# Palestinian Arabic: you, they



## YanV

Could someone please help with the pronunciation of these words in Palestinian/Israeli Bedouin dialects?

You (m)
You (f)
You (plural, male/mixed and female)
They (male/mixed and female)

What I am finding online is different from what I am hearing in "Fauda" series. Thank you!


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## apricots

you m. inta
you f. inti
you pl. intu
they m. humme
they f. hinne

Though, I don't remember there being any Bedouin in Fauda except at Doron's dad's ranch. Most of the Palestinian spoken in Fauda is urban. If you want Palestinian Bedouin you should watch the movie Sandstorm.


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## YanV

thank you! I actually did watch the Sand Storm - great movie. They probably weren't Palestinians though - the license plates in the movie were yellow, not white, must've been israeli Bedouins.

just to clarify - 'you' plural is the same for both males/mixed gender and females? The reason I am asking is that it isn't in other semitic languages...

Thank you!


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## apricots

There is only intu as far as I know. Also keep in mind that hinne is used elsewhere in Palestine as the only they.


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## YanV

meaning 'hinne' is used in Palestine for both male 'they', female 'they', and mixed gender 'they'?

thank you


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## apricots

Yes, particularly in the Galilee and within Israel generally hinne is used for they male, female, and mixed.


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## Hemza

Don't bedouin dialects usually distinguish 2nd person plural between masculine and feminine?

Entu(m) for males?
Enten for females?

Did it disappear from Palestine or is it me who missed something?

I know nothing about bedouin dialects of Palestine but I suppose they're close to Sinai/Jordan/Northern Hijazi dialects.


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## oopqoo

Please take my words with a grain of salt as I am not an Arab nor am perfect at the language but:
In terms of terminology the dialect spoken anywhere on the land constituted by the Gaza Strip + State of Israel + West Bank (which in its entirety is called either Palestine or Land of Israel - depending on the person's political views) is called Palestinian Arabic, whether if it's spoken in Nablus or in Haifa. You may as well call it Israeli Arabic, again whether if it's in Haifa or in Nablus. My point is that the differences seen throughout this dialect across the Land of Israel don't have a lot to do with what passport the person owns - they have to do with reasons that are older than the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
In terms of pronouns I hear around me a lot of Galilee and Triangle speech (which I think Triangle may be the closest to Bedouin):
Galilee:
You (m) - inte
You (f) - inti [I might be wrong and this actually sounds exactly like inte]
You (pl) - intu
They (pl) - hinne
Triangle:
You (m) - inti
You (f) - inti [I might be wrong again]
You (pl m) - intu
You (pl f) - inten
They (pl m) - homme
They (pl f) - hinne
So again I may be wrong but this is based on what I hear around me. Maybe my ears are not trained enough.


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## Mahaodeh

Hemza said:


> Don't bedouin dialects usually distinguish 2nd person plural between masculine and feminine?



I don't know much about Bedouin dialects either, but I would imagine so. What I wanted to say is that technically all dialects do. It's falling out of use in urban dialects and I would imagine to a certain degree in rural dialects, but it still exists and has not totally fallen out of use.

Having said that, I'm expose to both the urban and rural dialects of the Jerusalem area, and mostly outside Palestine.


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## Hemza

@Mahaodeh Thank you


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## apricots

oopqoo said:


> Galilee:
> You (m) - inte
> You (f) - inti [I might be wrong and this actually sounds exactly like inte]
> You (pl) - intu
> They (pl) - hinne



I would say it's inti in the Galilee for male and female. Inte sounds WB/Jerusalem.


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## Hemza

apricots said:


> I would say it's inti in the Galilee for male and female.



Like Tunisian (enti)!!


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## elroy

"you":

The feminine singular form is "inti" everywhere.
The plural form is "intu" everywhere, and it's used for any group, regardless of gender.
The masculine singular form is either "inta," "inte," or something approaching "inti" but I'm not sure it's exactly "inti."

"they":

I am not aware of any Palestinian dialect that distinguishes between genders.  For some speakers it's "humme," for others it's "hinne," but a speaker will use the same pronoun regardless of gender.


oopqoo said:


> In terms of terminology the dialect spoken anywhere on the land constituted by the Gaza Strip + State of Israel + West Bank (which in its entirety is called either Palestine or Land of Israel - depending on the person's political views) is called Palestinian Arabic, whether if it's spoken in Nablus or in Haifa.


 Absolutely.   However, 


oopqoo said:


> You may as well call it Israeli Arabic, again whether if it's in Haifa or in Nablus


 If I were to use the term "Israeli Arabic," I would not use it for Palestinian varieties from outside the State of Israel.


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## oopqoo

I can vouch though that there is a significant proportion of Triangle residents who say both هن/هم according to gender, and some also انتو/انتن. The same people would also conjugate a verb as عملن and عملتن instead of عملو and عملتو when talking about females. I know I'm not an Arab myself but nowadays I speak with Arabs from the Galilee and the Triangle on a daily basis "^.^ so I'm not making it up basically.
By the way a friend of mine told me that in his Galillean dialect he says انت and انتي exactly the same: both "ente" (as he writes) but I would write it with a new letter, like ï to denote that it's a sound between i and e: either intï or ïntï.


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## Mahaodeh

elroy said:


> I am not aware of any Palestinian dialect that distinguishes between genders.



Actually, I regularly hear a distinction: هم وهن. Granted, I'd say it's dying out (at least in cities and urban dialects) but the generations that use it are still alive so it still exists.


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## apricots

I've also known heritage speakers in the US that also pronounce k as ch say they distinguish between humme and hinne.


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## elroy

شكرًا على هالمعلومات يا جماعة، منكم نستفيد.  شكلو هاي الظاهرة موجودة بس ببعض القرى. أنا شخصيًا مش مارقة عليّ، وهدا مثال جديد على التنوّع الهائل باللهجات الفلسطينية. على فكرة بسخنين في ناس بميّزوا بين "عاملين" و"عاملات"، فبقولوا للبنات "وين رايحات؟" مثلاً. ​


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