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Palestinian
Colloquial
Arabic
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Vocabulary
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S Matthew Aldrich
with
Ahmed Younis
© 2021 by Matthew Aldrich

The author’s moral rights have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Cover art: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / khvost

ISBN-10: 978-1-949650-60-0

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website: www.lingualism.com

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email: contact@lingualism.com

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 Table of Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................... iv

How to Use This Book ........................................................................................... v

Pronunciation ..................................................................................................... vii

1. Life and Death ................................................................................................... 1

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2. Family ................................................................................................................ 5

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3. Love, Marriage, and Sex................................................................................10

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4. Names and Addressing People .....................................................................13

5. The Human Body & Describing People ........................................................15

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6. Clothing, Jewelry, and Accessories .............................................................29

7. The House ........................................................................................................37

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8. Food and Drink ...............................................................................................49

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9. Work .................................................................................................................64

10. School and Education ..................................................................................71

11. Health and Medicine ....................................................................................79

12. Technology ....................................................................................................85

13. Getting Around .............................................................................................89

14. Around Town ................................................................................................97

15. Buildings and Construction ........................................................................99

16. Bank ............................................................................................................ 101

17. Post Office................................................................................................... 103

18. Books and Stationery ............................................................................... 104

19. Shopping .................................................................................................... 106

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20. Restaurant ................................................................................................. 109

21. Recreation and Relaxation ...................................................................... 110

22. Music .......................................................................................................... 120

23. Games and Sports ..................................................................................... 123

24. Travel and Vacations ............................................................................... 130

25. Government and Politics ......................................................................... 137

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26. Crime and Justice ..................................................................................... 140

27. Money ......................................................................................................... 143

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28. Business and Commerce .......................................................................... 145

29. Agriculture ................................................................................................ 147

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30. Military ...................................................................................................... 149

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31. The Mind .................................................................................................... 151

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32. Feelings ...................................................................................................... 153

33. Personality................................................................................................. 155

34. Likes and Dislikes ..................................................................................... 157

35. Opinions and Agreement ......................................................................... 158

36. Desires and Intentions ............................................................................. 159

37. Religion ...................................................................................................... 160

38. Language .................................................................................................... 164

39. Countries and Nationalities ..................................................................... 170

40. Palestine..................................................................................................... 175

41. Earth and Space ........................................................................................ 177

42. Weather ...................................................................................................... 181

43. Animals ...................................................................................................... 186

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44. Plant Life .................................................................................................... 191

45. Colors .......................................................................................................... 193

46. Shapes, Sizes, and Measurements .......................................................... 195

47. Quantity...................................................................................................... 197

48. Numbers ..................................................................................................... 199

49. Time ............................................................................................................ 205

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50. Pronouns .................................................................................................... 214

51. Question Words ......................................................................................... 216

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52. Adverbs ...................................................................................................... 218

53. Conjunctions .............................................................................................. 222

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54. Prepositions ............................................................................................... 226

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55. Verbs ........................................................................................................... 230

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56. Adjectives................................................................................................... 236

57. Social Expressions .................................................................................... 240

Notebook ........................................................................................................... 244

Index ................................................................................................................. 255

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 Introduction

Vocabulary, much more than grammar, is the key to effective communication in

Arabic. You need words to speak; you need words to listen and understand.

Knowing grammar inside and out won’t save you if you don’t have the right word
to plug into the structure. You can walk into a shop armed with grammatical
structures such as “I would like some __.” or “Do you have any __?”, but if you

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don’t know the word for the thing you want, you may very well leave the shop

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empty handed. On the other hand, if you walk into that same shop and simply say
“sugar”, you’re almost certain to get what went there for.

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And without an extensive repertoire of vocabulary, you will understand very little
of what others are talking about. Spoken Arabic, to your foreign ears, will remain
little more than gibberish. But once you can understand the majority of what you

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hear, something magical happens. The input becomes manageable–you will be
able to use contextual clues from what you do understand to guess the meaning
of new words and start to make rapid progress in Arabic.

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It is therefore very important to build up a large store of words as soon as

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possible. Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary is an enormously effective
means to this end. By presenting practical words and phrases categorized by topic
and arranged with a logical flow, mental connections that assist in vocabulary
retention are fostered. The page layout in parallel columns of English translation,
phonemic transcription, and Arabic script provides a variety of ways to study the
vocabulary by allowing you to cover columns and test yourself.

The accompanying MP3s, free to download and stream from our website at
www.lingualism.com/pcav, make up an invaluable part of the learning process,
allowing you to hear and mimic native speakers’ pronunciation, pitch, intonation,
and rhythm. Additional study materials (Anki digital flashcards, premium audio,
e-book) are available separately from our website and provide even more
powerful tools for rapid vocabulary acquisition.

Although extremely important, vocabulary still only makes up one aspect of

learning a language. Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary is the ideal
supplementary tool to reinforce vocabulary acquisition. However, it is not meant
to be a stand-alone course. It is expected that you have followed, are following,
or plan to follow, a course in Palestinian Colloquial Arabic (PCA). Alternatively,
you may have studied another dialect of Arabic, or Modern Standard Arabic
iv | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary
(MSA), and are curious to learn more about PCA and tune your ears to the
idiosyncrasies of this beautiful dialect.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Ahmed Younis for collaborating with me
to make this book possible, providing authentic Palestinian Arabic translations of
the items in this book, proof-reading the text, giving me valuable feedback and
cultural insights to ensure the accuracy of the information, and recording the
audio tracks.

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Audio

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Visit www.lingualism.com/pcav, where you can find free
accompanying audio to download or stream (at variable

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playback rates).

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How to Use This Book

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Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary is made up of 57 thematic sections,
each dedicated to a different topic.

