Arabic in Palestine
The official language in Palestine is Arabic.
Though Palestinian people speak English well, once you try even a little Arabic, they’d get happy and become more friendly to you. (Palestinians are already very friendly, but even more!)
The Arabic language is spoken widely between Arabic Peninsula and Maghreb (northern Africa). However, each country has its own dialect, and sometimes it’s hard to understand each other depending on the dialects.
Arabic spoken in Palestine is very close to Syrian, Lebanese, or Jordanian dialects. Egyptian dialect is also understood.
Here, we introduce some Palestinian dialects.
Greetings
- Sabah al-Khair: Good morning.
- Sabah al-Nour: Good morning to you, too.
- Marhaba: Hello.
- Marhabaten: Hello to you, too.
- Massa al-Khair: Good evening.
- Massa al-Nour: Good evening to you, too.
- Ma’assalamah: Goodbye.
- Shukran: Thank you.
- Afwan: You’re welcome.
- Keef hak?: How are you (to men)
- Keef hek?: How are you (to women)
- Tama’am: I’m good.
- Aywa ｜ Na’am: Yes.
- La: No.
Transportation
- Wein hada?: Where is it? (wein = where)
Shopping
- Chou hada?: What is this? (chou = what)
- Kam hada?: How much is this?
Numbers
| Latin | Arabic | pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ١ | wahad |
| 2 | ٢ | etnen |
| 3 | ٣ | talata |
| 4 | ٤ | arba’a |
| 5 | ٥ | khamsa |
| 6 | ٦ | sitta |
| 7 | ٧ | sab’a |
| 8 | ٨ | tamanyeh |
| 9 | ٩ | tis’a |
| 10 | ١٠ | ’ashara |
| 11 | ١١ | hda’sh |
| 12 | ١٢ | tna’sh |
| 13 | ١٣ | talata’sh |
| 14 | ١٤ | arbata’sh |
| 15 | ١٥ | khamsata’sh |
| 16 | ١٦ | sitta’sh |
| 17 | ١٧ | sabata’sh |
| 18 | ١٨ | tamanta’sh |
| 19 | ١٩ | tisat’sh |
| 20 | ٢١ | ’ishreen |
| 21 | ٢١ | wahad wa ’ishreen |
| 30 | ٣٠ | talateen |
| 40 | ٤٠ | arba’een |
| 50 | ٥٠ | khamseen |
| 60 | ٦٠ | sitteen |
| 70 | ٧٠ | sabeen |
| 80 | ٨٠ | tamaneen |
| 90 | ٩٠ | tisseen |
| 100 | ١٠٠ | miyya |
| 200 | ٢٠٠ | miteyn |
| 300 | ٣٠٠ | talatmiyya |
| 400 | ٤٠٠ | alba’miyya |
| 1000 | ١٠٠٠ | alf |
| 2000 | ٢٠٠٠ | alfen |
| 3000 | ٣٠٠٠ | talat-talaf |
| 10000 | ١٠٠٠٠ | ’ashar-talaf |