# Levantine Arabic: الست الوالدة



## grosdied

Hi guys, I understand the above expression to be a way to name one's mother respectfully. Is that right? Does anyone know where it comes from?


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## thelastchoice

الست is the colloquial way to say السيدة the (respected) lady and الوالدة is the mother. This expression is a very respectful way to take about one's mother without mentioning her name. It is used in several Arab countries.


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## grosdied

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation!


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## cherine

And it's like the French "madame votre mère". For the father, there's the expression السيد الوالد , again like the French "monsieur votre père".


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## grosdied

I got it Cherine, thank you very much for the French analogy! I guess the difference is nobody uses it any longer in France. Besides it had always been used is aristocratic circles, not among ordinary people.


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## cherine

It's almost the same in Egypt. You wouldn't hear a young person use الست الوالدة or السيد الوالد unless maybe in a sarcastic or ironic way; it sounds a bit old/formal.
I don't know how common it is used in the Levant though.


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## grosdied

I've heard it several times in Syrian series and in casual settings. But the use in every day life might be different. We'll have to wait for the Levantine members' input.
Thank you again Cherine!


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## cherine

You're most welcome.


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## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic, it's common to use الوالد/الوالدة (without السيد/الست) - as opposed to أبوك/إمك - to show respect.  

Using الوالد/الوالدة this way is not old-fashioned and is in fact very common.


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## cherine

But using *الست* الوالدة is not common, or is it?


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## elroy

cherine said:


> But using *الست* الوالدة is not common, or is it?


 It's not, but then again, we don't use الست to show respect anyway.


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## cherine

Neither do we.  So, maybe it's a typical Syrian expression then.


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## elroy

Oh, I thought maybe you did, because you use ست for "woman," don't you?

Another question: would you use الوالد/الوالدة as I described?  For example, would you say الوالد ازاي؟ for "How is your father?"?


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## cherine

We use ست for "woman" (vs. راجل raagel, for man). It is not in itself a mark of respect. The only exception I know of is with Om Kalsuum أم كلثوم who people referred to as الست .

And we do use الوالد / الوالدة for father/mother, but it's not used by younger generations, they'd go for باباك/مامتك (babaak/mamtak) instead.


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## analeeh

الست الوالدة is certainly respectful in Syrian. I imagine ست was originally respectful in Egyptian, too, but when مرة became offensive (from being normal) ست expanded to fill the void and became normal.


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## cherine

I remember the Syrian singer Asala once commenting that Egyptians call her يا أصالة instead of يا ست أصالة but that she felt they still respect and love her anyway.  That's how I learned that the title ست is kind of important in the Syrian dialect.
The equivalent in Egypt is to call her مدام أصالة.


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## elroy

Do you use مدام even if the woman is not married?  Or do you use مدموزيل or الآنسة for unmarried women?

In Palestinian Arabic, الست أصالة actually tends to be sarcastic, i.e. the opposite of respectful!


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## cherine

Same here. 

As for مدام it should be only used for married women, but anyone who look old enough to be married/a mother is usually called madaam, even if she's not. But yes, an unmarried woman should be called مدموازيل or آنسة.


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