You may study the sections and individual vocabulary items in any order or work
through the book systematically. It is encouraged that you mark up and highlight
the book as you use it. Make it your own. There is also a Notebook after the last
section where you can add in more words you have learned from other sources.

Many words could logically belong to more than one topic. While some words do
appear in more than one section, to avoid superfluous repetition of words, most
appear only once. To your surprise, you might not be able to find common
animals such as cow and horse in the section “Animals”, for instance. This is
because farm animals appear in the section “Agriculture” instead. This might not
be entirely intuitive, so to solve this, an Alphabetical English index can be found
at the back of the book.

• For nouns and adjectives having an irregular plural form, the plural
appears in parentheses.
• If a noun is listed in its dual or plural ([pl.]) form, this is indicated.

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• A noun ending in ‫ ـﺔ‬is feminine, and a noun not ending in ‫ ـﺔ‬is masculine.
The gender is marked [m.] and [f.] for nouns which do not follow this rule.
• All countries (except those marked [m.]) and all cities are feminine. Keep
this in mind as countries and cities are not marked [f.].
• Normally, only the masculine version of nouns denoting humans is listed
when the feminine equivalent can be formed by adding ‫ـﺔ‬. For example,
‫ أُْﺳﺘﺎذ‬is a male teacher. A female teacher would be ‫أُْﺳﺘﺎذة‬.
• For the sake of consistency and simplicity, the masculine singular form is

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used in expressions. You will need to use your knowledge of Arabic

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grammar to produce the feminine or plural equivalents.
• Each verb appears in its base form (its most basic form without any
prefixes or suffixes), which is the masculine singular past tense, literally

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“he did”; however, the English translation appears in its standard citation
form: “to do”. In order to use a verb in a sentence, it must be conjugated.
See our book ‘Levantine Arabic Verbs’ for details on conjugating verbs.

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• The Arabic script reflects common spelling conventions used by
Palestinians. Of course, as there is no official spelling in a dialect,

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variations occur among native speakers. In this book, we strived for some
consistency in spelling and style.

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• A few words, which are vulgar or taboo, do not appear on the audio tracks
because of their sensitive nature. These are marked with an asterisk.

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 Pronunciation
Palestinian Colloquial Arabic (PCA) is a spoken dialect with no official status or
rules of orthography. Native speakers tend to borrow spelling conventions from
Modern Standard Arabic with some accommodations to account for PCA
pronunciation. Arabic script, however, is ill-suited to show the actual
pronunciation of PCA, including word stress and sound changes that occur when
verbs are conjugated. Even if you are comfortable with Arabic script, it is advised

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that you pay close attention to the phonemic transcription (and audio tracks) to

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determine a more precise pronunciation of verbs. IPA (International Phonetic
Alphabet) symbols are found in [square brackets] in the descriptions below.

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Consonants
The following sounds are also found in English and should pose no difficulties:
examples
b ‫[ ب‬b] as in bed bána ‫( ﺑﻨﻰ‬build)

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d ‫[ د‬d̪ ] as in dog, but with the tongue dáfa3 ‫( دﻓﻊ‬study)
touching the back of the upper teeth

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đ ‫[ ذ‬ð] as in this (used in some words
borrowed from MSA)

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f ‫[ ف‬f] as in four fātūra ‫( ﻓﺎﺗﻮرة‬bill)
g ‫[ ق‬g] as in gas by the majority of gára ‫( ﻗﺮا‬read)
Palestinians, especially in Gaza. Some
speakers in urban areas (and
especially among women) may
pronounce ‫ ق‬as a hamza sound ‫[ ء‬ʔ].
j ‫[ ج‬j] as in pleasure and beige jísim ‫ﺴﻢ‬ ِ ‫( ِﺟ‬body)
h ‫[ ﻩ‬h] as in house hájam‫( ﻫﺠﻢ‬attack)
k ‫[ ك‬k] as in kid ákal ‫( أﻛﻞ‬eat)
l ‫[ ل‬l] a light l as in love líbis ‫( ِﻟـِﺒﺲ‬get dressed)
m ‫م‬ [m] as in moon māt ‫( ﻣﺎت‬die)
n ‫ن‬ [n] as in nice nísi ‫( ِﻧﴘ‬forget)
s ‫سث‬ [s] as in sun sána ‫( ﺳﻨﺔ‬year)
š ‫ش‬ [ʃ] as in show šū ‫( ﺷﻮ‬what)
t ‫ت‬ [t̪] as in tie, but with the tongue ta3āl ‫( ﺗﻌﺎل‬come)
touching the back of the upper teeth
ŧ ‫[ ث‬θ] as in thin (used in some words
borrowed from MSA)

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w ‫و‬ [w] as in word wēn ‫( وْﻳﻦ‬where)
y ‫ي‬ [j] as in yes yíktib ‫( ِﻳْﻜِﺘﺐ‬he writes)
z ‫زذ‬ [z] as in zoo zār ‫( زار‬visit)

The following sounds have no equivalent in English and require special

attention. However, some exist in other languages you may be familiar with.

r ‫ر‬ [ɾ] tapped (flapped) as in the Spanish ráma ‫( رﻣﻰ‬throw)

cara or the Scottish pronunciation of

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tree

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ɣ ‫غ‬ [ɣ] very similar to a guttural r as in the ɣēr [ْ‫( ﻏ‬different)
French Paris or the German rot
x ‫خ‬ [x] as in the German doch, Spanish áxad ‫( أﺧﺪ‬take)

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rojo, or Scottish loch
ɧ ‫ح‬ [ħ] like a strong, breathy h, as if you ɧubb ‫ﺐ‬
ّ ‫( ُﺣ‬love)
were trying to fog up a window

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3 ‫ع‬ [ʕ] a voiced glottal stop, as if you had 3írif ‫( ِﻋِﺮف‬know)
opened your mouth under water and

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constricted your throat to prevent
choking and then released the
constriction with a sigh

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ʔ ‫ء‬ [ʔ] an unvoiced glottal stop, as [ʕ] ʔíbil ‫( ِﻗـِﺒﻞ‬accept)
above, but with a wispy, unvoiced sigh;
or more simply put, like the
constriction separating the vowels in
uh-oh

The following sounds also have no equivalent in English but are emphatic
versions of otherwise familiar sounds. An emphatic consonant is produced by
pulling the tongue back toward the pharynx (throat), spreading the sides of the
tongue wide as if you wanted to bite down on both sides of your tongue, and
producing a good puff of air from the lungs.

