The grammar, the conjugation and the morphology of Tunisian Arabic is very similar to that of other Maghrebi Arabic varieties. It is based on Classical Arabic and influenced by Berber languages and Latin, with some morphological inventions. The Berber influence is more noticeable in Pre-Hilalian dialects.
Tunisian Arabic has 7 personal pronouns since gender differentiation of the 2nd person in the singular form is absent.
Example : âÃÂç òçïé ë ÃÂnë zÃÂda. û â "Me too."
The possessive pronouns are used as possessive articles when put as a suffix to a preposition or a noun. When it is used after a verb, their functions are rather direct object pronouns. The ones between parenthesis are the ones used after a structure finishing by a vowel.
Note, that with feminine words which are generally finished with an é a, a ê t is added before the suffixes which become të, tik, tà «, thÃÂ, tnÃÂ, tkum and thum
Indirect Object Pronouns are used as a suffix after the verb and before the ô- -à ¡ of the negation. When there is a combination of direct and indirect object pronouns, indirect object pronouns are always written in the end. Furthermore, the first short i for the indirect Object pronoun is always dropped when it is written after a vowel.
Indefinite pronouns are used as a subject to explain general ideas or to report the facts which were done by an unknown person:
The next interrogative pronouns are used when asking a question in Tunisian Arabic.
Translated in English as "The" Article, "il-" (çÃÂ) is used as an added prefix to denote nouns as definite. If the defined nouns begins with a Sun Consonant (n, á¹Â, t, á¹Â, d, dz, s, á¹£, à ¡, z, áºÂ, j, à §, ÃÂ, á¸Â, l, r and á¹Â), "il-" would be pronounced as i + the Sun Consonant with which the noun begins. For example:
Like in Standard Arabic, Demonstrative Articles can be used as demonstrative pronouns when they are put alone as subjects. When they are articles, they can be written before or after the considered noun which should be definite by "il-".
For example: "This book" could be written in Tunisian as ÃÂðçðç çÃÂÃÂêçè hÃÂÃÂàil-ktÃÂb or even as çÃÂÃÂêçè ÃÂðçðç il-ktÃÂb hÃÂÃÂÃÂ.
When the demonstrative article is before the noun, it can be substituted by an abbreviated form which is ÃÂç hàfor this and these, ÃÂçðàhÃÂàfor this and ÃÂðçÃÂàhÃÂk for that and those.
For example, "This book" could be written in Tunisian as ÃÂç çÃÂÃÂêçè hàil-ktÃÂb.
Although they do exist, possessive articles in Tunisian Arabic are not used the same way as in English. They mainly show possession valorization in a sentence. Furthermore, they are only used after a definite noun.
For example: çÃÂÃÂÃÂñé àêçùà"il-kà «ra mtÃÂÃÂik"- "Your ball"
Indeed, as in Arabic and other languages, possessive pronouns replaces them when there is not a valorization and a stress of the fact of possessing the item. These suffixes are the same as the ones used for conjugation of some verbs, and represent the ending sound of the possessive articles.
For example: ÃÂÃÂñêà"kà «rtik"- "Your ball"
Unlike English, where modal verbs are followed by the bare infinitive, Tunisian Arabic requires the **imperfect (present) form** of the verb.
In some cases, the second verb may instead appear in the **perfect (past) form**, particularly with **ñçàrÃÂh**, **ÃÂÃÂÃÂàḥaqqà «**, and **àçðçèÃÂàmÃÂá¸ÂÃÂbëh**, which do not have an independent past tense. In these contexts, the particle **ÃÂÃÂÃÂçàlà «kÃÂn** (âÂÂif it were thatâ¦âÂÂ) is generally used before the verb.
The verb **ÃÂçùï qÃÂÃÂid** can precede an active participle to indicate **progressive aspect** (âÂÂto be currently doingâÂÂ).
All modal verbs can be negated, similar to English modals, with the exception of **ñçàrÃÂh** and **àçðçèÃÂàmÃÂá¸ÂÃÂbëh**. For example: - *àçðçèÃÂÃÂç ÃÂàôÃÂÃÂç* (*mÃÂá¸ÂÃÂbënànimà ¡Ã«à «*, âÂÂwe had better goâÂÂ) â negative: *àçðçèÃÂÃÂç àç ÃÂàôÃÂÃÂô* (*mÃÂá¸ÂÃÂbënàmànimà ¡Ã«à «à ¡*). - *ñçàêÃÂÃÂÃÂà* (*rÃÂh tkallim*, âÂÂobviously he spokeâÂÂ) â negative: *ñçààç êÃÂÃÂÃÂàô* (*rÃÂh màtkallimà ¡*).
