Levantine Arabic grammar is the set of rules by which Levantine Arabic creates statements, questions and commands. In many respects, it is quite similar to that of the other vernacular Arabic varieties.
Word order Both VSO (verb before subject before object) and SVO (subject before verb before object) word orders are possible in Levantine Arabic. The verb is before the object (VO). However, Classical Arabic tends to prefer VSO, whereas in Levantine SVO is more common. Subject-initial order indicates topic-prominent sentences, while verb-initial order indicates subject-prominent sentences.
In interrogative sentences, the interrogative particle comes first.
Copula There is no copula used in the present tense in Levantine. In other tenses, the verb kān () is used. Its present tense form is used in the future tense.
Definiteness
There is no indefinite article in Levantine Arabic. Nouns (except proper nouns) are automatically indefinite by the absence of the definite article.
The Arabic definite article () precedes the noun or adjective and has multiple pronunciations. Its vowel is dropped when the preceding word ends in a vowel. A helping vowel "e" is inserted if the following word begins with a consonant cluster.
It assimilates with "Sun letters" - any consonant pronounced with the tip of the tongue. Other letters are called "Moon letters". The letter Jeem () is a special case. It is usually a Sun letter for speakers pronouncing it as [] but not for those pronouncing it as [].
+ Definiteness in Levantine: Examples Moon letter Sun letter (assimilation) Letter Jeem (ج) / Consonant cluster
Nouns Case There is no case marking in Levantine (contrary to Classical Arabic).
Gender Nouns can be either masculine or feminine. In the singular, most feminine nouns end with Tāʼ marbūṭah (). This is pronounced as –a or -e depending on the preceding consonant. Generally, -a after guttural () and emphatic consonants (), and -e after other consonants.
Number Nouns in Levantine can be singular, dual or plural.
The dual is invariably formed with suffix -ēn (). The dual is often used in a non-exact sense, especially in temporal and spatial nouns: , , one week , , a couple of weeks ()
For nouns referring to humans, the regular (also called sound) masculine plural is formed with the suffix -īn. The regular feminine plural is formed with -āt. The masculine plural is used to refer to a group with both gender. However, there are many broken plurals (also called internal plurals), in which the consonantal root of the singular is changed (nonconcatenative morphology). These plural patterns are shared with other varieties of Arabic and may also be applied to foreign borrowings: such as faːtuːra (plural: fwaːtiːr), from the Italian , invoice. The plural of loanwords may be sound or broken. Several patterns of broken plurals exist and it is not possible to exactly predict them.
Inanimate objects take feminine singular agreement in the plural, for verbs, attached pronouns, and adjectives.
Some foreign words that designate weights and measures such as (centimeter), (shekel), and (kilometer/kilogram) (but not , meter, which behaves like other Arabic nouns) are invariable. The dual form is not used and numbers 3–10 don't lose their final vowel when followed by these nouns: : 1 shekel : 2 shekels : 3 shekels : 10 shekels
+ The 12 most common broken plural patterns Pattern (Arabic) Pattern (Latin) Example English meaning ـَ و ا ـِ ـ CawāCeC street streets أَ ـْ ـ ا ـ ʔaCCāC person people ـَ ـ ا ـِ ي ـ CaCāCīC convenience store convenience stores ـُ ـُ و ـ CuCūC letter letters ـُ ـَ ـ CuCaC story stories ـِ ـَ ـ CiCaC team teams ـُ ـَ ـ ا CuCaCa manager managers ـُ ـّ ا ـ CuC2C2āC student students أَ ـْ ـِ ـ ة ʔaCCiCe electrical device electrical devices ـُ ـُ ـ CuCoC city cities ـُ ـْ ـ ا ن CuCCān dress shirt dress shirts أَ ـْ ـِ ـ ا ء ʔaCCiCāʔ friend friends
Nominal sentences Phrasal word order is head-dependent: Noun-Genitive Noun-Adjective Noun-Relative clause.
The genitive relationship is formed by putting the nouns next to each other, this construct is called Iḍāfah (). The first noun is always indefinite. If an indefinite noun is added to a definite noun, it results in a new definite compound noun.