ɖ ‫ض‬ [dˁ] emphatic d ɖárab ‫( ﴐب‬hit)

ʂ ‫ص‬ [sˁ] emphatic s ʂúbiɧ ‫ﺻِﺒﺢ‬
ُ (morning)
ʈ ‫ط‬ [tˁ] emphatic t ʈálab ‫( ﻃﻠﺐ‬ask)
ʐ ‫ظ‬ [zˁ] emphatic z ʐábaʈ ‫( ﻇﺒﻂ‬fit)

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Vowels
In PCA, vowels have some fluidity to their quality—their pronunciation is
affected by neighboring consonants. The phonemic transcription offers an
approximation based on the Arabic script. However, you should rely on the
audio tracks to mimic a more precise pronunciation. Foreign words, in
particular, may deviate from the rules below. Final vowels may be marked as
long, but in reality, are often pronounced somewhat shorter.
examples
a ‫ َـ‬The most versatile of the vowels, a kátab ‫( َﻛَﺘﺐ‬write)

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may be pronounced a number of ɧaʈʈ ‫ﻂ‬ ّ ‫( َﺣ‬put)

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ways, most commonly [æ] as in cat ma3 ‫( ﻣﻊ‬with)
َ
(but with the jaw not quite as
ɖárab ‫ﴐب‬ َ َ (hit)
lowered as in English); sometimes
ْ ‫( َأ‬younger)

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[ɛ] as in bed, but sometimes more áʂɣar ‫ﺻَﻐﺮ‬
open, as the French é [e]; [a] as in
stock when in the same syllable
with ɧ or 3; usually [ɑ] as in father

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(but shorter) when in the same
word as q, ɖ, ʂ, ʈ, ʐ, or, in most

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cases, r
ā ‫[ ـﺎ‬æ:] / [a:] / [ɑ:] as with a above but nām ‫( ﻧﺎم‬sleep)

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longer jā3 ‫( ﺟﺎع‬get hungry)
maqāl ‫( ﻣﻘﺎل‬article)
ē ‫[ ـْﻲ‬e:] as in play (but without the glide wēn ‫( وْﻳﻦ‬where)
to [j])
i ‫[ ِـ‬ɪ] as in kid; [ɛ] as in bed when in the 3ílim ‫( ِﻋِﻠﻢ‬science)
same syllable with ɧ or 3; when in líbis ‫( ِﻟﺒِـﺲ‬undress)
the same word as q, ɖ, ʂ, ʈ, or ʐ, [ɨ] ɖidd ‫( ِﺿﺪ‬against)
ّ
with the tongue pulled back a bit
ī ‫[ ـﻲ‬i:] as in ski; [ɛ:] and [ɨ:] as with i fī ‫( ﰲ‬there is)
above (but longer) ybī3 ‫( ْﻳﺒﻴﻊ‬he sells)
iʂʂīn z‫ﺼ‬ ّ ‫( اﻟ‬China
ō ‫[ ـْﻮ‬o:] as with o above but longer nōm ‫( ﻧْﻮم‬sleep)
u ‫[ ُـ‬ʊ] as in book yúʈlub ‫ﻄُﻠﺐ‬ ْ ‫( ُﻳ‬he orders)
ū ‫[ ـﻮ‬u:] as in moon šū ‫( ﺷﻮ‬what)

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Also to Note:
• The pronunciation rules laid out above are guidelines, rules of thumb.
There are many exceptions to these simplified pronunciation rules. Sound
changes occur in many instances, according to grammatical inflections
such as verb conjugation. A treatment of these, pertaining to grammar,
lies outside the scope of this book.
• Attempts have been made to maintain a consistent orthography
(spelling) in the Arabic script throughout this book. You will, of course,
see various spellings of words by native speakers, as there are no official

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spelling rules for dialects. Tashkeel (diacritic marks) are not normally used

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by Arabs in their writing but are used in this book for the benefit of
learners. To avoid clutter and make the text more readable, fatha ( ◌َ ) is
assumed to be the default vowel and is not normally written. Also, some

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very common words and affixes are written without tashkeel:

‫ـﻴﺔ‬ -íyya

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‫اﻟـ‬ il- / li- (followed by shadda when
assimilated before certain consonants
(“sun letters”).

a
‫اﻟﲇ‬ ílli
‫و‬ w

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 1 Life and Death

life ɧayā ‫َﺣﻴﺎة‬

to live 3āš, y3īš ‫ ْﻳﻌﻴﺶ‬،‫ﻋﺎش‬
I live in Gaza. ána 3āyiš fi ɣázza. .‫أﻧﺎ ﻋﺎِﻳﺶ ﰲ ﻏّﺰة‬
alive 3āyiš ‫ﻋﺎِﻳﺶ‬

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to be born inwálad, yinwílid ‫ ِﻳْﻨِﻮﻟِﺪ‬،‫اِْﻧَﻮﻟﺪ‬
‫ِوﻻدة‬

