# All dialects: بقشيش - بخشيش



## the-quality-man-4

what does "bakchich"بقشيش"  means?


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## Andrew___

Hi Quality Man,

It means a "tip"  (for example, the money one gives to someone as an extra, or when someone helps you with something and then asks for a small payment for their help).


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## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic we say بخشيش.


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## WadiH

elroy said:


> In Palestinian Arabic we say بخشيش.



Yeah we call it بخشيش also, yet for some reason it always seems to be written as بقشيش.


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## evanovka

Does anyone know where it comes from?
I somehow thought it was of Turkish origin... is it?


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## ayed

evanovka said:


> Turkish origin... is it?


Yes, it is.


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## elroy

I actually thought it was Persian.


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## إسكندراني

ماذا تسمون البقشيش في لهجتكم؟ وهل توجد كلمة فصيحة له؟


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## WadiH

في الفصحى يقال بقشيش أو إكرامية.


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## fdb

Ultimately it comes from the Persian verb _baxtan_ بختن , present stem _baxš _بخش “to distribute”, with the de-verbal noun _baxšiš_ بخشش “distribution, gift, tip”. This was borrowed from Persian to Turkish as _bahşiş_ , and then from Turkish to Arabic as بقشيش and بخشيش .

PS. _baxtan_ is actually Middle Persian. In modern Persian the infinitive of this verb is _baxšīdan _بخشيدن .


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## akhooha

fdb said:


> Ultimately it comes from the Persian verb _baxtan_ بختن ...


Would this be the same root for بَخْت (as in "يا بَخْتَك")?


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## fdb

Yes, _baxt_ means “luck, fortune”, in the sense of what has been “distributed” by God. It is a fairly early borrowing in classical Arabic.


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## Schem

إسكندراني said:


> ماذا تسمون البقشيش في لهجتكم؟ وهل توجد كلمة فصيحة له؟



There isn't much of a tipping culture in Saudi Arabia or the Gulf really so I usually use the English word. I only got to know "bakhsheesh" through Arab media.


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## WannaBFluent

السلام عليكم

How Syrians pronounce بقشيش ?
baqsheesh? ba5sheesh? ba2sheesh? /ee/ sound is long /e/ not long /i/.
I am actually asking this because I heard ba5sheesh, and it sounds a bit strange to me..

بارك الله فيك


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## odysiuos

ba2sheesh............


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## Drink

What is the "5" in "ba5sheesh"? The only number-letters I know are 2, 7 and 8.


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## odysiuos

Drink said:


> What is the "5" in "ba5sheesh"? The only number-letters I know are 2, 7 and 8.



You are right..
it had to be ba8sheesh in standard arabic.

5 = 7th letter = kh
8 = 21th letter


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## WannaBFluent

I know it is baqshiish in MSA. I want to know the correct pronounciation of Syrian people. I am 99% sure it is not ba2sheesh even if I know that, often, almost all the time, the qaf is pronounced as a hemza. But I think that in the word بقشيش they pronounce ba5sheesh (with KHa).


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## akhooha

بقشيش can be spelled and pronounced as بخشيش
[..] I'll just add that بخشيش (plural بخاشيش) is also found in MSA: 

http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=68,ll=196...54,umr=93,ums=70,umj=61,ulq=357,uqa=48,uqq=23

(Hans Wehr. page 55)
P.S. I believe its origin is the Turkish word "bahşiş".


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## WannaBFluent

shukran ktiir


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## إسكندراني

In Egypt it's invariably بقشيش


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## cherine

No, the word "tips" is also used, even by persons who have not received education in English and who usually pronounce it "tebs".
Actually, the word ba2shiish is becoming less and less used these days.


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## إسكندراني

cherine said:


> No, the word "tips" is also used, even by persons who have not received education in English and who usually pronounce it "tebs".
> Actually, the word ba2shiish is becoming less and less used these days.


I've never heard 'tips' in Egypt, but I haven't been for a while.


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## Hemza

In Moroccan, this word is not used, we say "رشوة" which almost became a hobby 

In French, this word had entered the colloquial language, we call it "bakchich" (pronounced "bakshish"). Formal French would be "pot de vin".


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## cherine

Hemza said:


> In Moroccan, this word is not used, we say "رشوة


There is a difference between بقشيش (e.g. leaving a tip at a restaurant) and رشوة (bribe). In Egypt, we don't use بقشيش for bribe, but I think it's used like this in some dialects.


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