Beginner - Safe return

Thanks for a great lesson, was this in a particular dialect, or something that would be understood all over?

كيف حالكم

@Shoaib, this is Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) which is not certain dialect for certain region.
@Talha, نحن بخير و الحمدلله

@Shaoib, the accent might change from region to region. For example, in the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine), we're going to say al7amdullilah as-salameh, but of course, the pronunciation in the dialogue would also be understood.

Could you check the PDF files. Can not download. Thanks

Dear Sierra and Elias,

Thanks for the interesting lesson. One of the most interesting features is the stress shift in “wa-laakin” (ﻮﻠﻜﻦ). When a pronominal suffix is added to the conjunction the stress is shifted from the penultimate to the final syllable:

wa-LAAkin (ﻮﻠﻜﻦ) => wa-laaKINnanii (ﻮﻠﻜﻨﻨﻲ)

Such stress shifts seem to be extremely common in MSA. Another example that springs to mind is the noun ﺫﺍﻜﺮﺓ (memory):

DHAkira (ﺫﺍﻜﺮﺓ) => dhaKIratii (ﺫﺍﻜﺮﺘﻲ) (= my memory)

Perhaps these stress shifts might be discussed in another lesson. Would you like me to send you some more examples?

hi lads - something wrong with this great lesson -cannot play nor download on my pc - ddi work on my mac - anything new I should be aware off ? thanks

That's interesting, plop. Early this morning I couldn't play any of the podcasts or videos on this site. I can now listen to the podcasts, but it's impossible to play any of the videos. I wonder if this kind of malfunction is partly due to geographical factors. Northern Germany and Belgium aren't very far apart, and the server seems to function in different ways in different parts of the world.

Thanks, Desmond! If you come across more examples of the stress shift, do include them in the comments section. We'll also keep them in mind for a future lesson. Happy Easter one and all! ;-)

Hi guys,

It seems like there was a problem with the pdf transcripts. We have put a temporary fix, so you should be able to view them now. However I suggest doing a “Right Click” then “Open in new window”. We haven’t changed anything from our side, but our hosting providers might have done something and we’re waiting to hear back from them. Sorry about this.

Dear Sierra,

Thanks for your positive response and kind wishes. The stress shifts I’ve observed fall into two broad categories: (1) shifts triggered by the addition of one or more syllables, and (2) shifts caused by the need to express a strong emotion.

Let’s begin with the first category. A good example is provided by the noun ﻋﺎﺌﻠﺔ (family). When a suffix is added to this word (ﻋﺎﺌﻠﺘﻲ) the stress is shifted from the first to the second syllable.

'AA'ila (ﻋﺎﺌﻠﺔ) => 'aa'ILatii (ﻋﺎﺌﻠﺘﻲ)

If you relisten to the podcasts entitled “Brothers and Sisters” and “This is my house” you’ll notice another interesting phenomenon. When the word ﻋﺎﺌﻠﺔ is used without a suffix the second vowel is pronounced like the vowel in Engl. “be”, but when a suffix is added this vowel is shortened and sounds like the vowel in Engl. “ill”.

ﻴﻤﻜﻦ (it is possible) might also be mentioned here. Like ﻠﻜﻦ, it is often used with a suffix, and like ﻠﻜﻦ, it undergoes a stress shift when it is expanded.

A similar phenomenon can be observed in English. Consider the words “privatise” and “privatisation”. I’ll use capitals to represent the stressed syllables:

PRIvatise => privatiSAtion

In English, as in Arabic, the stress is shifted towards the end of the word when one or more syllables are added. In Arabic, however, the stress is merely shifted to the next syllable. The lengthening of a lexical unit seems to trigger a subconscious mechanism which causes the native speaker of Arabic to shift the stress without radically modifying the phonetic configuration of the word. The human voice follows the contours of the word as a river follows the contours of the land it flows through.