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birth wilāda

baby, infant raɖī3 ‫رﺿﻴﻊ‬

to be breastfed, suckle ríɖi3, yírɖa3 ‫ ِﻳْﺮﺿﻊ‬،‫ِرِﺿﻊ‬

m
to breastfeed ráɖɖa3at, tráɖɖi3 [f.] ‫ﺿﻊ‬
‫ ﺗْﺮ ﱢ‬،‫ﺿﻌﺖ‬
ّ ‫ر‬

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diaper ɧaffāɖa ‫ﺣّﻔﺎﺿﺔ‬

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child; boy wálad (wlād) (‫َوﻟﺪ )ْوﻻد‬
girl bínit (banāt) (‫ِﺑِﻨﺖ )ﺑﻨﺎت‬
well-behaved muʔáddab ‫ُﻣﺆّدب‬
naughty, mischievous šági ‫ﺷ ﻘﻲ‬
mature(-acting) wā3i ‫واﻋﻲ‬
adolescent, teenager murāhiq ‫ُﻣﺮاِﻫﻖ‬
to grow up kíbir, yíkbar ‫ ِﻳْﻜﱪ‬،‫ِﻛِﱪ‬
person šáxʂ (ašxāʂ) (‫ﺷْﺨﺺ )أْﺷﺨﺎص‬
people nās [pl.] ‫ﻧﺎس‬
young man šabb (šabāb) (‫ﺷﺎّب )ﺷﺒﺎب‬
young woman bínit (banāt) (‫ِﺑِﻨﺖ )ﺑﻨﺎت‬
man zálama (zlām) (‫زﳌﺔ )ْزﻻم‬
woman mára (niswān) (‫ﻣﺮا )ِﻧْﺴﻮان‬
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 kbīr (kbār) (‫ )ْﻛﺒﺎر‬a‫ْﻛﺒ‬
adult
wā3i (wā3yīn) (b‫واﻋﻲ )واْﻋﻴ‬
young people, youth šabāb [pl.] ‫ﺷ ﺒ ﺎب‬
young ʂɣīr (ʂɣār) ( ‫ﺻ ﻐ ﺎر‬
ْ ) a‫ﺻ ﻐ‬
ْ
in one’s fifties fi -lxamsīnāt ‫ﰲ اﻟﺨْﻤﺴﻴﻨﺎت‬
middle-aged b-nuʂʂ 3úmru ‫ﺺ ُﻋْﻤﺮو‬ ّ ‫ْﺑُﻨ‬

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xityār ‫ِﺧْﺘﻴﺎر‬

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old; old man 3ajūz [invar.] ‫ﻋﺠﻮز‬
‫ِﺧْﺘﻴﺎرة‬

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xityāra
old woman
3ajūz ‫ﻋﺠﻮز‬
xátyar, yxátyir aِ‫ ْﻳﺨْﺘ‬،aَ‫ﺧْﺘ‬
to age, grow old

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3ájjaz, y3ájjiz ‫ ْﻳﻌﱢﺠﺰ‬،‫ﻋّﺠﺰ‬
Everyone gets old. ilkúll bi3ájjiz. .‫اﻟُﻜّﻞ ﺑﻴﻌﱢﺠﺰ‬

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childhood ʈufūla ‫ﻃﻔﻮﻟﺔ‬ ُ
in one’s childhood b-ʈufūltu ‫ﺑْﻄُﻔﻮﻟْﺘﻮ‬
adolescence murāhaqa ‫ُﻣﺮاﻫﻘﺔ‬
in one’s youth b-šabābu ‫ﺑْﺸﺒﺎﺑﻮ‬
old age 3umr kbīr a‫ُﻋْﻤﺮ ْﻛﺒ‬

birthday 3īd mīlād ‫ﻋﻴﺪ ﻣﻴﻼد‬

‫ﺖ‬
َ ‫! – وإْﻧ‬aْ‫ﺖ ْﺑﺨ‬ َ ‫ُﻛّﻞ ﻋﺎم وإْﻧ‬
kull 3ām w ínta b-xēr!
Happy Birthday!
– w ínta b-xēr! .aْ‫ْﺑﺨ‬
– Thank you! 3īd mīlād sa3īd! – šúkran!
ً‫ﻋﻴﺪ ﻣﻴﻼد ﺳﻌﻴﺪ! – ُﺷْﻜﺮا‬
Happy birthday and may kull 3ām w ínta b-xēr ‫ وُﻋْﻘﺒﺎل‬aْ‫ﺖ ْﺑﺨ‬
َ ‫ُﻛّﻞ ﻋﺎم وإْﻧ‬
you have many more! w 3ugbāl ilmīt sána! !‫اﳌﻴْﺔ ﺳﻨﺔ‬
When is your birthday? wagtēš 3īd mīlādak? ‫َوﻗْﺘﻴْﺶ ﻋﻴﺪ ﻣﻴﻼدك؟‬

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My birthday is in May. 3īd mīlādi b-šáhir xámsa. .‫ﻋﻴﺪ ﻣﻴﻼدي ﺑْﺸِﻬﺮ ﺧْﻤﺴﺔ‬

age 3úmur ‫ُﻋُﻤﺮ‬

life span ʈūl il3úmur ‫ﻃﻮل اﻟُﻌُﻤﺮ‬
all one’s life kull ɧayātu ‫ُﻛّﻞ َﺣﻴﺎﺗﻮ‬
How old are you? gaddēš 3umrak? ‫ﻗّﺪْﻳﺶ ُﻋْﻤﺮك؟‬
ْ ‫ُﻋْﻤﺮي ِﻋ‬

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I’m 20 years old. 3úmri 3išrīn. . ‫ﴩ ﻳﻦ‬

