# Respect All Women



## suzg

Hello,

I am looking for the proper translation for the phrase, "respect all women." I am most familiar with the Egyptian Arabic dialect but am looking for the phrase to be translated into the most common Arabic dialect (and I'm not sure which that is). Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Best,
Suz


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## I.K.S.

Is it in the imperative mood?


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## suzg

Yes, I believe the imperative mood is appropriate. I'd like to use the phrase without any punctuation (it is for a sign).


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## I.K.S.

إحترم جميع النساء


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## suzg

Fantastic, thank you so very much!


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## jack_1313

احترم جميع النساء

احترم should not have a hamza on the alif (i.e. ا, not إ).


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## I.K.S.

Yes ,That's according to Arabic fusha and not 





suzg said:


> the most common Arabic dialect


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## jack_1313

I'm afraid I'm not really sure what you mean. The dialects have no standard written form, so why would they call for adding a همزة somewhere where the pronunciation wouldn't differ anyway? Besides, even though Sugz's used the word "dialect", the question implied that he/she is trying to reach the widest audience with the most universal form of Arabic, in which case the standard written form would be the most appropriate.


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## analeeh

jack_1313 said:


> I'm afraid I'm not really sure what you mean. The dialects have no standard written form, so why would they call for adding a همزة somewhere where the pronunciation wouldn't differ anyway? Besides, even though Sugz's used the word "dialect", the question implied that he/she is trying to reach the widest audience with the most universal form of Arabic, in which case the standard written form would be the most appropriate.



The spelling with hamza is pretty common to the extent that I seem to remember reading it is recognised as acceptable by several language academies, and I would say is more common than the spelling without it in public signage etc in many places. Besides which if dialects have 'no standard form of writing' who cares whether he writes it with a hamza or not? No need to correct it.


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## jack_1313

analeeh said:


> The spelling with hamza is pretty common to the extent that I seem to remember reading it is recognised as acceptable by several language academies


You're right, it's common, but I'll have to take your word for it regarding the language academics who consider it acceptable. As far as I know, linguists widely regard the use of همزة القطع in the place of a همزة وصل at the beginning of words as a common error.



> who cares whether he writes it with a hamza or not?


Finicky language puritans sitting in ivory towers? Or someone who wants to make sure his or her sign is written in the most correct and standard manner?



> No need to correct it.


Maybe you think I'm being rude or trying to stroke my own ego by correcting an Arab, but let me put it this way: if I wanted something translated into English, I'd rather end up with, for example, "My dog and I go to the park" than "My dog and me go to the park" or "Me and my dog go to the park". Yes, the latter two are commonly used and most people won't know the difference, but a small group will look at them and instantly think to themselves "Well that's obviously wrong". And if the text is something official, such an error could even affect the text's ability to achieve its purpose.



> Besides which if dialects have 'no standard form of writing'...


Maybe I'm missing something here, but as I said before, I just don't see how adding the همزة makes the phrase more dialectal.


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## I.K.S.

jack_1313 said:


> I just don't see how adding the همزة makes the phrase more dialectal.


no ,That wasn't the intention ,I deliberately added the hamza for the pronunciation purpose ,to vocalize the word ,leaving  احترم without hamza would open the possibilities for two other meanings أَحترمُ إِحترمَ,and that's why i asked about the mood in the first place .and as long as the OP didn't restricted it to the Arabic fusha ,then it's ok to use it for dialects or even MSA ,especially for a non_native speaker and a beginner learner ,just like diacritics that we use in the elementary to take steps in reading.and that's only my paradigm ,I might be mistaken.


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## cherine

Sorry to disagree with you اتحادية قبائل الشاوية , but I don't see why we'd use an incorrect hamza instead of simply putting a kasra under the alef. The phrase احترم جميع النساء is common between fuS7a and dialects, which is a good thing, so we only need to add diactrics.

Also أحترم (I respect) does take a همزة قطع 


suzg said:


> I am looking for the proper translation for the phrase, "respect all women."


There is an important element that is missing for a proper translation into Arabic: does this sentence address a singular or a plural? For the singular, the verb is اِحترم for the plural اِحترموا.

And for "all" we can use جميع or كل.


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## bazizkom

In arabic there is a diffrent between جميع and كل.
احترم جميع النساء means respect most of women
احترم كل النساء means respect all women
كل تفيد الاستغراق all the members, but جميع means the majority of theme but not necessarly all of theme.


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## cherine

Interesting. I have never heard of this distinction before. Could you please provide us with a source to this information?


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## jack_1313

cherine said:


> There is an important element that is missing for a proper translation into Arabic: does this sentence address a singular or a plural? For the singular, the verb is اِحترم for the plural اِحترموا.



What do you think would be more appropriate for, say, a sign or banner directed to the general public? My feeling is that even though the message is directed to everyone, the singular form would be used - is that right?


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## cherine

Personally, I would prefer the plural because -as you said- the message is not addressed to one person in particular.


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