The Dialect of Kufir Yasī-;---;--f Texts in Prose and Poetry

The Dialect of Kufir Yasī-;-f
Texts in Prose and Poetry
Accompanied withVerbal & Adjectival Forms,
Explanations, Exercises, and Articles

لَهْجَةُ كُفِرياسيف
نُصوصٌ نثْريّة وشِعْريّة،‏
مشْفوعةٌ بأوزانِ الفِعل والصِّفة
بشُروحٍ، بتمارينَ وبمقالات


ל-;-ַ-;-ה-;-ַ-;-ג-;- כ-;-פ-;-ר-;- י-;-א-;-ס-;-י-;-ף-;-: ט-;-ק-;-ס-;-ט-;-י-;-ם-;- ש-;-ל-;- פ-;-ר-;-ו-;-ז-;-ה-;- ו-;-ש-;-י-;-ר-;-ה-;-
The Dialect of Kufir Yasī-;-f: Texts in Prose and Poetry
حسيب شحادة
ח-;-ס-;-י-;-ב-;- ש-;-ח-;-א-;-ד-;-ה-;-
Haseeb Shehadeh

إصدار
ّ مركز أبحاث اللغة، الثقافة والمجتمع العربي
المعهد الألكاديمي ّ العربي للتربية
الكُلّيّة الأكاديميّة بيت بيرل 2924

ה-;-ו-;-צ-;-א-;-ת-;-
מ-;-ר-;-כ-;-ז-;- ח-;-ק-;-ר-;- ה-;-ש-;-פ-;-ה-;-, ה-;-ת-;-ר-;-ב-;-ו-;-ת-;- ו-;-ה-;-ח-;-ב-;-ר-;-ה-;- ה-;-ע-;-ר-;-ב-;-י-;-ת-;-
ה-;-מ-;-כ-;-ו-;-ן-;- ה-;-א-;-ק-;-ד-;-מ-;-י-;- ה-;-ע-;-ר-;-ב-;-י-;- ל-;-ח-;-י-;-נ-;-ו-;-ך-;-
ה-;-מ-;-כ-;-ל-;-ל-;-ה-;- ה-;-א-;-ק-;-ד-;-מ-;-י-;-ת-;- ב-;-י-;-ת-;- ב-;-ר-;-ל-;- 2024

Publishing
The Center for Language, Society and Arabic Culture
The Arab Academic Institute for Education
()Beit Berl College 2024
475 pages, English part 283, Arabic part 192.

ISBN 978-965-92511-5-5
جميع الحقوق محفوظة | כ-;-ל-;- ה-;-ז-;-כ-;-ו-;-י-;-ו-;-ת-;- ש-;-מ-;-ו-;-ר-;-ו-;-ת-;-




المعهد الأكاديميّ العربيّ للتربية: لَهْجَةُ كُفِرياسيف: نُصوصٌ نثريَّة وشِعْريّة
اِحصل الآن على كتاب”لهجة كفر ياسيف“ بالنسخة المطبوعة:
• السعر 140 شاقلًا.
خيارات التسليم:
• استلام ذاتيّ من كلّيّة بيت بيرل.
• توصيل حسب الموقع – تُحدَّد تكلفة التوصيل وفْقًا للموقع.

يُرجى التواصل مع السكرتيرة يارا حاج يحيى للاستفسارات: هاتف 097473184، [email protected]


()
()
طريقة الدفع:
يتمّ الدفع عن طريق حوالة بنكيّة لحساب الكلّيّة التالي:
• بنك هپوعاليم
• رقم البنك 12
• فرع 394
• رقم الحساب 245237

اِحجز نسختك وابدأ بالتعرّف على لهجة كفرياسيف وثقافتها!



