Juba Arabic for Beginners

Richard L. Watson

• Publisher: SIL International
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781556714269
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Juba Arabic is an Arabic creole closely related to Kinubi. It began developing in the Equatoria Region of what is now South Sudan over 100 years ago, and spread widely, now being the spoken lingua franca of the region. It has become so well established that expatriates working in Equatoria often find themselves in situations in which neither English nor Khartoum colloquial Arabic is adequate for communication. Juba Arabic for Beginners was originally prepared by SIL as a language course for the communication needs of its own personnel, but other people needing to communicate in Juba have found it invaluable. The present course was adapted from the excellent Sudanese Colloquial Arabic for Beginners (Andrew and Janet Persson, with Ahmad Hussein) in general format with its 30 dialogues. However, due to important linguistic and cultural differences, five additional lessons relevant to southern culture are included. This course is written in a Romanized orthography and represents a widespread dialect of Juba Arabic. Over the past 30 years, the course has served, and continues to serve, personnel of a number of expatriate organizations.

1# Introduction to the course

This course is an adaptation of Sudanese Colloquial Arabic for Beginners by Andrew and Janet Persson with Ahmad Hussein, which was published by SIL in 1980. The original version of the Juba Arabic course was published in 1985. It has now been updated for South Sudan.

The purpose of the course is to help foreigners who have come to South Sudan talk with their South Sudanese colleagues, friends, and neighbors in the variety of Arabic spoken in Juba and most of the Equatoria Region. Students should notice differences in local dialects and adapt to them, as there are differences in pronunciation even within Juba between South Sudanese from different backgrounds. Students should therefore take guidance from the way their own teachers speak.

The lessons are designed to be used in either a class situation with a trained teacher or by individuals with a South Sudanese friend acting as “teacher.” This course is not a reference grammar or a “teach yourself” book. The course has been written in Roman script for the benefit of students and teachers alike.

Each lesson contains a dialogue (“Kalaam”) and a vocabulary (“Kelimaat”) of new words introduced in the lesson. Most lessons also have a section with notes and drills (“Kelimaat Ziada al Der Arufu”) on new grammatical points as well as questions for practice (“Asilaat le Temriin”). Following are some tips on getting the maximum benefit from each of these sections:

• Dialogue: First, students should listen as the teacher reads through the whole dialogue. After finishing, the teacher will read each phrase or full sentence separately; students should then repeat after the instructor, taking care to imitate the pronunciation and intonation as closely as possible. Finally, the teacher should read through the entire dialogue once again. These dialogues should be memorized for thorough learning and use in practical situations.1
• Vocabulary: Students should memorize the vocabulary for each lesson. It is extremely difficult to make conversation unless students can recall basic vocabulary without conscious effort.
• Notes and drills: Students should read through the explanations and examples beforehand, then work through the drills with the teacher. Each drill should be performed in accordance with the instructions. For more practice, extra drills can be constructed resembling those in the lessons.
• Questions for practice: Students should practice the sample questions and answers, making up additional questions and answers as they practice. One of the keys to successful language learning is to “learn a little and use it a lot” (a phrase borrowed from Brewster and Brewster 1977:1). For this reason, it is important for students to learn to use their growing vocabulary in every situation as soon as possible and as often as possible.

No one should expect to learn to speak Juba Arabic simply by studying this course. As soon as students begin the first lesson, they must begin putting into practice what they have learned by speaking it with South Sudanese friends, shopkeepers, and anyone else they meet. South Sudanese are renowned for friendliness and hospitality, so no one needs to be afraid to try out the little Juba Arabic they know.

One of the best supplements to this course is carrying around a small notebook to write down new words and expressions you may hear. Students will also find it useful to record their teacher reading the dialogue and drills for each lesson so they can return to it later and practice on their own time. The book Language Acquisition Made Practical (LAMP) by Brewster and Brewster (see references) contains helpful instructions for recording procedures.

Although these lessons attempt to give a graduated development of vocabulary and grammatical constructions, students should not feel locked into the provided progression. Lessons or vignettes which students develop in response to their own immediate needs and interests are more productive than those developed by anyone else. Students should therefore not hesitate to elicit words and texts on their own, make tape recordings for frequent listening, and ask the same questions of many people until they can predict their responses. Above all, it is important for students to spend time listening to the people and, as able, interacting with them. Also, students should not be afraid to jump ahead to a funeral or wedding lesson as the need arises—the other lessons will still be there to come back to. The key is for language learning to be relevant and enjoyable. Then, with perseverance, success is guaranteed.

