And now romanized ( my version, hope you understand ;))
waHd nhr ja 3nd Juha SaHbu Tlb yslfu Hmar.
qal Juha,“Hmar dyali makaynsh.”
fhad lwqt lHmar dyal Juha bda ykhut bSut 3lay.
w sm3u SHbu, “qltini bli huwa makaynsh.”
jub Juha, " shkun ktiq wash ana wla Hmar ?"
One day Juha’s friend came over and asked to borrow his donkey. Juha said, “My donkey isn’t here right now.” Just as he was speaking, his donkey started braying loudly. Juha’s friend exclaimed, “Hey, you said it wasn’t here.” Juha, indignant, replied, “Who are you going to believe, me or a donkey?”
It would be great if some of our native-darija-speakers (or others) could add to this thread
I think reading short texts is a really useful exercise - and as we all know written darija is hard to find !
I got my Moroccan son-in-law to tape-record the jokes, and I listen to them over and over again.
He spoke at very fast speed - excellent listening practice !
(although I plan to ask him to also record them at a slower speed, so I can practise pronunciation by repeating)
Oh, Lisec, I would like to hear those tapes too!!
I also got tapes from a professor in the Netherlands but it 's difficult to understand. As you said, on those tapes people speak so fast!!!
Very true Lisec. Here’s a short story about an overzealous policeman.
hada wa7d l bulisi kan qbi7 bzzaf.
dima kan kaytLb mn n-nas rshwa.
wa7d nhar ma-wqf 7ta shi 7d.
mlli lqa sh-shms tmshi f 7al-ha u ma ?nd-h fi jb-u walu qal l bulisi: “ana xSSni flus. gha nwqqf lluwl li yji”.
b?d shwya ja rajl rakb mutur jdid. mul mutur ?nd-h kask, xdam mzyan l mutur, l bulisi ma-?ndu-sh sbb bash ywqff-u wlkn shdd-u.
shaf wraq-u u klshi kan b-xir, ma-kayn-sh f-ash ytLb mn mul mutur.
suwl-h, “wash ma-txaf-sh? ?la-?qash b-wa7d-k?”
juwb mul mutur: “ana mashi b-wa7di. m?ya LLah u r-rsul.”
qal l bulisi: “tlata? fuq had el-mutur? xSS-k txllS!”
Thanks for posting a story, maarten. Did you get it from the same book ? (the book I referred to above)
I’m familiar with it from that book, which also gives an English translation - so if anybody needs help with translation, just ask.
Hello everybody. I see that you already have the translation Lisec, so how about if I give it a shot and you tell me whether it’s right or not?
One particular policeman was very corrupt.
He always asked people for bribes.
One day he couldn’t detain anyone at all.
When he realized that the sun was going down and he had no money at all in his pocket, the policeman said, “I need money; I am going to stop the first one who comes along.”
After awhile a man riding a new motorcycle came along. The guy on the motorcycle had everything in order, the motorcycle was up to code, and the policeman couldn’t think of any reason to stop and detain the guy.
He examined his papers and saw that everything was in order; there was nothing at all that he could demand of the motorist.
He asked him, “Aren’t you afraid? Why are you all alone?”
The motorist replied, “I’m not alone; Allah and His messenger are with me.”
The policeman exclaimed, “Three? On this motorcycle? You will pay for this!”
Two (thieves/robbers) robbed a bank.
They went home counting(??) (the money??)
They were tired (?) one said to his friend : just sleep now (?)
---------- how much we stole.
Is ‘y-gulu’ 3rd person plural, or 3rd person singular with pronoun suffix -u ?
@ ummaryam99 :okay:
Great translation -
just a couple of words that I think you just mis-read :
walakin shdd-u - BUT he detained/apprehended him ( and in English we would add ‘anyway’ )
3la-Hqash b-wa7d-k - BECAUSE you are all alone (or more freely translated - for the benefit of non-English native speakers - ‘out here all on your own’)
And a couple of points for darija learners :
mul mutur - lit. owner of the motorbike / moped
ma3ndush sbb - lit. he didn’t have (any) reason …
Two (thieves/robbers) robbed a bank.
