Tunisian Arabic morphology

The grammar, the conjugaison and the morphology of Tunisian Arabic is very similar to that of other Maghrebi Arabic varieties.[1] It is based on Classical Arabic and influenced by Berber languages and Latin, with some morphological inventions. The Berber influence is more noticeable in Pre-Hilalian dialects.[1]

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Tunisian Arabic has 7 personal pronouns since gender differentiation of the 2nd person in the singular form is absent.[1][2][3][4]

Person[1][2][3][4] Singular[1][2][3][4] Plural[1][2][3][4]
1st ānā آنا aḥnā أحنا
2nd intī إنتِي intūmā انتوما
3rd (m) hūwa هوة hūma هومة
3rd (f) hīya هية hūma هومة

Example : آنا زادة « Āna zāda. » — "Me too."[1][2][3][4]

Possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns are used as possessive articles when put as a suffix to a preposition or a noun.[1][2][3][4] When it is used after a verb, their functions are rather direct object pronouns.[1][2][3][4] The ones between parenthesis are the ones used after a structure finishing by a vowel.[1][2][3][4]

Person[1][2][3][4] Singular[1][2][3][4] Plural[1][2][3][4]
1st -ī (-yā) ي- -nā نا-
2nd -ik (-k) ك- -kum كم-
3rd (m) -ū (-h) ه- -hum هم-
3rd (f) -hā ها- -hum هم-

Note, that with feminine words which are generally finished with an ة a, a ت t is added before the suffixes which become tī, tik, tū, thā, tnā, tkum and thum[2][3]

Indirect object pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns are used as a suffix after the verb and before the ش- -š of the negation.[1][2][3][4] When there is a combination of direct and indirect object pronouns, indirect object pronouns are always written in the end.[4][5] Furthermore, the first short i for the indirect Object pronoun is always dropped when it is written after a vowel.[3][6]

Person[1][2][3][4] Singular[1][2][3][4] Plural[1][2][3][4]
1st -lī لي- -ilnā لنا-
2nd -lik لك- -ilkum لكم-
3rd (m) -lū له- -ilhum لهم-
3rd (f) -ilhā لها- -ilhum لهم-

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used as a subject to explain general ideas or to report the facts which were done by an unknown person:[1][3][4][6]

Interrogative pronouns

The next interrogative pronouns are used when asking a question in Tunisian Arabic.[3][4]

Tunisian Arabic English Notes
شنوة šnūwa (m.), شنية šnīya (f.), شنومة šnūma (pl.) What šnīya is used with feminine words. šnūma is used with plural words.
آش āš or ش- š- What Used with verbs and some nouns.
شكون škūn Who
آما āmā Which
وقتاش waqtāš When
علاش ɛlāš Why
لواش lwāš What for
وين wīn or فين fīn Where
منين mnīn Where ... from
لوين lwīn Where ... to
كيفاش kīfāš How
قدّاش qaddāš How many
بقدّاش bqaddāš How much
فاش fāš What ... in
مناش mnāš What ... of
آناهو ānāhū (m.), آناهي ānāhī (f.), آناهم ānāhum (pl.) Which one(s)

Articles

Definite articles

Translated in English as "The" Article, "il-" (ال) is used as an added prefix to denote nouns as definite.[1][2][3][5] If the defined nouns begins with a Sun Consonant (n, ṇ, t, ṭ, d, dz, s, ṣ, š, z, ẓ, j, ŧ, đ, ḑ, l, r and ṛ), "il-" would be pronounced as i + the Sun Consonant with which the noun begins.[1][2][3][5] For example:

Demonstrative articles

Like in Standard Arabic, Demonstrative Articles can be used as demonstrative pronouns when they are put alone as subjects.[2][3] When they are articles, they can be written before or after the considered noun which should be definite by "il-".[2][3]

Demonstrative Articles Tunisian Arabic[1][2][3][7] Pronunciation[1][2][3][7]
This (near the speaker) هاذا or هاذاية (m), هاذي or هاذية (f) hāđa or hāđāya (m), hāđī or hāđīya (f)
This (far from the speaker) هاكا or هاكاية (m), هاكي or هاكية (f) hāka or hākāya (m), hākī or hākīya (f)
That هاذاكة (m), هاذيكة (f) hāđāka, hāđīka
These هاذومة hāđūma
Those هاذوكم hāđūkum

For example: "This book" could be written in Tunisian as هٰاذا الكتاب hāđā il-ktāb or even as الكتاب هٰاذا il-ktāb hāđā.[7]

When the demonstrative article is before the noun, it can be substituted by an abbreviated form which is ها hā for this and these, هاذْ hāđ for this and هٰاكْ hāk for that and those.[1][7]

For example, "This book" could be written in Tunisian as ها الكتاب hā il-ktāb.[7]

Possessive articles

Possessive article[2][3][6][8] Tunisian Arabic[2][3][6][8] Pronunciation[2][3][6][8]
my متاعي mtāɛī
your (in Singular) متاعك mtāɛik
his متاعه mtāɛū
her متاعها mtāɛhā
our متاعنا mtāɛnā
your (in Plural) متاعكم mtāɛkum
their متاعهم mtāɛhum

Although they do exist, possessive articles in Tunisian Arabic are not used the same way as in English. They mainly show possession valorization in a sentence. Furthermore, they are only used after a definite noun.[2][3][6][8]

For example: الكورة متاعك "il-kūra mtāɛik"- "Your ball"

Indeed, as in Arabic and other languages, possessive pronouns replaces them when there is not a valorization and a stress of the fact of possessing the item. These suffixes are the same as the ones used for conjugation of some verbs, and represent the ending sound of the possessive articles.[1][2]

For example: كورتك "kūrtik"- "Your ball"

