# All dialects: بلّش



## clevermizo

Does anyone know the origin of the word بلّش which is the verb "to begin/start" in some dialects (بدأ)? I can't seem to find it in the معاجم. Maybe it's not of Arabic origin?


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## mr_Mokhtar

Hi , salam alikom
Its one of Lebanese slangs, it means start or just started.


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## WadiH

clevermizo said:


> Does anyone know the origin of the word بلّش which is the verb "to begin/start" in some dialects (بدأ)? I can't seem to find it in the معاجم. Maybe it's not of Arabic origin?


 
It might be a contraction of two Arabic words.  The first thing we need to determine is whether this word (or similar-sounding versions) exist in other dialects?  As far as I know, this word is only used in Lebanon and maybe parts of Syria and Palestine.


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## cherine

clevermizo said:


> Does anyone know the origin of the word بلّش which is the verb "to begin/start" in some dialects (بدأ)? I can't seem to find it in the معاجم. Maybe it's not of Arabic origin?


We don't use it in Egypt. But I thought of something, that may be wrong but I'll share it anyway, maybe it can lead to something:
I though about بلج and looked in Lisaan al-3arab:


> وبَلَجَ الصُّبْحُ يَبْلُجُ، بالضم، بُلُوجاً، وانْبَلَجَ، وتَبَلَّجَ: أَسْفَرَ وأَضاء. وتَبَلَّجَ الرجل إِلى الرجل: ضحك وهَشَّ. والبَلَجُ: الفَرَحُ والسرور، وهو بَلْجٌ، وقد بَلِجَتْ صدورُنا. الأَصمعي: بَلِجَ بالشيء وثَلِجَ إذا فرح، وقد أَبْلَجَني وأَثْلَجَني. وابْلاجَّ الشيءُ: أَضاء. وأَبْلَجَتِ الشمسُ: أَضاءَت. وأَبْلَجَ الحَقُّ: ظهر؛ ويقال: هذا أَمْرٌ أَبْلَجُ أَي واضح؛ وقد أَبْلَجَهُ: أَوضحه​


Yes, it doesn't have anything to do with "starting", but I thought that showing up ظهر is not very far as a meaning.

Too far fetched?


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## clevermizo

cherine said:


> Yes, it doesn't have anything to do with "starting", but I thought that showing up ظهر is not very far as a meaning.
> 
> Too far fetched?



ِActually that might be it. There are some instances where ج has been pronounced as ش, such as وجه being pronounced as وش. However usually that has to do with some assimilation - here the assimilation of the feature of voicing on the ه passing over to the ج. Here with بلش and بلج there is no other consonant around the ج to cause this to happen. But it's still our best candidate it seems.

ٍI just moved to the Chicago area, and last night I went to my first meeting of the Arabic language "meet up" where people get together at a certain café and talk, both learners and native speakers, etc. Anyway, there was a woman there from Sudan and she said they use this word بلّش but with the meaning of "to finish" instead of "to start"! 

So if بلش does in fact come from بلج it may be ok that the original meaning is not specifically "to start" because apparently it has evolved different ways in different places. I think it might be possible to extend the meaning of أضاء or   ظهر to both finishing or beginning.


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## Abu Bishr

Hi all

I found on this website that "ballash" in Arabic comes from Turkish, and the information is based on a book dealing with the origin of foreign words in the Iraqi dialect by a certain Majeed Muhammad.

Also, on the SudaneseOnline website I found confirmation that "ballash" in Sudanese is the opposite of "beginning, starting sth.".


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## clevermizo

Excellent. Well thanks for that. I guess it's sometimes easy to believe that a word is a native Arabic word when the root looks small (ب-ل-ش) and there is something like shadda in the middle.

Not to go off on a huge tangent, but apparently there are other words in Sudanese which mean the opposite of their values elsewhere. Such as فات which in the Levant means to "enter" and in Sudan means to "leave"!


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## MarcB

Clevermizo,
Here is a Sudanese dictionary:
http://www.languages.salford.ac.uk/staff/dickins/WebBaseSudDicVers04.xls
if you want to make comparisons.


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## raful

Does this verb appear only in وزن فعّل? I've heard northern Palestinians use it in وزن فعَل (1st V.G.)


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## analeeh

I've never heard it except as _yballesh_. Did you hear it as _yiblish_ or something, or is it possible you just misheard the shadde in the past?


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## elroy

يِبْلَش exists in Palestinian Arabic, but it's not interchangeable with يْبَلِّش.

بكرة بدنا نِبْلَش - Tomorrow we're gonna dive into some time-consuming and demanding work, like cooking for 100.

بِلِش فِيّ - He went to town on me, like with insults or reprimands.


