# MSA/All dialects: Come! (imperative)



## Tajabone

Greetings,

Do you frequently come across these imperative forms in classical Arabic (or even in MSA) ?

1/ *جئْ*

2/ *إيت*

Both verbs are variants of the verb "to come".

Thanks


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## MeiLing

Yes, Tajabone.

Both forms are used in standard Arabic, though I think the right form of the the second verb is ِائت , not ايتِ, as in {وإذ نادى ربك موسى أن ائـْت القوم الظالمين} [Holy Quran, 26:10] and {وقالوا يا صالح ائـتـنا بما تعدنا إن كنت من المرسلين} [Holy Quran, 7:77]

However, the second hamza (الهمزة على نبرة ئـــ ) in the verb ائـتِ is replaced by ي in the infinitive form: إيـتـاء, as in إيـتـاء الزكاة.


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## Tajabone

Thanks MeilLing. It's true that the verb (or the root) *أتي* is not an easy one. The more you inquire into classical Arabic corpora, the more you feel lost  

Actually, the verb is polysemic and even Tafasiirs stop to that occurrence in order to give a clearer explanation. Lesan Al-'Arab is also prolix about it (as usual, I may say).

And the hamza-ya problem is a really an exciting phonological and philological issue.

We are more familiar with imperatives using plural personal pronouns in this case (which is reflected in the examples that you've mentioned). 

However, I was rather talking about the specific case dealing with "you" (second personal pronoun). 
And by the way, the two examples I gave ( *جئْ* and *إيت* ) are mentioned in Scheindlin's "201 Arabic Verbs". 
The author also added (something that I know but I do almost never see) the case of *ت* as an imperative form (for "you").

Instinctively, we are more used - at least through MSA - to encounter *تعال معي* = come with me. 

So my question was to which extent all of us (both learners and natives) are familiar with the two first imperative forms I mentioned in my first post.

I thank you again, MeiLing, for your kind suggestions 

Tajabone


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## Nikola

Tajabone, I want to add that in Tunsian spoken I have heard إجى instead of *تعال* .


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## Tajabone

True, Nikola. My neighbours in the west of my country (which corresponds to Morocco) say Ajyni (*أجني* ) = come to me. The expression is repeated in many popular songs. We also say in spoken Arabic (Algerian center) Arwaah (*أرواح*) = come (here).


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## Tariq_Ibn_zyad

Really?? because we (in Eastern Morocco,Algerian border) use Arwaa7 too instead of Aji,so I'm surprised western Algerians use Aji


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## Tajabone

Salut Tariq,

 ça fait plaisir de te revoir 

 Some of the people use Aji, in the west of Algeria. To which extent, I can't tell exactly. And in Morocco, in which area "Aji" is used the most ?

 Fi-lamaan, l'aaziz


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## Tariq_Ibn_zyad

Aji is used everywhere.
But in my Region(Algerian border),Arwaa7 is much more frequent and is used nowhere else in Morocco.
What's funny is that most Algerians like you from the center or the east consider your western populations speak Moroccan,while all Moroccans say our eastern speakers speak Algerian.Personnaly I think the second one would be more correct


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## MeiLing

As far as I know, 'Aji' (أجي) in Saudi Arabia is equivalent to '_*I* come_'. It is not used as an imperative!


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## Nikola

If I remember correctly *تعال* is used, but Ayed can tell us more.


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## smooha

MeiLing said:


> As far as I know, 'Aji' (أجي) in Saudi Arabia is equivalent to '_*I* come_'. It is not used as an imperative!



You're right, MeiLing, but you have to remember that vowels tend to morph quite dramatically as you move west across North Africa, so it might help to consider it a mutation of إجي, as per other verbs (إشرب, إفتح).


To confuse you further (couldn't resist), while the Jewish population of Baghdad (pre-1952) tended to say "ta3al" as in Levantine/Egyptian dialects, the Muslims use the phrase "ta3al jaay," which to me sounds strikingly redundant (Come coming[?]).


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## elroy

smooha said:


> To confuse you further (couldn't resist), while the Jewish population of Baghdad (pre-1952) tended to say "ta3al" as in Levantine/Egyptian dialects, the Muslims use the phrase "ta3al jaay," which to me sounds strikingly redundant (Come coming[?]).


 We say this in Palestinian Arabic, especially in the Galilee.  It's used for emphasis.

You're right that it is redundant if considered literally (I had never thought about it until now!), but "jaay" is just a way to make the command more forceful.  It is used with other verbs as well, "haat jaay" for example.


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## smooha

Thanks, Elroy.  Illuminating.  Is it limited to a certain type of verbs (i.e. could one conceivably say buus/buusini jaay  ?)


