# Syrian Arabic: Yes



## ihsaan

I read that "ee" is what you usually say for yes in Syria, while "aiwa" is used rather as "I see...". Is this correct? 

Is "ee" what every Syrian uses, or do you have other words for "yes" as well? Also, is this a polite way of saying yes? (I'm just asking, because in e.g. Urdu you have both polite, and more impolite ways of saying "yes").


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## be.010

Hi!
ee that's right! As far as I know, all Syrians use "ee" meaning "yes". Of course, the accent may differ regionally.
It's polite and can be said anywhere with anyone.
By the way, it's originally Standard Arabic (أي= نعم).
A rather "formal" expression we use is "ايه نعم" (ee na3am). But it sounds a bit more serious, and I've never heard it when talking to someone who is familiar/friendly to me.

Also, there is مبلا mbala, used to answer a negative question in affirmative.

As to "aiwa", you're right it means "I see..." rather than yes. Yet sometimes it could mean "yes", especially when someone is calling someone, then the latter could answer for instance "aiwa shu beddak?" (yeah, what do you want?", you see, this is rather informal and doesn't show much respect to the other person.

Best regards!


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## ihsaan

Thank you for explaining it so well. 
I guess mbala, is the same as the Norwegian "jo".


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## Ramblurr

ihsaan said:


> Thank you for explaining it so well.
> I guess mbala, is the same as the Norwegian "jo".



In MSA this word is   بلى


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## tabyyy

be.010 said:


> Also, there is مبلا mbala, used to answer a negative question in affirmative.



Could you possibly give me an example using this term? I'm somewhat confused on where one should use it, and a concrete example would help immensely 

Shukran ktiir


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## Soos

-eTTa2es 7elo bisuuriya? or ra7 titriklo el khabar? Mbala. (has kind of a "of course" feel to it)
Is the weather nice in Syria? Will you give him the message? Yes
-ra7 truu7 3ala esahra elayle? ee
Are you going to the evening party tongiht? Yes
-eywa is just used while someone is talking to you and you occasionally say, "eywa" like you do in English for "I see".  I had a friend who, whenever I'd talk to her, she'd say always say three times fast "eywa eywa eywa".
-Ahlein ya Ishaan! b3dak tadros esiyasiya bel jam3a? (said by an elder) eh, na3am.
Hello Ishaan! Are you still studying politics at the university? Yes


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## clevermizo

tabyyy said:


> Could you possibly give me an example using this term? I'm somewhat confused on where one should use it, and a concrete example would help immensely
> 
> Shukran ktiir



Here's an example from American English:

"Wait, you aren't going to his house?"***
"No, I am going, but I'm going to be a little late."

The question is in the negative, and you are _countering_ the question. In AE we usually use "No" to accomplish.

"Shu? Mish ra7 truu7 3a beeto?"
"_Mbala_, bruu7 bass ra7 it2a55ar shway."


It is analogous to the French _mais *si*_.


*** For the benefit of other readers who are not native speakers of American English, I formulated the question this way. "Aren't you going to his house?" is not actually a negative question in AE - it's a rhetorical question and means essentially the same thing as "Are you going to his house?" but with more emphasis or an expectation of surprise depending on the answer. We actually ask the negative question by saying "You aren't going to his house?" Sorry, it's a little complicated as you can see.


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## Soos

Good point, clevermizo.


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## Mahaodeh

tabyyy said:


> Could you possibly give me an example using this term? I'm somewhat confused on where one should use it, and a concrete example would help immensely
> 
> Shukran ktiir


 
collequal:
ma biddak takul? (don't you want to eat?)
mbala (yes, I do)

Fus7a:
iala tureedu an ta'kul? (don't you want to eat?)
bala (yes = I do)
la (no = I don't)
na3am (yes = I don't)

The last one may seem strange in English, but the reason is that na3am confirms both the negative and the possitive; so if you say "don't you want to eat" and answer with na3am you are confirming that you don't want to eat. la negates the positive and confirms the negative; so if you say la you are confirming that you don't want to eat. bala confirms the positive and negates the negative; so if you say bala then you mean you do indeed want to eat.

You can, of course, use bala to answer a positive question, in which case it would have the same meaning as na3am.