ה-;-מ-;-כ-;-ו-;-ן-;- ה-;-א-;-ק-;-ד-;-מ-;-י-;- ה-;-ע-;-ר-;-ב-;-י-;- ל-;-ח-;-י-;-נ-;-ו-;-ך-;-:
ל-;-ה-;-ג-;- כ-;-פ-;-ר-;- י-;-א-;-ס-;-י-;-ף-;- – ט-;-ק-;-ס-;-ט-;-י-;-ם-;- פ-;-ר-;-ו-;-ז-;-א-;-י-;-י-;-ם-;- ו-;-ש-;-י-;-ר-;-י-;-י-;-ם-;-
א-;-נ-;-ו-;- ש-;-מ-;-ח-;-י-;-ם-;- ל-;-ה-;-צ-;-י-;-ג-;- ב-;-פ-;-נ-;-י-;-כ-;-ם-;- א-;-ת-;- ה-;-ס-;-פ-;-ר-;- "ל-;-ה-;-ג-;- כ-;-פ-;-ר-;- י-;-א-;-ס-;-י-;-ף-;-", ת-;-ו-;-כ-;-ל-;- ל-;-ה-;-ז-;-מ-;-י-;-ן-;- א-;-ו-;-ת-;-ו-;- ע-;-כ-;-ש-;-י-;-ו-;- ב-;-ג-;-ר-;-ס-;-ה-;- ה-;-מ-;-ו-;-ד-;-פ-;-ס-;-ת-;-:

• ע-;-ל-;-ו-;-ת-;- ה-;-ס-;-פ-;-ר-;-: 140 ש-;-"ח-;-.
א-;-פ-;-ש-;-ר-;-ו-;-י-;-ו-;-ת-;- ל-;-ק-;-ב-;-ל-;-ת-;- ה-;-ס-;-פ-;-ר-;-:
• א-;-י-;-ס-;-ו-;-ף-;- ע-;-צ-;-מ-;-י-;- מ-;-ה-;-מ-;-כ-;-ל-;-ל-;-ה-;- ה-;-א-;-ק-;-ד-;-מ-;-י-;-ת-;- ב-;-י-;-ת-;- ב-;-ר-;-ל-;-.
• מ-;-ש-;-ל-;-ו-;-ח-;- ע-;-ד-;- ה-;-ב-;-י-;-ת-;-, ב-;-ת-;-ו-;-ס-;-פ-;-ת-;- ד-;-מ-;-י-;- מ-;-ש-;-ל-;-ו-;-ח-;- ה-;-נ-;-ק-;-ב-;-ע-;- ב-;-ה-;-ת-;-א-;-ם-;- ל-;-מ-;-י-;-ק-;-ו-;-ם-;-.

ל-;-פ-;-ר-;-ט-;-י-;-ם-;- נ-;-ו-;-ס-;-פ-;-י-;-ם-;- ו-;-ל-;-מ-;-ע-;-נ-;-ה-;- ע-;-ל-;- ש-;-א-;-ל-;-ו-;-ת-;-:
א-;-נ-;-א-;- צ-;-ר-;-ו-;- ק-;-ש-;-ר-;- ע-;-ם-;- ה-;-מ-;-ז-;-כ-;-י-;-ר-;-ה-;-: י-;-א-;-ר-;-א-;- ח-;-ג-;-’ י-;-ח-;-י-;-א-;- ב-;-ט-;-ל-;-פ-;-ו-;-ן-;-: 097473184 א-;-ו-;- ב-;-א-;-מ-;-צ-;-ע-;-ו-;-ת-;- ד-;-ו-;-א-;-”ל-;-: [email protected]

פ-;-ר-;-ט-;-י-;- ת-;-ש-;-ל-;-ו-;-ם-;-:
()ה-;-ת-;-ש-;-ל-;-ו-;-ם-;- י-;-ת-;-ב-;-צ-;-ע-;- ב-;-א-;-מ-;-צ-;-ע-;-ו-;-ת-;- ה-;-ע-;-ב-;-ר-;-ה-;- ב-;-נ-;-ק-;-א-;-י-;-ת-;- ל-;-ח-;-ש-;-ב-;-ו-;-ן-;- ה-;-מ-;-כ-;-ל-;-ל-;-ה-;-:
• ב-;-נ-;-ק-;- ה-;-פ-;-ו-;-ע-;-ל-;-י-;-ם-;-
• מ-;-ס-;-פ-;-ר-;- ב-;-נ-;-ק-;- 12
• ס-;-נ-;-י-;-ף-;- 394
• מ-;-ס-;-פ-;-ר-;- ח-;-ש-;-ב-;-ו-;-ן-;- 245237

