مقدّمة#
I haven’t made a video in a while, so yesterday I kicked off my pivot to Shami (Levantine) with a breakdown of some of the differences I kept running into between Levantine Arabic and the Tunisian Arabic I’ve been speaking so far.
فيديو#
كلام#
Tunisian vs Levantineتونسي ضدّ شامي
a lot / many / very
Tunisian
برشة
Levantine
كتير
Different high-frequency quantifier.
work / job
Tunisian
خِدمة
Levantine
شُغل
Same meaning, different root.
what
Tunisian
شنوّا
Levantine
شو
Basic interrogative difference.
now
Tunisian
تَوّا
Levantine
هلّق
Same timing, different adverb.
nice / pleasant
Tunisian
مزيّن
Levantine
حلو
Used for “looks good / feels nice.”
good / OK
Tunisian
باهي
Levantine
تمام / منيح
General approval / status check.
go / walk
Tunisian
نمشي
Levantine
بروح / بمشي
Tunisian collapses “go” and “walk”; Levantine splits them.
fish / whale
Tunisian
حوت = fish
Levantine
حوت = whale / سمك = fish
Same word, different animal by dialect.
sentence packing
Tunisian
شنبّيك / شنحوّلك
Levantine
شو بدّك / شو بدّي أحوّلك
Tunisian compresses full sentences into one word.
want vs love
Tunisian
نحبّ
Levantine
بدي (want) / بحبّ (love)
Tunisian uses one verb for both; Levantine separates them.