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to turn __ years old ʂār [55] (3úmru) __ sána ‫ﺻﺎر )ُﻋْﻤﺮو( __ ﺳﻨﺔ‬
He’s turning twenty ɧáyʂīr 3úmru 3išrīn sána ‫ﴩ ﻳﻦ ﺳ ﻨﺔ‬ْ ‫ ُﻋْﻤﺮو ِﻋ‬a‫َﺣْﻴﺼ‬

p
next week. lisbū3 ijjāy. .‫اﻹْﺳﺒﻮع اﻟّﺠﺎي‬
a fifty-year-old woman mára 3úmurha xamsīn b‫ﻣﺮا ُﻋُﻤْﺮﻫﺎ ﺧْﻤﺴ‬

m
When were you born? wagtēš inwáladit? ‫َوﻗْﺘﻴْﺶ اِﻧَْﻮﻟِﺪت؟‬
‫اِﻧَْﻮﻟِﺪت ﺳْﻨْﺔ أﻟْﻒ وﺗِﺴْﻌﻤﻴﺔ‬

a
inwáladit sant alf w
I was born in 1980.
tisa3míyya w tamānīn. .b‫ﺎﻧ‬Ä‫و‬

S
death, passing mōt ‫ﻣْﻮت‬
to die māt, ymūt ‫ﻮت‬Åْ ،‫ﻣﺎت‬
dead, deceased míyyit (mītīn, amwāt) (‫ أْﻣﻮات‬،b‫ِﻣﱢﻴﺖ )ﻣﻴﺘ‬
twáffa, yítwaffa ‫ﰱ‬ ّ ‫اِﺗَْﻮ‬
ّ ‫ ِﻳْﺘَﻮ‬،‫ﰱ‬
to pass away
xállaʂ [55] 3úmru ‫ﺧّﻠﺺ ُﻋْﻤﺮو‬
corpse, body jússa (júsas) (‫ُﺟﺜّﺔ )ُﺟﺜﺚ‬
funeral janāza ‫ﺟﻨﺎزة‬
to bury dáfan, yídfin ‫ ِﻳْﺪِﻓﻦ‬،‫دﻓﻦ‬
coffin ná3iš (n3ūš) (‫ﻧِﻌﺶ )ْﻧﻌﻮش‬
cemetery mágbara (magābir) (‫ﻣْﻘﱪة )ﻣﻘﺎِﺑﺮ‬
grave; burial gábur (gbūr) (‫ﻗِﱪ )ْﻗﺒﻮر‬
gravestone, headstone šāhid (šawāhid) (‫ﺷﺎِﻫﺪ )َﺷﻮاِﻫﺪ‬

3 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary

to mourn ɧízin, yíɧzan ‫ ِﻳْﺤﺰن‬،‫ِﺣِﺰن‬
mourning ɧidād ‫ِﺣﺪاد‬
period of mourning ayyām il3áza ‫أّﻳﺎم اﻟﻌﺰا‬

p l e
a m
S
4 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary
 2 Family

(extended) family 3ēla ‫ﻋْﻴﻠﺔ‬

immediate family;
dār ‫د ار‬
household
‫ دار‬dār also means ‘house,’ but Palestinians use it as the family that lives
under one roof–sometimes siblings or cousins share the same building, one

e
apartment each.

l
relatives garāyib [pl.] ‫ﻗﺮاِﻳﺐ‬
I have some relatives 3índi garāyib 3āyšīn
.‫ ِﺑْﻨﻴﻮﻳْﻮْرك‬b‫ِﻋْﻨﺪي ﻗﺮاِﻳﺐ ﻋﺎﻳْﺸ‬

p
that live in New York. bi-nyūyōrk.
is related to byígrab (la-) (‫ْﺑِﻴْﻘﺮب )ﻟـ‬
íntu -litnēn btígrabu
Are you two related? ‫ ﺑِْﺘْﻘﺮﺑﻮا ﻟﺒﻌﺾ؟‬bْ‫إﻧْﺘﻮ اﻻِﺗ ْﻨ‬

m
la-bá3ɖ?
I’m not related to him. ána ma bágrablu. .‫أﻧﺎ ﻣﺎ ﺑْﻘﺮﺑْﻠﻮ‬

a
father ábu (abbahāt) (‫أﺑﻮ )أّﺑﻬﺎت‬

S
mother amm (ammahāt) [or imm (immahāt)] (‫م )أّﻣﻬﺎت‬
ّ ‫أ‬
my mother and father ámmi w abūwi ‫أّﻣﻲ وأﺑﻮي‬
dad yāba ‫ﻳﺎﺑﺎ‬
mom yámma ‫ﺎ‬Åَّ
Some people say ‫ ﺑﺎﺑﺎ‬bāba ‘dad’ and ‫ ﻣﺎﻣﺎ‬māma ‘mother.’
Hi, Dad! márɧaba, yāba! !‫ﻣْﺮﺣﺒﺎ ﻳﺎﺑﺎ‬
Where are you, Mom? wēnik yámma? ‫ﺎ؟‬Åَّ ‫وﻳِْﻨﻚ‬
parents áhil ‫أِﻫﻞ‬

son, (male) child íbin (wlād) (‫اِِﺑﻦ )ْوﻻد‬

daughter, (female) child bínit (banāt) (‫ِﺑِﻨﺖ )ﺑﻨﺎت‬
Do you have any
3índak wlād? ‫ِﻋْﻨﺪك ْوﻻد؟‬
children?