Besides possessiveness, the Iḍāfah construct can be used to specify or define the first term.
Possession can also be expressed with , , especially for loanwords: my dog: or , the neighbors' house: or your radio: .
There is no limit to the number of nouns that can be strung together in an Iḍāfah. However, it is rare to have three or more words, except with very common or monosyllabic nouns.
The Iḍāfah construct is different from the noun-adjective structure. In an Iḍāfah construct, the two nouns might be different in terms of their definiteness: the first is indefinite, the second is usually definite. Whereas adjectives always agree with nouns in definiteness.
The first term must be in the construct state: if it ends in the feminine marker (/-ah/, or /-ih/), it changes to (/-at/, /-it/) in pronunciation (i.e. pronounced as "t"). Whereas in a noun-adjective string, the pronunciation would remain (/-ah/, /-ih/).
+ Iḍāfah and noun-adjective examples Levantine (Arabic) Levantine (Latin) English Note a book of a/the teacher Iḍāfah of two indefinite nouns the book of the teacher Iḍāfah of indefinite + definite noun the new book of the teacher OR the book of the new teacher The adjective is definite, because the Iḍāfah is definite. Both meanings are possible, to avoid confusion the preposition can be used to split the Iḍāfah. the new book of the teacher Split Iḍāfah the book of the new teacher Split Iḍāfah the teacher's new book Use of , to avoid confusion. the book of the teacher of Arabic Chained Iḍāfah, only the last noun takes the definite article a new magazine Noun-adjective: pronounced as "ih" the magazine of the teacher pronounced as "t" in construct state Khalid's house With a proper noun: possessiveness New York City First noun ends with ah (pronounced as "t"), second is a proper noun a small town/city Noun-adjective, pronounced as "ah" hummus dish
Verbal nouns Verbal nouns (also called gerunds or masdar) play an important role in Levantine. Derived from a verb root, they can be used as a noun ("food") or as a gerund ("eating"). Verbal nouns do not exist as infinitives, they are not part of the verbal system but of the lexicon.
+ Verbal nouns declension patterns for the ten verb forms Form Verb pattern Verbal noun pattern Example Most common Variants Verb Verbal noun Form I C1vC2vC3 C1vC2C3 Many variants (to study, to learn) (a lesson) Form II C1aC2C2aC3 taC1C2īC3 taC1C2iC3a / tiC1C2āC3 (to present, to offer) (a presentation, presenting) Form III C1v̄C2aC3 muC1v̄C2aC3a C1iC2v̄C3 (to help) (help, assistance) Form IV ʔaC1C2aC3 ʔiC1C2āC3 (to convince) (convincing) Form V tC1aC2C2aC3 taC1aC2C2uC3 (to avoid) (avoiding, avoidance) Form VI tC1v̄C2aC3 taC1v̄C2uC3 (to ignore) (ignoring) Form VII nC1aC2aC3 (North) inC1aC2aC3 (South) inC1iC2v̄C3 (to be happy, to have fun) (happiness) Form VIII C1tvC2vC3 (North) iC1tvC2vC3 (South) iC1tiC2v̄C3 (to suggest) (a suggestion) Form IX C1C2aC3C3 (North) iC1C2aC3C3 (South) iC1C2iC3āC3 (to blush, to turn red) (blushing, turning red) Form X staC1C2aC3 (North) istaC1C2aC3 (South) istiC1C2āC3 (to use) (use, usage)
Numerals Cardinal numbers Number one and two have a masculine and feminine form. When used with a noun, they rather follow it like an adjective than precede it for emphasis. An exception are uncountable nouns. When the number 2 is accompanied by a noun, the dual form is usually used: , 2 boys.
Numbers larger than 3 do not have gender but may have two forms, one used before nouns and one used independently. In particular, numbers between 3 and 10 lose their final vowel before a noun.
Numbers from 3 to 10 are followed by plural nouns. Numbers from 11 to 99 are followed by a singular.