Differently from English which uses base form for the second verb (invariable for all pronouns), Tunisian Arabic uses present (or rather imperfect) form for it.[2][9] However, the second verb could be in the past (or rather perfect) form for the three modal verbs راه rāh, حقّه Haqqū and ماذابيه māđābīh (لوكان lūkān should be written before the second verb) which do not have a past form.[3][9] Moreover, قاعد qāɛid could be used before an active participle.[2][3][4][5] Furthermore, all the modal verbs could be in negative form as in Standard English excepting راهه rāhū and ماذابيه māđābīh.[3][9] For example, ماذابينا نمشيوا māđābīnā nimšīū becomes in negative form ماذابينا ما نمشيوش māđābīnā mā nimšīūš and راهه تكلّم Rāhū tkallim becomes in negative form راهه ما تكلّمش Rāhū mā tkallimš.[3][9]

Hāhū (To be, drawing attention to the presence of the referent)

Person[4][8] Tunisian Arabic[1][10] Pronunciation[1][10]
I am هاني hānī
You are (in Singular) هاك hāk
He is هاهه hāhū
She is هاهي hāhī
We are هانا hānā
You are (in Plural) هاكم hākum
They are هاهم hāhum

Example: هاني هوني « Hānī hūnī. » "I'm here."

Ṛāhū (To be, with more intensity by emphasizing it)

Person[4][8] Tunisian Arabic[4][8] Pronunciation[4][8]
I am راني ṛānī
You are (in Singular) راك ṛāk
He is راهه ṛāhū
She is راهي ṛāhī
We are رانا ṛānā
You are (in Plural) راكم ṛākum
They are راهم ṛāhum

Example : راني هوني « Ṛānī hūnī. » — "attention, I'm here."

Māhū (To be, as an evidence marker or in a questioning manner as in tag questions)

Person[4][8] Tunisian Arabic[11][12] Pronunciation[11][12]
Am I not ماني mānī
Are you not ماك māk
Is he/it not ماهه māhū
Is she not ماهي māhī
Are we not مانا māna
Are you not (in Plural) ماكم mākum
Are they not ماهم māhum

Example : ماني هوني « Mānī hūnī. » — "Am I not, here ?." or « Māchīn, māhū ?. » — "We are going, isn't it?."

Qāɛid (To be, at the immediate moment)

Person[2][3][4][6] Tunisian Arabic[2][3][4][6] Pronunciation[2][3][4][6]
I am قاعد Qāɛid
You are (in Singular) قاعد Qāɛid
He is قاعد Qāɛid
She is قاعدة Qāɛda
We are قاعدين Qāɛdīn
You are (in Plural) قاعدين Qāɛdīn
They are قاعدين Qāɛdīn

Example : قاعدين ناكلوا « Qāɛdīn nāklū. » — "we are eating."

Najjam (Could)

Person[2][3][6][8] Tunisian Arabic[2][3][6][8] Pronunciation[2][3][6][8]
I could نجّمت najjamt
You could (in Singular) نجّمت najjamt
He could نجّم najjam
She could نجّمت najjmit
We could نجّمنا najjimnā
You could (in Plural) نجّمتوا najjimtū
They could نجّموا najjmū

Example : نجموا ياكلوا « najjmū yāklū. » — "They could eat."

Ynajjam (Can, To be able to)

Person[2][3][6][8] Tunisian Arabic[2][3][6][8] Pronunciation[2][3][6][8]
I can نَّجّم nnajjam
You can (in Singular) تنجّم tnajjam
He can ينجّم ynajjam
She can تنجّم tnajjam
We can نَّجّمُوا nnajjmū
You can (in Plural) تنجّموا tnajjmū
They can ينجّموا ynajjmū

Example : ينجّموا ياكلوا « Ynajjmū yāklū. » — "They can eat."

Ḥaqū (Should)

Person[2][3][6][8] Tunisian Arabic[2][3][6][8] Pronunciation[2][3][6][8]
I should حقني ḥaqnī
You would better (in Singular) حقك ḥaqik
He should حقه ḥaqū
She should حقها ḥaqhā
We should حقنا ḥaqnā
You should (in Plural) حقكم ḥaqkum
They should حقهم ḥaqhum

Example : حقه يتكلّم « Ḥaqū yitkallim. » — "He should speak."

Kaṛū (Would better, stronger intensity than should)

Person[2][3][6][8] Tunisian Arabic[2][3][6][8] Pronunciation[2][3][6][8]
I would better كارني kaṛnī
You would better (in Singular) كارك kaṛik
He would better كاره kaṛū
She would better كارها kaṛhā
We would better كارنا kaṛnā
You would better (in Plural) كاركم kaṛkum
They would better كارهم kaṛhum

Example : كارني تتكلّم « kaṛnī tkāllimt. » — "I would better have spoken."

Yilzmū (Have to)

Person[2][3][6][8] Tunisian Arabic[2][3][6][8] Pronunciation[2][3][6][8]
I have to يلزمني yilzimnī
You have to (in Singular) يلزمك yilzmik
He has to يلزمه yilzmū
She has to يلزمها yilzimhā
We have to يلزمنا yilzimnā
You have to (in Plural) يلزمكم yilzimkum
They have to يلزمهم yilzimhum

Example : يلزمنا نمشيوا « Yilzimnā nimšīū. » — "We have to go."

Lāzmū (Must)

Person[2][3][6][8] Tunisian Arabic[2][3][6][8] Pronunciation[2][3][6][8]
I must لازمني lāzimnī
You must (in Singular) لازمك lāzmik
He must لازمه lāzmū
She must لازمها lāzimhā
We must لازمنا lāzimnā
You must (in Plural) لازمكم lāzimkum
They must لازمهم lāzimhum

Example : لازمنا نمشيوا « Lāzimnā nimšīū. » — "We must go."