ש-;-ר-;-י-;-י-;-נ-;-ו-;- ע-;-ו-;-ת-;-ק-;- מ-;-ש-;-ל-;-כ-;-ם-;- ע-;-ו-;-ד-;- ה-;-י-;-ו-;-ם-;-, ו-;-ה-;-ע-;-מ-;-י-;-ק-;-ו-;- א-;-ת-;- ה-;-י-;-כ-;-ר-;-ו-;-ת-;-כ-;-ם-;- ע-;-ם-;- ד-;-י-;-א-;-ל-;-ק-;-ט-;-/ל-;-ה-;-ג-;- כ-;-פ-;-ר-;- י-;-א-;-ס-;-י-;-ף-;- ו-;-ה-;-ת-;-ר-;-ב-;-ו-;-ת-;- ה-;-מ-;-ק-;-ו-;-מ-;-י-;-ת-;-!
-;-




The Arab Academic Institute for Education: Kufir Yasī-;-f s Arabic Vernacular: Texts in Prose and Poetry.
Get the book "Kufir Yasī-;-f s Arabic Vernacular " now in a -print-ed version:
 
Price: 140 NIS.
Delivery options:
Self-pickup from The Academic College of Beit Berl
Delivery according to location - Delivery cost is determined accordingto location.
 
Please contact secretary Yara Haj Yahya for any inquiries -tel. 097473184, [email protected]
 
Payment method:
Payment is made by a bank transfer to the following college account:
() 
* Bank Hapo‘alim
* Bank number 12
* Branch 394
* Account number 245 237

Book your copy and start learning about Kufir Yasī-;-f vernacular and culture!
()()()()

















I dedicate this work on my mother tongue to my first teachers, my loving late parents. I also dedicate it to my wife, to the following generations, my children and grandchildren, as well as to all Palestinians in particular and Arabs in general living outside their homelands.

