of the action described by the verbal noun from which i t is derived.

Instance nouns may be derived from verbal nouns by the addition of the

suffix /-a/. In verbal nouns ending in / - a ~ / , the vowel becomes short

(i. e. /5/) and occurs between the first and second radicals. Examples:

Verbal noun Instance noun

/t~gkir/ 'closing' /t~skira/ 'one closing'

/t1!8im/ 'being shy/ /tr hgirna/ ' one embarr assment'
/bZil5/ 'swallowing' /bilqa/ 'one swallow'
/&at/ 'being silent7 /sgkta/l 'one period of silence'

Derivation of Feminine Nouns

Feminine nouns may be derived from the corresponding masculine

nouns by the addition of the suffix -a. Nouns included in this category a r e
L J
rthose indicating human beings and some mimala. Examples:

hlzsculine nouns -
Feminine nouns

/s&diq/ 'friend'
/fillill+/ 'farmer'
/xdim/ 'servant'

In stems that end in -?c the short vowel i s usually dropped:

/?a!ub./ ' acn,l&ntlnce' u -,.

,/cohho
NU//
/fam11/ 'worker' /; amla/
/mud&rr~s/'teacher9 /mud&rrsa/

If the stem ends in /-i/ the latter changes to -y. Examples:

/mu hami/ 'lawyer' /mu ba.mya/

/gadi/ 'judge' /ga?ya/

Derivation of Unit Nouns

Unit nouns a r e those that indicate a unit o r a piece of substance, e. g.

/z~tun/ 'olives' /z~tuna/ 'one olive:

/&llaf/ 'water melon' /d1lla5a/ ' a water melon'
/ I b h / 'meat' /l*ma/ ' a piece of meat'

Occupational Nouns

Certain nouns referring to occupations may be derived from other

nouns by the addition of /-Ei/; e. g.

/kundra/ 'shoes' /kvndra%i/ 'shoe repairman'

/gghwa/ 'coffee' /g&waZi/ 'coffee maker'
/sa5 at/ 'watches' /s2Fad~i/ 'watch repairman'
r Inflection

Gender

Nouns in Libyan Arabic may be masculine o r feminine. Ir. general

feminine nouns are: (a) those that end in /-a/; e. g. /$lg~yya/ ' hat', /gun~yya/

'plate7, /diaia/ 'chicken', etc. ; (b) those that have feminine referents; e. g.

/?umm/ 'mother', /?uxt/ 'sister', etc. ; (c) some parts of the body: e. g.

/Fen/ 'eye', /b&~~n/'stomach',/r151/ 'leg', etc. ; (d) some miscellaneous

nouns such as: / S h s / 'sun', /m@r/ 'rain', /?&rnrb/ 'rabbit', etc.

Masculine nouns are: (a) those that end in /-e/; e. g, /sme/ 'sky',

/Jge/ 'supper', /hbe/ 'ashes'; (b) those that end in /-i/; e. g. /kursi/ 'chair',

/f&skri/ 'military man', / k r a r ~ i /'carriage driver7. Included in this a r e

those that end in /ii/, listed on page 71. (c) Those that end in /-u/;e. g.

/31ru/ 'puppy7, /f~lu/ 'cold', /d&lu/ 'leather bucket'; (d) those that end in a

consonant, other than the feminine nouns in (b), (c), (d) above; e, g. /miikt~b/

'office', /f&llah/ 'farmer'.

Number

There a r e three numbers in Libyan Arabic: singular, dual, and plural.

Singular. A singular noun i s the one that refers to one person o r

object.

-
Dual. The dual number refers to two persons o r objects. It is formed

by the addition of the suffix /-en/ if the noun ends in a consonant and /-ten/ J
rif the noun ends in /-a/, the latter dropping. Other changes in the stem
1

a r e a s follows: In monosyllabic nouns ending in /-k/

the final consonant

is doubled when the dual suffix is attached; e. g.

/dk&r/ 'mzle' /dk&rren/ 'two males'

/bh&r/ 'sea' /bb&rren/ 'two seas'
/ ~ k g l /'camel' / ~ m & l l e n /'two camels'

In other t~ounsending i n /-$c/ the short vowel is dropped when t h e sv_ffi_x

is attached; e.g.

/Suruf/ ' b r a c h ' /furfen/ 'two branches'

/b&b~s/'prison' /b&bsen/ 'two prisons'
/!&b11/ 'rope' /b&blen/ 'two ropes'

When the noun ends in /-a,/ the suffix is /-ten/ and that final /-a/ is dropped.

/ s a ~ a / 'an hour' /sa5ten/ 'two hours'

/s&yyara/' 'a car' /s&yyarten/ 'two cars'
/!=m?ka/'a room' /hwZrten/ 'two rooms'

When the noun ends in / - ~ a / o r /(-I)YY~/these a r e replaced by /-i/. If i t

ends in /-wa/ o r /(-u)wwa/ these a r e replaced by /-d.

/wl~yya/ ' a woman' /wliten/ 'two women'
/ ~ & r y a /'a buy' /8&riten/ 'two buys'
/l&bwa/ 'a lioness' /l&buten/ 'two lionesses'
/duwwa/ ' a talk' /duten/ 'two talks'

When the noun ends in /-e/, the latter is replaced by /-a/ and a j-w/ is

inserted before the suffix; e. g.

/5 &e/ 'supper' /5&awea/ 'two suppers'

/rde/ 'kind of Libyan dress' /rdawen/ 'two dresses'
/Fze/ 'a period of mourning' /5zawen/ 'two periods of mourning'
 n noun ends in /-i/ o r /-u/,
r ~ h e the a /-y/ o r /-w/ respectively, is in- 1

serted before the suffix;

/g@/ 'judge' /g@yen/ 'two judges'

/tarzi/ 'tailor' /tarziyen/ 'two tailors'
/f~lu/'colt' /f~luwen/ 'two colts'
/d&lu/ 'leather bucket' /d&luwen/ 'two buckets'

Plural. The piural number in Libyan Arabic r e f e r s to m o r e than two

pe:rsons o r objects. There a r e two types of plurals: sound plurals a r e

formed by the addition of a suffix; broken plurals a r e formed by internal

vowel changes, with o r without suffixes.

Sound Plurals

A sound plural is formed by attaching one of three suffixes: / - i d y

/-a/, o r /-at/, each of which is used with a large variety of nouns.

The suEfix -in. Plurals formed by this suffix a r e called masculine

sound plurals because most of the nouns that take this suffix a r e masculine.

The following types of nouns and adjectives take this plural: (a) all adjectives

(functioning like nouns) that a r e derived from proper nouns by the addition of

: /?urduni/ 'Jordanian', / ? u r d u n ~ ~ y i n / ,/ma@/ 'Egyptian', /m&sr~yyin/,

etc. (b) Participles (except those of Measure I); e. g. /m&zkum/-/m&zkumin/

'having cold', / m ~ s h m / '~os1em'-/m~slmin/. ( c ) Nouns that indicate be-

havior o r profession; e. g. /b&wwab/-/biiwwabin/ 'janitors', /k&ddab/ 'liar'

- / ~ d a b i n / , /tabax/ 'cook' -/t&bbaxin/.

L
r The suffix -a. This forms plurals when it is added to human mascu- 1
line nouns of the pattern C ~ C C ~ Csome
, of which may have alternative

plurals ending in -in; e. g.

/f &llap/ -
/f Zillaha/ /f?Lllahin/ 'farmers'
/b~nnay/ /bInn&a/ 'buildeks'

It may also be added to certain human masculine nouns ending in /-i/, where

/-yy/ i s inserted before the suffix; e. g.

/g%waii/ 'coffeemaker' /gilhwai ~ y y a /

/gnay5 i/ 'artisan' /;nay 5~ y y a /
/brayri/ 'silk weaver' /hrayr~yya/

The suffix -at. Since this suffix is used mostly with feminine nouns,

it i s called the feminine sound plural suffix. It is normally attached to a

great many singular nouns ending in -a (replacing this ending), regardless of

whether the final -a i s a result of a derivation process or original in the

word; e. g.

/@rba/ ' a hit' /d&rbat/

/w&za/ 'a goose' /k5zzat/
/tbiba/ 'lady doctor' /tbibat/
/ p u ~ r a / 'a room' /busrat/
/kat~ba/ 'female writer' /kat~bat/

This suffix is also attached to nouns ending in -e. When i t is attached to

these (singular) nouns its final vowel changes to -a and a /-w/ i s inserted

before the suffix; e. g.

/a de/ 'lunch'
/sle/ 'prayer'
L /kite/ <winter9
 1
r ~ o m e masculine nouns of various patterns take the suffix -at for plural:

/xz!ab/ 'letter' /XItabat/

/11t1mas/ 'petition' /~l&masat/
/$immarn/ 'public bath' /hhmamat/

Broken Plurals

Libyan Arabic has numerous patterns l o r broken plurals. But some

broken p1-ials do not fall into any systematic pattern, and, conssquently, the

plurals of those nouns will have to be learned a s individual items. Below a r e

the most common patterns of broken plurals of Libyan Arabic.

(a) The plural pattern / F ' ? ~ L ~ L / .This accounts for a great portion of

plural nouns and corresponds to singular nouns of four consonants, regardless

of whether that singular noun is from a quadriliteral root o r a triliteral root

plus suffix; e. g.

Singular Plur a1

/g~ndil/ 'torch' /gnadil/

/b~rwita/ 'wheei barrow' /brawit/
/p &dug/ 'box' /?nadig/
/kuri.asa/ 'note book' /kraris/
/burraka/ 'hut' /brarik/

(b) The plural pattern / F ~ ~ L + L /e.

; g.

l ~ h final
e short vowel of the plural is identical to the final short vowel
ef the singular noun; i. e. if the final vowel of the singular is /I/ the short
Lvowel of the plural will be /I/. J
 /dgfd~r/ 'notebook' /dfad~r/
/mgskxn/ 'home' /msakrn/
/talcum/ 'set' /tw akum/
/dbiba/'slaughteredsheep' /dbay&h/
/m5hb1s/ 'vase' /m hab~\/

(c) The plural pattern / F $ ~ L / . This corresponds to many singular

noun patterns. Among them a r e the following:

/kuds/ 'heap'
/k&b&/ 'ram'
/b~nt/ 'girl7
/w~ld/ 'boy'

-
Singular pattern /FU~ U L / /FUC&L/

/Su#ul/ 'business' /Sxal/

/hvfuk/ 'good for nothing' /hfak/
/rub&S/ 'quarter' /rbai/
/sub&S/ 'finger' /sbaS/

Singylar pattern / F ? c L ~ /

/ s u r r d 'bunciie7 /mar/
/b~bka/ 'net7 /kbald
/g&~Sa/ 'large plate' /g+/

Miscellaneous singular patterns include:

/fil/ 'elephant' /fy al/

/ n a g 4 'female camel' / n ~
/ ~ %1/m 'camel7 /2mal/
..
/sah~b/ 'friend' ..
/shah/
(d) The plural pattern /FsaLi/. This is used for singular nouns of the

pattern /FI%L~/:
 /laswa/ 'suit' /ksawi/
/ E i h a / 'leather bag' /iikawi/
/g~sma/ 'luck' /gsami/

The same plural pattern may be used for other miscellaneous singular nouns:

/lela/ 'night' /lyali/

/sanya/ 'farm' /swani/
/sur~yya/ 'shirt' /swari/
/boli/ 'Libyan dress for men' /bwali/

(e) The plural pattern /FSUL/. This is a very common pattern, used

mainly for the singular patterns: /FBcY/, / F & ~ L / , / F ~ L / , /FI 5f/.