Māđābīh (Had better)

Person[3][5][6][8] Tunisian Arabic[3][5][6][8] Pronunciation[3][5][6][8]
I had better ماذابيا māđābīyā
You had better (in Singular) ماذابيك māđābīk
He had better ماذابيه māđābīh
She had better ماذابيها māđābīhā
We had better ماذابينا māđābīnā
You had better (in Plural) ماذابيكم māđābīkum
They had better ماذابيهم māđābīhum

Example : ماذابينا نمشيوا « Māđābīnā nimšīū. » — "We had better go."

Discourse markers

Tunisian Arabic involve Discourse markers that are used to emphasize some facts in discussions.[11] These facts could be even evidences and conclusions.[11]

Evidence markers

Evidence markers are mainly modal verbs. ṛāhū راهه is used to mark a fact as evident in the affirmative form.[11] It is substituted by ṃāhū ماهه when asking about a supposed evident fact.[11]

Conclusion markers

Conclusion markers are mainly conjunctions. yāxī ياخي is used to mark a fact as a conclusion in the affirmative form.[11] It is substituted by mālā مالا when asking to approve supposed conclusion.[11]

Preverbal markers

Preverbal markers or auxiliaries are verbs that are used to denote the status of a given action. They are conjugated as Subject + Preverbal marker (Any tense and form) + Action Verb (In present unless the preverbal marker is in imperative.[13] The verb is in imperative in this situation).[13][14] For example, qūm ixdim قوم اخدم meaning go to work.

Tunisian Arabic English Status
kān كان + Action Verb[13] to be doing something Finalization
bdā بدا + Action Verb[13] to begin doing something Initiation
qɛad قعد + Action Verb[13] to stay doing something Progression
ɛāwid عاود + Action Verb[13] to return doing something Repetition
ḥabb حب + Action Verb[13] to like doing something Passion
jā جا + Action Verb[13] to come doing something Intention
qām قام + Action Verb[13] to stand up to do something Intention
ṣār صار + Action Verb[14] to become doing something Initiation
wallā ولى + Action Verb[6] to become doing something Initiation
mšā مشى + Action Verb[13] to be going to do something Intention
bqā بقى + Action Verb[14] to remain doing something Progression
rjaɛ رجع + Action Verb[13] to return doing something Repetition
jarrib جرب + Action Verb[13] to try doing something Experimentation
ittilizim اتلزم + Action Verb[13] to engage oneself in doing something Engagement
kammal كمل + Action Verb[14] to finish doing something Finalization

Verb conjugation

Perfective and imperfective tenses

Regular verbs

There are significant differences in morphology between Tunisian and Standard Arabic.[1][2][15] Standard Arabic marks 13 person/number/gender distinctions in the verbal paradigm, whereas the dialect of Tunis marks only 7 (the gender distinction is found only in the third person singular).[1][2][15] Nomadic Tunisian Arabic dialects also mark gender for the second person in singular, in common with most spoken varieties of Arabic elsewhere in the Arabic world.[1][15]

In general, the regular verbs are conjugated according to the following pattern:[1][2][4][5][15]

k-t-b "to write"
perfective
(Past)		 imperfective
(Present)
singular plural singular plural
1st person ktibt كتبت ktibnā كتبنا niktib نكتب niktbū نكتبوا
2nd person ktibt كتبت ktibtū كتبتوا tiktib تكتب tiktbū تكتبوا
3rd masculine ktib كتب kitbū كتبوا yiktib يكتب yiktbū يكتبوا
feminine kitbit كتبت tiktib تكتب

The second-person singular of the three Nomadic Tunisian Arabic dialects has distinct masculine and feminine forms, with the masculine forms being as above كتبت ktibt and تكتب tiktib, and the feminine forms being كتبتِ ktibtī (perfective) and تكتبي tiktbī (imperfective).[1]

Weak verbs

Verbs with a final semivowel ā, known as "weak" verbs, have a different pattern.[1][16] This pattern is determinated according to the third letter in the root of the verb.[1][16] Moreover, the verbs having a glottal stop as a first letter of their root are also considered as weak verbs.[2][5][17][18][19]

Nomadic dialects have a different third-person singular feminine perfective form as in مشيت [mʃit], حبيت [ħbit], بديت [bdit] and خذيت [χðit][1][19][20] and delete the stem vowel in the plural imperfective forms, giving forms such as نمشوا [nimʃu], نحبوا [niħbu], نبدوا [nibdu] and نوخذوا [nu:χðu].[1][19] Furthermore, Sahil and Southeastern dialects tend to use /eː/ in place of /iː/ in the perfective conjugation. For example, تمشيوا timcīū is pronounced as [timʃe:u] in Sahil and southeastern dialects.[1]

[j] as a third letter of the root (y aspect)
m-ʃ-j mšā "to go"[1][2]
perfective
(Past)		 imperfective
(Present)
singular plural singular plural
1st person mšīt مشيت mšīnā مشينا nimšī نمشي nimšīū نمشيوا
2nd person mšīt مشيت mšītū مشيتوا timšī تمشي timšīū تمشيوا
3rd masculine mšā مشى mšāū مشاوا yimšī يمشي yimšīū يمشيوا
feminine mšāt مشات timšī تمشي
[w] as a third letter of the root (w aspect)
ħ-b-w ḥbā "to crawl"[1][2]
perfective
(Past)		 imperfective
(Present)
singular plural singular plural
1st person ḥbīt حبيت ḥbūnā حبونا niḥbū نحبو niḥbāū نحباوا
2nd person ḥbīt حبيت ḥbītū حبيتوا taḥbū تحبو taḥbāū تحباوا
3rd masculine ḥbā حبا ḥbāū حباوا yaḥbū يحبو yaḥbāū يحباوا
feminine ḥbāt حبات taḥbū تحبو
[ʔ] as a third letter of the root
b-d-ʔ bdā "to begin"[5][19]
perfective
(Past)		 imperfective
(Present)
singular plural singular plural
1st person bdīt بديت bdīnā بدينا nibdā نبدا nibdāū نبداوا
2nd person bdīt بديت bdītūبديتوا tibdā تبدا tibdāū تبداوا
3rd masculine bdā بدا bdāū بداوا yibdā يبدا yibdāū يبداوا
feminine bdāt بدات tibdā تبدا
[ʔ] as a first letter of the root
ʔ-χ-ð xđā "to take"[16][19]
perfective
(Past)		 imperfective
(Present)
singular plural singular plural
1st person xđīt خذيت xđīnā خذينا nāxđ ناخذ nāxđū ناخذوا
2nd person xđīt خذيت xđītū خذيتوا tāxđ تاخذ tāxđū تاخذوا
3rd masculine xđā ٰخذا xđāū خذاوا yāxđ ياخذ yāxđū ياخذوا
feminine xđāt خذات tāxđ تاخذ