FOREWORD

The purpose of this textbook is to provide a collection of texts and a plethora of exercises (over five hundred) on the Palestinian dialect of Kufir Yasī-;-f, a village situated twelve kilometres northeast of the coastal city of Acre in western Galilee. The text is intended for teachers, dialectologists and advanced students of Arabic dialectology as well as all people interested in spoken and written Arabic and particularly Palestinians living outside their homeland. The textbook consists of four main parts. The first part opens with various groups of similar words in pairs´-or-more for training in Arabic phonetics with particular emphasis on the gutturals and the emphatics. It is useful and important for students to make an effort from the very beginning to differentiate the pronunciation between Arabic words whose meanings in English are, for example: ‘he fried’ and ‘above, he went up’-;- ‘a maternal uncle’ and ‘a situation’-;- ‘a tree’ and ‘a carrot’-;- ‘figs’ and ‘mud’-;- ‘he cut’, ‘he pressed’ and ‘he felt’-;- ‘a female cat’ and ‘my breast’, and ‘he shaved’ and ‘he created’. Correct and clear pronunciation, as far as possible, is a necessary step on the path to successful learning of a living language such as Arabic, which is a phonetic language. Unfortunately, Arabs in general are indulgent with foreigners, allowing erroneous pronunciations of their dialects in general and of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in particular.
The second part of the textbook consists of representative samples of verbs and adjectives from the dialect of Kufir Yasī-;-f. The various groups of trilateral verbs, strong and weak, as well as quadrilaterals and quinqueliterals and their conjugations present one of the most serious obstacles to learning Arabic as a whole. Over three thousand verbs and over two thousand adjectives accompanied by conjugations are offered in these pages. It is an open secret that numerous verbs used in both written Arabic and spoken Arabic have different meanings and usages. Two examples will suffice here. The verb qatala in literary Arabic means ‘to kill’, whereas in colloquial Arabic ˒-;-atal means ‘to beat, spank’. Ḥ-;-akī-;-m in literary Arabic means ‘wise man, philosopher’‚ whereas in spoken Arabic it means ‘physician, medical doctor’. Two examples of the difference between the dialect of Kufir Yasī-;-f and those
of several other villages and towns in Israel and Palestine are in order here as well. The words issa (‘now’) and baddi (‘I want’) are used in Kufir Yasī-;-f, whereas in other places, such as Jerusalem and the Triangle, we find halla˒-;-, hassa, hassa˓-;-iyyā-;-t (and other terms) and biddi. A few exercises conclude this part.
The book’s third part includes fifty eight texts of different lengths, including stories, a play, anecdotes, a memoir of my father, and one hundred and fifty six proverbs. I have written these texts, which deal mainly with aspects related to village life in Kufir Yasī-;-f. Short and relatively simple texts are given first followed by longer and more advanced and difficult ones. All are given in Latin transliteration. In the transliteration readers will notice that the vowels [i] and [e] as well as [u] and [o] are allophones and may be used as substitutes for one another.
As a rule, the texts present the dialect of Kufir Yasī-;-f as preserved in my memory and life experiences. Yet memory alone is not enough. I was born in Kufir Yasī-;-f in 1944, studied in its elementary and secondary schools and lived there for my first nineteen years. Thus, the dialect of Kufir Yasī-;-f is my mother tongue. During the academic year 1967-68, I served as a teacher of Arabic, Hebrew and English in Kufir Yasī-;-f’s secondary school where Arab students
from over forty villages and towns came to study. Although I have taught other dialects, in particular the Jerusalemite dialect, I have always done my utmost to preserve the Kufir Yasī-;-f dialect: I have taught it to my wife and our children and grandchildren, and it has become the alternate vernacular in our family. I am proud of this achievement, especially given that I have been living in the Palestinian diaspora for more than three decades. Although after the age of nineteen I have lived geographically far away from Kufir Yasī-;-f - first in Jerusalem, then in Berlin and finally in Finland - my connection with my birthplace and home country
have continued apace. Our family has visited the Holy Land on a near-annual basis. We also stay in touch with relatives and friends through modern technology such as Skype, e mail and
WhatsApp-;- we listen to broadcasts from Nazareth-;- and we stay up-to-date via electronic papers. In sum, my active knowledge of my mother tongue has grown and been enriched over time. Today Arabic is often heard even here in Finland, especially after the recent waves of immigration from Iraq and Syria. Everyone usually keeps his own dialect in conversations, while learning new words and usages from one another.
One characteristic feature of my idiolect as well as the idiolects of members of the same age and older is the absence of Hebrew loan words and expressions. Today the overwhelming Hebrew elements in the Arabic of Kufir Yasī-;-f as well as in other areas of the Green Line (the [pre-]1967 border´-or-the 1949 Armistice border) make up one of my dialect’s central traits. Here, unusual´-or-difficult words and expressions included in the texts are explained in footnotes in English. An attempt is made to give the English equivalent for the original Arabic, and in several cases the literary meaning is also given. Several exercises follow each text.
In the year 2022 Kufir Yasī-;-f is an Arab village of more than ten thousand inhabitants, among whom are Christians, Muslims and Druze (in 1877 the number was 500 inhabitants: 300 Christians, 150 Muslims and 50 Druze, whereas in 1922 the number was 870: 665 Christians, 172 Muslims, and 33 Druze). I prepared some of this material many decades ago in Jerusalem