5 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary

 14 Around Town

city madīna (múdun) (‫ﻣﺪﻳﻨﺔ )ُﻣُﺪن‬

town bálad (blād) (‫ﺑﻠﺪ )ْﺑﻼد‬
village qárya ‫ﻗْﺮَﻳﺔ‬
downtown ilbálad ‫اﻟﺒ ﻠﺪ‬

e
(‫ﻣﻴﺪان )َﻣﻴﺎدﻳﻦ‬

l
square, plaza mīdān (mayadīn)
‫ُﻣﺮّﺑﻊ‬

p
park ɧadīqa (ɧadāʔiq) (‫ﺣﺪﻳﻘﺔ )ﺣﺪاِﺋﻖ‬
fountain nāfūra (nawāfīr) (a‫ﻧﺎﻓﻮرة )َﻧﻮاﻓ‬

m
street šāri3 (šawāri3) (‫ﺷﺎِرع )َﺷﻮاِرع‬

a
alley, narrow street ɧāra ‫ﺣﺎرة‬
‫ﻟّﻔﺔ‬

S
láffa
corner
zāwya ‫زاْوَﻳﺔ‬

bakery fúrun (frān) (‫ُﻓُﺮن )ْﻓﺮان‬

bank bank (bnūk) (‫ﺑْﻨﻚ )ْﺑﻨﻮك‬
málɧama ‫ﻣْﻠﺤﻤﺔ‬
butcher shop
maɧáll láɧma ‫ﻣﺤّﻞ ﻟْﺤﻤﺔ‬
city hall baladíyya ‫ﺑ ﻠﺪ ﻳ ﺔ‬
fire station difā3 mádani ï‫ِدﻓﺎع ﻣﺪ‬
grocery store dukkāna ‫ُدّﻛﺎﻧﺔ‬
museum mátɧaf (matāɧif) (‫ﻣْﺘﺤﻒ )ﻣﺘﺎِﺣﻒ‬
police station márkaz šúrʈa ‫ﴍﻃﺔ‬
ْ ُ ‫ﻣْﺮﻛﺰ‬
máktab barīd (makātib
post office
barīd)
(‫ﻣْﻜﺘﺐ ﺑﺮﻳﺪ )ﻣﻜﺎِﺗﺐ ﺑﺮﻳﺪ‬

97 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary

 26 Crime and Justice

crime jarīma (jarāyim) (‫ﺔ )ﺟﺮاِﻳﻢ‬Å‫ﺟﺮ‬

criminal mújrim ‫ُﻣْﺠِﺮم‬
irtákab jarīma, yirtíkib
to commit a crime
jarīma
‫ﺔ‬Å‫ ِﻳْﺮِﺗِﻜﺐ ﺟﺮ‬،‫ﺔ‬Å‫اِْرﺗﻜﺐ ﺟﺮ‬
xālaf ilqānūn, yxālif
‫ ْﻳﺨﺎﻟِﻒ اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮن‬،‫ﺧﺎﻟﻒ اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮن‬

e
to break the law
ilqānūn

l
theft sírga ِْ
‫ﴎﻗﺔ‬
to steal, rob sárag, yísrig ‫ﴪق‬
ِ ْ ‫ ِﻳ‬،‫ﴎق‬

p
ɧarāmi ‫ﺣﺮاﻣﻲ‬
thief
sarrāg ‫ﴎاق‬
ّ

m
dáxal 3a dār, yúdxul
to break into a house
3a dār
‫ ُﻳْﺪﺧﻞ َع دار‬،‫دﺧﻞ َع دار‬
‫اِْﻏِﺘﺼﺎب‬

a
rape iɣtiʂāb

to rape iɣtáʂab, yiɣtíʂib ‫ ِﻳْﻐِﺘِﺼﺐ‬،‫اِْﻏﺘﺼﺐ‬

S
murder gátil ‫ﻗِﺘﻞ‬
to murder, kull gátal, yúgtul ‫ ُﻳْﻘُﺘﻞ‬،‫ﻗﺘﻞ‬
murderer gātil (gátala) ) ‫ﻗﺎِﺗﻞ )ﻗﺘﻠﺔ‬
i3tidāʔ ‫اِْﻋِﺘﺪاء‬
assault hujūm ‫ﻫﺠﻮم‬
hájam 3ála, yíhjim 3ála ‫ ِﻳْﻬِﺠﻢ ﻋﲆ‬،‫ﻫﺠﻢ ﻋﲆ‬
to assault, attack
i3táda 3ála, yi3tídi 3ála ‫ ِﻳْﻌِﺘﺪي ﻋﲆ‬،‫اِْﻋﺘﺪى ﻋﲆ‬
vandalism taxrīb ‫ﺗْﺨﺮﻳﺐ‬
to vandalize xárrab, yxárrib ‫ ْﻳﺨﱢﺮب‬،‫ﺧّﺮب‬

‫ِﺴﻚ‬Å ْ ِ ، ‫ﻣﺴ ﻚ‬
másak, yímsik
to arrest gábaɖ 3ála, yúgbuɖ 3ála ‫ ُﻳْﻘُﺒﺾ ﻋﲆ‬،‫ﻗﺒﺾ ﻋﲆ‬
i3tágal, yi3tígil
‫ ِﻳْﻌِﺘِﻘﻞ‬،‫اِْﻋﺘﻘﻞ‬

140 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary

 40 Palestine

Palestine falasʈīn [f.] b‫ﻓﻠْﺴﻄ‬

Gaza Strip gitā3 ɣázza ‫ِﻗﻄﺎع ﻏّﺰة‬

All cities are feminine in Arabic.

