Language/North-levantine-arabic/Grammar/Gender

North Levantine Arabic Grammar - Gender

Hi North Levantine Arabic learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will be discussing gender in North Levantine Arabic grammar.

Introduction

As you know, nouns in North Levantine Arabic are either masculine or feminine, and it is very important to distinguish between the two genders. This affects adjectives, verbs, and pronouns.

In this lesson, we will learn how to differentiate between masculine and feminine genders, how to use them correctly, and the rules surrounding them.

Knowing the rules of gender in North Levantine Arabic is essential for effective communication, so let's get started!

Forming the Feminine Gender

Most feminine nouns are formed by adding a "taa marbuuTa" at the end of the word. For example:

North Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
سَيَّارَةٌ	sayyaara(tun)	car (masculine)
سَيَّارَةٌ حَمْرَاءُ	sayyaara(tun) hamraa(u)	red car (masculine)
مِدْرَسَةٌ	midrasa(tun)	school (feminine)
مِدْرَسَةٌ حَمْرَاءُ	midrasa(tun) hamraa(u)	red school (feminine)

As you can see, the word "school" changed from "midras" to "midrasa" when we added "taa marbuuTa" at the end of the word.

Some feminine nouns have "taa marbuuTa" in the middle of the word, like "maaluma" (مَعْلُومَةٌ) which means information.

Feminine nouns can also be formed with different vowel endings, like "kitaba" (كِتَابَةٌ) which means book, or "saata" (سَاعَةٌ) which means hour.

But beware, some North Levantine Arabic words are exceptions to this rule and do not follow the pattern. For example, "bint" (بِنْتٌ) which means girl is feminine, but does not end with "taa marbuuTa".

Gender Rules with Adjectives

When describing a masculine noun with an adjective, the adjective remains in its base form. For example:

• سَيَّارَةٌ حَمْرَاءُ (sayyaara(tun) hamraa(u)) - a red car (masculine)

When describing a feminine noun with an adjective, we need to add a "taa marbuuTa" and make the adjective agree in gender. For example:

• مِدْرَسَةٌ حَمْرَاءُةٌ (midrasa(tun) hamraa(u)aton) - a red school (feminine)

Note that the adjective agrees in gender with the noun and matches the "taa marbuuTa" ending.

Here's another example:

• طَالِبٌ حَيٌّ (talib(un) hayy(un)) - a lively student (masculine)
• طَالِبَةٌ حَيَّةٌ (tliba(tun) hayya(tun)) - a lively student (feminine)

Again, the adjective "hayy" agreed in gender with the noun "taliba".

Gender Rules with Verbs

Similar to adjectives, verbs also change to match the gender of the noun they are describing. For example:

• هُوَ يَطْبُخُ (huwa yatbukhu) - he cooks (masculine)
• هِيَ تَطْبُخُ (hiya tatbukhu) - she cooks (feminine)

Notice that the verb "to cook" changes from "yatbukhu" to "tatbukhu" to match the gender.

Dialogue

To see these gender rules in context, let's have a dialogue:

• Person 1: هَلْ رَأَيْتَ الطَّالِبَةَ الْمُشْتَاقَةَ؟ (hal ra'ayta a(t)talibah al mustaqa(t)ah?) – Did you see the eager female student?
• Person 2: نَعَمْ، هِيَ فِي الْمَكْتَبِ الْقُرْبَى. (na'am, hiya fi al-maktabi al-qurb(a)i.) – Yes, she's in the nearby office.

Bonus Tips

- Remember that some words do not follow the rules of gender in North Levantine Arabic, such as "bint" which means girl and is feminine. - Practice speaking with native speakers. You can find them at Polyglot Club and ask them any questions you may have.

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned about gender in North Levantine Arabic grammar. We defined the rules for forming the feminine gender, as well as how to use adjectives and verbs correctly when describing nouns of different genders.

Remember that practicing is key to mastering gender in North Levantine Arabic grammar. To improve your skills, use Polyglot Club and interact with native speakers.

If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Arabic grammar
• Levantine Arabic

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