and used it for teaching the spoken Arabic of Galilee to students of various nationalities from around the world.
The fourth part of the textbook includes more than fifty examples of rhymed popular poetry, some of which deal with occasions of joy and some with occasions of sorrow. These texts and others are given in the Arabic -script- in which they were written´-or-published several decades ago. The few remaining texts, namely those in popular poetry, were authored by other inhabitants of Kufir Yasī-;-f who are indicated with each piece.
No modifications have been made with regard to the texts that appear in Arabic -script-. Words and expressions deemed to be unusual and difficult have been explained in footnotes in MSA. It is obvious that, to some extent, written Arabic and spoken Arabic co-exist and affect each other. Thanks to modern cultural and educational diffusion, technology and globalisation, the gap between literary Arabic and colloquial Arabic continues to diminish. There is thus an urgent need to record, transliterate and investigate this rich and authentic linguistic heritage before it is lost. The textbook ends with four articles I have written on various aspects of Kufir Yasī-;-f’s dialect and published in 1983, 1995, 2020, and 2021 respectively. The first two are in English whereas the third and fourth are in MSA.
It should be noted that spoken Arabic in its endless dialects - and the mother tongue of more than four hundred and twenty million people - appears in columns in many daily newspapers and periodicals as well as in the various social communication media and in comments in electronic articles. It is not unusual to find some of these texts in Hebrew -script-.
The main three criteria for dividing Arabic dialects into groups are geographical, social and communal. This important manifestation of Arabic is reflected in the two main forms of language: prose and poetry. This poetry, called al-š-;-i˓-;-r al-š-;-a˓-;-bī-;- (popular poetry), is flourishing in the Arab world in various degrees and is enthusiastically welcomed by all native speakers of Arabic. This is no great surprise because Arabic culture is mainly a verbal one. On happy occasions, such as weddings, and on sad ones, such as funerals, one can hear samples of this rich, lively and verbal folklore, which speaks straight to the minds and hearts of all native speakers. Needless to say, it differs from the daily spoken language, which is employed mainly as a tool of communication.
In writing poetry, language is far from being just a tool-;- it is a special kind of energy and a substantial part of the dynamics of creativity and originality. In fact, the usage of language, any living language, as a tool of communication is the lowest level of mastery. On the other hand, at its highest level a language is an organic part of national identity, tradition, a way of being and a philosophy of life.
It is an established fact that MSA plays its own significant role throughout the Arab world as the language of written culture in which literature, the sciences, school textbooks and newspapers are written. MSA is also heard on radio and television news, as well as in formal speeches and religious preaching in mosques and churches. On the other hand, spoken Arabic is the usual daily tool of communication and often creeps into different literary works, especially in dialogues. Some plays have been written completely in spoken Arabic, such as Bethū-;-n by the Palestinian writer Tawfī-;-q M˓-;-ammar (1914-1988) and al-Bahlawā-;-n by the Egyptian writer Yū-;-suf Idrī-;-s (1927-1991). Spoken Arabic, as a rule, is used in movies and caricatures, and it enriches many aspects of the written language. In some Arab countries and
particularly in Lebanon, spoken Arabic is utilised in political, social and cultural discussions on TV.
Along with MSA and spoken Arabic, the third significant type of Modern Arabic is the so-called educated Arabic´-or-common Arabic´-or-lughatu baina bain. This manifestation of Arabic, which is neither written nor spoken in the ordinary sense, -function-s as the tool of communication and thinking among educated Arabs on formal occasions and is the tool of understanding among native speakers of different Arabic dialects, such as the Moroccan dialect in general, among the western Arabic idioms and the Palestinian vernacular among the eastern dialects. A specific modern Arabic dialect is the mother tongue of every Arab in which that individual feels and thinks, and it is connected in a complicated and subconscious manner with MSA, which a person acquires systematically at school from the age of six until the end of secondary school, as well as by reading and listening.
Generally, a student of any language, whether the language be alive´-or-dead, needs reliable grammar books, dictionaries and texts. Texts are essential because they provide examples of grammar and vocabulary. Original and authentic texts are the foundation of grammar and vocabulary.
There still seems to be a remarkable paucity of Palestinian Arabic texts in general for students and scholars, in particular in Kufir Yasī-;-f’s dialect. As far as I know, this textbook is the first of its kind. Reading, speaking, understanding, thinking and writing are essential steps and conditions for a profound acquisition of living languages and dialects. A comprehensive bibliography on Palestinian dialects will be found at the end of the book.
It is my duty and pleasure to extend my sincere thanks to my fellows and friends for their contribution. Professor Heikki Palva wrote the preface. Dr. Glenda Goss and Mr. ˓-;-Atif Khreish worked assiduously to improve my English and assisted me in finding the closest English equivalents to many Arabic idioms and proverbs. Dr. Ulrich Seeger reviewed the German bibliography and turned my attention to some errors. As for the beginning of the fourth part, I extend my gratitude to those who helped me with regard to the poetic Arabic texts. Needless to say all remaining errors are mine alone.