Some scholars analyze **hÃÂhà «** as a **deictic particle** built from the demonstrative *hÃÂ-* (âÂÂhere isâ¦âÂÂ) plus a pronominal suffix. Others have proposed Punic/Hebrew influence (*hÃÂ-* used as an attention marker).
Example: *ÃÂçÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ* (*hÃÂnë hà «në*, âÂÂIâÂÂm hereâÂÂ).
Example: *ñçÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ* (*rÃÂnë hà «në*, âÂÂIâÂÂm right hereâÂÂ).
Examples: - *àçÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ* (*mÃÂnë hà «në*, âÂÂIâÂÂm here, am I not?âÂÂ). - *àçôÃÂÃÂÃÂààçÃÂÃÂÃÂ* (*mÃÂshën, mÃÂhà «?*, âÂÂWeâÂÂre going, arenâÂÂt we?âÂÂ).
Example: *ÃÂçùïÃÂàÃÂçÃÂÃÂÃÂç* (*qÃÂÃÂdën nÃÂklà «*, âÂÂwe are eatingâÂÂ).
Example: *ÃÂìÃÂààÃÂçÃÂÃÂÃÂç* (*najjmà « yÃÂkulà «*, âÂÂthey could eatâÂÂ).
Example: *ÃÂÃÂìÃÂààÃÂçÃÂÃÂÃÂç* (*ynajjmu yÃÂkulà «*, âÂÂthey can eatâÂÂ).
Literally âÂÂit is his right / it is fitting,â this form is grammaticalized into a modal meaning âÂÂshould.âÂÂ
Example: *ÃÂÃÂàÃÂêÃÂÃÂÃÂà* (*ḥaqà « yitkallim*, âÂÂhe should speakâÂÂ).
Both forms derive from the root *l-z-m* âÂÂto be necessaryâÂÂ: - *lÃÂzim* = âÂÂmustâ (internal obligation). - *yilzem* = âÂÂhave toâ (external necessity).
Examples: - *ÃÂçòàÃÂç ÃÂàôÃÂÃÂç* (*lÃÂzimnànimà ¡Ã«à «*, âÂÂwe must goâÂÂ). - *ÃÂÃÂòàÃÂç ÃÂàôÃÂÃÂç* (*yilzimnànimà ¡Ã«à «*, âÂÂwe have to goâÂÂ).
Example: *àçðçèÃÂÃÂç ÃÂàôÃÂÃÂç* (*mÃÂá¸ÂÃÂbënànimà ¡Ã«à «*, âÂÂwe had better goâÂÂ).
Tunisian Arabic involve Discourse markers that are used to emphasize some facts in discussions. These facts could be even evidences and conclusions.
Evidence markers are mainly modal verbs. á¹ÂÃÂhà « ñçÃÂàis used to mark a fact as evident in the affirmative form. It is substituted by á¹ÂÃÂhà « àçÃÂàwhen asking about a supposed evident fact.
Conclusion markers are mainly conjunctions. yÃÂxë ÃÂçîàis used to mark a fact as a conclusion in the affirmative form. It is substituted by mÃÂlààçÃÂç when asking to approve supposed conclusion.
Preverbal markers or auxiliaries are verbs that are used to denote the status of a given action. They are conjugated as Subject + Preverbal marker (Any tense and form) + Action Verb (In present unless the preverbal marker is in imperative. The verb is in imperative in this situation). For example, qà «m ixdim ÃÂÃÂàçîïàmeaning go to work.
There are significant differences in morphology between Tunisian and Standard Arabic. Standard Arabic marks 13 person/number/gender distinctions in the verbal paradigm, whereas the dialect of Tunis marks only 7 (the gender distinction is found only in the third person singular). Nomadic Tunisian Arabic dialects also mark gender for the second person in singular, in common with most spoken varieties of Arabic elsewhere in the Arabic world.
In general, the regular verbs are conjugated according to the following pattern:
The second-person singular of the three Nomadic Tunisian Arabic dialects has distinct masculine and feminine forms, with the masculine forms being as above ÃÂêèê ktibt and êÃÂêè tiktib, and the feminine forms being ÃÂêèêàktibtë (perfective) and êÃÂêèàtiktbë (imperfective).
Verbs with a final semivowel ÃÂ, known as "weak" verbs, have a different pattern. This pattern is determined according to the third letter in the root of the verb. Moreover, the verbs having a glottal stop as a first letter of their root are also considered as weak verbs.
Nomadic dialects have a different third-person singular feminine perfective form as in àôÃÂê , ÃÂèÃÂê , èïÃÂê and îðÃÂê and delete the stem vowel in the plural imperfective forms, giving forms such as ÃÂàôÃÂç , ÃÂÃÂèÃÂç , ÃÂèïÃÂç and ÃÂÃÂîðÃÂç . Furthermore, Sahil and Southeastern dialects tend to use in place of in the perfective conjugation. For example, êàôÃÂÃÂç timcÃ«à « is pronounced as [timÃÂe:u] in Sahil and southeastern dialects.
The future tense in Tunisian Arabic is also similar to Berber, more precisely Zenata Berber that was spoken by the majority of Tunisians' ancestors:
Taw or Tawwa can be used as a time indicator with a verb in present to mean "being going to do something".
The imperative form is considered the stem for the present tense.
The conditional present is conjugated as Kaá¹Âà « or Ḥaqqà « + Verb in Present tense. This tense is generally used to show regret.
For the past conditional, the same structures seen above are used, but instead of the present tense, the past tense is used.
This structure is conjugated as kÃÂn ynajjam + Verb in the present tense.
This structure is conjugated as á¹ÂÃÂhà « + Verb in the present tense.
Verb derivation is done by adding prefixes or by doubling consonants to the simple verb having the root fÃÂal (Triconsonantal) or faÃÂlil (Quadriconsonantal). The verb's root determines the possible derivations. Generally, the patterns used in Verb Derivation are the same as in Standard Arabic.
The exclamative form can be formed by the intonation and in this particular situation, the sentence ends with an exclamation mark to distinguish it from an affirmative sentence Furthermore, it can be formed using QaddÃÂà ¡ + Noun or Possessive Pronoun + Adjective or Imperfective verb + !.
The interrogative form can be formed by two methods: The intonation and the Suffix -à ¡. When an interrogative adverb or pronoun exists, the question is an ÃÂà ¡ question that is equivalent to the English wh question and if the question does not involve any interrogative adverb or pronoun, it is an ëh/làquestion that is equivalent to the English Yes/No Question.
Example: êÃÂèàêàôàÃÂêÃÂÃÂó tḥibb timà ¡Ã« l- tà «nis?, Do you want to go to Tunisia?
Example: êùñÃÂÃÂôÃÂàtaÃÂá¹Âfà «à ¡Ã«?, Do you know him?
To make the negative form, we put me in front of the verb and à ¡ at the end of the verb.<br /> Example: àç ÃÂÃÂàô çÃÂïñó màfhimà ¡ id-dars, He didn't understand the lesson. <br /> N.B.: With the past conditional (would have) this negative form is used with the main verb. <br />Example: ÃÂÃÂÃÂçàùñÃÂê ñçÃÂààç ìÃÂêô là «kÃÂn ÃÂá¹Âaft rÃÂnë màjëtà ¡, If I knew I would not have come.
To negate the present participles and the verbs conjugated in the future, mà «à ¡, or its conjugated form, is added in front of the verb. <br /> Example: àÃÂô èçô ÃÂôÃÂÃÂàçÃÂìàùé ÃÂçðàmà «à ¡ bÃÂà ¡ nà ¡à «fà « ij-jumÃÂa hÃÂÃÂë, I won't see him this week.<br /> àÃÂô mà «à ¡ is conjugated as follows:
The only relative pronoun used in Tunisian Arabic is illë meaning who or that and its short form is lë.
Nouns ending either in a consonant, u, i, à « or ë are usually masculine. For example: èçè bÃÂb âÂÂdoorâÂÂ, ÃÂñóàkursë âÂÂchairâÂÂ. There are, however, some exceptions. Indeed, some consonant-final and some ë-final nouns are in the feminine gender (usually, names of countries and cities, and names of parts of the body, and nouns ending in âÂÂt are in the feminine). For example: þçñÃÂò PÃÂrëz âÂÂParisâÂÂ, èÃÂê bët âÂÂroomâÂÂ, èóÃÂÃÂçê bisklÃÂt âÂÂbicycleâÂÂ.
Nouns ending with a or ÃÂ vowel are usually in the feminine.
For example: óÃÂÃÂé sinna âÂÂtoothâÂÂ, îñÃÂ֎ xarëá¹Âa âÂÂmapâÂÂ.
There are, however, a few exceptions: ãùààaÃÂmàâÂÂblind manâÂÂ, ààôàmamà ¡Ã âÂÂalleyâÂÂ, ùôçá ÃÂà ¡Ã âÂÂdinnerâÂÂ.
Marking of the dual for nouns by adding -ën as a suffix to them is only used for quantity measures, for nouns having the CCVC form such as C is an ungeminated consonant and V is a short vowel and things often occurring in twos (e.g. eyes, hands, parents). In general, these nouns have broken plurals and not regular ones. Marking of the dual is also done by writing zà «z before the regular or irregular plural noun. For example:
The plural in Tunisian can be classified according to its structure. There are mainly two types of structure: suffixed structure and internal structure. However and as reported in many studies, the rate of broken plurals for Tunisian and by that the rate of the use of the Pluralization Internal Structure is more important than the one for Standard Arabic and several other Arabic dialects. This considerable use of the Internal Structure of Pluralization is considered by most linguists as an influence of the Berber substratum.
Using the Suffixed Structure, Singular nouns may form their plural by the suffixation of any of the following plural suffixes:
This kind of plural is considered as regular plurals. However, There is a suffixed structure which is considered as a broken plural which is the plural of name of the noun constituted of the name of a town or a group of people and the suffix ë. This structure is done to attribute the person to a group or a city and its plural is obtained by adding àafter the second letter of the root and adding a as a suffix in the end of the word.
Using the Internal Structure, the plural in Tunisian follows the following patterns such as C is an ungeminated consonant, V is a short vowel, C: is a geminated consonant:
CaCC, CCaC and CÃÂCiC could have multiple patterns as plural noun patterns. The criterion of the choice of the plural form for CaCC, CCaC and CÃÂCiC is still not known.
Uninflected adjectives are masculine singular. There are two main types of adjectives:
E.g. àêúôÃÂô mtáaà ¡à ¡aà ¡ âÂÂangryâÂÂ.
E.g. ÷ÃÂÃÂàá¹Âwël âÂÂtallâÂÂ.
Like participles and some nouns, adjectives form their feminine by the suffixation of a. For example, ìÃÂùçàjëÃÂÃÂn > ìÃÂùçÃÂé jëÃÂÃÂna âÂÂhungryâÂÂ, óîÃÂàsxà «n > óîÃÂÃÂé sxà «na âÂÂhotâÂÂ.
In some cases, when the adjective ends with an i vowel, the i becomes a y. E.g. èçÃÂàbÃÂhi > èçÃÂÃÂé bÃÂhya Some uninflected adjectives are in the feminine. Their masculine counterparts are either suppletive or do not exist.
For example: ÃÂèÃÂé ḥibla âÂÂpregnantâÂÂ, ùòÃÂòé ÃÂzà «za âÂÂold womanâÂÂ.
The masculine counterpart of ùòÃÂòé ÃÂzà «za is ôçÃÂè à ¡ÃÂyib, though, ùòÃÂò ÃÂzà «z exists in some idiolects.
Some adjectives cannot be inflected either for gender or number. E.g. ÃÂñïàwardi âÂÂpinkâÂÂ, ÃÂàÃÂàḥmà «m âÂÂdisastrousâÂÂ.
Unlike nouns, adjectives are not inflected for dual. The plural is used instead. Like nouns, there are two main types of structure: suffixed structure and internal structure.
The comparative of superiority: The comparative form is the same whether the adjective is feminine or masculine.
The comparative of inferiority: It's formed by the following structure: ãÃÂÃÂàaqall + noun + ààmin. For example, ÃÂàãÃÂÃÂà÷ÃÂàààîÃÂÃÂç hëya aqall á¹Âà «l min xà «ha âÂÂsheâÂÂs less tall than her brotherâÂÂ
The comparative of equality: It is formed by using the following structure: noun (subject) + ÃÂñï fard + (comparative) noun + personal pronoun + àw + noun (compared). For example, ÃÂç÷àé ÃÂñï ÷ÃÂàÃÂààîÃÂÃÂç FÃÂá¹Âma fard á¹Âà «l hëya w xà «ha âÂÂFatma is as tall as her brotherâÂÂ. This structure can be simplified as follows: noun + àw + noun + ÃÂñï fard + noun. For example, ÃÂç÷àé àîÃÂÃÂç ÃÂñï ÷ÃÂàFÃÂá¹Âma w xà «ha fard á¹Âà «l âÂÂFatma is as tall as her brotherâÂÂ
It is formed by adding ÃÂçÃÂï wÃÂḥid (m.), ÃÂçÃÂïé waḥda (f.) or ÃÂÃÂÃÂï wá¸¥à «d (pl.) after the comparative of superiority.
In order to denote the proportion of the participants in the given action from a greater community, the adjectives and adverbs of proportion shown here are used.
Note, that in this case, the modern months are a tunisification of the name of the months from French, inherited from the protectorate times. The native names of the months were that of their original Latin names, following the berber calendar:
The ordinals in Tunisian are from one to twelve only, in case of higher numbers, the cardinals are used.
There are special forms for fractions from two to ten only, elsewhere percentage is used. The Fractions can be used for various purposes like the expression of proportion and the expression of time... For example, the expression of 11:20 in Tunisian Arabic is il-ḥdÃÂc w à §luà § and the expression of 11:40 in Tunisian Arabic is nuṣṣ il-nhÃÂr áër à §luà §. Similarly, midnight is nuṣṣ il-lël and noon is nuṣṣ il-nhÃÂr.
As said above, time measurement method and vocabulary below 1 hour is very peculiar in Tunisian and is not found in neither the other dialects of Maghrebi Arabic or standard Arabic. Indeed, Tunisian, uses fractions of 1 hour and a special unit of 5 minutes called ïñçì "drÃÂj", to express time. Also, as in English as "it's 3 am/pm" or just "it's 3" and contrary to other languages such as standard Arabic, Tunisian do not precise the word "sÃÂÃÂa (hour)" when expressing the time of the day as the subject is considered implied. Below is the list of the vocabulary used for time indication:
The Basic units for Tunisian Arabic are used in the same way as in English.
The measure units are accorded when in dual or in plural, for example:
There are two types of prepositions: single (commonly used) and compound prepositions (rarely used).
Compound prepositions are the prepositions that are obtained through the succession of two single prepositions. ÃÂó÷ Wusá¹Â, ìÃÂÃÂé jëhit, ôÃÂñé à ¡Ã«rit and àêçù mtÃÂàcan be used as second prepositions with any single preposition before it excepting ÃÂó÷ Wusá¹Â, ìÃÂÃÂé jëhit, ôÃÂñé à ¡Ã«rit and àêçù mtÃÂÃÂ. The other prepositions are: ààèÃÂàmin bën, ààèùï min baÃÂd, ààùÃÂï min ÃÂand, ààêÃÂê min taḥt, ààÃÂèàmin qbal, ààÃÂÃÂàmin fà «q, ààÃÂñç min wrÃÂ, ÃÂÃÂàèùï këf baÃÂd, ÃÂÃÂàùÃÂï këf ÃÂand, ÃÂÃÂàêÃÂê këf taḥt, ÃÂÃÂàÃÂèàkëf qbal, ÃÂÃÂàÃÂÃÂàkëf fà «q, ÃÂÃÂàÃÂñç këf wrÃÂ, ÃÂÃÂààùç këf mÃÂÃÂ, ÃÂèàÃÂÃÂàqbal fà «q, ùÃÂàÃÂÃÂàÃÂlàfà «q, èêÃÂê b- taḥt, ÃÂàêÃÂê fë taḥt, èèÃÂçô b- blÃÂà ¡, ààÃÂïÃÂçàmin quddÃÂm and ÃÂêÃÂàÃÂïÃÂçàḥattàquddÃÂm.
Coordinate conjunctions link verbs, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, clauses, phrases and sentences of the same structure.
Subordinate conjunctions introduce dependent clauses only. There two types of conjunctions: single and compound. The compound conjunctions mainly consist of prepositions that are compound with illë. The main Subordinate conjunctions for Tunisian are Waqt illë ÃÂÃÂê çÃÂÃÂàâÂÂWhenâÂÂ, m- illë àçÃÂÃÂàâÂÂSinceâÂÂ, qbal màÃÂèààç âÂÂBeforeâÂÂ, ëÃÂàÃ¥ðç âÂÂIfâÂÂ, là «kÃÂn ÃÂÃÂÃÂçàâÂÂIfâÂÂ, mààç "what", bÃÂà ¡ èçô âÂÂIn order toâÂÂ, (ÃÂlÃÂ) xÃÂá¹Âir ùÃÂÃÂ) îç÷ñ) âÂÂbecauseâÂÂ, (ÃÂlÃÂ) ḥasb màùÃÂÃÂ) ÃÂóè àç) âÂÂAccording toâÂÂ.
Adverbs can be subdivided into three subgroups: single, compound and interrogative.
The nouns derived from verbs are the Active Participle, the Passive Participle and the Verbal Noun.
The verbal noun is the noun that indicates the done action itself. Its form is known through the pattern and root of the verb from which it is derived or rather the pattern of its singular imperative conjugation.