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## Abu Bishr

MeiLing said:


> Yes, Tajabone.
> 
> Both forms are used in standard Arabic, though I think the right form of the the second verb is ِائت , not ايتِ, as in {وإذ نادى ربك موسى أن ائـْت القوم الظالمين} [Holy Quran, 26:10] and {وقالوا يا صالح ائـتـنا بما تعدنا إن كنت من المرسلين} [Holy Quran, 7:77]
> 
> However, the second hamza (الهمزة على نبرة ئـــ ) in the verb ائـتِ is replaced by ي in the infinitive form: إيـتـاء, as in إيـتـاء الزكاة.


 
Just a quick point on the rule of the hamzah(s) here. When two hamzahs meet and the second one is unvowelled it is always going to change into a Harf Madd. With regard to (ايْتِ) , two hamzahs meet when you commence the pronunciation of the verb. However, when it occurs in the middle of speech, the first of the two hamzahs is dropped (because it is a hamzah waSl), thus creating a situation where there is only one hamzah and therefore there is no need to change it into a Harf Madd. So, whenever you begin with اِيْتِ you change the secomd hamzah into a Yaa, and when you read the preceeding word into it, you don't pronounce the first hamzah (as it is dropped), and thus you don't change the second into a Yaa (because two hamzahs are not meeting).

As for the infinitive form of (ايت) it is إِتْيَان and not إيتاء . The latter is the infinitive of آتى (which is the IV form of أتَى ).


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## MeiLing

Very informative!
Thank you, Abu Bishr. Jazaka Allah kheiran.


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## elroy

smooha said:


> Thanks, Elroy. Illuminating. Is it limited to a certain type of verbs (i.e. could one conceivably say buus/buusi*i*ni jaay  ?)


 No, you could not say that, so yes, it is limited to certain verbs.  In fact, at the moment I can't think of any other verbs with which it is used besides the two already mentioned.

(Regarding the correction I made: When a pronoun suffix is added to the feminine imperative, the "i" ending becomes long and any long vowels become short because the syllable with "ii" is stressed and in Arabic long vowels cannot be unstressed.  So "Kiss" is "b*uu*s*i*" but "Kiss me" is "b*u*s*ii*ni."  "Visit" is "z*uu*r*i*" but "visit us" is "z*u*r*ii*na.")


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## Tajabone

Thank you all. I deduce that you do not come across the two latter imperative forms very often


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## jmt356

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
Are the following the correct conjugations for the imperative of “to come”:

MSA:
إيتِ
إيتي
إيتوا

Syrian dialect:
تعال
تعالي
تعالوا

Thank you


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## AndyRoo

It's correct except the MSA ones should have اِ and not إ 

تعال is used in MSA too.


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## jmt356

What is the infinitive of تعال? I cannot seem to find it in my dictionary.


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## AndyRoo

The root is ع ل ى and it's form VI


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## jmt356

The verb على means to exalt/lift, no?
Is the form VI of the verb على as follows:
تعالى?
Is the third person singular masculine perfect (past) conjugation: تعالى?

Actually, _501 Arabic Verbs _says the root is علو (which on its own has no meaning as a verb to my knowledge).

Also, the imperative masculine singular is تعال, so it does not follow the normal pattern for Form VI, which is تفاعل (which translates تعالى for the verb تعالى - the same as the third person singular masculine past).


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## Finland

Hello!


jmt356 said:


> Also, the imperative masculine singular is تعال, so it does not follow the normal pattern for Form VI, which is تفاعل (which translates تعالى for the verb تعالى - the same as the third person singular masculine past).



But it does follow the normal pattern. The ending of an imperative form is always formed like the jussive. So تعال follows the rules just like تفاعل  does.

HTH
S


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## jmt356

I'm not sure what the jussive is, but I know that all three letters of the root تفاعل show up in its imperative form (تفاعل) but not all three letter of the root تعالى show up in its imperative form (تعال).


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## AndyRoo

The fully vocalised form is تَعَالَ ta`aala with the fatha at the end being the manifestation of the ى in the jussive.


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## jmt356

Thank you for the clarification. 
Form VI, with the حركات, is actually تَفَاعَلْ, ending with a سكون, so I can see that the بتحة in تعالَ takes the place of the ى.


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## إسكندراني

ائت - ائتي - ائتوا in MSA (not ايت - ايتي - ايتوا)
تعال is used in Egyptian, and in MSA.
Moroccans say جي but I don't know how they do the plural (جو?)...


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## Abu Talha

إسكندراني said:


> ائت - ائتي - ائتوا in MSA (not ايت - ايتي - ايتوا .


I read that if it is the beginning of a sentence then it is إيت and not ائت (in pronunciation at least). But in this case would you write إيت?


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## Finland

Not sure about Moroccan, but in Algerian Arabic it is ارواح and ارواحي. 

