Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In this lesson, we’ll cover basic greetings for the appropriate time of the day. As there are quite a few to cover, let's jump right in.
GRAMMAR POINT
We’re going to start with the more formal ones first.
The most common greeting, and the one you’ll hear most in Egypt is al-salāmu ʿalaykum.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) al-salāmu ʿalaykum.
Once more:
al-salāmu ʿalaykum.
al-salām means “peace”
(slow) al-salām
al-salām
And ʿalaykum means “on you”
(slow) ʿalaykum
ʿalaykum
Altogether it means “Peace be on you”.
al-salāmu ʿalaykum.
.
In Egyptian Arabic, “Good morning” is
ṣabāḥ ilḫīr.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ṣabāḥ ilḫīr.
Once more:
ṣabāḥ ilḫīr.
The first word, ṣabāḥ, means “the morning.”
(slow) ṣabāḥ.
ṣabāḥ.
The second word ilḫīr means “good”. Here it is again:
(slow) ilḫīr.
ilḫīr.
Literally it means “Morning of the good”.
Let’s hear it again:
(slow) ṣabāḥ ilḫīr.
ṣabāḥ ilḫīr.
In Egyptian Arabic, “Good afternoon” and “Good evening” is
masāʾ ilḫīr.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) masāʾ ilḫīr.
Once more:
masāʾ ilḫīr.
The first word, masāʾ, means “the evening.”
(slow) masāʾ.
masāʾ.
ilḫīr, as we saw before, means “good”
All together, that’s
(slow) masāʾ ilḫīr.
masāʾ ilḫīr.
In Arabic, “good night” is
tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr.
This expression is a goodnight greeting, and just like in English is also said before going to sleep.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr.
Once more:
tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr.
The first word, tiṣbaḥ, means “to wake up”
(slow) tiṣbaḥ.
tiṣbaḥ.
Next we have ʿalā which literally means “on”, and ḫīr, that means “good”.
(slow) ʿalā ḫīr.
ʿalā ḫīr.
Once again, that’s:
(slow) tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr.
tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr.
tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr means “May you wake up in good shape”.
All of these expressions can be used in informal and formal situations as well. However, with friends, feel free to use other ways of greeting. Let’s take a look at them.
The most common way of saying “Hello” in Egyptian Arabic is
Hi!
(slow) Hi!
Hi!
هاي
Use this word with your friends and with young people.

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