PREFACE

Until the present day, in textbooks of Spoken Arabic the dialect of the dominant population of the capital cities has, admittedly with good reason, been taken as the norm. Thus, for example, Palestinian Arabic is represented by the dialect spoken in Jerusalem (Frank A. Rice & Majed F. Said, Jerusalem Arabic, 1953-;- Moshe Piamenta, Dabber ˁ-;-Arvit, 1968), Syrian Arabic by the dialect of Damascus (Jean Cantineau & Youssef Helbaoui, Manuel élémentaire d’arabe oriental (Parler de Damas), 1953-;- Charles Ferguson & Moukhtar Ani a.o., Damascus Arabic, 1961), and Moroccan Arabic by that of Rabat (Francisco Moscoso Garcí-;-a, Curso de Á-;-rabe Marroquí-;-, 2006). Sometimes a greater area is comprised, e.g., Jean Kassab, Manuel du parler arabe moderne au Moyen-Orient, 1970-;- T. F. Mitchell, An Introduction to Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, 1956-;- Frank A. Rice & Majed F. Saí-;-d, Eastern Arabic. An Introduction to the Spoken Arabic of Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, 1960-;- Clive Holes, Colloquial Arabic of the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, 1984.
As to the dialects of smaller towns and villages as well as those spoken by Bedouin tribes, lots of de-script-ions have been published. Thus, in the Galilee, a systematic de-script-ion of the dialect(s) spoken in Nazareth was in 2000 published as a Ph.D. dissertation at Haifa University. For Kufir Yasī-;-f, the village now concerned, four articles that deal with various linguistic aspects have been published (Bassal 2008, Shehadeh 1983, 1995a, 2020a). Yet only
one sample of three pages has been included in these studies (Bassal 2008, Shehadeh 2016/2017).
However, to my knowledge no textbooks of Arabic spoken in smaller towns and villages have been published so far. Thus, Shehadeh’s textbook can with good reason be characterized as a pioneering work. But one may actually wonder in whose interest it is to learn to speak the dialect of a village with just ten thousand inhabitants, instead of some more well-known urban one. In this particular case this is, however, absolutely no problem: a speaker of the Kufir Yasī-;-f dialect can very well converse with speakers of all other Palestinian sedentary dialects, as well as actually with the great majority of urban and rural Arabic speakers in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, and, after some familiarizing, in greatest part of the Arabic-speaking world. Consequently, Shehadeh’s textbook makes relevant material for the study of Spoken Arabic serviceable in a vast area.
I have also personally experienced the positive reactions of my interlocutors when they are met by a foreigner like me speaking Arabic with local colour, not one taught in the most commonly attended language classes. In my case, the starting point was a Lower Galilean rural dialect, and later on, my linguistically most important contacts were those with Jordanian and Saudi Arabian Bedouin tribes as well as towns with speakers of sedentary´-or-semi-sedentary dialects in Jordan, and my Lower Galilean Arabic served very well as the linguistic basis of my conversations everywhere, after some experience even in the Maghreb.
The first part of Shehadeh’s textbook contains exercises in correct and clear pronunciation, which in learning a language having a phonetic range substantially differing from, e.g., all Indo-European ones, such as the pharyngeal consonants ˁ-;- and ḥ-;-, the phonemic contrasts between so-called emphatic and non-emphatic (velarized vs. unvelarized) consonants, as well
as their influence on the allophones of the adjacent consonants, the three phonemic vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/,´-or-even on longer segments of the word.
In the second part of the book, over three thousand verbs and over five hundred adjectives are offered, all accompanied with conjugations. In this chapter, frequently occurrent examples of some lexical differences between local dialects spoken in Israel and Palestine are given. Among these are the words for ‘now’ and ‘want’, which in Kufir Yasī-;-f are issa and baddi vs. hallaˀ-;-, hassa and biddi in Jerusalem and the Triangle. In Lower Galilee, I learned them in the forms issa and biddi, in Jordan mainly hassaˁ-;-, halḥ-;-ī-;-n, and wuddi, actually rather different but yet well understood in the Arabic speaking world.
The book’s third part includes fifty eight texts of different lengths, including interesting stories, a play, anecdotes, a memoir by the author’s father, as well as proverbs. The texts have been skillfully selected as to reflect the history and culture of Kufir Yasī-;-f. The texts start with linguistically relatively simple ones, written by the author himself, keeping an eye on the level the reader is expected to have achieved. All texts are given in well working semi-phonemic transliteration, with explanations when needed. This system includes the main allophones [o] and [e], and certain cases in which a non-phonemic vowel is inserted in order to form a syllable, e.g. minə-;- l-maktab.
The fourth part of the book exceeds the conventional-limit-s of a textbook. It includes about fifty examples of rhymed popular poetry, given strictly in their original form. Words and expressions deemed to be unusual are carefully, sometimes almost exhaustively, explained in footnotes. All the poems and songs included in the samples are connected with different social connections, such as wedding processions and other ceremonies, as well as praying for rain. Characteristic of the well-considered method used in the book, these texts are given in the Arabic -script- exactly in the form they were written´-or-published several decades ago. The few remaining texts, namely samples of popular poetry, were composed by other inhabitants of Kufir Yasī-;-f and are indicated with each piece. The verses and phrases written in Arabic and deemed to be unusual and difficult are carefully explained in footnotes in Modern Standard Arabic.
It is a well-known fact that written and spoken Arabic co-exist and affect each other. Thanks to modern cultural and educational diffusion, technology and globalization, the gap between literary Arabic and colloquial Arabic continues to diminish. In itself, this is no negative development. But this also leads to an urgent need to record, transliterate and investigate the rich and authentic linguistic heritage before it is lost.
The textbook ends with four articles written by the author on various aspects of Kufir Yasī-;-f dialect, published in 1983, 1995, 2020 and 2021 respectively. The first two are in English, whereas the third and the fourth are in MSA.