e
Gaza (City) ɣázza ‫ﻏّﺰة‬

l
Al Nuseirat linʂērāt ‫ات‬aْ‫اﻟِْﻨﺼ‬
Dair Al Balah dēr ilbálaɧ ‫دْﻳﺮ اﻟﺒﻠﺢ‬

p
Khan Younes xān yūnis ‫ﺧﺎن ﻳﻮِﻧﺲ‬
Rafah ráfaɧ ‫رﻓﺢ‬

m
The West Bank iɖɖáffa -lɣarbíyya ‫اﻟﻀّﻔﺔ اﻟﻐْﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬

a
Jerusalem ilqúds ‫اﻟُﻘْﺪس‬

S
Jericho arīɧa ‫أر ﻳ ﺤ ﺎ‬
Nablus nāblis ‫ﻧﺎْﺑِﻠﺲ‬
Al Nasra innāʂra ‫ﴏة‬ ْ ‫اﻟّﻨﺎ‬
Qalqilya qalqīlya ‫ﻗْﻠﻘﻴْﻠَﻴﺔ‬
Ramallah rāmálla ‫رام اﻟﻠﻪ‬
Acre, Akko 3ákka ‫ﻋّﻜﺎ‬
Haifa ɧēfa ‫ﺣْﻴﻔﺎ‬
Bisan bīsān ‫ﺑﻴﺴ ﺎن‬
Jenin jinīn b‫ِﺟﻨ‬
Tulkarm ʈūlkarim ‫ﻃﻮْﻟﻜِﺮم‬
Hebron ilxalīl ‫اﻟﺨ ﻠﻴﻞ‬
Ramla irrámla ‫اﻟّﺮْﻣﻠﺔ‬
Beer Sabi’ bīr issábi3 ‫ اﻟّﺴِﺒﻊ‬a‫ﺑ‬
175 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary
 50 Pronouns

I ána ‫أﻧﺎ‬
we íɧna ‫إْﺣﻨﺎ‬
you ínta ‫ﺖ‬َ ‫إْﻧ‬
you ínti ‫إْﻧﺘﻲ‬

e
‫إْﻧﺘﻮ‬

l
you, you guys íntu

he, it húwwa ‫ُﻫﱠﻮ‬

p
she, it híyya ‫ِﻫﱠﻲ‬
they húmma ‫ﻢ‬
‫ُﻫ ﱠ‬

m
this (these) hāda [m.], hādi [f.] (hadōl) (‫ ﻫﺎدي )ﻫﺪْول‬،‫ﻫﺎدا‬

a
hadāk [m.], hadīk [f.]
that (those) (hadōlāk)
(‫ ﻫﺪﻳﻚ )ﻫﺪْوﻻك‬،‫ﻫﺪاك‬
this __, that __,

S
ha-l__ __‫ﻫﺎﻟـ‬
these __, those __

everyone kull wāɧad ‫ُﻛّﻞ واﺣﺪ‬

Everyone needs friends. kull wāɧad biɧtāj ʂɧāb. . ‫ﺻ ﺤ ﺎب‬
ْ ‫ﻛُّﻞ واﺣﺪ ﺑﻴْﺤﺘﺎج‬
ɧáda ‫ﺣﺪا‬
someone
ɧadd ‫ﺣّﺪ‬
Someone is at the door. fī ɧáda 3a -lbāb. .‫ﰲ ﺣﺪا َع اﻟﺒﺎب‬
ayy ɧáda ‫أّي ﺣﺪا‬
anyone
ayy ɧadd ‫أّي ﺣّﺪ‬
ayy ɧáda bígdar
Anyone can do it.
yi3málha.
.‫أّي ﺣﺪا ﺑﻴْﻘﺪر ِﻳْﻌﻤﻠْﻬﺎ‬
fiš ɧadd ‫ِﻓﺶ ﺣّﺪ‬
no one
wála ɧáda ‫َوﻻ ﺣﺪا‬
No one lives forever. fiš ɧadd bi3īš la-lʔábad. .‫ِﻓﺶ ﺣّﺪ ﺑﻴﻌﻴﺶ ﻟْﻸﺑﺪ‬

214 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary

 55 Verbs

The following common verbs did not fit neatly into other categories. If you
cannot find a verb here, try the index in the back of the book to see if it is
listed under another category.
to abandon, desert hájar, yúhjur ‫ ُﻳْﻬُﺠﺮ‬،‫ﻫﺠﺮ‬
to accept gíbil, yígbal ‫ ِﻳْﻘﺒﻞ‬،‫ِﻗِﺒﻞ‬

e
‫ ْﻳﺮوح ﻣﻊ‬،‫راح ﻣﻊ‬

l
rāɧ ma3, yrūɧ ma3
to accompany
ája ma3, yīji ma3 ‫ ﻳﻴﺠﻲ ﻣﻊ‬،‫أﺟﺎ ﻣﻊ‬

p
to adjust; fix zábbaʈ, yzábbiʈ ‫ ْﻳﺰﱢﺑﻂ‬،‫زّﺑﻂ‬
‫ زّﺑﻂ‬zábbaʈ could also be spelled ‫ﻇّﺒﻂ‬, as in MSA, although it is always
pronounced with z in Palestinian Arabic.

m
to admit i3táraf, yi3tírif ِ ِ ‫ ِﻳْﻌ‬،‫اِْﻋﱰف‬
‫ﱰف‬
to advise, recommend náʂaɧ, yínʂaɧ ‫ ِﻳْﻨﺼﺢ‬،‫ﻧﺼﺢ‬