For convenience, the vocabulary presented in the lessons is combined in the glossaries in the back of the book. Students may also wish to consult the newly released dictionary of Sudanese Arabic for additional vocabulary (also published by SIL; see references at the end of this course).

Since this course was first written in 1985, some of the dialogues may no longer be as current as they were originally. However, students will still benefit from studying these dialogues for the vocabulary and grammar. As opportunities arise, students can adapt these dialogues to their own situations.

2# Pronounication

This section gives an introduction to Juba Arabic pronunciation. Juba Arabic has omitted or changed several of the more difficult consonant sounds from Standard Arabic. In this regard it is considered a “simplified” language.

2.1 The consonant sounds

Following is a list of omitted or changed consonants:

In addition, double consonants in Standard Arabic1 are replaced with single consonants in Juba Arabic. For example, sukkar ‘sugar’ and dakhkhal ‘enter’ are pronounced sukar and dakalu respectively in Juba Arabic.

“Educated” Juba Arabic varies, depending upon the speaker and the intended audience’s experience in written Arabic or northern colloquial Arabic. With regard to pronunciation, the most noticeable characteristic is the use of h and sh, at least in some words. The z sound is a sign of education in some areas, but it is also common in some rural dialects where the vernacular uses it.

The full inventory of Juba Arabic consonants is given both in the chart below and in a listing with examples at the end of this section.

Voiced plosives (b, d, j, and g) are sometimes voiceless at the end of words and always voiceless at the end of utterances.

Glottal stops (’) are rare but they are necessary in a few words, such as in la’ meaning ‘no’.

The voiceless fricative f not only involves the upper teeth and lower lip but also the upper lip. This can often be observed when a South Sudanese speaker pronounces the f in English words, as in fill or fall.

Alveopalatal ny occurs in a few words, such as gony ‘frog’. Velar ng occurs in a few words, such as neng.

The r is flapped.

Though sh and h are rare in Juba Arabic, they are included in this course for the sake of those who want to use them. It is easier to drop them than it would be to add them if they were not written. However, h is not written at the end of words because it is never heard there in Juba Arabic, as in the word for South Sudanese pound, which ...

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Abbreviations
• 1# Introduction to the course
• 2# Pronounication
• Lesson 1 : Deris nimira wahid
• Lesson 2 : Deris nimira itiniin
• Lesson 3 : Deris nimira talaata
• Lesson 4 : Deris nimira arba
• Lesson 5 : Deris nimira kamsa
• Asilaat le muraaja min deris nimira wahid le kamsa
• Lesson 6 : Deris nimira sita
• Lesson 7 : Deris nimira arba
• Lesson 8 : Deris nimira tamaanya
• Lesson 9 : Deris nimira arba
• Lesson 10 : Deris nimira ashara
• Asilaat le muraaja min deris nimira sita le ashara
• Lesson 11 : Deris nimira hidaasher
• Lesson 12 : Deris nimira itnaasher
• Lesson 13 : Deris nimira talataasher
• Lesson 14 : Deris nimira arba
• Lesson 15 : Deris nimira kamastaasher
• Asilaat le muraaja min deris nimira wahid le kamsa
• Lesson 16 : Deris nimira sitaasher
• Lesson 17 : Deris nimira sabataasher
• Lesson 18 : Deris nimira tamantaasher
• Lesson 19 : Deris nimira tisataasher
• Lesson 20 : Deris nimira ishriin
• Asilaat le muraaja min deris nimira wahid le ishriin
• Lesson 21 : Deris nimira wahid u ishriin
• Lesson 22 : Deris nimira itiniin u ishriin
• Lesson 23 : Deris nimira talaata u ishriin
• Lesson 24 : Deris nimira arba u ishriin
• Lesson 25 : Deris nimira kamsa u ishriin
• Lesson 26 : Deris nimira sita u ishriin
• Lesson 27 : Deris nimira saba u ishriin
• Lesson 28 : Deris nimira tamaanya u ishriin
• Lesson 29 : Deris nimira tisa u ishriin
• Lesson 30 : Deris nimira teletiin
• Lesson 31 : Deris nimira itiniin u teletiin
• Lesson 32 : Deris nimira telaata u teletiin
• Lesson 33 : Deris nimira arba u teletiin
• Lesson 34 : Deris nimira kamsa u teletiin
• Glossaries
• References