Irregular verbs

Pronoun ɛandū “to have”[4][6] ḥājtū “to need”[4][6]
ānā آنا ɛandī عندي ḥājtī حاجتي
intī إنتِي ɛandik عندك ḥājtik حاجتك
hūwa هوة ɛandū عنده ḥājtū حاجته
hīya هية ɛandhā عندها ḥājthā حاجتها
aḥnā أحنا ɛandnā عندنا ḥājtnā حاجتنا
intūmā إنتوما ɛandkum عندكم ḥājtkum حاجتكم
hūma هومة ɛandhum عندهم ḥājthum حاجتهم

Future tense

The future tense in Tunisian Arabic is also similar to Berber, more precisely Zenata Berber[21] that was spoken by the majority of Tunisians ancestors:[1]

Taw or Tawwa can be used as a time indicator with a verb in present to mean "being going to do something".[3][6]

Imperative tense

The imperative form is considered the stem for the present tense.[3][6]

Singular Plural
ušrub اُشْرُبْ ušrbū اُشْرْبوا
aɛṭī اَعْطي aɛṭīū اَعْطِيوا

Conditional tenses

Conditional present

The conditional present is conjugated as Kaṛū or Ḥaqqū + Verb in Present tense.[2][4] This tense is generally used to show regret.[2][4]

Pronoun Auxiliary Verbs
ānā آنا kāṛnī كارني ḥaqqnī حقّني
intī إنتِي kāṛik كارك ḥaqqik حقّك
hūwa هوة kāṛū كاره ḥaqqū حقّه
hīya هية kāṛhā كارها ḥaqqhā حقّها
aḥnā أحنا kāṛnā كارنا ḥaqqnā حقّنا
intūmā إنتوما kāṛkum كاركم ḥaqqkum حقّكم
hūma هومة kāṛhum كارهم ḥaqqhum حقّهم

Conditional past

I should have done something

For the past conditional, the same structures seen above are used, but instead of the present tense, the past tense is used.[3][6]

I could have done something

This structure is conjugated as kān ynajjam + Verb in the present tense.[4][6]

Pronoun Auxiliary Verb
ānā آنا kunt nnajjam كنت نّجّم
intī إنتي kunt tnajjam كنت تنجّم
hūwa هوة kān ynajjam كان ينجّم
hīya هية kānit tnajjam كانت تنجّم
aḥnā أحنا kunnā nnajjmū كنّا نّجّموا
intūmā إنتوما kuntū tnajjmū كنتوا تنجّموا
hūma هومة kānū ynajjmū كانوا ينجّموا

I would have done something

This structure is conjugated as ṛāhū + Verb in the present tense.[4][6]

Verb derivation

Verb derivation is done by adding prefixes or by doubling consonants to the simple verb having the root fɛal (Triconsonantal) or faɛlil (Quadriconsonantal). The verb’s root determines the possible derivations.[1][3][6][22] Generally, the patterns used in Verb Derivation are the same as in Standard Arabic.[1][3]

Triconsonantal verbs

خرج /χraʒ/ "to go out" → خرّج /χarraʒ/ "to take out"[3][6]
دخل /dχal/ "to enter" → دخّل /daχχal/ "to bring in, to introduce"[3][6]
قتل /qtal/ "to kill" → تقتل /taqtal/ "to be killed"[1]
شرب /ʃrab/ "to drink" → تّشرب /ttaʃrab/ "to be drunk".[1]

Quadriconsonantal verbs

Verb forms

Exclamative form

The exclamative form can be formed by the intonation and in this particular situation, the sentence ends with an exclamation mark to distinguish it from an affirmative sentence[2][3][4][6] Furthermore, it can be formed using Qaddāš + Noun or Possessive Pronoun + Adjective or Imperfective verb + !.[2][3][4][6]

Interrogative form

The interrogative form can be formed by two methods: The intonation and the Suffix -š.[4][6] When an interrogative adverb or pronoun exists, the question is an āš question that is equivalent to the English wh question and if the question does not involve any interrogative adverb or pronoun, it is an īh/lā question that is equivalent to the English Yes/No Question.[4][6][24]

Example: تحبّ تمشي لتونس tḥibb timšī l- tūnis?, Do you want to go to Tunisia?

Example: تعرفوشي؟ taɛṛfūšī?, Do you know him?

Negative form

To make the negative form, we put me in front of the verb and š at the end of the verb.[1][2][3][5]
[24] Example: ما فهمش الدرس mā fhimš il-dars, He didn’t understand the lesson.
N.B.: With the past conditional (would have) this negative form is used with the main verb.[3][4][24]
Example: لوكان عرفت راني ما جيتش lūkān ɛṛaft rānī mā jītš, If I knew I would not have come.

