# Palestinian Arabic: منيح اللي (use of اللي as a complementizer)



## Sidjanga

Hi again,

This question originated in this thread (and the two quotes without a link in them are part of a brief PM exchange).





			
				elroy said:
			
		

> Sidjanga said:
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> elroy said:
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> How _would _you say "you could have done X, but I'm glad you didn't"?
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> كنت بتقدر تروح على السينما بس منيح إللي  ما روحتش
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> Click to expand...
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> Why do you say إللى here, and not إنك ?
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> Click to expand...
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> You  could use إنك but منيح إللي is sort of a fixed expression, and it's more  common.
Click to expand...

And I suppose that applies for all persons (..هو, هي), correct?

And منيح إنك wouldn't sound a little clumsy or something, would it? (if منيح إللي is sort of a _fixed expression_)

Also, are there other adjectives where it's more common to use إللي than إنه or one of its derivatives?


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## elroy

Sidjanga said:


> And I suppose that applies for all persons (..هو, هي), correct?


 Yes.  You can use منتح إللي no matter what the subject of the following clause is. 





> And منيح إنك wouldn't sound a little clumsy or something, would it?


 It kind of does, although it bothers me less when there's no verb (منيح إنك هون vs. منيح إللي إنت هون). 





> Also, are there other adjectives where it's more common to use إللي than إنه or one of its derivatives?


 I can't think of any at the moment.


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## פפאיה

Hi!



Sidjanga said:


> Also, are there other adjectives where it's more common to use إللي than إنه or one of its derivatives?


 
As far as I know, you can usually use اللي instead of إنه with expressions that express feelings - happiness, sadness, regret, and so on. 

For example: انا مبسوط اللي جيت - I am happy that you came, سوري اللي سألت - I'm sorry that I asked, خسارة اللي ما بتعرف عربي - it's a shame you don't know Arabic.

I wonder if you can say these examples also using انه, or would it sound strange?


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## Sidjanga

Thanks!





elroy said:


> It kind of does, although it bothers me less when there's no verb (منيح إنك هون vs. منيح إللي إنت هون).


Hmm... I don't quite see what point you're trying to make with the منيح إنك هون vs. منيح إللي إنت هون examples.


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## elroy

פפאיה said:


> For example: انا مبسوط اللي جيت - I am happy that you came, سوري اللي سألت - I'm sorry that I asked, خسارة اللي ما بتعرف عربي - it's a shame you don't know Arabic.


 The first two sound fine to me, but the third one sounds strange, for some reason. 





> I wonder if you can say these examples also using انه, or would it sound strange?


 It would sound fine to me in the first and the third sentences (in fact, I would prefer it in the third), but it doesn't sound as good to me with سوري.

I'm sure a lot of this is just personal preference.



Sidjanga said:


> Thanks!Hmm... I don't quite see what point you're trying to make with the منيح إنك هون vs. منيح إللي إنت هون examples.


 That in certain contexts I'm less inclined to find the construction clumsy.


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## Sidjanga

פפאיה said:


> For example: انا مبسوط اللي جيت - I am happy that you came, سوري اللي سألت - I'm sorry that I asked (...)


How do I know it's _that *you *came_ in the first senctence? 
Could it also mean _that *I *came_, at least theoretically?


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## elroy

Yes, it can - and not just theoretically.  It could be used for example, in the following context:

_-Do you regret coming here?
-No.  On the contrary, I'm glad I came._


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## wriight

This is the only example in Levantine of اللي being used as a complementizer, right? It's common in North Africa toward the Maghreb (noticeably as _belli_, although the Maltese language straight-up uses _li_), but I'm curious if this expression is just anomalous in the Levant.


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## elroy

wriight said:


> This is the only example in Levantine of اللي being used as a complementizer, right?


 What are you referring to when you say “only example”?  Several examples have been given in this thread.


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## wriight

It looks like I missed פפאיה’s message. 
Those three examples are interesting — I'm totally receptive to the اللي there in reading, but I can't bring myself to actually say any of the sentences. It's cool to know that the usage exists, though, especially because it helps put منيح اللي into context.


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## elroy

It can also be used with constituents other than adjectives: 

زعلت اللي عمل فيّ هيك 
تندّمت اللي أجيت
الحق عليّ اللي سألت


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## Mahaodeh

I'm sorry but many of these sentences just sound incorrect to me. I don't recall ever hearing this way of using إللي and I certainly don't think that إنه and إللي are interchangeable in any context.

Am I missing something here?


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## elroy

It’s quite possible this is a Galilean feature.  It sounds perfectly natural to me.


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## Hemza

This happens in some places in Morocco and Algeria (although I feel it is more prevalent in Algeria) that بإن is pronounced بللي. Is the same phenomena happening in some Palestinian dialects?


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## elroy

Can you give an example sentence?


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## Hemza

عرفت بإنه جاء>عرفت بلليه جاء


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## Hemza

elroy said:


> It can also be used with constituents other than adjectives:
> 
> زعلت اللي عمل فيّ هيك
> تندّمت اللي أجيت
> الحق عليّ اللي سألت



I will take these which although I don't speak Palestinian, sound very odd to me too (no offense).

زعفت بإنه دار فيا هكذا
اندمت انّي جيت
الحق عليا انّي سوّلت

In these examples, the بإن and  ان I use becomes بللي in some Moroccan/Algerian dialects (not mine).

Edit: I just wrote to a Palestinian mate of mine (from الخليل) who told me that your examples sound incorrect to him and that it should be إنو


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## elroy

Hemza said:


> عرفت بإنه جاء>عرفت بلليه جاء


 We don't use بـ after عرفت, but I see what you mean, and no, this doesn't occur in Palestinian. 


Hemza said:


> I just wrote to a Palestinian mate of mine (from الخليل) who told me that your examples sound incorrect to him and that it should be إنو


 As I said, it's probably Galilean.  It's definitely correct and used, that's for sure.


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## Hemza

elroy said:


> We don't use بـ after عرفت, but I see what you mean, and no, this doesn't occur in Palestinian.



This was supposed to be Moroccan  and served as a parallel between this switch (بإن to بللي) and what seems to be a switch in your dialect compared to the dialect spoken by @Mahaodeh (ان to اللي) for instance.


elroy said:


> As I said, it's probably Galilean.  It's definitely correct and used, that's for sure.


Indeed, but for him it was new hence his reaction (I didn't tell him it was used in Galilean, I just asked him if the sentence looked familiar to him and he immediately pointed اللي which sounded "incorrect" to him).


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## elroy

Hemza said:


> This was supposed to be Moroccan .


 I know, but you asked if the same phenomenon occurred in Palestinian.


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