Numbers 100 and onwards follow the same rule as numbers 0–99 based on their last two digits. 100 and 101 are followed by a singular, 102 is followed by a dual (102 books: ), 103–110 by a plural, and 111–199 is like 11–99, followed by a singular.
Before a small set of nouns (e.g. , , "thousand") the independent form is used in construct state ( pronounced as "t"). (, "hundred") is always in construct state before nouns.
+ Levantine cardinal numbers Number Gender Independent Followed by noun Number of noun 0 / ٠ Plural 1 / ١ m Singular f 2 / ٢ m Dual or plural f 3 / ٣ (South) (North) (South) (North) Plural 4 / ٤ 5 / ٥ 6 / ٦ 7 / ٧ 8 / ٨ (South) (North) (South) (North) 9 / ٩ 10 / ١٠ 11 / ١١ Singular 12 / ١٢ 20 / ٢٠ 21 / ٢١ 30 / ٣٠ (South) / (North) 100 / ١٠٠ 101 / ١٠١ + Singular noun 102 / ١٠٢ + Dual noun Dual 103 / ١٠٣ Plural 200 / ٢٠٠ Singular 300 / ٣٠٠ 1000 / ١٠٠٠ 2000 / ٢٠٠٠ 3000 / ٣٠٠٠ 10000 / ١٠٠٠٠ 11000 / ١١٠٠٠ 100000 / ١٠٠٠٠٠
Ordinal numbers and fractions Ordinal numbers can either precede or follow the noun. If they precede the noun the masculine form is used and the definite article is dropped.
Ordinal numbers above 10 do not exist, instead the cardinal numbers are used following the noun.
+ Ordinal numbers in Levantine Ordinal number Fraction Number Masculine orfollowed by noun Feminine Plural Number Singular Plural 1 / ١ or colspan="3" 2 / ٢ / 3 / ٣ / 4 / ٤ / 5 / ٥ / 6 / ٦ / 7 / ٧ / 8 / ٨ / 9 / ٩ / 10 / ١٠ /
Adjectives
Form Many adjectives have the pattern ( / CCīC or / CaCīC) but other patterns are also possible.
Adjectives derived from nouns by the suffix () are called Nisba adjectives. Their feminine form ends in () and the plural in ().
Gender Adjectives typically have three form: a masculine singular, a feminine singular, and a plural which does not distinguish gender. In most adjectives the feminine is formed through addition of -a/e, sometimes dropping an unstressed short vowel.
Number Nouns in dual have adjectives in plural.
The plural of adjectives is either regular ending in () or is an irregular "broken" plural. It is used with nouns referring to people. For non-human / inanimate / abstract nouns, adjectives can use either the plural or the singular feminine form regardless of the noun's gender.
Word order Adjectives follow the noun they modify and agree with it in definiteness. Adjectives without an article after a definite noun express a clause with the invisible copula "to be".
+ Examples a big house the big house the house is big
There is no dominant order for degree words and adjectives: Adverbs of degree like (, "very") and (, "a little / a bit") can either precede or follow the adjective.
Superlative and comparative There are no separate comparative and superlative forms but the elative is used in both cases.
The elative is formed by adding a hamza at the beginning of the adjective and replace the vowels by "a" (pattern: / aCCaC). Adjective endings in (i) and (u) are changed into (a). If the second and third consonant in the root are the same, they are geminated (pattern: / ʾaCaCC).
Speakers who pronounce as hamza might pronounced the elative prefix as "h" in order to avoid two consecutive hamzas.
+ Examples of elative adjectives Adjective Elative Regular Gemination Final i/u Irregular / (from )
When an elative modifies a noun, it precedes the noun and no definite article is used.
In order to compare two things, the word (, ) is used in the sense of "than" in English.
+ Examples of elative sentences Levantine (Arabic) Levantine (Latin) English the best thing this thing is better / the best this thing is better than something else
Not all adjectives can form an elative, especially those that are participles or derived from nouns. In this case, (, "more, most") is used.
+ Examples of comparative and superlative using (, "more, most") Levantine (Arabic) Levantine (Latin) English crazy crazier / craziest he is crazier than you the craziest one
Prepositions