/h&dd/ 'luck'
/KgISk/ 'nose'
/z&rf/ 'envelope'
/xet/ 'thread'
/2eb/ 'pocket7
/ s ~ m m / 'poison'

(0 The plural pattern /FuSCaL/. This is the pattern of many active

participles of form I verbs referring to human beings (used as nouns):

/hakrm/ 'ruler' /Fukkam/

/iah11/ 'uneducated' /%uhhal/
/zab~t/ 'officer' /zubbat/
/5am11/ 'worker' /$ omgal/

(g) The plural pattern / ~ i ~ a n / This

. is mainly the plural for the

singular pattern /FVL/.

p z / 'sand dune'
/'nar/ 'fire'
/gar/ 'neighbor'
/)e$/ 'wall'
/ s a d 'wall'
r (h) The plural pattern /FuFLan/, / F I $ L ~ ~ / . These a r e plurals for
7

the singular patterns / n a ~ / , /-uL/, / F ~ S I L / and / ~ &i/:

f

/draS/ 'arm'
/xruf/ 'lamb'
/ r a h ~ b / 'priest'
/is'kid / goat7
(i) The plural pattern /F$IL/:

/@la/ 'trick' /hy11/

/f;asa/ 'glass cup' /b~ s/l
/ m ~ d r a / 'a shovel' /md~r/

(j) The plural pattern /Fu$La/:

/ysir/ 'prisoner of war' /yusra/

/b?ir/ 'blind' /bugra/
/grib/ 'stranger7 /8u rba/

Besides the previous patterns, Libyan Arabic has some r a r e r ones and has

individual broken plurals that do not follow any consistent patterns. i have

ignored all those in my treatment.

' ~ h i sis rare.

L
 CHAPTER Vl

ADJECTIVES

Derivation: Participles and Their Patterns

Participles a r e adjectives derived from verbs and closely related to

them in meaning. There a r e two kinds of participles: active participles and

passive participies. The first has the meaning of 'having done the action

indicated by the verb'; the second means 'having undergone the action indi-

cated by that verb'.

Libyan Arabic has the following participle patterns.

Measure I Participles

The pattern for strong verbs of Measure I i s / F ~ $ I L / with slight vari-

ations. For doubled verbs the pattern i s /FBTf/, while in defective verbs

the final -11 is replaced by -i. In hollow verbs a /-y/ occurs a s the second

consonant of the pattern.

The passive participle patterns for Measure I verbs (Measures I,

VItI, and X a r e the only measures that have distinct f o r m s f o r the passive

participle in Libyan Arr3ic) a r e / ~ B F F U L / for strong, doubled, and hollow

rverbs and / m P ~ ( i / for defective verbs;l e. g.

Strong verbs Active participle Passive participle

/ f h h / 'he understood' /fah~m/ 'having understood' /miifhum/ 'understood'

/ S z b / 'he invited' /5az1m/ ' having invited' /m55 zum/ 'invited'

Doubled verbs

/F'idd/ 'he counted' /5add/ 'having counted' /m85dud/ 'counted'

iioiiow verbs

/%ad/ 'he added' /zayrd/ 'having added' /m&zyud/ ' added'

Defective verbs

/rhe/ 'he ground' /rahi/ 'having round' /m5rhi/ 'ground'

/5ie/ 'he pardoned' /$afi/ 'having excused' /mKfi/ ' e x c ~ s e d ' ~

Measure II Participles

The patterns for Measure 11 are:

Strong verbs: / i n ~ h 5 $ ? ~ / ~

Defective verbs: / m ~ ;FCi/

'1n all other measures the passive participle is identical to the active
participle.

'some l'deasure I verbs do not have passive participles, e. g. /fat/

'he passed', /8af/ 'he saw', but these a r e very few.

3? in the pattern indicates a short vowel identical to the final short

~ v o w e of
i the verb to which the partisiple corresponds. -I
r Strong verbs Active/passive participle

/f&rrrl/ 'he emptied' /mf 5rr1g/ ' (having) emptied'

/~211li@/ 'he repaired' /m~&ll2h/'(having) repaired'
/d&rrrg/ 'he hid' /md&rrri/ ' (having) hidden'

Defective verbs

/p&wwa/ 'he lighted' /mdiXwwi/ '(having) lighted'

/n&&a/ 'he removed' /mn&hhi/ '(having) removed'
/'d iXdda/ 'he offered lunch' /mriihhi/ '(having! offered lunch'

Measure 111 Participles

The patterns for Measure ID are:

Strong verbs: / r n ~ a ~ v ~ /

Defective verbs: / ~ a S i /

Strong verbs
-- Active/passive participle

/saCr d/ 'he helped' /rnsafr d/ '(having) helped'

/sari+/ 'he was frank with' /mgariih/ '(having) been frank'
/hawurn/ 'he contiaued' /mdawuk/ '(having) continued'

Defective verbs

/ m a ~ a / 'he walked with' /mmaSi/ '(havingj walked with'

/dawa/ 'he cured' /mdawi/ '(having) cured'
/haka/ 'he talked to' /mhaki/ '(having) talked to'

-Measure V Participles

The patterns f o r Measure V are:

Strong verbs: / ~ I ~ F & s c ? L /

Defective verbs: /mrt ~ & . ' j ~ i /

L
I Strong verbs Active/passive participle

/ t m g r r ~ n / 'he exercised; /m~tm%rrrn/'(having) exercised'

/ t b % r r ~ k /'it moved' / m ~ t b i i r r ~ k'(having)
/ moved'
/ts%wwug/ 'he went to the / r n ~ t s ~ w w v g'(having)
/ gone to the
market' market'

Defective verbs

/t %dda/ 'he exceeded the /m1tS5ddi/ '(having) exceeded the

limit' limit'
/ t S 2 9 ~ a / 'he dined' /m~t(&i%i/ ‘(having) dined'
/tm&%a/ 'he went for a walk' /m~tm&SSi/'(having) gone f o r a walk'

-
Measure VI Participles

The patterns for Measure VI are:

Strong verbs: / m ~ Ft ~S~L/

Defective verbs: / m ~ ~t a C i /

Strong verbs Active/passive participle

/tCarrk/ 'he fought' / m ~ t l a r ~ k'(having)

/ fought'
/tsalgh/ 'he reconciled' /m~tsalgh/ '(having) reconciled'
/ t i a ~ I f / 'he argued with' /mI&a~rk/ ' (having) argued with'

Defective verbs

/thaiia/ 'he avoided' /m~thaSi/ '(having) avoided'

/tmada/ 'he exceeded the / r n ~ t k a d i / '(having) exceeded the
limit' limit'

Measure VII Participles

The patterns f o r Measure VII are:

Strong verbs: j r n ~ n f i zL/

L
 5f/
r ~ o u b l e dverbs: / m ~ n F &

Hollow verbs: / r n ~ n F a ~ /

Defective verbs: /rn~nFf /

Strong verbs Active/passive participle

/ n s h h / 'it was crushed7 / m ~ n s p ~ n'(having)

/ been crushed7
/ntia.g/ 'it was freed/ /mrnclig/ '(having) been freed'
/ntw%/ 'it was bent' / m ~ n ' i w ~ i'(having)
/ been bent'

Doubled verbs

/nfgSS/ 'it was deflated' /m~nf&S~ '(having)

/ been deflated'
/ns%ll/ 'it was pulled out' /m~nsilll/ '(having) been pulled out'
/nfgkk/ 'it was dismantled' /mrnfgkk/ '(having) been dismantled'

Hollow verbs

/nzah/ 'he moved aside' /m~nzah/ '(having) moved aside'

/nha;-/ 'he collapsed' /mrnhar/ '(having) collapsed'

Defective verbs

/ n h ~ e / 'it was stuffed' /m~nhsi/ ' (having) been stuffed'

/nime/ 'he became blind' /m~nFmi/ '(having) become blind'
/ntle/ 'it was painted' /m~n!li/ '(having) been painted'

Measure VIU Participles

The participle patterns for Measure VIII are:

Strong verbs: active participle: / r n u F t g f ~ ~ /

passive participle: / m u ~ t & % ~ /

Doubled verbs: /mu F'tg ff/

Hollow verbs: / m ~ ~ t a ' j /

L
r ~ e f e c t i v verbs:
e /m~~t'ji/

Strong verbs Active participle Passive participle

/C t%bgr/ 'he considered' /muftZb~r/ 'having /mufttibgr/ 'considered'

considered'
/ $ t b % d / 'he depended on7 /mu5th1d/ 'having /mu5 tihiid/ 'depended'
depended'
/$t%riZ/ 'he confessed' /mu $ t a r ~ f /'having /muft&r5f/ 'confessed'
confessed'

Doubled verbs

/ h t h m / 'he paid attention' /mu htVmm/ '(having) paid attention'

/f t%zz/ 'he was proud of' /mo$t&zz/ '(having) been proud of'
/!tiii%/ 'he protested' /mu ht'igi/ ' (having) protested'

Hollow verbs

/htar/ 'to get puzzled' / m ~ p t a r / '(having) got puzzled'

/?tad/ 'to hunt' / m ~ ~ t a d' (having)
/ hunted'

Defective verbs

/ntse/ 'to be forgotten' / m ~ n t s i / '(having) been forgotten'

/ntre/ 'to be mentioned' / m ~ n ~ r i'(having)
/ been mentioned'

Measure X Participles

The participle patterns for Measure X a r e a s follows:

Strong verbs: / m 1 s t & ~IL/

5

Doubled verbs: /must&FC~L/ - /rn~stFiiCf/

Hollow verbs: / m u s t & ~ i f /for active participles and /rnust&FaF/ f o r
passive participles 1

'in Measure X only hollow verbs have distinct forms for the passive
participle. J
r ~ e f e c t i v everbs: r n ~ s t & ~ f i /

Strong verbs Active pariiciple

/ s t & r z ~ g /'he looked f o r living7 / m ~ s t & r z ~ g'(having)

/ looked for living7
/st&rz'~l/'he acted like a man7 /i?i1stb81l/ '(having) acted like a man'

Doubled verbs

/st&C;idd/ 'he prepared /m~st5$1dd/ '(having) prepared

(himself)' (himseu)'
/st&b&dd/ 'he became a /must&b~dd/'(having) become a
dictator' dictator7
/stb&g/ 'he deserved7 /m1sth5gg/ '(having) deserved'

Hollow verbs Active participle Passive participle

/stkfad/ 'he benefited from7 /mustaid/ 'having /m~st&fad/ 'benefited7

benefited7
/st&han/ 'he underestimated7 /mustshin/ 'having /must&an/ 'underesti-
underestimated7 mated7

Defective verbs Active participle

/stB~wa/ 'he belittled' /m~st&Swi/'(having) belittled'

/st%wla/ 'he dominated7 /mr st%wli/ ' (having) dominated'

Simple Quadriliteral Verbs

The simple quadriliteral verbs have the following participle patterns:

Strong verbs: /m F B ~ L + L /

Defective verbs: /mFo'ii/

Sound verbs
-
/sgrbrt/ 'he put i n sequence7 /msarb~t/' '(having) put i n sequence7
/kirk;/ 'he dragged' / m k h k > / '(having) dragged'
/d&r2+/ 'he swung7 /md&ri&h/ '(having) swung7
-I
 Defective verbs

/hoha/ 'to sing (the baby) to /mhohi/ '(having) sung the baby to
sleep' sleep'

Derived Quadriliteral Verbs

The derived quadriliteral verbs have the foll.owing participle patterns:

Strong verbs! / ~ T ~ F ~ s L ? T . /

Weak second radicals: / ~ I ~ F O ~ I L /

Strong verbs ~ctive/passivep a r t i c i p k

/ddghwur/ 'he walked around7 /m~ddi?ihwur/ '(having) walked around7

/ t & H & ~ f'it
/ burned7 /m~t&iUif~~f/
'(having) burned7

Weak second radical

/tbor~d/ 'he showed dullness7 / m ~ t b o r ~ d'(having)

/ showed dullness7
/ t s o g ~ r / 'it was insured7 / m ~ t s o g ~ r'(having)
/ been insured'

Comparative Adjectives

Comparative forms of adjectives are derived from regular adjectives

according to these patterns:

Sound roots: / S F ~ 1/
I

/ i h g ~ f / 'cleaner'
/&sm~n/'fatter7
r Doubled roots: / & F % ~ F / ~

/bnin/ 'tasty' / i t b i b / 'more tasty'

/hnun/ 'kind' /&&nn/ 'kinder'
Hollow roots: /gEYjr~/

/11yy1n/ 'fine' /'ily~n/ 'finer'

/Sen/ 'ugly' /'igy~n/ 'more ugly'

Defective roots: / g ~ ' j a /

/fa+/ 'empty, free' /'ifga/ 'more empty'

/hami/ 'hot' /"@ma/ 'hotter'

Nisba Adjectives

Nisba adjectives a r e derived from nouns (singular and plural), adjec-

tives, and prepositions. The most common way to form a nisba adjective

I s by attaching the suffix /-i/, which may be added to the noun stem directly

o r may be preceded by some other elements and accompanied by a slight

variation in the stem itself. The following a r e illustrations of such

variations.