Now let’s have a look at the second category. A typical example is provided by the imperative ﺃﻨﺗﻆﺮ (Wait!). This word is normally pronounced “inTAdher” (cf. the podcast entitled “Wrong bus”), but the stress is sometimes shifted to the final syllable. In the YouTube video entitled ﻨﺠﻮﻯ (najwa)) two boys run after another youngster who has just walked out of a restaurant without saying a word. The boys shout “inTAdher”, but since their friend ignores them they repeat the imperative, shifting the stress to the final syllable in order to express their exasperation.

I think these phenomena need to be discussed at length (ﺒﺈﺴﻬﺎﺐ) since failure to observe the rules governing stress patterns can lead to involuntary comic effects or even a breakdown in communication. Here in Germany, for instance, native speakers of French tend to stress the final syllable of every German word. This transforms their German into an exotic-sounding gibberish which Germans often fail to comprehend. Typical German reactions range from blank stares to embarrassed smiles and uncontrollable fits of laughter.

Happy Easter, Sierra!

This was a very nice lesson Sierra and Elias! I think this will be great for beginners. Reasonably paced, with lucid explanations, including a nice amount of the grammar, and plenty of interesting context.

By the way, .pdfs work fine now from here in the U.S. (as opposed to yesterday - like others, I could not download them). However, the sound embedded .pdfs played fine as did the .mp3s. -- Charles

Well done guys...Sierra and Elias are doing a wonderful job.This podcast will come very handy...and HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!!

Thank you @tijo and @chazyouwin, and I'm glad to hear that the PDFs work again. Phew!

And @Desmond, I really like what you wrote. I forwarded your comments to an Arabic linguistics expert I know, and I will let you know when/if he replies.

Elias and I are working on more lessons for you all now. Until then...cheers!

Thanks for the lesson. it was nice and quick. These lessons do sound a little rehearsed though, I enjoyed the more personal (and unrehearsed) touch of the previous ones. Congrats to the new hosts for taking this on, I look forward to many more lessons from them.
Salam from Toronto.

Dear Sierra,

Thanks for your appreciative response. Here are some more examples:

My first example is the noun ﻗﺎﻀﻴﺔ (female judge). When the inflexional ending “-un” is attached to ﻗﺎﻀﻴﺔ the stress is shifted from the first to the second syllable: QAAdia => qaaDIatun. Similar stress shifts can be observed in many other Arabic nouns (e.g. ﻤﺤﺎﻤﻴﺔ). These phenomena fall into my first category.

My second example is the imperative ﺇﻨﺘﺒﻪ (Watch out!). As far as I know, this word is normally pronounced “inTEBbeh”. However, if you relisten to the podcast entitled “Football talk” you’ll hear two different pronunciations: “inTEBbeh” and “INtebbeh”. The latter variant probably expresses a greater sense of urgency. This phenomenon falls into my second category.

I’m not sure how I ought to classify my third example. The adjective ﻤﺰﻋﺞ (annoying) is normally pronounced “muz'EJ” (cf. the podcast entitled “Brothers and Sisters”), but in the opening sentence of “Traffic Jam” the stress is shifted to the first syllable. The position of the demonstrative (ﻫﺬﻩ) is also puzzling. Why has it been placed after the noun?

Bit slower especially in long sentences

Dear Sierra,

This is a postscript to my preceding comment on stress shifts in MSA. It concerns the adjective ﻋﻨﺼﺮﻱ (racist). When a feminine ending is attached to this adjective the stress is shifted from the first to the penultimate syllable:

'ANsurii (ﻋﻨﺼﺮﻱ) => 'ansuRIIa (ﻋﻨﺼﺮﻴﺔ)

I have a hunch that this rule applies to all initially stressed trisyllabic adjectives. If my assumption is correct, thousands of adjectives will display similar stress shifts when feminine endings are added. I think you should now have more than enough information for a lesson on stress shifts.

hey guys all of you !! it's elias .thank you for your comments:)

why do you have the new speakers? i like the old ones better.