They went home counting(??) (the money??)
They were tired (?) one said to his friend : just sleep now (?)
---------- how much we stole.
Is ‘y-gulu’ 3rd person plural, or 3rd person singular with pronoun suffix -u ?
What’s the French website address, SVP ?[/quote]
Hi Lisec, you missed the clue there; the thiefs await tomorrow’s news to learn how much they stole:
[y-gulu] [f-l axbar] [shal] [sraqna]
lit. [they tell] [in the news] [how much] [we stole] let’s wait for the news bulletin tomorrow to lean how much we stole
I don’t know the exact url. I found the joke using this search. Pretty sure the site will come up in the first or second page of the search results.
Stealth, I need some help with the translation of your yoke, if you please because I’m missing the clue:
wahed lboulissi l9a wahed rajel sakran m3a 12 dial lille ou gal lihe a policeman came across a drunk in the middle of the night and told him
“jbed la carte” ouhouwa yjawbou sakrane galihe “méditel oulla tissalat?” “show me your id (card)” and the drunk answered “méditel or tissalat (phone card?)” ?
gualih lboulissi “katfella 3liya” ou bda lboulissi kayedreb fihe yedreb fihe the policeman told him “give(?) it to me” and began dialing
yedreb fihe 7ta skhef ou gal lihe “iwa ki jatek had t3biae(recharge)?” and dialing until he was exhausted and told him “allright, how do you recharge?” gualih sakrane “hamdoullah machi mdoubla”. the drunk said (to him)" Thank god (it) isn’t redoubled(?)"
gualih lboulissi “katfella 3liya” ou bda lboulissi kayedreb fihe yedreb fihe
the policeman told him “you are jokingéplaying around with me” and began beating him
yedreb fihe 7ta skhef ou gal lihe “iwa ki jatek had t3biae(recharge)?”
beating him until he was exhausted and told him “allright, how did you like this recharge”
gualih sakrane “hamdoullah machi mdoubla”.
the drunk said (to him)" Thank god (it) isn’t doubled(?)"
[quote=lisec]@ ummaryam99 :okay:
Great translation -
just a couple of words that I think you just mis-read :
walakin shdd-u - BUT he detained/apprehended him ( and in English we would add ‘anyway’ )
3la-Hqash b-wa7d-k - BECAUSE you are all alone (or more freely translated - for the benefit of non-English native speakers - ‘out here all on your own’)
And a couple of points for darija learners :
mul mutur - lit. owner of the motorbike / moped
ma3ndush sbb - lit. he didn’t have (any) reason …[/quote]
Hello there everybody.
Lisec, thank you for taking the time to correct and comment on my attempted translation. I understand the mistake I made with the first cited phrase, but I am not sure about the second. I need further elaboration on the problem with my translation of “2ala haqqash”, please.
Lisec, I am blushing my dear. I still do not understand why my translation is incorrect. Could you please give me three or four other sentences each using ‘3ala Hqash’ as ‘because’ and whatever one might use to communicate ‘why’?
Here are some example sentences from Harrell and the PCM :
ma-msha-sh l l-mdrasa 3laHqqash ma-faq-sh bkri = he didn’t go to school because he didn’t get up early
ma-mshat-sh m3ahom 3la Haqqash kanet katekteb le-brawat = she didn’t go with them because she was writing letters
3lash ma-terjemtiw-sh had le-brawat ? = why haven’t you (pl.) translated these letters ?
3lash bghitiw tbi3u darkom l-had n-nas ? = why do you want to sell your house to these people ?
3lash werrak l-konnash dyali ? = why did he show you my notebook ?
I have come across another word for ‘because’, namely ‘Hit’ ( which according to the PCM can also mean ‘since’ and ‘when’), but the only word I think I have come across for ‘why’ is ‘3lash’, and I don’t know if that can have other meanings ?
I’m puzzed by your puzzlement :hap::huh: but hope this helps
PS For people not familiar with PCM = Peace Corps Manual - an excellent resource for learning darija, available free on the internet.
Harrell refers to A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic by Richard S. Harrell, also a useful book, but rather old-fashioned in terms of methodology.
