Levantine Arabic/Personal pronouns
In Levantine Arabic, pronouns can appear either as independent words or as suffixes, depending on their function.
Standalone forms
[edit | edit source]Standalone pronouns are used as subject preceding the verb. When used without a verb the meaning of "to be" is implied.
The pronouns can be omitted when the person is obvious by the conjugation of the verb.
| Masculine | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person (I, we) |
أنا 'ana |
نحنا / إحنا niḥna (North) 'iḥna (South) | |
| 2nd person (you) |
إنت 'inta |
إنتي 'inti |
إنتو 'intu |
| 3rd person (he, she, they) |
هو huwwe |
هي hiyye |
هن / هنن / هم hinne / hinnen (North) humme (South) |
Suffix forms
[edit | edit source]Suffix pronouns have different functions, depending on what kind of word they are attached to:
- Show possession if attached to nouns
- Object if attached to verbs or prepositions
- Subject if attached to conjunctions
| Masculine | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person (me, my, us, our) |
ـي / ـني -i -y (after vowel) -ni (after verb) |
ـنا -na | |
| 2nd person (you, your) |
ـك -ak -k (after vowel) |
ـك -ek -ki (after vowel) |
ـكن / ـكم -kon (North) -kom (South) |
| 3rd person (him, his, her, them, their) |
ـه -o silent after vowel |
ـا / ـها -(h/w/y)a (North) -ha (South) |
ـن / ـهم -(h/w/y)on (North) -hom (South) |
Some suffix pronouns have a different pronunciation if they are attached to a word ending in a vowel.
The suffix of the 1st person singular has a different form when attached to verb.
The suffix of the 3rd person masculine singular is silent after a vowel, but it has effect on the stress and vowel length.
Examples (South Levantine)
[edit | edit source]| Nouns, prepositions, conjuctions | Verbs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consonant | Tāʼ marbūṭah | Vowel | Consonant | Vowel | |||
| Example | بدّ bidd |
صاحب ṣāḥeb |
مدرسة madrase |
أبو 'abu |
شفت šuft |
شفتي šufti | |
| 1st | singular | بدّي bidd-i |
صاحبي ṣāḥb-i |
مدرستي madrast-i |
أبوي 'abū-y |
شفتني šufᵉt-ni |
شفتيني šuftī-ni |
| plural | بدنا bid-na |
صاحبنا ṣāḥeb-na |
مدرستنا madraset-na |
أبونا 'abū-na |
شفتنا šufᵉt-na |
شفتينا šuftī-na | |
| 2nd | masculine | بدّك bidd-ak |
صاحبك ṣāḥb-ak |
مدرستك madrast-ak |
أبوك 'abū-k |
شفتك šuft-ak |
شفتيك šuftī-k |
| feminine | بدّك bidd-ek |
صاحبك ṣāḥb-ek |
مدرستك madrast-ek |
أبوك 'abū-ki |
شفتك šuft-ek |
شفتيك šuftī-ki | |
| plural | بدكم bid-kom |
صاحبكم ṣāḥeb-kom |
مدرستكم madraset-kom |
أبوكم 'abū-kom |
شفتكم šufᵉt-kom |
شفتيكم šuftī-kom | |
| 3rd | masculine | بدّه bidd-o |
صاحبه ṣāḥb-o |
مدرسته madrast-o |
أبوه 'abū |
شفته šuft-o |
شفتيه šuftī |
| feminine | بدها bid-ha |
صاحبها ṣāḥeb-ha |
مدرستها madraset-ha |
أبوها 'abū-ha |
شفتها šufᵉt-ha |
شفتيها šuftī-ha | |
| plural | بدهم bid-hom |
صاحبهم ṣāḥeb-hom |
مدرستهم madraset-hom |
أبوهم 'abū-hom |
شفتهم šufᵉt-hom |
شفتيهم šuftī-hom | |