a
to affect ássar 3ála, yʔássir 3ála ‫ ْﻳﺄﺛﱢﺮ ﻋﲆ‬،‫أﺛّﺮ ﻋﲆ‬

S
xálla, yxálli ‫ ْﻳﺨّﲇ‬،‫ﺧّﲆ‬
to allow
sámaɧ la-, yísmaɧ la- ‫ ِﻳْﺴﻤﺢ ﻟـ‬،‫ﺳﻤﺢ ﻟـ‬
to answer, respond, radd 3ála, yrudd 3ála ‫ ْﻳُﺮّد ﻋﲆ‬،‫رّد ﻋﲆ‬
reply jāwab 3ála, yjāwib 3ála ‫ ْﻳﺠﺎِوب ﻋﲆ‬،‫ﺟﺎَوب ﻋﲆ‬
to apologize for i3tázar 3ála, yi3tízir 3ála ‫ ِﻳْﻌِﺘِﺬر ﻋﲆ‬،‫اِْﻋﺘﺬر ﻋﲆ‬
to appear báyyan, ybáyyin b‫ ْﻳﺒﱢ‬،bّ‫ﺑ‬
to appreciate gáddar, ygáddir ‫ ْﻳﻘﱢﺪر‬،‫ﻗّﺪر‬
to approve of wāfag, ywāfig ‫ ْﻳﻮاِﻓﻖ‬،‫واﻓﻖ‬
to arrange, organize náʐʐam, ynáʐʐim ‫ ْﻳﻨ ﱢ‬،‫ﻈﻢ‬
‫ﻈﻢ‬ ّ ‫ﻧ‬
to ask sáʔal, yísʔal ‫ ِﻳْﺴﺄل‬،‫ﺳﺄل‬
to attend; watch, view ɧíɖir, yíɧɖar ‫ ِﻳْﺤﴬ‬،‫ﴬ‬ ِ ‫ِﺣ‬
to be kān, ykūn ‫ ْﻳﻜﻮن‬،‫ﻛﺎن‬

230 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary

 57 Social Expressions

ā ‫آه‬
yes ná3am ‫ﻧﻌ ﻢ‬
no laʔ/lā ‫ﻻ‬

l e
Excuse me, ... 3an íznak ‫ﻋﻦ إْذﻧﻚ‬
Please. law samáɧit. ‫َﻟْﻮ ﺳﻤِﺤﺖ‬

p
Here you are!; Go
tfáɖɖal! !‫ﻀﻞ‬
ّ ‫ﺗْﻔ‬
ahead!; You first!
Thank you. šúkran ً‫ُﺷْﻜﺮا‬

m
You’re welcome. 3áfwan ً‫ﻋْﻔﻮا‬

a
I’m sorry! āsif! !‫آِﺳﻒ‬

S
I apologize! ba3tízir! !‫ﺑْﻌِﺘِﺬر‬

!‫ﻣْﺮﺣﺒﺎ‬
márɧaba!
Hi!; Hello! hála! !‫ﻫﻼ‬
salāmāt!
!‫ﺳﻼﻣﺎت‬
Good morning! ʂabāɧ ilxēr! !aْ‫ﺻﺒﺎح اﻟﺨ‬
How are you? kēf ɧālak? ‫ﻛْﻴﻒ ﺣﺎﻟﻚ؟‬
‫اﻟﺤْﻤُﺪ ﻟﻠﻪ‬
ilɧámdu lillāh
I’m fine. tamām ‫ ﺎم‬Ä
b-xēr
aْ‫ْﺑﺨ‬
Hi! How are you? It’s ‫ ﻛْﻴﻒ ﺣﺎﻟﻚ؟‬،‫ﻣْﺮﺣﺒﺎ‬
márɧaba, kēf ɧālak? min
been a long time since
I’ve seen you!
zamān mā šúftak. .‫ِﻣﻦ زﻣﺎن ﻣﺎ ُﺷْﻔﺘﻚ‬
What’s up? šū -lʔaxbār? ‫ﺷﻮ اﻷْﺧﺒﺎر؟‬

240 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary

 Notebook

section English Pronunciation Arabic

p l e
a m
S
244 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary
 Index
abandon 230 adult 2 alive 1 appear 230
abaya 30 advanced 165 all 197 applaud 117
abdomen 24 adverb 168 Allah 160 applause 117
able 231 advertisement 107 alley 97 apples 57
ablution 162 advise 230 allow 230 applicant 64
abortion 83 aerobics 128 almonds 58 apply for 64
about 218 affect 230 almost 218 appointment 79,
above 226 affixstamp 103 alone 218 145

e
abroad 132, 221 Afghanistan, Afghan along 227 appreciate 230
abs 128 173 alphabet 165 approve of 230

l
absent-minded 238 afraid 154 already 220 apricots 57
academy 72 Africa 177 also 218 April 207
accelerate 94 after 222 altar 163 Arab 170

p
accelerator 94 afternoon 205; this always 219 Arab World 170
accent 164, 165 ~ 205 American 174 Arabic 164
accept 230 afternoon prayer ancestors 9 Arabic classical
accident 95 162 ancient 236 music 121

m
accompany 230 again 218 and 202, 222 architect 67
accomplish 233 against 226 angel 160 arctic 178

a
account 101 age 2, 3, 210 angry with 154 Areesh cheese 54
accountant 67 ago 205 animal 186 Argentina 174
accusation 142 agorot 143 aniseed 58 argue about 158

S
accused of 142 agree with 158 ankle 24 arid 185
acne 21 agreement 158 anniversary 11 arithmetic 201
acrobat 117 agriculture 147 annoy 154 arm 22
across from 227 AIDS 81 annoyed by 154 armpit 22
act 117 air 179 annoying 154 army 149
action movie 116 air force 149 answer 72, 230; ~ around 212
actor 67, 117 air-conditioned 135 the phone 87 around 218, 228
ad 107 air-conditioner 41 antenna 113, 190 arrange 230
adapter 40 airfare 134 antibiotics 82 arrest 140
add 202 airmail 103 antler 189 arrive 135
additional 238 airplane 133 ants 188 art 114
address 103 airport 134 anus 26 artery 25
adjective 168 aisle 117 anyone 214 article 104, 168
adjust 230 aisle seat 134 anything 215 artist 68, 114
administration 145 Akko 175 anytime 219 ascend 232
admire 157 Al Aqsa Mosque 176 anywhere 218 ashtray 118
admit 230 Al Nasra 175 apartment 37 Asia 177
adolescence 2 Al Nuseirat 175 apartment building ask 72, 230
adolescent 1 alarm clock 46 99 asleep 44; fall ~ 44
adopt 8 alcohol 53 apologize (for) 230 asparagus 56
adopted 9 Algeria, Algerian 171 apologize 240 aspirin 82
adoption 8 alias 13 app 87 ass 26
255 | Palestinian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary