Levantine Arabic/Personal pronouns
In Levantine Arabic, pronouns can appear either as independent words or as suffixes, depending on their function.
Standalone forms edit
Standalone pronouns are used as subject preceding the verb. When used without a verb the meaning of "to be" is implied.
The pronouns can be omitted when the person is obvious by the conjugation of the verb.
| Masculine | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person (I, we) |
أنا 'ana |
نحنا / إحنا niḥna (North) 'iḥna (South) | |
| 2nd person (you) |
إنت 'inta |
إنتي 'inti |
إنتو 'intu |
| 3rd person (he, she, they) |
هو huwwe |
هي hiyye |
هن / هنن / هم hinne / hinnen (North) humme (South) |
Suffix forms edit
Suffix pronouns have different functions, depending on what kind of word they are attached to:
- Show possession if attached to nouns
- Object if attached to verbs or prepositions
- Subject if attached to conjunctions
| Masculine | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person (me, my, us, our) |
ـي / ـني -i -y (after vowel) -ni (after verb) |
ـنا -na | |
| 2nd person (you, your) |
ـك -ak -k (after vowel) |
ـك -ek -ki (after vowel) |
ـكن / ـكم -kon (North) -kom (South) |
| 3rd person (him, his, her, them, their) |
ـه -o silent after vowel |
ـا / ـها -(h/w/y)a (North) -ha (South) |
ـن / ـهم -(h/w/y)on (North) -hom (South) |
Some suffix pronouns have a different pronunciation if they are attached to a word ending in a vowel.
The suffix of the 1st person singular has a different form when attached to verb.
The suffix of the 3rd person masculine singular is silent after a vowel, but it has effect on the stress and vowel length.
Examples (South Levantine) edit
| Nouns, prepositions, conjuctions | Verbs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consonant | Tāʼ marbūṭah | Vowel | Consonant | Vowel | |||
| Example | بدّ bidd |
صاحب ṣāḥeb |
مدرسة madrase |
أبو 'abu |
شفت šuft |
شفتي šufti | |
| 1st | singular | بدّي bidd-i |
صاحبي ṣāḥb-i |
مدرستي madrast-i |
أبوي 'abū-y |
شفتني šufᵉt-ni |
شفتيني šuftī-ni |
| plural | بدنا bid-na |
صاحبنا ṣāḥeb-na |
مدرستنا madraset-na |
أبونا 'abū-na |
شفتنا šufᵉt-na |
شفتينا šuftī-na | |
| 2nd | masculine | بدّك bidd-ak |
صاحبك ṣāḥb-ak |
مدرستك madrast-ak |
أبوك 'abū-k |
شفتك šuft-ak |
شفتيك šuftī-k |
| feminine | بدّك bidd-ek |
صاحبك ṣāḥb-ek |
مدرستك madrast-ek |
أبوك 'abū-ki |
شفتك šuft-ek |
شفتيك šuftī-ki | |
| plural | بدكم bid-kom |
صاحبكم ṣāḥeb-kom |
مدرستكم madraset-kom |
أبوكم 'abū-kom |
شفتكم šufᵉt-kom |
شفتيكم šuftī-kom | |
| 3rd | masculine | بدّه bidd-o |
صاحبه ṣāḥb-o |
مدرسته madrast-o |
أبوه 'abū |
شفته šuft-o |
شفتيه šuftī |
| feminine | بدها bid-ha |
صاحبها ṣāḥeb-ha |
مدرستها madraset-ha |
أبوها 'abū-ha |
شفتها šufᵉt-ha |
شفتيها šuftī-ha | |
| plural | بدهم bid-hom |
صاحبهم ṣāḥeb-hom |
مدرستهم madraset-hom |
أبوهم 'abū-hom |
شفتهم šufᵉt-hom |
شفتيهم šuftī-hom | |