To negate the present participles and the verbs conjugated in the future, mūš, or its conjugated form, is added in front of the verb.[1][2][3][5][24]
Example: موش باش نشوفه الجمعة هاذي mūš bāš nšūfū ij-jumɛa hāđī, I won’t see him this week.
موش mūš is conjugated as follows:[3][4]

Pronoun Auxiliary Verb
ānā آنا mānīš مانيش
intī إنتي mākiš ماكش
hūwa هوة māhūš ماهوش
hīya هية māhīš ماهيش
aḥnā أحنا mānāš مناش
intūmā انتوما mākumš مكمش
hūmā هومة māhumš مهمش

Relative clause

The only relative pronoun used in Tunisian Arabic is illī meaning who or that and its short form is lī.[5][6]

Nouns

Gender

Masculine gender

Nouns ending either in a consonant, u, i, ū or ī are usually masculine.[4][6] For example: باب bāb “door”, كرسي kursī “chair”.[4][6] There are, however, some exceptions. Indeed, some consonant-final and some ī-final nouns are in the feminine gender (usually, names of countries and cities, and names of parts of the body, and nouns ending in –t are in the feminine).[4][6] For example: پاريز Pārīz “Paris”, بيت bīt “room”, بسكلات bisklāt “bicycle”.[4][6]

Uninflected feminine gender

Nouns ending with a or ā vowel are usually in the feminine.[1][4]

For example: سنّة sinna “tooth”, خريطة xarīṭa “map”.

There are, however, a few exceptions: أعمى aɛmā “blind man”, ممشى mamšā “alley”, عشاء ɛšā “dinner”.[4]

Inflected feminine gender

The dual

Marking of the dual for nouns by adding -īn as a suffix to them is only used for quantity measures, for nouns having the CCVC form such as C is an ungeminated consonant and V is a short vowel and things often occurring in twos (e.g. eyes, hands, parents).[1][6] In general, these nouns have broken plurals and not regular ones.[6] Marking of the dual is also done by writing zūz before the regular or irregular plural noun.[3][6] For example:

The plural

The plural in Tunisian can be classified according to its structure. There are mainly two types of structure: suffixed structure and internal structure.[4] However and as reported in many studies, the rate of broken plurals for Tunisian and by that the rate of the use of the Pluralization Internal Structure is more important than the one for Standard Arabic and several other Arabic dialects.[3][4][6][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] This considerable use of the Internal Structure of Pluralization is considered by most of the linguists as an influence of the Berber substratum.[32][33]

Using the Suffixed Structure, Singular nouns may form their plural by the suffixation of any of the following plural suffixes:[4]

Word end Suffix
-uw, a vowel or a consonant –āt
-iy –īn

This kind of plural is considered as regular plurals.[3][4] However, There is a suffixed structure which is considered as a broken plural which is the plural of name of the noun constituted of the name of a town or a group of people and the suffix ī.[3][4] This structure is done to attribute the person to a group or a city and its plural is obtained by adding ā after the second letter of the root and adding a as a suffix in the end of the word.[4]

Using the Internal Structure, the plural in Tunisian follows the following patterns such as C is an ungeminated consonant, V is a short vowel, C: is a geminated consonant:[4][6]

Singular pattern Plural pattern
CūC CCāCī
CāC CīCān
CaCCaC CaCāCiC
CCaC5 CCūCāt
CaCC5 CCāC
CCāC CCuC
CiCC CCūC
CVCCVC or CVCCVCa CCāCiC
CāCiC or CaCC5 CCūC
CāCiC5 CVC:āC
CVCC5 CCūCa
CiCCa CCiC
CCaC5 uCCCa
CaCCa CCaC

^5 CaCC, CCaC and CāCiC could have multiple patterns as plural noun patterns.[4] The criterion of the choice of the plural form for CaCC, CCaC and CāCiC is still not known.[4]

Adjectives

Gender

Masculine

Uninflected adjectives are masculine singular.[4] There are two main types of adjectives:[4]

E.g. متغشّش mtġaššaš “angry”.

E.g. طويل ṭwīl “tall”.

Feminine

Like participles and some nouns, adjectives form their feminine by the suffixation of a.[4] For example, جيعان jīɛān > جيعانة jīɛāna “hungry”, سخون sxūn > سخونة sxūna “hot”.

In some cases, when the adjective ends with an i vowel, the i becomes a y.[4] E.g. باهي bāhi > باهية bāhya Some uninflected adjectives are in the feminine. Their masculine counterparts are either suppletive or do not exist.[4]

For example: حبلة ḥibla “pregnant”, عزوزة ɛzūza “old woman”.

The masculine counterpart of عزوزة ɛzūza is شايب šāyib, though, عزوز ɛzūz exists in some idiolects.[4]

Some adjectives cannot be inflected either for gender or number.[4] E.g. وردي wardi “pink”, حموم ḥmūm “disastreous”.

Number

Unlike nouns, adjectives are not inflected for dual. The plural is used instead.[4] Like nouns, there are two main types of structure: suffixed structure and internal structure.[4]

Adjective forms

Comparative form

The comparative of superiority: The comparative form is the same whether the adjective is feminine or masculine.[3][6]

The comparative of inferiority: It’s formed by the following structure: أقلّ aqall + noun + من min. For example, هي أقلّ طول من خوها hīya aqall ṭūl min xūha “she’s less tall than her brother”[3][6]

The comparative of equality: It is formed by using the following structure: noun (subject) + فرد fard + (comparative) noun + personal pronoun + و w + noun (compared). For example, فاطمة فرد طول هي و خوها Fāṭma fard ṭūl hīya w xūha “Fatma is as tall as her brother”. This structure can be simplified as follows: noun + و w + noun + فرد fard + noun. For example, فاطمة و خوها فرد طول Fāṭma w xūha fard ṭūl “Fatma is as tall as her brother”[3][6]

Superlative form

It is formed by adding واحد wāḥid (m.), واحدة waḥda (f.) or وحود wḥūd (pl.) after the comparative of superiority.[3][6]

Proportion in Tunisian Arabic

In order to denote the proportion of the participants in the given action from a greater community, the adjectives and adverbs of proportion shown here are used.[3][6]

