May 14, 2001 07:19
23 yrs ago
أنجليزي term
How are you?
Non-PRO
أنجليزي إلى عربي
أخرى
Salatation
Proposed translations
(عربي)
0 | كيف الحال or كيف الأحوال |
Fuad Yahya
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0 | Kayfa haluka |
yacine
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Proposed translations
4 ساعات
كيف الحال or كيف الأحوال
The two suggested translations above are pronounced:
KAIF EL-HAL
KAIF EL-AHWAL
There are many other ways of saying "how are you" in Arabic, but most of them are gender-specific, so one needs to learn a masculine form and a feminine form for each. The two suggested translations above avoid the issue of gender by rephrasing.
Another way to avoid the issue of gender is to use the plural form of "you", which is commonly used in many languages as a way of showing respect. Although there are two forms of plural "you" in Arabic, a masculine plural and a feminine plural, the two forms are usually collapsed into one form in spoken (colloquial) Arabic. Here are two examples of “how are you” using the plural form of “you”:
KAIF HALKUM
KAIF AHWALKUM
By virtue of the pronunciation indicated, the four phrases suggested above fall within the perimeter of spoken (colloquial) Arabic, not standard written (classical) Arabic.
You may already know that spoken Arabic varies from region to region. The suggestions above are closer to common Persian Gulf varieties. It would not be tenable in this forum to present an exhaustive inventory of "how are you" in all modern Arabic dialects, but here are a few samples from various Arab countries:
IZZAYYAK (Egypt)
KAIF INNAK (Sudan)
KEEFAK (Lebanon)
SHLONAK (Iraq)
SH-HALOK (Some East Arabian regions)
etc., etc., etc.
Needless to say, in each region, there isn't just one way of saying "how are you," but a variety of ways. Some of these ask specifically about health (ASSIHHA) or the latest happenings (AL-AKHBAR), etc.
Note: I have previously answered this question when a different ProZ.com server was on. Since we are now on another server, the first answer was lost (at least temporarily). I am reposting my answer just in case the first answer was permanently lost.
Fuad
KAIF EL-HAL
KAIF EL-AHWAL
There are many other ways of saying "how are you" in Arabic, but most of them are gender-specific, so one needs to learn a masculine form and a feminine form for each. The two suggested translations above avoid the issue of gender by rephrasing.
Another way to avoid the issue of gender is to use the plural form of "you", which is commonly used in many languages as a way of showing respect. Although there are two forms of plural "you" in Arabic, a masculine plural and a feminine plural, the two forms are usually collapsed into one form in spoken (colloquial) Arabic. Here are two examples of “how are you” using the plural form of “you”:
KAIF HALKUM
KAIF AHWALKUM
By virtue of the pronunciation indicated, the four phrases suggested above fall within the perimeter of spoken (colloquial) Arabic, not standard written (classical) Arabic.
You may already know that spoken Arabic varies from region to region. The suggestions above are closer to common Persian Gulf varieties. It would not be tenable in this forum to present an exhaustive inventory of "how are you" in all modern Arabic dialects, but here are a few samples from various Arab countries:
IZZAYYAK (Egypt)
KAIF INNAK (Sudan)
KEEFAK (Lebanon)
SHLONAK (Iraq)
SH-HALOK (Some East Arabian regions)
etc., etc., etc.
Needless to say, in each region, there isn't just one way of saying "how are you," but a variety of ways. Some of these ask specifically about health (ASSIHHA) or the latest happenings (AL-AKHBAR), etc.
Note: I have previously answered this question when a different ProZ.com server was on. Since we are now on another server, the first answer was lost (at least temporarily). I am reposting my answer just in case the first answer was permanently lost.
Fuad
Reference:
3 أيام 11 دقائق
Kayfa haluka
Ka differs according to the pronoun
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