(Very WIP) Welcome to Lebanese Grammar!
These notes consist of a very idiosyncratic and non-traditional exposition to the grammar of my specific idiolect of the Lebanese variety of Arabic, which grew out of attempts to teach this dialect (hereafter referred to as simply Lebanese) to my wife.
Since Lebanese is a spoken language, there is no standardized written form, nor a consistent orthography for any of the unofficial writing systems. These notes will use a modified version of the Arabic Chat Alphabet where spelling is made to match the phonemic transcription of the language for clarity of pronunciation, as well as the Arabic script where applicable. Being a spoken language has also led these notes to take an interactive spoken approach to the grammar, where the reader is encouraged to discover these rules on their own through the provided audio examples before reading the presented explanations.
Possessive Suffixes
| Noun ending in -e (-t) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
سمكة
Samke
|
Singular | Plural | ||||
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | First Person | Second Person | Third Person | |
| Masculine | Samkıtne | Samkıtak | Samkıto | Samkıtna | Samkıtkon | Samkıton |
| Feminine | Samkıtik | Samkıta | ||||
The stress is always on the second syllable unless the weak form is used, in which case it shifts to the first syllable.
Verb Conjugation
| Type O Verb | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past Tense | ||||||
|
كتب
KTB
|
Singular | Plural | ||||
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | First Person | Second Person | Third Person | |
| Masculine | Katabıt | Katabıt | Katab | Katabna | Katabto | Katabo |
| Feminine | Katabte | Katabıt | ||||
| Present Tense | ||||||
|
يكتب
IKTOB
|
Singular | Plural | ||||
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | First Person | Second Person | Third Person | |
| Masculine | Bıktob | Btıktob | Byıktob | Mnıktob | Btıkıtbo | Byıkıtbo |
| Feminine | Btıkıtbe | Btıktob | ||||