Numerals

Cardinals

Cardinal Tunisian Arabic
0 ṣfir صفر
1 wāḥid واحد
2 iŧnīn or zūz اثنين or زوز
3 ŧlāŧa ثلاثة
4 arbɛa أربعة
5 xamsa خمسة
6 sitta ستّة
7 sabɛa سبعة
8 ŧmanya ثمانية
9 tisɛa تسعة
10 ɛacra عشرة
11 ḥdāc احداش
12 ŧnāc اثناش
13 ŧluṭṭāc ثلظّاش
14 arbaɛṭāc اربعطاش
15 xumsṭāc خمسطاش
16 sutṭāc سطّاش
17 sbaɛṭāc سبعطاش
18 ŧmanṭāc ثمنطاش
19 tsaɛṭāc تسعطاش
20 ɛicrīn عشرين
21 wāḥid w ɛicrīn واحد وعشرين
30 ŧlāŧīn ثلاثين
40 arbɛīn أربعين
50 xamsīn خمسين
60 sittīn ستّين
70 sabɛīn سبعين
80 ŧmanīn ثمانين
90 tisɛīn تسعين
100 mya مية
101 mya w wāḥid مية وواحد
110 mya w ɛacra مية وعشرة
200 mītīn ميتين
300 ŧlāŧamya ثلاثة مية
1000 alf الف
1956 alf w tisɛamya w sitta w xamsīn الف وتسعة مية وستّة وخمسين
2000 alfīn الفين
10000 ɛacra lāf عشرة الاف
100000 myat elf مية الف
1000000 malyūn مليون
123456789 mya w ŧlāŧa w ɛicrīn malyūn w arbɛa mya w sitta w xamsīn alf w sabɛa mya w tisɛa w ŧmanīn مية وثلاثة وعشرين مليون وأربعة مية وستّة وخمسين الف وسبعة ميه وتسعة وثمانين
1000000000 milyār مليار

Days of the week

Standard English[2][6] Tunisian Arabic[2][6]
Monday il-iŧnīn الإثنين
Tuesday il-ŧlāŧ الثلاث
Wednesday il-irbɛa الإربعة
Thursday il-xmīs الخميس
Friday il-jimɛa الجمعة
Saturday il-sibt السبت
Sunday il-aḥadd الأحدّ

Months of the year

Standard English[2][6] Tunisian Arabic[2][6]
January Jānfī جانفي
February Fīvrī فيڥري
March Mārs مارس
April Avrīl أڥريل
May Māy ماي
June Jwān جوان
July Jwīlya جويلية
August Ūt أوت
September Siptumbir سپتمبر
October Uktobir أكتوبر
November Nūvumbir نوڥمبر
December Dīsumbir ديسمبر

Note, that in this case, the months are a tunisification of the name of the months from French, inherited from the protectorate times. Before, the names of the months were that of their original Latin names.

Ordinals

The ordinals in Tunisian are from one to twelve only, in case of higher numbers, the cardinals are used.[5]

English Ordinals[5][6] Masculine[5][6] Feminine[5][6] Plural[5][6]
First أول uwwil or أولاني ūlānī أولى ūlā or أولانية ūlānīya أولين ūlīn or أولانين ūlānīn
Second ثاني ŧāni ثانية ŧānya ثانين ŧānīn
Third ثالت ŧāliŧ ثالتة ŧālŧa ثالتين ŧālŧīn
Fourth رابع rābiɛ رابعة rābɛa رابعين rābɛīn
Fifth خامس xāmis خامسة xāmsa خامسين xāmsīn
Sixth سادس sādis سادسة sādsa سادسين sādsīn
Seventh سادسين sābiɛ سابعة sābɛa سابعين sābɛīn
Eighth ثامن ŧāmin ثامنة ŧāmna ثامنين ŧāmnīn
Ninth تاسع tāsiɛ تاسعة tāsɛa تاسعين tāsɛīn
Tenth عاشر ɛāšir عاشرة ɛāšra عاشرين ɛāšrīn
Eleventh حادش ḥādiš حادشة ḥādša حادشين ḥādšīn
Twelfth ثانش ŧāniš ثانشة ŧānšā ثانشين ŧānšīn

Fractions

There are special forms for fractions from two to ten only, elsewhere percentage is used.[5][6] The Fractions can be used for various purposes like the expression of proportion and the expression of time...[6] For example, the expression of 11:20 in Tunisian Arabic is il-ḥdāc w ŧluŧ and the expression of 11:40 in Tunisian Arabic is nuṣṣ il-nhār ġīr ŧluŧ.[6] Similarly, midnight is nuṣṣ il-līl and noon is nuṣṣ il-nhār.[2]

Standard English[5] Tunisian Arabic[5]
one half نصف nuṣf or نصّ nuṣṣ
one third ثلث ŧluŧ
one quarter ربع rbuɛ
one fifth خمس xmus
one sixth سدس sdus
one seventh سبع sbuɛ
one eighth ثمن ŧmun
one ninth تسع tsuɛ
one tenth عشر ɛšur

Time measurement during the day

As said above, time measurement method and vocabulary below 1 hour is very peculiar in Tunisian and is not found in neither the other dialects of Maghrebi Arabic or standard Arabic. Indeed, Tunisian, uses fractions of 1 hour and a special unit of 5 minutes called دراج "drāj", to express time. Also, as in English as "it's 3 am/pm" or just "it's 3" and contrary to other languages such as standard Arabic, Tunisian do not precise the word "sāɛa (hour)" when expressing the time of the day as the subject is considered implied. Below is the list of the vocabulary used for time indication:

Standard English[5][6][22] Tunisian Arabic[5][6][22]
1 second ثانية ŧānya or سيڨوندة sīgūnda
1 minute دقيقة dqīqa
5 minutes درج draj
15 minutes ربع rbuɛ
20 minutes ثلث ŧluŧ or أربعة دراج arbɛa drāj
30 minutes نصف nuṣf or نصّ nuṣṣ