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## oopqoo

So putting بَلّش aside:
We have بِلِش which is in the present-future يِبْلَش which has the two meanings you mentioned. Those aren't two different words, is that right? Also does there happen to be a Hebrew equivalent to the word بِلِش?


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## elroy

oopqoo said:


> We have بِلِش which is in the present-future يِبْلَش which has the two meanings you mentioned. Those aren't two different words, is that right?


 Right.  Same verb, just two different forms.


> Also does there happen to be a Hebrew equivalent to the word بِلِش?


 I don't know.  @amikama and/or @origumi might be able to help.


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## amikama

elroy said:


> @amikama and/or @origumi might be able to help.


Me?  My Arabic is very limited and I'm not sure I understood what بِلِش means. If it means "to begin/start", then it's להתחיל in Hebrew -- unless I missed something here...


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## elroy

amikama said:


> I'm not sure I understood what بِلِش means.


 I gave some examples in #11.

The examples literally mean מחר נתחיל and הוא התחיל בי, but the actual meanings are as I described.  Can להתחיל be used in these examples, or are there other ways to express these meanings?


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## yossariann

elroy said:


> The examples literally mean מחר נתחיל and הוא התחיל בי, but the actual meanings are as I described.  Can להתחיל be used in these examples, or are there other ways to express these meanings?


For the first context (hard and time-consuming work) I have never heard "להתחיל". What I personally would most likely say is "לעבוד כמו חמור" (lit. "Work like a donkey") or, depending on who I'm talking to, the more vulgar "לקרוע את התחת" (equivalent to "work one's ass off").

As for the second context, I have indeed heard people use "אל תתחיל איתי" (lit. Don't start with me") in an aggresive manner, meaning "Don't make me angry"/"Stop trying to provoke me". One should be aware though that "להתחיל עם" (lit. to start with) have a completely different, more common meaning: trying to start a romantic relationship with someone.

(This is really belongs to the Hebrew forum)


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## elroy

yossariann said:


> For the first context (hard and time-consuming work) I have never heard "להתחיל". What I personally would most likely say is "לעבוד כמו חמור" (lit. "Work like a donkey") or, depending on who I'm talking to, the more vulgar "לקרוע את התחת" (equivalent to "work one's ass off").


 Those are different.  The meaning is להתחיל לעבוד בדבר שדורש הרבה זמן ו/או מאמץ, כאילו להיכנס לדבר.  Can you say something like מחר נתחיל נתחיל?  (Does Hebrew repeat words for emphasis?)


> As for the second context, I have indeed heard people use "אל תתחיל איתי" (lit. Don't start with me") in an aggresive manner, meaning "Don't make me angry"/"Stop trying to provoke me". One should be aware though that "להתחיל עם" (lit. to start with) have a completely different, more common meaning: trying to start a romantic relationship with someone.


 But for "he went to town on me" (if, say, he cursed me out right and left), could you say הוא התחיל איתי?


> (This is really belongs to the Hebrew forum)


 It's fine here.  This forum is fine for translations from Arabic into any other language.


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## oopqoo

I think the closest *colloquial* Hebrew translations would be:
بلش as in dive into hard work = לתת בראש (literally give in the head)
بكرا بدنا نبلش = מחר ניתן בראש
بلش في as in go to town with curses/reprimands/shouts = לצאת על
بلش فيّ = הוא יצא עליי
Sadly these don't have the word להתחיל in them but that's the best I can think of.

It is true though that one can say אל תתחיל איתי to mean "don't start a fight with me" but in few circumstances because usually הוא התחיל איתי would mean "he hit on me romantically".

Regrading repeating words - I think it can sound natural in Hebrew (if said with the right tone) but maybe others will disagree. I'd say מחר נתחיל נתחיל would translate best to "tomorrow we're really gonna start" (and I guess in most instances would mean to really start a demanding task). So repeating a word would be like adding an emphatic "really". I may be wrong but I think doubling a word in colloquial English would also convey the same meaning.


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## origumi

elroy said:


> Right.  Same verb, just two different forms.
> I don't know.  @amikama and/or @origumi might be able to help.


The Hebrew equivalent should be b-l-s. This verb appears once in the bible and its meaning is not fully clear, supposedly either "to be a (fig) carer" or "to guard". In any case not similar to "start". Hebrew also has b-l-sh from Aramaic, meaning "to look for", "to track", again not similar to "start".


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## Malki92

elroy said:


> بكرة بدنا نِبْلَش - Tomorrow we're gonna dive into some time-consuming and demanding work, like cooking for 100.





oopqoo said:


> Also does there happen to be a Hebrew equivalent to the word بِلِش?



Hi,

I asked some Israeli-Arab friends, and without consulting with one another they all rendered بكرة بدنا نِبْلَش into Hebrew as מחר מתחילים.


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