# Syrian Arabic: تقبرني



## sarllou18

Hi all,
Just heard this verb in a Syrian drama and was wondering what it actually means?
Merci


----------



## ayed

It mean :
*May you bury me*.That is, I wish I die before you so as not to taste your absence(not to miss you forever and feel pain constantly)


----------



## sarllou18

Shukran Ayed!  When said does it have a positive, good meaning?


----------



## ayed

Of course, it holds a positive connotation.
There are more than this..

My mum:"ayed, pass the tea cup to me, ghassaltni"--_*May you wash me *_(right before the coffining process). It is a positive comnoation.(Badawi dialect)


----------



## sarllou18

Very interesting, thank you again


----------



## ayed

It is a sort of *toast *but they are differently used according to contexts.

You're very welcome..


----------



## إسكندراني

It's used all the time in Syrian, do you only use it as a toast in the Bedw?


----------



## ayed

So do we usually say it:
قبرتني qibartnee in the past form

Asking my son:" go up (qibartnee) to your grandfather and ask him if he needs anything"


----------



## إسكندراني

In this case you've misunderstood the meaning of a 'toast'  
I doubt that there is any equivalent for this kind of casual 'I hope you outlive me' in English.
In Egypt we don't say that kind of thing either, but you could say الله يطوّل عمرك.

The Levantine تقبرني is a well-known characteristic of that dialect by the way


----------



## Schem

إسكندراني said:


> In Egypt we don't say that kind of thing either, but you could say الله يطوّل عمرك.



Same here! Didn't know it was used in Bedouin Najdi.


----------



## Crataegus

well, t2bor(ny) or t2bor 2lby (may you barry my heart) are commonly used to express the highest degree of endearment, common usage is between lovers and mothers and their sons, it more like the English word "honey"
example: 
Son: mother! 
Mother: Shou t2born? (overall meaning is 'What honey?')


----------



## Kinan

It's used in Damascus only though.


----------



## Crataegus

Hi Kinan, I think it's used all around Syria, except eastern Syria maybe


----------



## Kinan

We don't use it in Tartus, nor in Latakia, so you can exclude the coastal cities too.
I haven't heard it in Homs or in Aleppo neither (although I am not 100% sure about Aleppo).


----------



## إسكندراني

That's interesting, although I only know one family from Latakia I've never heard them use it. Never noticed that before.
I think they use it in Palestine and/or Lebanon though, right?


----------



## Schem

This may be trivial, but coastal/Alawite dialects are not the first to come to mind when I think "Syrian" which as well applies to Raqqa and Eastern dialects. The majority of Syrian people I've met were from Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, and Raqqa and they all used the expression with the exception of those from Raqqa.

So I suppose you can call it _stereotypically _Syrian, but I wouldn't restrict it to Damascene.


----------



## Kinan

Why are these territories not considered Syrian?
if you want to divide regions by their own dialects, then you would divide Syrian into much more than 1000 region and I am not exaggerating at all.


----------



## Crataegus

It's shared between more than 50 % of Syrian people and understandable to all which makes it stereotypically Syrian as Schem mentioned, I'm pretty sure I heard it from people originating from Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Idlib, As Swaydaa and Daraa not to mention it's widespread use in Lebanon


----------



## Schem

Kinan said:


> Why are these territories not considered Syrian?
> if you want to divide regions by their own dialects, then you would divide Syrian into much more than 1000 region and I am not exaggerating at all.



I never implied they were not considered Syrian. Syria is diverse as is and the definition of what's Syrian and what's not is thus very flexible and may very well vary by region. 

I only pointed out how many *non-Syrians* (or perhaps non-Levantine Arabs) would consider the expression to be typically Syrian because, well, the culture of Shaam/Damascus is what many would consider typically Syrian. This obviously is a generalization but it represents the mindset of many of the Arabs I've known.


----------



## Aliph

*تقبرني*

Is this term only used in Syria ? Or also in other dialects? What would be the equivalent in MSA?


----------



## ayed

Yes, it is used in Syria, and in Saudi. You could say : أطال الله عمرك
and there other versions our members may post in right here


----------



## Aliph

I wonder if *أطال الله عمرك* may be used in a general context (also between friends) while *تقبرني* would rather be used between lovers, in the sense : bury me so that I don’t suffer from your loss. Or am I totally wrong?


----------



## analeeh

أطال الله عمرك is fusha.

_ti2birni _would sound very strange to me between friends, but it's also not really an expression I associate with lovers. Despite its dramatic and passionate-sounding literal meaning it's more a term of fairly basic affection, like 'my dear' or 'my love' in English. In fact, the first context that it leaps to mind in is grandmothers talking to their grandchildren!


----------



## Aliph

analeeh said:


> أطال الله عمرك is fusha.
> 
> _ti2birni _would sound very strange to me between friends...the first context that it leaps to mind in is grandmothers talking to their grandchildren!


Of course, I imagine that’s an idiom, it seems logical to me. Usually  grandmothers die before their grandchildren!
Thank you analeeh for your answer.


----------



## Aliph

ayed said:


> Yes, it is used in Syria, and in Saudi. You could say : أطال الله عمرك
> and there other versions our members may post in right here


Thank you Ayed.


----------



## ColorlessGreenIdea

Is only تقبرني said or can تقبريني be said to a woman?


----------



## Mahaodeh

Yes, it can be تقبريني أو تقبروني depending on who or how many people it's referring to.


----------