Basic measures

The Basic units for Tunisian Arabic are used in the same way as in English.[5][6][22]

Standard English[5][6][22] Tunisian Arabic[5][6][22]
Three kānūn كانون
Four ḥāra حارة
Five ɛiddat īdik عدّة إيدك
Twelve ṭuzzīna طزّينة
One centimeter ṣāntī صانتي
One meter mītrū ميترو
One deciliter ɛšūrīya عشورية
Two deciliters xmūsīya خموسية
A quarter of a litre (fluid) rbuɛ ītra ربع إيترة
One litre ītra إيترة
Ten litres (fluid) dīga ديڨة
Ten liters (mass) galba ڨلبة
Twenty liters (mass) wība ويبة
Three grams ūqīya أوقية
One pound rṭal رطل
One kilogram kīlū كيلو
One ton ṭurnāṭa طرناطة
One second ŧānya or sīgūnda ثانية or سيڨوندة
One minute dqīqa دقيقة
Five minutes draj درج
One hour sāɛa ساعة
One day nhar نهار
One week jumɛa جمعة
One month šhar شهر
One year ɛām عام
One century qarn قرن

The measure units are accorded when in dual or in plural, for example:[2][5][6][22]

Prepositions

There are two types of prepositions: single (commonly used) and compound prepositions (rarely used).[5]

Single prepositions

Standard English[5][6] Tunisian Arabic[5][6]
In في fi- (fī before indefinite nouns or prepositions)
With بـ b-
To (Place, Person) لـ l-
From مـ m- (من min before indefinite nouns or prepositions)
At عند ɛand
With معا mɛā
On, About عـ ɛa- (على ɛlā before indefinite nouns or prepositions)
Between بين bīn
Before قبل qbal
After بعد baɛd
Behind ورا wrā
Over فوق fūq
Under تحت taḥt
In the middle of وسط wusṭ
Inside فسط fusṭ
Like كـ ki- (kīf before indefinite nouns or prepositions)
As much as, as big as … قدّ qadd
Without بلاش blāš
Even حتّى ḥattā
Round جيهة jīhit, شيرة šīrit
In front of قدّام quddām
Of متاع mtāɛ
About (number, quantity, distance) مدوار madwār
Approximatively تقريب taqrīb

Compound prepositions

Compound prepositions are the prepositions that are obtained through the succession of two single prepositions.[5] وسط Wusṭ, جيهة jīhit, شيرة šīrit and متاع mtāɛ can be used as second prepositions with any single preposition before it excepting وسط Wusṭ, جيهة jīhit, شيرة šīrit and متاع mtāɛ.[5] The other prepositions are: من بين min bīn, من بعد min baɛd, من عند min ɛand, من تحت min taḥt, من قبل min qbal, من فوق min fūq, من ورا min wrā, كيف بعد kīf baɛd, كيف عند kīf ɛand, كيف تحت kīf taḥt, كيف قبل kīf qbal, كيف فوق kīf fūq, كيف ورا kīf wrā, كيف معا kīf mɛā, قبل فوق qbal fūq, على فوق ɛlā fūq, بتحت b- taḥt, في تحت fī taḥt, ببلاش b- blāš, من قدّام min quddām and حتّى قدّام ḥattā quddām.[5]

Conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions link verbs, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, clauses, phrases and sentences of the same structure.[5][6]

Standard English[5][6] Tunisian Arabic[5][6]
And w و
Or w illā... wallā وإلّا.. ولّا
Either … or ammā … w illā/wallā أمّا و إلّا\ولّا
But lākin لكن, amā أما
Without min/mā ğīr mā من\ما غير ما
Only mā … kān ما.. كان
The contrary of ɛaks min/mā عكس من\ما
And then hāk il-sāɛa هاك الساعة, sāɛathā ساعتها, waqthā وقتها, w iđā bīh و إذا بيه
In brief il-ḥāṣil الحاصل, il-ḥaṣīlū الحصيلو
Sometimes … sometimes marra … marra مرّة.. مرّة, sāɛa … sāɛa ساعة.. ساعة, sāɛāt ساعات
As far as qadd mā قدّ ما, qadd قدّ
Before qbal قبل
Otherwise kānšī
Moreover, Besides bāra min hak
Consequently ɛal hak
In addition lī zāda
Instead lī ɛāwiđ
Overall f- il-kul
Above all else min fuq hāđa il-kul
Anyway kul f- il-kul
Also zāda

Subordinate conjunctions

Subordinate conjunctions introduce dependent clauses only. There two types of conjunctions: single and compound.[5][6] The compound conjunctions mainly consist of prepositions that are compound with illī.[5][6] The main Subordinate conjunctions for Tunisian are Waqt illī وقت اللي “When”, m- illī ماللي “Since”, qbal mā قبل ما “Before”, īđā إذا “If”, lūkān لوكان “If”, mā ما "what", bāš باش “In order to”, (ɛlā) xāṭir على) خاطر) “because”, (ɛlā) ḥasb mā على) حسب ما) “According to”.[5][6]

Adverbs

Adverbs can be subdivided into three subgroups: single, compound and interrogative.[6][22]

Single adverbs

Compound adverbs

Interrogative adverbs

Nouns derived from verbs

The nouns derived from verbs are the Active Participle, the Passive Participle and the Verbal Noun.[1][2][4][6]

Participles

Verbal noun

The verbal noun is the noun that indicates the done action itself.[1][2][4][5][6] Its form is known through the pattern and root of the verb from which it is derived or rather the pattern of its singular imperative conjugation.[1][2][4][5][6]