The suffix -i may be added directly to the stem, e. g.

/ 75dgb/ 'literature' / 7&dgbi/ 'literary'

/f 2 n d 'a r t ' /fitnni/ 'artistic'
/S&XF/ 'person' /SZix;i/ 'personal'

o r i t may cause the loss of the final -a, if it i s added to a word ending in

such a vowel; e. g.

1
L- An exception to this is /Zdid/ which has /8id1d/.
 /g&wa/ 'coffee' /g&wi/ 'coffee brown'
/x~ru$a/ 'a kind of tree' / x ~ r u f i / 'brownish7

In still other cases /-w/ o r /-aw/ is inserted before the nisba suffix; e. g.

11-1 ?a/ 'lung' / r ?gwi/

~ 'belonging to lungs7
/m~ ?a/ 'hundr ed7 /m~ ?5wi/ 'centennial7
/ d ~ r n a / 'a town in Libya' /drrnawi/ 'belonging to Derna7
/8&rg/ 'east7 /&gawi/ 'easterner9

A different, but r a r e , nisba suffix is -mi. What disting~~ishes

this

suffix from the preceding i s that it is attached to many prepositions (and ad-

verbs) a s well; e. g.

/t@t/ 'under, below' /taptani/ 'lower'

/b5rra/ 'cutside' /bgrrani/ 'outsider7
/rZib/ 'God7 /rZibbani/ 'original'
/ruQ/ 'spirit' /r$ani/ 'spiritual'

Inflection

Adjectives are inflected for gender and number. Like those of nouns,

their plurals a r e divided into sound and broken plurals. Adjectives take the

samg suffixes a s nouns, and their stems undergo the same changes when

the suffixcs a r e added.

Considering the masculine singular a s the basic form, the inflectional

suffixes for adjectives are a s follows:

-a to forin feminine
-in to form masculine sound plurals
-at to form feminine sound plurals
r ~ h e nthese suffixes a r e added the stem vowel, if short, is dropped:

Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine

singular singular plural plural

/rnp&r/ 'closed' /mg&kra/ /ms%kkrin/ /ms3kkrat/

/mg&lliih/ 'repaired' /m+llha/ /mg%llhin/ /ms3llhat/
/ml%wwun/ 'colored' /ml&wwna/ /ml&wwnin/ /rnigWnat/

If the basic form ends in a long vowel followed by a consonant, no dropping of

the vowel takes place:

/m%t@/ 'open' /m&ftuha/ /m&flu;hin/ /maft+at/

/ i ~ r y a n / 'naked' /51ry a i a / /f~ryanin/ /f~ryanat/
@if/ 'gentle' /latifa/ /lil!ifin/ jigtifat/

If the basic form ends in /-i/, either a /-yy/ is inserted before the suffix;

/mrgli/ 'fried' /m~gl~yya/ /m~gl~yyin/ / m ~ g l ~ ~ y a t /

/q&wmi/ 'national7 /q&wm~yya/ /q&wmryyin/ /qiiwmryyat/
/libi/ ' Libyan' /lib~yya/ /lib~yyin/ /lib~yyat/

o r that final /-i/ i s changed to /y/:

/bahi/ 'fine' /bahya/ /%ahyin/ /bahyat/

/fa+/ 'free' /f agya/ /r"ady in/ /fadyat/
/wati/ 'ready' /watya/ /wityin/ /witvat/

If the basic form ends i n /-u/ that /-u/ changes to /-w/ before the suffix; e. g.

/b~lu,/ 'sweet' /@wa/ /hr lwi u/ /b~lwat/

/ s 5 b d 'strong' /sZibwa/ ---. /siibwat/

NO masculine plural form of this adjective has been observed i n

LLibyan Arabic. -I
r ~ r o k e n Plurals

The following adjective broken plural patterns a r e the most common

ones and a r e by no means all of them.

Singular Plural

/?ahran/ 'staying late in the /shara/

night7
/s ukran/ 'drunk/ /s kar a/
/ i i l ~ f a n / 'hungry' /zwafa/

Singular P lur a1

/Ilig/ 'thick'
/sitir/ 'little7
/h<id/ 'far away'
/drif/ 'small'

Singular P lur a1

/f%qir/ 'poor' /fucj&r a/

/Sikrif/ 'honest' /sur~a/
/Silbit/ 'silly, stupid' /;vb@a/

Singular Plura1

/&did/ 'new'
/gdim/ 'old'
r ~ d j e c t i v e s of Color and Defect

In Libyan Arabic there a r e adjectives that refer to colors and physical

o r mental defects. They have the patterns /&SIL/

for the masculine singu-

lar, / F ~ F L ~ for
/ the feminine (/FoTa/ o r / ~ e q a /for hollow roots, and

/ F g $ ~ a / for defective roots of the feminine). For plural the patterns a r e

/fu$ul/ c r ,' FIFIL/; e- g.

Singular

/gtrrE;/ 'deaf' /tsrsa/ /prua/ /t&r~at/

/gh81rn/ 'gloomy /i&ama/ /dWum/ /h.g~mat/
looking'
/ & z r ~ g /'blue' /z&rga/ /zurug/ /zgrgat/

Hollow roots

/&swrd/ 'black7 /soda/ /sud/ /sodat/

/Zihw11/ 'crosseyes' /hola/ /pd/ /holat/
/5kyrd/ 'white' /beta/ /bid/ /bedat/

Defective roots

/&ma/ 'blind' /f h y a / /(Trmi/ /fbyat/

he plural pattern for defective roots, of which only one has been
~ o b s e r v e d ,is /FI?~/. 1
 CHAPTER VII

NUMERALS

From 1 Through 10

The numbers 1 through 10 in Libyan Arabic a r e a s follows:

/wab~d/ 'one' / s ~ t t a / 'six'

-
/tnin/ /.go?/ 'two' /s%bfa/ 'seven'
/t:ata/ ' three' /tmanya/' 'eight'
/Bi;bSa/ 'four' / ~ I S Ta/ 'nine'
/ x h s a / 'five /t&&ra/ 'ten'

The word /tnin/ 'two' is basically used in compound numerals and in count-

ing. In other contexts the word /zoz/ is used instead; e. g. /zoz wlad/ 'two

boys'. Also the dual form of the noun itself m w be used to indicate the two

number; e. g. /w~lden/ 'two boys'. When a noun follows one of the numbers

three through nine (i. e. those that end in -a) the final vowel of the numeral

is dropped and (if they have the same point of articulation) assimilation be-

tween the last consonant of the numeral and the first consonant of the noun

takes place; e.g. /tlad-dyar/ 'three rooms', / x h p - swani/ 'five plates'.

Numbers from 11 Throwh 19

Numbers from 11 through 19 a r e a s follows:

/pda&/ ' eleven' /&rbiiSta~/'fourteen'

/!as/ 'twelve' /xZims{a3/ 'fifteen'
. ..
/tulutta&/ 'thirteen' /?u !tag/ ' sixteen'
 /s&bCta~/'seventeen'
/tvmvhta6/ 'eighteen'
/t~sTta&/'nineteen'

When followed by a noun the suffix /-11/ i s attached to each of these numbers;

e. g. /xiIrnpta611 k&lb/ 'fifteen dogs'.

Decades

Numeral decades in Libyan Arabic a r e as follows:

/f ~ ~ r i . 'twenty'
n/ / s ~ t t i n / 'sixty'
/tlatin/ 'thirty' /s&b$iz/ 'seventy'
/grbF in/ 'forty' /tmanin/ ' eighty'
/ x h s i n / 'fifty' /t~sCin/ 'ninety'

Numbers between 21 and 99 a r e expressed by phrases consisting 01a units

number followed by the conjunction /-w/ 'and', followed bv a tens number;

e. g. /&rb5a w 5 1 ~ r i n /'twenty-four', /tmanya w tlatin/ 'thirty-cight'.

-
Hundreds

The hundreds a r e a s follows:

/m~yya/ 'one hundred' / x k s - m ~ y y a / 'five hundred'

/ m ten/
~ 'two hundred' / s ~ t - m ~ y y a 'six
/ hwdred'
/tlat-m~yya/(/t~lt-mryya/) /s&bS-m~yya/ - seven hundred'
'three hundred' / t ~ m ~ n - m ~ y y'eight
a/ hundred'
/5rb&f -m~yya/ 'four hundred' / t r s ~ - m ~ y y a 'nine
/ hundred'

When followed by nouns these numbers (except /m~ten/) have the suffix -t;

e. g. /&rb5T-m1yy~tra211/ 'four hundred men', / s ~ t - m ~ ~hsan/

~ & t'six ..
hundred horses'.
 93

Thousands

The thousands:

/&If/ 'one thousand' /s~t-ill&/ 'six thousand7

/glf en/ 'two thousand7 /s&bf-aaf/ 'seven thousand7
/t~lt-glaE/ 'three thousand7 /tmanya-&laf/ 'eight thousand'
/arb&$-5laf/ 'four thousand9 /t~sS-&I&/ 'nine thousand7
/ x h s - , & l a f / 'five thousand' /f&sr-&laf/ 'ten thousand7

Larger N-iu=bzl-s

The word for million in Libyan Arabic is /mglyun/, with the plural

/rnlayin/ (or /mlayrn/). Both words a r e treated a s nouns. The numbers

from one million to ten million a r e a s follows:

/m&lyun/ 'one million' / s ~ t - m l a y ~ n /'six million'

/malyunen/ (/zoz mlay~n/) /s&bF-mlayln/ 'seven million7
' two million7 /trm~n-mlay~n/'eight million:
/tiat-mlay~n/ 'three million7 ~ I S C - m l a y ~ n'nirie
/ million'
/iIrb&5-mlayrn/ 'four million' / f & ~ r - m l a y ~ n'ten/ million7
/xgms-mlay~n/ 'five million'

The Ordinal Numbers

One through 1 2 have independent ordinal forms. Except for 'first' and

'second7, the f o r m s have either the pattern / F ~ S I L / (for third, fifth, sixth,

eighth, tenth) o r / F ~ $ Z ~ L(for

/ fourth, seventh, and ninth). The ordinals a r e

as follows:

Masculine Feminine

/?&wwI~/ 'first'
/tani/ 'second7
L / t a l ~ t / 'third7
 Masculine Feminine

/rabgf/ 'fourth'
/ x a m ~ s / 'fifth7
/ s a d ~ s / 'sixth'
/sab&$/ ' seventh'
/ t a m ~ n / 'eighth7
has&$/ 'ninth'
/5aS1r/ 'tenth'
/bad19/ 'eleventh7
/tan~S/ 'twelfth7

No ordinal forms for numbers above 12 a r e used in Libyan Arabic. Instead

the cardinal numbers a r e used.

The Fractions

Except f o r 'half', fractions have the pattern /FU$%L/ (for 'fourth7,

seventh', and 'ninth') and / F ~ C I L / f o r the rest. All forms a r e nouns in

Arabic; they a r e as follows:

..
/nufs/ (also /nuss/) 'half7 / s u b&C/ 'seventh7
/tul~-t/ 'third7 /tom~n/ 'eighth7
/rubgf/ 'fourth' /tos%C/ 'ninth7
/ x u m ~ s / 'fifth' / 5 u ~ 1 r / 'tenth7
/ s u d ~ s / 'sixth'

The plural of all the fractions has the pattern / F S ~ L / ; e. g. / n f ~ a / 'halves7,

/rbaf/ 'fourths7 and s c on.

Fractions above tenth a r e indicated by mentjoning the upper cardinal

number followed by the preposition /f1e/ 'on' followed by the lower cardinal

of the fraction; e. g. /tnin Fle s5bf fag/ 'two seventeenths'.

 CHAPTER W I

PRONOUNS

Pronouns i n Libyan Arabic a r e divided into independent pronouns and

pronoun suffixes. Both categories include different forms f o r the first,

second, and third persons and for the plural and singular numbers. In the

third person singular both independent and suffix pronouns distinguish be-

tween masculine and feminine gender. Independent pronouns, besides, have

different masculine and feminine f o r m s for the second person singular.

The pronouns in Libyan Arabic a r e a s follows.