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## tabyyy

ahaaaa I understand it better now. na3am only affirms, while mbala/bala both negates and confirms. I hope I have it right now! 

Thanks!


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## clevermizo

tabyyy said:


> ahaaaa I understand it better now. na3am only affirms, while mbala/bala both negates and confirms. I hope I have it right now!
> 
> Thanks!



Sort of. Mbala/bala _negates a negative question_ is a better way to put it, but I think you understand.



Mahaodeh said:


> collequal:
> ma biddak takul? (don't you want to eat?)
> mbala (yes, I do)



And just to reiterate, this time for AE speakers, this question is "You don't want to eat?". "Don't you want to eat?" for us is just an emphatic way of saying "Do you want to eat?" (where we expect the answer is yes). I didn't mean to be repetitive about it, but negative questions can always be confusing in how they are dealt with from language to language.


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## elroy

ihsaan said:


> I guess mbala, is the same as the Norwegian "jo".


 That's exactly right.  It's like the Norwegian _jo_, the German _doch_, and the French _si_.


Soos said:


> -eTTa2es 7elo bisuuriya? or ra7 titriklo el khabar? Mbala. (has kind of a "of course" feel to it)


 This would not work in Palestinian Arabic, and I highly doubt it would work in Syrian or Lebanese.

The questions would have to be "iT-Ta2es *mish *7ilu bi-suurya?" and "*mish *ra7 twaSSillo 'l-khabariyye?" ("titriklo 'l-khabar" doesn't work).





clevermizo said:


> "Shu? Mish ra7 truu7 3a beeto?"
> "_Mbala_, bruu7 raaye7 bass ra7 it2a55ar shway."


 You would say "baruu7" ("bruu7" in Lebanese and Syrian) if you had just decided to go ("I'll go" as opposed to "I'm going").


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## Soos

Actually, elroy, you are mistaken. It is used in Lebanese as in the examples I have shown, though I cannot speak for Syrians. Interestingly enough, though, I once spoke to a Palestinian woman and asking if I could speak to her son, I said "ra7 ti2lilo inni 7keit?" and she said mbala. I didn't use any negation in the question. In Iraq, it can have a negation connotation, as I undestand from my Kurdish friend who is from there. So perhaps, we (holistically) are not appreciating the many variations of this one word. Some food for thought. And yes, it is equal to "si" in French.


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## be.010

Hi!
Actually, I agree with Elroy.
Speaking Syrian Arabic, it sounds really odd to answer a question with mbala unless it has at least a "negation tone". And it's really wierd that it is not the same in Lebanon!
Some people do mistakenly use mbala to mean yes in any context, yet this sounds odd to most people.

Of course, speaking fuS7a, بلى is only used to answer a negative-question, (or whatchamacallit), or to respond to a negated statement.



elroy said:


> "*mish *ra7 twaSSillo 'l-khabariyye?" ("titriklo 'l-khabar" doesn't work).


 
Well... tetreklo khabar (without the L) is common in Syria!


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## elroy

Soos said:


> Interestingly enough, though, I once spoke to a Palestinian woman and asking if I could speak to her son, I said "ra7 ti2lilo inni 7keit?" and she said mbala. I didn't use any negation in the question.


 All I can say is that that is not representative of normal Palestinian usage.  I've never heard a Palestinian use "mbala" this way.  Maybe this woman misheard your question, or maybe she wasn't thinking straight (people say the weirdest things sometimes!).  Who knows.





be.010 said:


> Of course, speaking fuS7a, بلى is only used to answer a negative-question, (or whatchamacallit)


 Really?  I thought it could also be used as an emphatic "yes."


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## Soos

Yes, originally I wasn't sure of her intention either. Do you know the nature of this alleged negative connotation that my friend has mentioned? It is not the first time I have heard about it.
tetreklo khabar is a common expression in Lebanon.


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## be.010

elroy said:


> Really? I thought it could also be used as an emphatic "yes."


At least in the Quraan, I can assure you بلى was _*never*_ used as an emphatic "yes". (There are 22 بلى's in the Quraan, by the way!)
I don't think نعم could mean بلى in any context. You could see this where the same topic is discussed in details.


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