See also

Help: IPA for Tunisian Arabic

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 Gibson, M. (2009). Tunis Arabic. Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, 4, 563–71.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 (German) Singer, Hans-Rudolf (1984) Grammatik der arabischen Mundart der Medina von Tunis. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 Ben Abdelkader, R., & Naouar, A. (1979). Peace Corps/Tunisia Course in Tunisian Arabic.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 Chekili, F. (1982). The morphology of the Arabic dialect of Tunis (Doctoral dissertation, University of London).
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Talmoudi, Fathi (1979) The Arabic Dialect of Sûsa (Tunisia). Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 Ben Abdelkader, R. (1977). Peace Corps English-Tunisian Arabic Dictionary.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Khalfaoui, A. (2007). A cognitive approach to analyzing demonstratives in Tunisian Arabic. Amesterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science Series 4, 290, 169.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Scholes, R. J., & Abida, T. (1966). Spoken Tunisian Arabic (Vol. 2). Indiana University
  9. 1 2 3 4 (French)Mion, G. (2013). Quelques remarques sur les verbes modaux et les pseudo-verbes de l'arabe parlé à Tunis. Folia orientalia. Vol. 50, 51-65
  10. 1 2 Magidow, A. (2013). Towards a sociohistorical reconstruction of pre-Islamic Arabic dialect diversity (University of Texas, Doctoral Dissertation).
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Adams, C. (2012). Six Discourse Markers in Tunisian Arabic: A Syntactic and Pragmatic Analysis (Doctoral dissertation, University of North Dakota).
  12. 1 2 Bach Baoueb, L. (2009). Social factors for code-switching in Tunisian business companies: A case study. Multilingua 28, 425-458.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Talmoudi, F. (1984). Notes on the Syntax of the Arabic Dialect of Sūsa. Zeitschrift für arabische Linguistik, (12), 48-85.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Saddour, I. (2009). The expression of progressivity in Tunisian Arabic: A study of progressive markers in oral retellings of simultaneous situations. Revue de Sémantique et Pragmatique, 25(Espace temps, Interprétations spatiales/Interprétations temporelles?), 265-280.
  15. 1 2 3 4 (Italian) Mion, Giuliano (2004) "Osservazioni sul sistema verbale dell'arabo di Tunisi" Rivista degli Studi Orientali 78, pp. 243–255.
  16. 1 2 3 Talmoudi, F. (1986). A Morphosemantic Study of Romance Verbs in the Arabic Dialects of Tunis, Susa and Sfax: Part I: Derived Themes, II, III, V, VI and X (Vol. 9). Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.
  17. ↑ (French) Cohen, D. (1970). Les deux parlers arabes de Tunis. Notes de phonologie comparee. In his Etudes de linguistique semitique et arabe, 150(7).
  18. ↑ (German) Stumme, H. (1896). Grammatik des tunisischen Arabisch, nebst Glossar. Leipzig: Henrichs.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Hammett, S. (2014). Irregular verbs in Maltese and their counterparts in the Tunisian and Moroccan dialects. Romano-Arabica, Vol. XIV, 193-209.
  20. ↑ (German) Ritt-Benmimoun, V. (2011). Texte im arabischen Beduinendialekt der Region Douz (Südtunesien). Harrassowitz.
  21. ↑ (French) Tilmatine Mohand, Substrat et convergences: Le berbére et l'arabe nord-africain (1999), in Estudios de dialectologia norteafricana y andalusi 4, pp 99–119
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (French) Marçais, P. (1977). Esquisse grammaticale de l’arabe maghrébin. Langues d'Amerique et d'Orient, Paris, Adrien Maisonneuve.
  23. ↑ Maalej, Z. (1999). Passives in modern standard and Tunisian Arabic. Matériaux Arabes et Sudarabiques-Gellas, 9, 51-76.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wilmsen, D. (2014). Arabic Indefinites, Interrogatives, and Negators: A Linguistic History of Western Dialects. Oxford University Press.
  25. ↑ Masmoudi, A., Habash, N., Ellouze, M., Estève, Y., & Belguith, L. H. (2015). Arabic Transliteration of Romanized Tunisian Dialect Text: A Preliminary Investigation. In Computational Linguistics and Intelligent Text Processing (pp. 608–619). Springer International Publishing.
  26. ↑ Owens, J. (2010). What is a Language?: Review of Bernard Comrie, Ray Fabri, Elizabeth Hume, Manwel Mifsud, Thomas Stolz & Martine Vanhove (eds.),'Introducing Maltese Linguistics. Selected papers from the 1st International Conference on Maltese Linguistics, Bremen, 18–20 October. 2007, 2009. XI, 422 pages. Studies in Language Companion Series 113. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Journal of Language Contact, 3(1), 103-118.
  27. ↑ Meftouh, K., Bouchemal, N., & Smaïli, K. (2012, May). A study of a non-resourced language: an Algerian dialect. In SLTU (pp. 125-132).
  28. ↑ Shimron, I. (2003). Language Processing and Acquisition in Languages. Amesterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company, pp. 116-129.
  29. ↑ Daniels, P. T. (1997). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus. A. S. Kaye (Ed.). Eisenbrauns.
  30. ↑ Kilani-Schoch, M., & Dressler, W. U. (1984). Natural morphology and classical vs. Tunisian Arabic. Wiener Linguistische Gazette, 33(34), 51-68.
  31. ↑ Xanthos, A. (2008). Apprentissage automatique de la morphologie: Le cas des structures racine-schème (Vol. 88). Peter Lang.
  32. ↑ Gabsi, Z. (2003). An outline of the Shilha (Berber) vernacular of Douiret (Southern Tunisia) (Doctoral dissertation, Univ. of Western Sydney Sydney).
  33. ↑ Caubet, D. (2001). Maghrebine arabic in France. Multilingual Matters, 261-278.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Biţuna, G. (2011). The Morpho-Syntax of the Numeral in the Spoken Arabic of Tunis. Romano-Arabica 8-11, pp. 25-42.
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