Independent Pronouns

Singular Plural

F i r s t person /ane/ 'I9 /hne/ 'we'

Second person < F e z * / ~ n t a / 'you9 /~ntum/ 'yoc9

/ ~ n t i / 'you'

Masc. /huwwa/ 'he'

Third person
/h~yya/ 'she //humma/ 'they91

' ~ i b ~ aArabic
c does not have a pronoun f o r the dual. The plural form
is used whenever m o r e than one person o r object is referred to.
L -I
 Pronoun Suffixes

Singular Plural

F i r s t person: -i, -YY% -Y, -na ‘us, our'

-ni 'me, my'

Second person: - ~ k , -k 'you, - k m 'you, your'

your'

,Masc. -Ah, -h 'his, -hum 'them, their'

Third person: him'
\Fern. -ha 'her'

The suffix pronouns a r e attached to verbs, nouns, prepositions, and some

other particles. When they a r e attached to verbs they a r e equivalent to

n i /is translated a s 'he followed -

English object pronouns; e. g. / l .h ~- me'.

When attached to nouns they a r e equivalent to the possessive adjectives;

e, g. / h o ~-i / 'my house'.

Libyan Arabic does not have the reuter pronoun 'it'. Instead the

- 'I kicked
masculine o r feminine third person pronoun i s used; e. g. /rdgstiIh/

- 'I kicked her/it9.

hirn/it'; /rd3stha/

The alternation between -i - -y, -1k - -k, and -3h - -h in the pronoun
suffix paradigm depends on whether the stem to which they a r e attached ends

in a vowel o r in a consonant. The suffixes -i, - ~ k , and -2h a r e affixed to

stems ending i n consonants, while -y, -k, and - h a r e suffixed to s t e m s end-

ing in vowels:
r Stems ending in a consonant Stems ending in a vowel

/Sebi/ 'my pocket' /<Say/ 'my dinner7

/i?eb;id 'your pocket7 /CCiak/ ' y o w dinner7
/Zeb&h/ 'his pocket' /$Sah/ 'his dinner7

The pronoun suffix -ni i s used with verbs, while the suffix -yya i s used with

some prepositicns, mainly those ending i n vowels; e. g.

/lgani/ 'he found me'

/f lilyya/ 'on me'

When pronoun suffixes a r e used with nouns ending in -en (other than the dual

ending), the final -n iz usually dropped and the suffix -yya i s used for the

f i r s t person singular. Also the final /e/ changes to /a/ in the f i r s t person

singular; e. g.

Singular Plur a1

/yd&yya/ 'my hands' /ydena/ 'our hands7

/ydek/ 'your hands7 /ydekum/ 'your hands7
/ydeh/ 'his hands' /ydehum/ 'their hands7
/ydeha/ 'her hands7

When the suffixes a r e used with the prepositions /5le/ 'on7, /fi/ 'in', /li/

'for, to7 the suffix -yya i s used in the f i r s t person singular, with the /-e/

/Flgyya/ 'on me7

/11yya/ 'for me, to me'
/f~yya/ 'in me'

I- 'prono~ln suffixes cannot be attached to dual nouns in Libyan Arabic. J

rWhen the suffix -i (or any vowel-initial suffix) is added to the preposition
1

/mrn/ 'from' the final -n in the preposition is doubled; e. g.

/mrnni/ 'from me'

/mrnmk/ 'from you'
/rnrnn&h/ 'from him'

For all other prepositions the f i r s t person singular ending is -i i f they end in

consonants, /y/ if they end i n vowels.

There a r e suffixed prepositional forms that a r e attached to the verbs

and become a part of the verb. They a r e a s follows:

/dar-li/ 'he did for me' /dar-lna/ 'he did for us'
/dar-11Id (he did for you' /dar-lkum/ 'he did for you'
/dar-lgh/ 'he did for him' /dar-lhum/ 'he did for them'
/dar-rlha/ 'he did for her'

The ending / - ~ t / of the third person feminine singular of the perfect tense

becomes /-at/ before a pronoun suffix beginning with a vowel; e. g .

/"gvrb~t/'she hit'
/durbatrk/ 'she hit you'
/&rbatgh/ ' s h e hit him'

Indefinite Pronouns

Libyan Arabic has only a few indefinite pronouns. Those that a r e

commonly used, either alone o r combined with each other, a r e a s follows:

/wabzd/ ' someone' /wab~dr a i d / 'a man'l

' ~ o t i o ethat /wahrd/ functions as an indefinite pronoun only if it

precedes a noun; if it follows it, it will function a s a nunieral; e. g. /wahrd
Lraz~l/ 'a man' but /rai11 wahrd/ 'one man'. -I
 /ku ll/ 'everyone, all7 /kull wah~d/' everyone'
/bHdd/ 'someone' /ma hgdi i e / 'nobody came7
/ba5d/ (/lhadd/) 'somebody'
/ h a i d 'something7 /%rbt hats/ 'I brought something7
/&3 ma/ 'whatever7 /&S m a ddir m a yanf&f/ 'whatever you
do is useless7
/3&y/ 'nothing7 /ma fiS 3&y/ 'there is nothing'

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns in Libyan Arabic a r e the following:

/hada/ (Masc. ) 'this7 /hadak(a)/ (Masc. ) 'that7

/hadi/ (Fem. ) 'this7 ,/!~a.dik(a)/(Fem. ) 'that'
/hadu(ma)(ya)/ (Pl. ) 'these7 /haduk(a)(~a)/ (Pl. ) 'those'

for the plural forms of the demonstratives a variety of the f o r m s above a r e

usad depending on individual preference.

The demonstrative /ha/ is used sometimes in place of all the near

demonstratives (masculine and feminine, singular and p l u ~ ~ le.j ;g.

/ha-ssgyyard 'this c a r F'

/ha-lhoS/ 'this house M7
..
/ha-s's%ar/ 'these children7

Interrogative Pronouns

The following interrogative pronouns a r e used in Libyan Arabic:

/m~nu/ 'who', /%s/ 'what7, /ama/ 'which', /$!mu/ 'what', and / g ~ d d a ~'how
/

much, how many7. All these (except /srnu/) may be combined with prep&-

sitions to form compound question words; e. g.

/m$a m ~ n 'with d whom'

I- / b - a ~ / 'with what'
 /l-ama/ 'to which'
/b-g~ddaS/ 'for how much'

/a&/ 'what' i s used mostly with verbal sentences where it may function a s a

subject, an object, o r the f i r s t part of an equational sentence; e. g.

/as 2Md/ 'what is new?'

/a3 d ~ r t /'what did you do?'
/a5 iixbar~k/ 'how is everything?'

In the speech of most Libyans / a ~ /i s used interchangeably with /S~nu/ and

has the s a m e function in the sentence.

/ama/ 'whichy is often followed by a nom; e. g. /ama Mab/ 'which

book'. It may function a s the f i r s t element in an equational sentence o r a s

the object of a verbal sentence; and in both cases i t requires that the third

person pronoun be placed immediately after it; e. g.

/ama hu.vnva 1-mudir/ 'which one i s the director ?'

/ t ~ b b im a hu.wwa/ 'which one do you want ?'

/g~dd&s/'how much/many7 may be used a s a part of an equational sentence,

a s a direct object, o r a subject of the verb; e. g.

/grddai2 IS-saCa/ 'what is the time?'

/g1dda8 xdet/ 'how much did you take?'
/g1dda8 fdul/ 'how much remained?'

Relative Pronouns

The following a r e the most common relative pronouns in Libyan

Arabic, with sentences illustrating their usage:

L 1. /11li/ 'which, who, whom'

r ~ tmay function a s a subject or object; e. g.

/11-hmar /11li/ fi-ssanya/ 'the donkey which is i n the farm'

/rl-krhba rlli Srenaha/ 'the c a r we bought'

2. /ai: ma/ 'whatever'

/siill~fniaS m a f1nd2k mIn flus/ 'lend me whatever money you have'

 CHAPTER M

PARTICLES

Under this heading prepositions, interrogatives, the relative marker

and conjunctions will be dealt with.

Prepositions

The most common prepositions in Libyan Arabic a r e a s follows:

1. /bi -/ 'with': It has an instrumental meaning (by means of, by, with).
It cannot stand by itself in a sentence; i t is prefixed to the following

word; e. g.

/m&ena bi-f;t$yyara/ 'we went by plane'

/ftghnah bi-lm~ftah/ 'we opened i t by the key'

2. /li -/ 'to, towards, for': It also is prefixed to the following word; e. g.

/mSet li-lhoS/ 'I went to the house (home)'
/lhoS li-likar/ 'The house i s for rent'

3. /ben/ 'between, among'

/tfahmu benhum/ 'They settled i t among themselves'

..
/gstlmha ben s - s t a r / 'he diviaed i t among the children'

When a plural suffix pronoun is attached, the stem may be /ben/ o r

/lb&d ben(at)hum/ 'he hid among them'

L
r 4. /<le/ 'on, over'

f t may take the form of the prefix /$a-/ when i t is followed immedi-

ately by a noun with the definite article.

111-wgrga 5~-h.&kt1b/ 'the paper is on the deck'

/sgll~mtfleha/ 'I shook hands with her'

5. /f 5n/ 'about, away from'.

This preposition is rare. Most Libyans use /tie/ (above) in this sense.
/hkali Ca 1-qrssa/ 'he told me abcxt the story'
/+a& bFid fi&h;m/ 'he lived away from them'

6. /fi/ 'in'

/11-mudgrr~s fi 1-filsl/ 'The teacher i s in the class'

/libya f i afriqya/ 'Libya is in Africa'

7. /m'ia/ 'with'

/mSe mSzy/ 'he went with me'

/g5gd mFa I-rumm&h/ 'he stayed with his mother'

8. / m ~ n / 'from'

/huwwa mrn surya/ 'He is from Syria'

/Sraha mIn xuh/ 'He bought i t from his brother'

9, /fog/ 'over, on top of'

/11-nos fog 1~-2bal/ 'The house is an top of the mountain'

..
/11-kab fog IS-siindug/ 'The book is on the box'

10. /li-/ 'belongs to'. This is different in meaning from the /li-/ in

number 2.

/lhoS hacia li-xali/ 'This house is my uncle's'

L
r Relative Marker 2nd Conjunctions

Relative Marker

/11li/ 'who, thzt, which'

/hada I-xarub 11li xn2b s-.s&yyara/ 'This is the thief who stole
the car'

Conjunctions

-----
,/amta m a/1 'whenever'
----,
/kvll ma/ J
/kull ma yZi yzurni/ 'whenever he comes he visits me'
/amta ma t g d a t5 ala/ 'Come whenever yon have time'

e n
/11h&dd ma/ /
)
'until'
'

'/Sr8b len/ lrh&ddma shr/ 'He drank until he got drunk'

/gabl/ 'before'
/ 71Sriha g2bl 1- 71ht1fal/ 'Buy it before the celebration'

/b25 d/ 'after'
/mSena ba$d 1-?1v.t1maF/ 'We :vent after the meeting'

/m~lli/ 'as soon as'

/ m ~ l l iSuftha f r a t h a / ' A s soon as I saw her I recognized her'

/l&nma/ 'when'
/kif ma/ 'as'
/$amrlha kif ma t5am11 1- voxrin/ 'Treat her a s you treat
the others'

/z&y ma/ 'like, as'

/1-genah zgy ma xgllenah/ 'We fwzd it as we left it'

~ f I 1 ~ ~ 'because'
~ ; / )
' 9
..
/ma hdar19 f!a x a t ~ r /11'anna vummah mrida/ 'He did not attend
because his mother is sick'
r /kan/ 'if'
/law/
/law nSuf2h nudrk5.h/ 'If I s e e him I will hit him'
/kan Zet t81gai/ 'If you come you will find him'

/bgss/ 'but, except that'

/mSet bgss m a lget ! ~ d / 'I went but I did not find anybody'

/bas/ 'in o r d e r to, f o r the purpose of'

/ ? a f r ~l i - h r i k a bag yrgri s g j y a r a / 'He went to America to buy
a car'

/grd ma/ 'no matter how/whatl

/grd m a gutlah ma bag y ~ m&f/
s 'No matter what I told him he did
not listen'

/hZitta/ 'even'
/ma y i i 6 hZitta wkan mfienal&h/ 'He will not come even if we go to him1

-
/kUla m a / 'as f a r '
/ane nS@t, B l l a / a m a huwwa gut/ 'I passed; a s f o r him he failed'
/ l a k n / 'but'
/Saf IS-s5yyara lakrn m a SrahaS/ 'He saw the c a r but he did not
buy it'

/la. .. wla/ 'neither ...

nor'
/la i e wla 5tiidgr/ 'Hc neithcr c a n e nor apologized'

/m&dam/ 'as long as, since'

/ l a z ~ myaxrd 11-qrtar madam yuskun bSid/ 'He has to take the
train since he lives f a r away'

/qle x a t ~ r /'because'
/ma m S e t ~ SSle xatrr m a CmdiS w&t/ 'I did not go because I do
not have time'

/w/ 'and'
/xuy w uxti kanu f i mgsr/ 'My s i s t e r and brother were in Egypt'
 -
/wen kull ma/ 'whenever'
/wen ma yBuf b ~ n ykZill~rnha/
t 'Whenever he s e e s a g i r l he talks
to her'

/ya ... ya/ 'either ... or'

/ya tg25 mIz y a t ~ m S i /'Either sit or go'

Interrogatives

The following interrogative words are used i~ Lihyzi~Arzibic. They

all occur a t the beginning of the sentence:

/Eskun/ 'who
/ Skun x&SB/ 'Who entered?'
/Skun ha-rra%11/ 'Who is this man?'

/flag/ 'why'
/5laS b15t s-sanya/ 'Why did you sell the f a r m ? '

/kif (ag)/ 'how'

/kif gd2r y s a f ~ r /'How did he manage to travel?'

/amta/ 'when'
/ m t a w p l t / 'When did you a.rrive?'

/wen/ 'where'
/wen t u s k u d 'Where do you live?'

Under interrogatives also a r e included all interrogative pronouns dealt with

SYNTAX
 CHAPTER X

VERB STRUCTURES

The following is a brief discussion of the tenses of the verb (perfect

and imperfect), v e r b phrases, and the function and meaning of the active

participle in a sentence.

The Perfect Tense

The perfect tense refers to an action that was completed in the past

without any specific indication a s to whether it was a recent o r remote

past. The usage of the perfect tense is equivalent to the English simple

past tense except in a few minor cases when it may correspond to an

English present although the form of the verb is past; e. g.

/ f h h t willla l a ? - f h h t / 'do you understand?; I understand'

/8uftiih wglla l a ? - ~ufttih/ 'do you see him?; I see him'

In all other cases it r e f e r s to a completed action in the past; e. g.

/ h & s s ~ l xt ~ d m af i 1-hkumd 'I got a job with the government'

/latTdu x h s iiwabag 'They wrote five letters'
/sk&nna 55nb 1-mu 5 5skrr/ 'We lived by the camp'
 -
r ~ h eImperfect Tense

T h e imperfect tense r e f e r s to an action that has not been completed.

A v e r b in the imperfect may be used to refer to a habitual action, progres-

sive action, a future action, o r to a timeless statement of fact.

1. In i t s simple form the imperfect form of a verb can be translated

a s either the English present simple tense o r the present progressive. In the

sentence /xuy y ~ x d ~f im1-w1r8a/ 'my brother works/is working in the work-

shop', the meaning may be stating the fact that my brother works in the work-

shop o r i t may b e an indication of what he is doing the moment the statement

is uttered.

2. The imperfect i s also used to indicate habitual behavior performed

by the subject, e. g.

/n&gra safhten kull lela g&bl n-nom; 'I read two pages before
sleep& everynight'
/ygg 5m1z f i d-dukkan fi 1-531yya/ 'he sits in tile shop in the
afternoon'

3. A verb in the imperfect may r e f e r to an action yet to take place;

an adverb indicating future time is often used with the imperfect in this case;

/nw&llihk s-safa tnin/ 'I'll come back to you a t 2 o?clock7

/ y ~ i k#vdwa/ 'He'll come to you tomorrow'

4. In certain other instances, mainly in complex sentences containing

dependent clauses introduced by /w/, the verb of the independent clause is

L- J
rt.he imperfect but the meaning is past time and the implication is that of 7
emphasizing the content of the dependent clause o r calling the attention to

/2e magi w y15 t ~ f ri r ~ a d a /'As he was walking he hit a rock'

/Safgh mIn bfid w y12ri fi Zurtgh/ 'He saw him from a distance
and r a n after him'

The Active Participle

Although the position of an active participle in a sentence is that of a

predicate adjective (that, of course, makes i t agree with the noun o r pronoun

to which i t r e f e r s ) and the sentence is necessarily an equational sentence, i t

may often be translated by a v e r b in English. The most common usages of

the active participle a r e a s follows:

(a) Equivalent to English progressive:

/ane rabgh/ 'I'm winning'

/ h ~ y y amagya/ 'she7s leaving7
/humma g a ~ d i n 'they
;~ a r e staying'

(b) Equivalent to English future: (a Fituse time adverb is required

in this case):

/ane m s a f ~ r~ludwa/'I am leaving (will leave) tomorrow'

/huwwa mwiilli 9-SZlhr 2-gay/ 'he is coming back next month7

(c) Equivalent to English present perfect tense with the adverb

'already7:

/ane daf25 htlgha/ 'I bave already paid for it'

/huwwa fat& mIn bskri/ 'He has already had breakfast'
rUnder this usage also included its usage in the sense of 'have you ever 1

/&ay~fl-qah~ra?/ 'have you (ever) seen Cairo ?'

/magi 111 mgthf ?/ 'have you (ever) been to the museum?'

Verb Phrases (Auxiliaries)

A verb phrase i s a combination of two or more verbs having the same

subject.

Auxiliaries. The most conlmon type of verb phrases i s the sequence

of the auxiliary /kan/ 'to be7 plus a verb in the perfect or imperfect depending

on the meaning intended. /kan/ and all other auxiliaries always precede the

main verb in a sentence. The following /kan/ structures a r e distinguished:

(a) In a structure that consists of the perfect tense of /kan/ and the

active participle the indication i s that of an a c t i ~ ncompleted in the past

before the occurrence of another action also in the past. It i s the past

perfect meaning; e. g.

/ l h m a guftah kan baysf lboS/ 'when I saw him he had (already)

sold the house7
/wen Mllrmtha k a n ~ fatra/
t 'when I talked to her she had
(already) had b r e a ~ g s t '
/ l h m a Zena kanu Sarbin &saki/ 'when we came they had
(already) drunk tea'

When the active participle of verbs involving some kind of motion, such a s

/2e/ 'come7, /rf&f/ 'lift' and the Itke, i s used, the structure may be

Linterpreted a s past progressive; e. g.

r /wen lagethvm kanu raf5iniIh $le ktafhum/ 'When I met them
they were carrying it on their shoulders'
/ I h m a xSLSBet fleha k a n ~ tSadda mus/ 'When I entered she
was holding a knife'

(b) When the perfect form of /kan/ and the imperfect form of another

v e r b a r e combined together in a sentence the result i s an ambiguous struc-

ture which may be translated a s past progressive action o r a habitual

behavicir; e. g.

/kunna n$'ilbu f i s-sayyarat/ LWewere fixing/used to fix (the) c a r s y

/kzn ~ ~ s l a'he
r / used to drink, /was drinking'
/kunt nSuf fih/ 'I used to s e e him/I was watching him'

(c) The imperfect form of /kan/, with the suffix /-B/attached to i t in

a sentence indicates that the speaker i s making and seeking confirmation

for a guess that he has made. It may be translated a s 'couldnYtit be . . .'

/ykvruS gtsfha huwwa, zSiCma?/ 'couldn't i t be that he cut it,
do you think?'
/ykun19 xanbinha humma?/ 'couldn't i t be that they stole i t ? '

Other auxiliaries. The following verbs function a s auxiliaries and

combine with other verbs forming verb strings:

(1) / g ~
ad/ 'he remained'. When i t is followed by the imperfect form

of the verb the meaning is one of duration of the action; e. g.

/g<lid y ~ b k yzi
i sasten/ 'He kept crying (for) about two hours'
..
IF du yhgdrzu 11 S-subgh/ 'They kept chatting ti1 the morning'

Thie auxiliary may also be used with the active participle:

/g%dna ragdin tul n-nhar/ slept ail day'

L
 (2) The verb /be/ 'he wanted'. The peccliarity of this verb is that, in 1
i t s perfect form, it never occurs in the affirmative; it has to be in the nega-

tive. In the imperfect it dces. In both forms it is always followed by the

imperfect form of the main verb; e. g.

/ma-bag yxgl11~1-hutel/ 'He didn't want to pay for the hotel7

/ma b ~ t gtal51b mCay/ 'She didn't want to play with me'
/ t ~ b b ut ~ t r M d u ? /'Do you want to have lunch?'
/y~bbiy ~ x d ~brnnay/ m 'He wants to work (as) a builder7

In i t s imperfect form this auxiliary often implies intention to do something,

/y~bbiy ~ m S li-1
i miidrsa 15 am &?Lay/ 'He wants (intends) to go
to school next year7
/y~bbiyHf ~b m$a fgriq 1-Zam~C a/ 'He intends to play with
I the university team7
/y~bbiy15ri mgkina ~ d i d a /'He intends to buy a new machine7

(3) The verb /bde/ 'he began7. This can only be followed by the im-

perfect form of a verb, and means that the action i s in progress; e. g.

/bdena nrmSi li s - s i n h a milrra kull ?usbiz$/ 'We began to go

(going) to the cinema once a week7
/bdet kvll m g r r a mtZ5nn1b fih/ 'I started avoiding (to avoid)
him every time'

(4) The verb /gdar/ 'he was able to'. This has perfect anci imperfect

f o r m s and may be followed by a verb in the perfect o r imperfect. When it is

in the perfect and the main v e r b also is in the perfect the meaning is that cf

'could have . . .'; e. g.

/gd&rna Brena wgbda 8dida/ 'We c o d d have bought a new one'
I- /gd&rt sMnt fi 1-mdina/ 'You could have lived in the city7
T1f the auxiliary i s in the perfect and the main verb in the imperfect the 1
meaning is that of 'wadwere able to . . . '; e. g.
/gd&r yzibha f i lwgqt lmunas~b/'He was able to bring it in
the appropriate time'
/ g ~ d r uyldiinlu I-rncr'u&~ah/'They were able to finish the match'

If both verbs a r e in the imperfect the meaning i s that of 'can'; e. g.

/yrgd~ryk2111m xukfi-1 m&wduC/ 'He can talk to his brother

about the subject'
/ y ~ g d ~yZiSr@lhum
r mZi~:qf&h/ 'He can explain his position to them'
/ n ~ g d ~ndir
r 11li wbbih/ 'I can (30 whatever I want'

(5) The motion verbs /mSe/ and /2e/. These indicate past tense when

they a r e in the perfect followed by a verb also in the perfect form. They

mean simple present when they themselves a r e imperfect and a r e followed

by a verb in the imperfect; e. g.

/ m ~ exZGS 11 2 - 2 e ~ / 'He went and joined the army'

/%e tz2ww1Z mIn libya/ 'He came and got married (to some girl)
from Libya'
/y~rnSuyglhdu kull yom/ 'They go horse riding sveryday'
/y2u y ~ B r ufi 1-blib mrn hn.e/ 'They came to buy milk from here'

Other verbs of motisn used in the same way include /tl&f/ 'go out7, /zr@/

'sneak out', /X&SS/ 'enter', /t;lSf~t/ 'turn around', and a few others that

involve some kind of motion.

(6) The auxiliary / l a z ~ m / 'must'. This has the meaning of obligation,

equivalent to English 'should, must, ought to', when i t is followed by a verb

in the imperfect:
r
/lazxm wahxd y1mf3i yguf&h/ 'Someone should go and see him7
/lazrm tk2ilmgh gPbl r a s ii-giIhr/ 'You should talk to him before
the end of the month'

When i t i s followed by a verb in th.e perfect tense the meaning i s that of

'must have';

/ l a z ~ mm3e 1115h&l/ 'He must have gone to work'

/ l a z ~ mlaga xuh/ 'He must have met his brother7

(7) The amciliary /ma-zal/ 'still'. It indicates continuzition of ike

action and is thus translated a s a progressive tense. It may be followed oniy

by the imperfect form of the verb. This verb consists of two parts; /ma/,

a negative particle meaning 'not' and the stem /zal/ 'vanished, disappeared7.

Combined they mean ' still, yet, etc. ' It only occurs in its negated form

c e ~ j w a t e dwith the appropriate subject.

/ma zal yrm&i/ 'He still goes, he is still walking'

..
/ttalxba ma zalrt t ~ x d ~ m'The
/ student (F) i s still working7

(8) The verb /pa$/ 'he began'. It may be used in both the perfect and

imperfect, but may be followed only by the imperfect f o r n cf the verb; e. g.