HTH,
S


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## Schem

إسكندراني said:


> ائت - ائتي - ائتوا in MSA (not ايت - ايتي - ايتوا)
> تعال is used in Egyptian, and in MSA.
> Moroccans say جي but I don't know how they do the plural (جو?)...



تعال predominates here too while ايت is sometimes used by older generations.


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## إسكندراني

Finland said:


> Not sure about Moroccan, but in Algerian Arabic it is ارواح and ارواحي.


Come is ارواح ? That's quite strange.


Abu Talha said:


> I read that if it is the beginning of a sentence then it is إيت and not ائت (in pronunciation at least). But in this case would you write إيت?


tanzil.net/#search/quran/"ائت"


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## Finland

Hello!


إسكندراني said:


> Come is ارواح ? That's quite strange.



I don't know, but that's how it is! I forgot to say that the plural "Come" is of course أرواحو arwaa7u.

HTH
S


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## jawad-dawdi

إسكندراني said:


> ائت - ائتي - ائتوا in MSA (not ايت - ايتي - ايتوا)
> تعال is used in Egyptian, and in MSA.
> Moroccans say جي but I don't know how they do the plural (جو?)...



in Morocco we say
أجي = تعالى
أجي = تعالي
أجيوْ = تعالوْ
we say also (in hilali dialect)
تْعالى = تعالى
تْعالِي = تعاليْ
تْعالو = تعالوْ


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## 6aalib

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
I am studying the verbs 'to come' since they are very common
The two that I know are:
اتى
جاء 
1. Can someone please give me the imperative and negative imperative for  جاء  ?
It is irregular verb, so I am not sure how to derive it (I already have the imperative and negative imperative for اتى)

2. People often say 'ta3aala' تعال which I know is supposed to be imperative for 'to come'.  Is this from another verb for 'to come', or is it from a dialect (3aamiiya)?

SHUKRAN


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## barkoosh

The imperative of جاء is جِئْ (mas. sing.), جٍيئي (fem. sing.). The negative imperative is لا تَجِئ (mas. sing), لا تَجِيئي (fem. sing).

The imperative تعالَ is widely used for "come" in MSA and dialects, much more often than جئ and ايتِ/ائتِ. The form تعالَ means originally "come up", "ascend" (from the verb تعالى = to come up). However, it became commonly used for just "come".


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## Hemza

تعالَ is widely used (in MSA and dialects, except in Moroccan which use "aji" and Algerian which use "arwa7/adji").
For the negation, you can say "لا تجي" (at least, that's how I say in 7ejazi dialect)


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## 6aalib

Hamza: yes I notice that the imperative ta3aala is used a lot

barkoosh: shukran JAZEEEELAN


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## eastren

TAALA تعال is a verb in standard Arabib which means. come here or come  to here (in high expression). while the other جئ is used for normal expression. and it is so different in other dialects


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## k8an

In Lebanese it is not "ta3aala" but "ta3a" or "t3a".


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## Schem

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
Hi all,

In my regional dialect, two main words are used for this meaning: the more common تعال (ta3āl) and the somewhat antiquated ايت (īt). The latter is the only vestige remaining of the verb أتى. Is this word used in your dialect? If not, which are used?

Thank you


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## tounsi51

In Tunisia, come is ايجا  from the verb جاء


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## normordm

تَعَال is used in my dialect.


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## WadiH

Schem said:


> and the somewhat antiquated ايت (īt). The latter is the only vestige remaining of the verb أتى. Is this word used in your dialect? If not, which are used?



That's interesting.  I've only ever heard it in Nabati poetry.

I believe it's used in Yemeni and southern Hejazi dialects.


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## wriight

Wow, the use of ايت is fantastic. In Lebanon, the regular imperative conjugation *would* be اجي (_eji/eje_, m/f), but instead the suppletive forms تع/تعا (_ta3(a)_, m) and تعي (_ta3i/te3i/ta3e/te3e_, f) are used.


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## Hemza

In Morocco, there is:
آجي (traditionally in pre hilalian dialects)
تعالى (hilalian dialects and in some urban dialects)

Although آجي seems to have gained the upper hand amongst a big part of the population to the point some urban people ignore that تعالى is also used in Morocco. In the South, only تعالى is used.


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## fenakhay

Hemza said:


> In Morocco, there is:
> آجي (traditionally in pre hilalian dialects)
> تعالى (hilalian dialects and in some urban dialects)
> 
> Although آجي seems to have gained the upper hand amongst a big part of the population to the point some urban people ignore that تعالى is also used in Morocco. In the South, only تعالى is used.



There is also قرّب (qarreb) for specifically *to come closer*.

For example : 

Come here = قرب لهنا (qarreb la-hna)


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