/ l h m a guftiih i1s.d yrZri/ 'When I saw him he started running'

/wen m a tkiilm5.h ynu$ yrbki/ 'Whenever you talk to him he s t a r t s
to cry7
.
. 'If he does not do it I will
/lukan ma ypucli8 ydirha nb&ttl&h/
dismiss him'
/baSd.ma kle nad rg&d/ 'after he ate he went to sleep7

Transitive verbs take objects; intransitives do not. Some verbs may take

two objects; e. g.

L
 /FBllrm w11dLh n - n i a r d 'He t a ~ g h his
t son carpentry9
/fte l b ~ n s&yyart&/
t 'He gave the girl his car'

Others may take an object and a noun complement, e. g.

/$&yyrn sahbak mvsaCrd mudir/ 'He appointed your friends

assistait manager'

Verbs may also take complements; e. g.

/tban ;lira/ 'she looks young'

/yban mrid/ 'he looks sick'
 THE NOUN

Modification Structures

A noun plus a modifier is called a noun phrase. The modifier may

be a demonstrative, a numeral (cardinals and ordinals), a particle, a noun

o r an adjective (including comparatives).

Demonstratives

t i noun may be modifiec; by any of the demonstratives listed on

p. 99. The demonstrative often precedes the noun if i t is in the form of

a pr2fix (i.e. /ha-/ and follows if it is independent. It also agrees with

i t in gender and number; e. g.

/ha-lktab mIs bitttal/ 'This book is not bad'

/ha-lxubza s x u n d 'This bread is fresh'

his is not,however, an invariable order. Independent demonstra-

tive pronouns may (rarely) occur before the noun; e. g. /hada 1-w~ldmri$/
'this boy is sick7, /haduka 1-FyZis 5d1d/ 'Those houses a r e new'.
I I
r /s-s~rwal hada m ~ mt&Ifi/
s 'These trousers a r e not mine'
/I-wrag haduka 11-lmu5%111m/ 'Those papers belong to the teacher'

When the noun is modified by a demonstrative the noun i s necessari!jr

definite, i. e. takes the definite article, if the demonstrative precedes the

noun, and the article o r a pronoun suffix if it follows the noun.

Numersls

A cardinal numeral may modify a noun and occurs commonly before i t

and rarely after it. When the definite article o r a demonstrative is to be

rdded to the phrase the article is attached to the numeral itself and the

demonuiraiive precedes it. Lt' zn adjective is to be added to modify the noun,

it is placed a t the end of the whole phrase; e. g.

/x-s krah~b/'five cars'

/ I - x w s krahb/ 'the four cars7
/ha-1-x-s k r a h ~ b1-kbar/ 'these ten big c a r s 7

The numeral /wah~d/ 'one7 always occurs after the noun i t modifies and is,

therefore, an exception; e. g.

/ltzb wah~d/'one book'

/dar w&da/ 'one room'

Ordinal numbers modify nouns and occur before o r after the noun they modify

if i t is singular but only after it if it is plural. When the ordinal occurs

before, i t has the article, and the noun does not. Ordinals agree with the

'when numerals occur after the nouns they modify, they agree with
,-them in gender and number.
J
rnouns they modify in gender, nurnbey, and definiteness when they follow 7
them but they a r e in the masculine singular if they precede, regardless of

the gender of the noun; e. g.

/1-mra r-rabSa/
/r-rabgf m r a / ' the fourth woman'
/d-duriat r-rab5at/ 'the fourth steps'
/f.-tullab 1-?iwlin/ 'the first students'

Particles

The foliowing particles function a s noun modifiers. Some of them may

have more than one function and may have been listed previously under a

different grammatical category.

(a) The particle /hglba/ 'much, many, very'. When i t modifies a

noun it may occur before i t o r after i t and means 'much, a lot of'. The

noun must be a collective o r mass noun.

lh'lba nas/} 'a lot of people'

/nas h5l'oa/
/pukkur hiilia/ 'too much sugar'

(b) The particle /Ziw&yya/ 'little, few'. It modifies nouns and pre-

cedes them. When i t i s annexed to a noun the final /a/ is replaced by the

suffix /-It/.

l~ncludingcomparative adjectives in which case the particle follows

the comparative adjective; P. g. /atw11 h5lba/ 'a lot taller', /7&sm1n hglba/'
~ ' lot
a fatter'. J
r /gw5yy1t fh/ 'a little understanding7
/Sw&yy~tm11F/ 'a little (bit of) salt7
/t%wiiyy~tbnat/ 'few girls7

(c) The particle / m a / 'which, what7. It modifies a noun and occurs

immediately before it. The noun it modifies is necessarily indefinite; e. g.

/5iak m a bgan?/ 'Which horse did he give you?'

/arna m M r s a ? / 'what school, which school?'
/ m a blad?/ 'which, whzt country?'

(d) The particle /kull/ 'each, every, all:. It modifies a noun and

precedes it: e. g.

/kull ?ustad/ 'every professor7

/kull m 5 i m u C d 'each group7
/kull 1-bant/ 'all the girls7

If it is to be placed after the noun it modifies, which is quite possible, a

pronoun suffix referring to the noun is attached to it and the noun itself

becomes definite. In this position it means 'all' o r 'the whole7; e. g.

/l-Cela kullha/ 'The whole family7

/1-158na kullha/ 'The whole committee'

Annexion Structures

An annexion structure, in i t s simplest form, is a noun phrase consist-

ing of two nouns in which the f i r s t noun is modified by the second. It may be

simple o r complex depending on the number of elements involved. It

exceeds three constituents only rarely. The two-element annexion is the

most common.
L
 Simple Annexion 7
The simple annexion has two elements: the f i r s t term, which may be

a noun o r an adjective and the second term which may be a noun o r a pro-

noun (usually demonstrative pronoun). The first term never has the

definite article and cannot take a pronoun suffix, although in t e r m s of Inean-

ing it may be definite. The second may be definite o r indefinite and can

take a pronoun suffix;

/k&lb s-suwwag/ 'the driver's dog'

/srir l-b~nt/ 'the girl's bed'
/bog lamas/ 'a garbage-man's house'
/ d & b ~ t &'?ma/ 'a blind man's hit'

When the f i r s t term is modified by an adjective (or any other element

functioning like an adjective), that adjecti.ve is placed a t the end of the

whole structure; e. g.

/ m ~ f t a bdarna 1- ?9b:/1g/ 'the white key of our room7

/sriyyar~tl-mudir l-!&ma/ 'the director's red car'

If the two t e r ~ i of
s the annexion a r e of the same gender an zwbiguity may

result; e. g.

/wid i a r n a ;-slir/ 'our neighbor's small boy/our small

neighbor's doy'
/drrkitzn xuy l-khir/ 'my eldest brother's shop/my brother' s
big shop'

The f i r s t term of a simple znnexion may be an adjective (or an active

participle functioning a s an adjective) in which case the whole structure func-

Ltions iike an adjective; e. g. -I

 /kbir 9-9dug/ 'big cheeked7
. ..
/kasgh r-ras/ 'hard-headed7

The second term may be a demonstrative pronoun in a less common struc-

ture; e. g.

/bda 51t hada/ 'this one's merchandise'

.
/t;s~t hadi/ 'this one's (F) glass'

Complex Annexion

A complex annexion consists of three (or rarely more) terms of which

the middle element is called the 'middle term7. It functions as a second

term of the first and a s a first-term for the third. I2 such a structure only

the last term may take the definite article o r a pronoun suffix; e. g.

/hog w11d n-n1Z8ar/ Lthecarpenter's son's house7

/6kay1t xanxb 9-9hta/ 'the suitcase thief's storyy
/m5w$u5 h~Zrat1-bkdd 'the subject of beduin migration'

Only rarely does a four-element structure occur; e. g.

/hkay~twgqf t ~ ~ 1- u?&8an1b/ l 'the story of stopping foreign

intervention'
/tlag bxnt w11d C h m & h / 'the divorce of his cousin's daughter'

One structure that is considered similar in meaning to annexion is

introduced by the particle /mta$/ 'belonging to' between the terms of the

annexion. This particle may be used in its independent form or 2s a stem

for a pronoun suffix. In both cases it indicates possession; e.g.

L
I
/1-miikt~b mtaf 1-mu.dir/ 'the director's office'
/l-k;an mta$i/ 'my horse'

There is no difference in meaning between the direct annexion and the

construction usiilg /mtaf/. As a matter of fact many structures of the

f i r s t type may be put together in the second type; e. g.

/5rd 1-hkurna/ 'the government's land'

/ l - i r ~k t a 5 1-hkuma/

In a /mta$/-structure, however, the f i r s t element may o r may not take the

definite article (e. g . /Brg mtaC !kuma/ 'a government's land') while ir- the

direct annexion the first element never takes the article. When /mtaf/ is

used in its independent form it occurs between the two nouns (or n c u i

phrases); e. g.

/I-wrag mtaf 1-muhsndrs/ 'the engineer's papers'

/I-hurka 1-kbira mtaq i?arna/ 'our neighbor's big robe'
/1-hut mta5 1-mmsyya 1-hrlwa/' 'sweet water fish'

The Vocative / ~ a /

The particle /ya/ is used with proper no-ms and nouns that indicate

titl-es o r kinship relations. It is a form of calling the attention of the person

spoken to; e. g.

/t%l.a ya 5li g%Crn~z/'Hey, Ali, come 2zd sit'

/ya?axx mIn f%$l~k ma d-d&xxrn~g/ 'Brother, please don't smoke'
/ya s5yy1d hada m h n u 5 / 'Sir, this is prohibited'
'use of /nafs/ and /r&/

The nouns /nSifs/ and /rub/ 'self, soul, character' combined with a

possessiiie pronoun suffix function like English reflexive pronouns; e. g.

/gt%l niIfsii.h/ 'He killed himself'

/ r m e r u h W 'He threw himself down'
/ h u n t ;&ha/ 'She deprived herself (of)'

Use of /(w)Zud/ and /$en/

The nouns / ( w ) ~ u d /'character, personality' and /5en/ (literally

means 'eye' but the implication is that of the whole character) preceded

by the preposition /b-/ 'with may be used in the sense of 'personally o r in

person'; e. g.

/Eani huwwa biudgh; 'He came to m e in person'

/ ~ u f t 2 hhuwwa bSeniih/ 'I saw h.in in person'

The Adjective

Adjectives a s Modifiers

Adjectives a r e placed after the nouns they modify and agree with them

iri gender, number, and definiteness a s we will s e e below under Agreement.

If the noun is definite the adjective is definite; e. g.

/1- ?5tat 1-gdim/ 'the old furniture'

/l-muwaddfa i - ~ c ! " d a / 'the new (F) employee'
..
/ 'grdna 's'-s~ira/ ' o w small land'
.
If the noun is indefinite the adjective is indefinite too; e. g.
r /bnaya f W a / 'a luxurious building'
/mm2yya ndi£a/ 'clean water'

Comparative Adject i - ~ e s

The comparative forms a r e used in superlative usages in many

different ways. One is when they occur followed by a noun to which they

a r e attached in an annexion relationship; e. g.

/5kbir hutel f i 1-mdina/ 'the biggest hotel in the city'

/ Z i ~ l ~w+rd
r f i 1-m25mu~a/ 'the youngest one in the group'
/gZrn11 bint fi 1-rn&drsa/ 'the prettiest girl in the school7

Another way of indicating the superlative is by attaching the definite

article to a regular adjective and placing an independent pronoun, agreeing

with the subject, before it; e. g.

/s?iyyarti h ~ y y a1-mli$a/ 'my c a r is the best'

/Sli h w a 1-kbir/ 'Ali is the eldest'
..
/I-b~nt k:yya. s - s ~ i r d'the girl is the youngest'

Still a third way of making superlative is by using the comparative

form of the adjective foilowed by a definite plural noun; e. g.

/xuh 5Fsm r - r 1 2 i a l d 'his brother is the best of men7

/ f a p a h ~ y y a5kb1r 1-bnat/ 'Fatma is the eldest of the girls7
/humma aSZa5 1-Zunud/ 'they a r e the bravest (of soldiers)'

Comparatives a s Modifiers

When a comparative modifies a noun it either precedes it o r follows it.

If the comparative precedes it is normally indefinite and constitutes with its

rnoun an annexion structure. The meaning of such a structure is that of a
1

superlative, e. g.

w11d/ 'the cleverest boy'

/&wS~rd&rs/ 'the most difficult lesson'

If the noun is made definite (and this i s less corrlnlvn in Libyan Arabic) it has

to be changed into plural and the meaning will be that of superlative of

excellence, i. e. showing the excellence of a certain thing among other

equals.

When the comparative follows, the noun modified is often indefinite; e. g.

/'iuda Zi.gp~r/ 'a shorter stick'

/bugra Bsm~n/'a fatter cow'
/flus Bkt~r/'more money'
 CHAPTER XI1

AGREEMENT

Adjectives agree with the nouns they modify; a verb agrees with i t s

subject, and a pronoun agrees with its referent. This syntactic relationship

is normally called agreement. Agreement involves not o~ilyconsiderations

of gender and number, but other considerations a s well.

Nouns and Adjectives

Adjectives agree in certain ways with nouns in gender, number, and

definiteness. If the noun i s masculine singular i t takes a masculine singulzr

adjective; if i t i s feminine singular it takes a Eeminine singular adjective.

In Libyan Arabic, a s in all other dialects and in Standard Arabic, the adjec-

tive follows the noun it modifies; e, g.

/dukkan ?air/ 'small shop'

/xef, rgig/ 'thin string'
/ r o & ~ gdim/
n 'old window'
/ga5a wasCa/ 'wide yard (F. )'
..
/ x ~ t t amli!a/ 'good plan (F. )'

~f the -LIUUU---.-
is dual (feminine o r masculine, human o r nonhuman) the adjective

is in the broken p l u r d form if i t has one; e. g.

/daren kbar/ 'two big rooms'

, /kursryyeo 'two strong chairs'
/ktaben humur/ 'two red books'
L
rIf the adjective has no broken plural form, however, the feminine sound
1

plural form of the adjective is used with the dual; e. g.

/nagten garfat/ 'two old female camels'

/Mlmten gw~yyat/'two strong words'
/gabten mllyanat/ 'two full pages'
/mkktben fa$yat/ 'two empty (vacant) offices'

If the noun is plural and has nonhuman referents the adjective i s feminine

(singular o r plural; both a r e heard) or broken plural; e. g.

/brarik kbar/ ' b i g huts'

/radyuwat i d ~ d /'new radios'
/ m d z r ~ sg&ma/ 'old schools'
/dyar m~ly&nat,''full rooms'

If the noun is masculine plural with human referents it takes masculine

plural o r broken plural adjectives. If the noun is feminine plural with

human referents it takes feminine plural adjectives o r broken plural

adjectives; e. g.

/f&llabin nagtin/ 'energetic farmers'

/wlad fwal/ 'tall boys9
/bgwwabin r&smryyin/ 'officia.1 janitors'
/xrddamat sman/ 'fat maids'
/tbibat falbat/ 'clever doctors'
&at kbar/ 'big girls9

Comparative forms do not agree with the noun they modify. They a r e in-

variable in form; e. g.

/l-miidrsa a k b ~ rmIn l-m&l51b/ 'The school is bigger than

the stadium'
/I-bnat a g n r mIn l-ulad:' 'The girls a r e younger than the boys'
/I-hyag aws&$ m1n I-villat/ 'The houses a r e wider than the villas'
J
 Definiteness

A noun i s considered definite if:

a. It i s a proper noun; e. g. /matp.rnm~d/, /salgh/, etc.

b. It has the definite article /11/l a.ttached to it, e. g. /11-S&W/ 'the

weather7, /11- l?ilta/ 'the mistake7.

c. I t has a pronoun suffix attached to it, e. g. /ktabi/ 'my hook7

/du!ckanrk/ 'jiour shop7, etc,

d. I t is a first t e r m of an annexion construction the second t e r m of

which is definite by rneaiis of any of the above-mentioned ways, e. g.

/du kkan ~ a l H b /'Salah's shop7

/dukkan s&diq&h/ 'His friend7s shop7
/dukkan i l - m r d 'The woman's shop'

An adjective modifying a definite noun is made definite by attaching the

definite article to it; e. g.

/tunis 11-xi%dra/ 'Green Tunisia'

/11-m8th1f tltarixi/ the historical museum'
/ s ~ r w a l k h&%did/ 'his new trousers'
/hog 11-mra ?-%did/ 'the woman's new house'

When the adjective functions a s a predicate of an equational sentence,

i t takes no definite article regardless of whether the noun (or pronoun) i t

r e f e r s to in the subject i s definite o r indefinite; e. g.

l ~ o l l e c t i v e sa r e also treated a s masculine singulars o r feminine

e i n g u l a r , and pronouns and verbs agree accordingly. J
r /11-g&wa murra/ 'The coffee is bitter'
/ane mrip/ 'I an sick'

Pronouns and Verbs

There is no distinction in gender in the f i r s t person pronoun; gender

can only be understood from the context; e. g.

/ane EBFqan/ 'I am hungry (M)'

/ane 22C~ana/'I am hungry (F)'
/!fie B&~$ani~i/ 'We (M) a r e hungry'
/bne i g ~ f a n a t /'We (F) a r e hungry'

If the f i r s t person plural pronoun includes males and females it is alw2ys

ireated a s masculine.

A clue to whether the speaker is a male o r a female i s the form of

the modifier used with the pronoun o r noun. There i s a distinction in

number, of course, between first person singular and the first person plural,

where the f i r s t refers only to the speaker and the second r e f e r s to more than

one (including the speaker) of either sex.

The second person pronoun has feminine o r masculine, sirgular o r

plural forms depending on the sex and number of person(s) addressed. The

plural f o ~ mis used to refer to more than one of either sex; the singular

r e f e r s only to one person.

/ ~ n t ab&c&l/ 'you (M) a r e a champion'

/ ~ n t jm5inuna/ 'you (F) a r e crazy'
j ~ n t u mt~tkgllmuf 2rbi/ 'do you (PI. ) speak Arabic ?'
T ~ nboth the f i r s t and second persons if the pronouns a r e joined together by 1
/w/ 'and' to function a s a subject in a sentence, the verb is usually in the

third person plural; e. g.

/ane w ~ n t v mnhlsbu kar!a/ 'I and you (Pl. ) play cards'

/Inti w hne b-n~mgulmZigr/ 'you (F) and we will go to Egypt'

In the third person if the subject i s feminine singular the pronoun

that refers to it, and also the verb, a r e in the fernirine singulzr; i f the

subject is masculine singular, they will be in the masculine singular, e. g.

suwwag/ 'The g i r l got xxarried to a driver'

/ l b ~ n ttz&wwS~t
/xalti ? a n t m5sr/ 'My aunt visited Egypt'
/l-bab nh&li/ he door opened'
.. .
/lhsan tl&S bgrra/ 'The horse went out'

If the subject is plural o r dual with human referents, the verb (and the pro-

noun) i s plural; if i t does not have human referents, the verb i s either plural

o r feminine singular; e. g.

/tuna silyyarten m'ii?ibyat/ 'We received two c a r loads'

11-biban n k u s r d 'The doors broke'
/I-V2xba.r !ulC~t fi l-blad/ 'The news spread in the country'
,'l-miidar~s @kkr:t b&kri/ 'The schools closed early'
 SENTENCE TYPES

Sentences i n Libyan Arabic may be divided into simple, compound,

and complex. The f i r s t consists of one independent clause; the second of

two o r more independent clauses joined together with a conjunction; the third

of two o r m o r e clauses of which only one is independent, the others subordi-

nate.

Simple sentences may be subdivided into equational sentences, verbal

sentences, and topic and comment sentences. Each of these subdivisions has

characteristics that distinguish it from others.

The Simple Equational Sentence

A declarative equational sentence consists of a subject and a verbless

predicate in juxtaposition. The subject slot may be filled by a definite noun

.;with o r without modifiers), a pronoun o r a demonstrative. The predicate

may be a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, an adverb, o r a prepositional

phrase. There i s no linking copula between the two parts but it i s implied

in the selrkantics of the sentence; e. g.

/@;an slir/ 'the horse i s young'

/&-bebani m19taZ&$/ 'the old man is not feeling well'
/hada w ~ l d i /'this is my son'
I- /hadi h~yya/'this is it/she'
132
r ~ na simple equational sentence the subject comes first except when the 7
sentence begins with an interrogative word, o r when the predicate is a

preposition with a pronoun suffix attached to it; e . g .

/ m ~ n u1-5ris/ 'who is the groom?'

/&nu ha-dd;wga/ 'what is this noise?'
/rn5ak x h s nfar/ 'five persons a r e with you'
/fiha srt dyar/ 'It has six rooms'

The Verbal Sentence

A declarative verbai sentence is one that contains a verb. i t may also

contain an expressed subject, an object, and various modifiers. If not ex-

pressed, the subject may be indicated by the inflection of the verb; a s a

matter of fact, a verbal sentence may consist of only one word, i. e. a v e r b

in which the subject i s signaled by inflection and an optional object, in the

form of a pronoun suffix, attached to it, e. g.

/Czhntha/ 'I invited her'

/l&zzuhum/ 'They sent them out'

If the subject i s expressed, it may be a noun o r pronoun o r a combination of

a noun o r pronoun plus the inflection of the verb; e. g. /1-w11d (huwwa) dr5b

1 - ~ l b /'the boy hit the dog'. The subject may precede o r follow the verb;

If the subject i s a pronoun i t receives primary s t r e s s and has the meaning

L J
rof emphasis and contrast, e.g.

/humma 115bu 1 - k u r d 'They played football (not the others)'

/huwwa hrgb m11-fikbs/ 'Be escaped from jail (not others)'

Sentence Neeation

Sentence negation in Libyan Arabic i s expressed by attaching prefixes

and/or suffixes o r by introducing certain negation particles. An equational

sentence is negated by introducing the particle / ~ I B / 'is not' between the

subject and the predicate; e. g.

/ ~ - Z ~ W ~ h11d
I S 'the weather i s not nice'
/1-bos ~ I kbir/
B 'the house is not big'

A verbal sentence is negated by prefixing /ma/ and sdfixing /-S/ to

the verb if i t ends in g vowel and /-I&/ if it ends in a consonant.

/ma-tliift18 bgrra/ 'I didn't go out'

/ma-yu8rub1S fi 1-gAhwa/ 'he doesn't drink coffee'
/ma mga8 li-lhZla/ 'he did not go to the party'

In place of, o r together with, the suffix / - 8 / other particles such a s /ler/,

/11la/, /kan/ may be used with v e r b forms. In this c a s e they will mean

'nothing but, only' and they a r e often interchangeable; e. g.

/ma-SrenaS 11la wahrd/ 'we only bought one'

/ma-kiil11m1S lJer 1-mra/ 'he only spoke to the woman'
/ma-tiiFr1f16 k a 1-mzdir/
~ 'she only knows the managsr7

The prefix /ma-/ may be combined with other elements to express negaticn

in different ways; e. g.
r /ma-%a(&) h%dd/ 'nobody came'
/ma-lgalr <a%d'he found nothing, he didn't find anything'

If the verb has an auxiliary, the prefix and the suffix are attached to

the auxiliary, not to the main verb; e. g.

/ma-Sumrig rg&st/ 'I never dan. edy

/ma-y1bbi8 yurgud/ 'he doesn't want to sleep'
/ma-y1gdru8 yug5du/ 'they can't stay'

If the verb form is imperative the second person (singular o r plural) form of

the imperfect tense of that form is used in negation; e. g.

Imperative -
Negative

/ ?rm&u/ 'Go (Pl. ) !' /mat1mSu8/ 'Don't go (Pl. ) !'

/ ?ug Sud/ 'Stay !' /matug$ud~B/ 'Don't stay !'
/kuli/ 'Eat (F. ) !' /matakliS/ 'Don't eat (F. ) !'

In r a r e examples when the prefix-suffix combination is ailaciled to prepo-

sitions and adverbs, the helping vowel /i/ is added to the suffix /s/ and the

/ 5 / becomes doubled, e. g.

/ma fi.4 haia/ 'There is nothing'

/ma fiSSi G y / 'There is nothing in it'
/l-het ma $leSSi ~ & y 'The / wall has nothing on it'
/ I - k & k t ~ bm a wraSgi &&y/'The desk has nothing behind i t (in i t s
be hind) '

A sentence containing the particle /51nd/ 'at, to have' may be negated by

either ~ttachingthe /ma-8/ combination o r by introducing the negative

particle / m ~ & /and i n each case i t has a different meaning, e. g.

/I-flus m1i3 S ~ n d i /'I don't have the money (somebody e l s e may

have it)'
L.- /ma j ~ n d i gflus/ 'I don't have money (at ail)'
 Interrogation 1

Questions a r e formed by either: (a) rising intonation, o r by (b) using

a question word, i. e. by using one of the interrogative pronouns o r adverbs;

e. g.

/smgSt l - b l a ~ a ? / 'Did you hear the story?'

/amta F g w ~ l t u?/ 'When did you move ?'
/ h n u $ 5 , ~ ~ 1 1 ?'What
/ did he get?'

Questions that a r e made by rising intonation ur;ually require a 'yes-no' type

of answer. Those made by introducing a question word a r e answered by

giving a specsic body of information. The interrogative word (or phrase)

is usually placed at the beginning of the sentence, although there a r e in-

stances where it occurs at the end, e.g.

/get mSa Skun?/ 'who did you come with?'

/ ~ r e t h abgrddaS ?/ 'you bought it for how much?'

The Topic-Comment S e n t e ~ c e

A topic-comment sentence i s one that consists of two parts: a topic,

usually a noun, proncun, o r a demonstrative, and a comment, normally an

equational o r verbal sentence, in which there is a pronoun referring back to

the topic, serving a s a comment on the thing taikzd about. Examples in

which the comment is a verbal sentence:

/d-dukkan, sZikhrt2.h mIn z m a d 'I closed the shop a long time ago'
/@e, ma - nrkdrus nrm&u/ (we cannot go'
- 'I cannot tolerate this'
/hada/ ma nth3&la6/
L
r ~ nthese examples the topics a r e placed a t the beginning of the sentences and 1

separated by a pause from the verbal sentences that serve as comments for

those prestated topics. Also the topics correspond to the underlined pro-

nouns in the comment sentences. Examples in which comment is an equa-

tional sentence:

/8arna, xu& mri$/ 'our neighbor's brother i s sick'

- mudiirrsa/ 'Ali's mother is a teacher'
/Ali, PummZih

The topic-comment sentence can be freely negative, p a s s f ~ c ,fiiipera-

tive, and interrogative. It is treated as any othcr verbal sentence.

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence is one that consists of two independent clauses

joined by a conjunction. The clauses a r e independent in the sense that if the

conjunction is removed each clause can stand as a major sentence; e. g.

/yF~bbl-brnt lakm ma-yrgd~rsy1tz&w18ha/

'He loves the girl but he can't marry her'

/tsiIllrf flus m11-b5nk vr gre s5yyara/

'Xe borrowed money from ?he bank and bought a car'

The two clauses joined together in a compound sentence may be only two

words, each with the subject signaled by inflection and the object (if any)

attached to it in the form of a suffix; e. g.

/Safni lakzn t % h r b t 5 h / 'He saw me but I ignored him'

 Complex Sentences

A complex sentencc is one thsst consists of two o r more clauses one

of which is independent and the others dependent o r subordinate. The

dependent clause may function as a noun, an adjective, o r an adverb.

Noun Clauses

A noun clause is one that does the wcrk 9f 2 single noun i . ~ .a

sentence. It ilia7 function a s a subject, a s an object, o r as an object of a

preposition (usually / ~ l l a / 'except'). The conjunctions that introduce a noun

clause are: /kiiwn-/ followed by a pronoun suffix,l and /11li/ 'that who,

~l'hich'. /fiwn-/ cannot be left out in a sentence while /11li/ may be when

its clause functions a s an object; e. g.

As ii subject'

/11li B1bt2h m a s&dd~g/'What you brought was not enough'

/11li yhgssl5h yusrf&h/ 'Whatever he gets he spends'
/kiIwnkh'&rud hada IS svdr/ 'that he got sick is not an excuse'

A s an object:

/nset kawnha m~tzgwia/'I forgot that she is married'

/smg$t 11li huwwa y ~ x n ~ b'I/ heard that he steals (he is a thief),
/nghsab(&) 1-hog nba$/ 'I thought the hoilse was sold'

If the verb takes two objects only the second object can be a clause; e. g.

/'$Ill~rn w1ld5h ysSl3h i - a a h ~ b / 'He taught his son how to fix (he
fixes) cars'.

I- he pronoun usually agrees with the subject of the clause.

 As an object of preposition:

/gulli 5yy !&a 11la 1-bog nba5/ 'tell m e anyt;hing except (e4a.t)
the house was sold'
/$iddrgt kvll g5yy rlla h k a y ~ buh
t mat/ 'I believed everything
except that his fathe; died'

A noun clause may function a s an object with no conjunction introducing it;

/smgCt ;-plar y51fbu/ 'I heard the children playing'

..
In this sentence the word /s-siTar/ functions not only a.s an object of the

verb /sm&/ but also as a topic f o r the clause /yZilFbu/ a s well.

The conjunction /11li/, when used to introduce the noun clause,

usually specifies the thing talked about. It may, however, be used to indi-

cate general matters; e. g.

/ ~ l l iyvi5: ya m a ySuf/ 'he who lives s e e s a lot'

/11li y b ~ b b ~b1bb5.h/'
k 'Love the one who loves you'

A different kind of noun clause is the interrogative. Interrogative

noun clauses a r e those that a r e introduced by interrogative prmouns o r

adverbs. All the pronouns and adverbs listed on pages 99 and 106 may

introduce such clauses; e. g.

/ma lr5ft1S kif tt&rbg~t/'I did not know how it exploded'

/kart t ~ b b i h agulii g ~ d d a st5dfiif/ LIfyou want it tell m e how much
you want to pay'
/tm5nnetgh SriY+li a m a w5hda/ 'I wish he had explained to m e
which one'

A yes-no question may b e incorporated into a sentence a s a subordinate

L J
rclause by introducing the conjunction /kan . . . wirlla la/ which translates 7

as 'whether o r not', e. g.

/ m a - n d r i ~ kan hgllha wirlla la/ 'I don't know if he cljened it o r not'

/ l a z ~ mniiyrfu xdahum wglla la/ 'we have to know whether he
took them o r not'

In some situations the f i r s t part of the conjunction (i.e. /kan/) is left out

and only / w U a la/ is used; e. g.

/ma ga11tliS trbbiha willla la/ 'She didn't w ell m e (whether) she
*::a.=,ts it o r not'

A d j e c t ~ dClauses

Adjectival c l a c ~ e sa r e mainly relative c h i s a s iiiodifyiilg. a ;zsmiczl fr-

the independeni clause and containing a pronoun (or a verb) referring back to

that nominal and agreeing with it. Adjectival clauses a r e i r ~ t ~ o d ~ by

c e tbe
d

relative pronoun /11li/ 'that, who, whom, which', ' e. g.

/r-r&11 11li yuslun hne mat/ 'The man who lives here died'
/~irddu1-xanrb 11li xn5b s-sacja/ 'They arrested the thief who
stole the watch'

If the noun modified by the adjectival clause is indefinite the relative clause

is not usually introduced by /rlli/; e. g.

'when the clause is introduced by /rlli/ it is necessarily of the

defining type, i. e. specifies what is talked about. Incidentally /11li/ here
is the s a m e as that which introduces the noun clause but here it has a
Ldefini12g function. -I
 /mbbi mofu trm3i m ~ t e nkilo/ 'I. want a moiorcycle (that) runs
two hundred kilometers'
/ndi%ww~r f i kundra t5i3 hZlba/ 'I am looking f c r a pair of
shoes that lives long'

--
Adverbial Clauses

An adverbial clause i s one that modifies the verb of the main clause.

It may be an adverbial clause of time, manner, reason o r place, depending

on the type of conjunction used.

(a) Clause of time. The conjunctions a r e a s follows: (the particle

/ma/ foiiowiug many of them is close in meaning to the English 'ever' .in

whenever, whatever, etc. The conjunctions may be used with o r without

/ma/): /amta ma/ 'whenever', /kullma/ 'whenever', / l e d 'until',

/11bZidd ma/ 'until', /gilbl/ 'before', /bilSd/ 'after', /mfi.dam/ 'as long as',

/ m ~ l l i / 'as soon as', / I h m a / 'when'. Some of these conjunctions a r e

synonymous and interchangeable. Interchangeability is indicated below by

the alternation sign -, e. g .

/nsafru amta ma dSi zoiti/ 'We will travel when my wife comes'
/ku 11ma yak1 yumru$/ 'Whenever he eats he gets sick'
/raBena len(-11h5dd)rna i u kullhurn/ 'We waited until they
all came'
/Sretha gilbl ma t13ri 1-bog/ 'I bought it before she bought
the house'
/Srilbtha b55d m a t5&3get/ 'I cirank it after I had supper'
/miidam m a mgaB l a z ~ mykun mrid/ 'As long a s (since) he
didn't go he must be sick'
/ m ~ l l iguft5h qrkftZih/ 'As soon a s I saw him I recognized him'
 (b) Clauses of manner. The conjunctions are: /kif(ma)/ 'as',

/z&y(ma)/ 'like'. These two conjunctions a r e interchangeable, e. g.

& r e z&y ma(- kif m a ) y ~ i r1-bgan/

i 'He ran like a horse (as the
horse runs)
/dar kif ma(- zily ma~gunnalilh/ 'He did as we told him (tc do)'

( c ) Clauses of reason. The conjunctions are: /qle x a t ~ r /'because',

/11 ??itma/ 'because', e, g.

/r5ww& Cle x a t ~ kr h m 1 1 Boiflilh/ 'He went home because he

finished his bork'
/;gut Cle x a t ~ ma
r xdgs 1-~mt~han/ 'He failed because he didn't
take the lxam'
/ba5 ha 11 ?&nn&hm a gdilri3 y sugha/ 'He sold it because he
couldn't drive it'
..
/hdgrt I-muhadra 11 ? h n h a muhrmmd 'I attended the lecture
because it is importast'

(d) Clauses of place. These a r e introduced by the conjunctior, /wen ma/

/lgaha wen m a hattha/ 'he found it wherz he (had) put it'

/Iwahrd y5id we;l &a yalga rizgilh/ 'One lives wherever he
f ibds his living.

Conditional Clauses

A conditional clause consists, in Libyan Arabic, of two parts: the

main clause, us~lallythe one that includes the conditional particle, and the

his is an overlapping in the usage of the conjunction /wen/. It may

be used in the sense of 'when', e. g. /wen m a nBufah n s a l l ~ mGleh/ 'whenever
I see him I greet him.'; o r in the sense of 'where' a s i i ~/mSetlgh wen ma
L y ~ x d ~ m'I / went to where he works'. -I
rresult clause, the one that tells what the result would be, had that condition 1
been fulfilled.

The conditional particles that introduce the conditional clause are:

/kan/, /lukan - w k a d and /15w/, the last less common. They all mean 'ify.

Although the determination of whether the condition indicated i s real

o r unreal can nnly be achieved by understanding the overall context. The

following generalizations hold to a certain extent for Libyan Arabic,

although, admittedly, they a r e not invariabk.

Conditional c l a ~ ~ s may
e s indicate unreal (impossible to fulfill) condi-

tions o r r e a l conditions (those that a r e possible to fulfill). Clauses express-

ing unreal conditions a r e introduced by /kan/ and /lukan/ (which is some-

times abbreviated as /wkan/); those expressing r e a l condition by /lkv/.

-
Unreal condition. This is indicated in Libyan Arabic by putting the

verbs of the main clause and the result clause in the perfect tense and

introducing the particle /ra/ plus a pronoun suffix1 before the verb of :he

reslrlt. This particle has the meaning 'would/rnight have', e. g.

/lukan Eani rani S t e t a flus/ 'If he had come to me I would have

given him moneyy
. ..
/wkan mi3e rahu h a s s ~ l h a /'If he had gone he wo-uld have gotten it'
/kan sm2.5ha rahu galli/ 'If he had heard it he would have
told mey

lor /kan/ plus a pronoun suffix.

L
 Heal condition. This is indicated by the introduction of /liiw/. The 1
verb oi the main clause may be in the perfect o r imperfect but the verb of

the result is necessarily in the imperfect. In this case the clause refers to

2 present o r future condition depending on the context; e. g.

/l%w tSi n&stihal~k/'If you come I'll give it to you'

/I&w m a 2aS' nbitha/ 'If he does not come I'll sell it'
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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