*****
As stated by the author in the Foreword, “the text is intended for teachers and students of Arabic dialectology as well as all people interested in spoken and written Arabic”. Anyway, the book can be expected to serve as material for classroom studies, preferably led by a native speaker, but it can also be used on private basis. For self-study, an accompanying tape-recording would naturally be helpful in striving for a “reasonably accurate” pronunciation of
Arabic, as Clive Holes in his textbook of Gulf Arabic realistically formulates the goal. Judging from the Foreword, it seems that Shehadeh wants to put the aim - at least as far as correct pronunciation is concerned - somewhat higher.
The fourth chapter of the book adds fascinating material for those already mastering Arabic above the elementary level, and the Bibliography is rich enough for all pursuing academic studies in Palestinian Arabic.
Methodologically innovative and authentically documented, Shehadeh’s book is a most valuable addition to the textbooks of Spoken Arabic. Faithfully following the genuine dialect of Kufir Yasī-;-f and at the same time serving as a textbook fit for use in the whole Arabic-speaking area in the Middle East, it can with good reason also be characterized as a pioneering work. However, it is not only a textbook of Spoken Arabic. It is also a praiseworthy collection of different aspects of the traditional local culture in the author’s original home village, and a nice homage to it.

Helsinki, December 13, 2020
Professor Heikki Palva

كلمة المعهد الأكاديميّ العربيّ للتربية

يندرج موضوع هذا الكتاب تحت علم اللهجات، وهو فرع من فروع اللسانيّات، يُعنى بدراسة اللهجات باعتبارهـا أنماطًا لغويـّة تنبثق منها لغـة معيّنة، فالكلام سابق للكتابة، وما يرتبط بها من سِمات جغرافيّة، واجتماعيّة، وثقافيّة. يُلقي هذا الكتاب الضوء على إحدى لهجات المجتمع الفلسطينيّ في إسرائيل، وهي لهجة الباحث (idiolect) اللغويّ المعروف، البروفيسور شحادة، التي تمثّل لهجة أهالي كفرياسيف الأصليّين.
يسعى مركز الأبحاث في المعهد الأكاديميّ العربيّ في كلّيّة بيت بيرل، أن يكون أحدَ المصادر الداعمة لمثل هذه الدراسات، نظرًا لأهمّيّتها وانسجامها مع رؤية المركز الأكاديميّة ورؤياه في تعزيز العلم والمعرفة لدى العرب في إسرائيل. ففي السنوات الأخيرة، لوحظ اهتمام متزايد بدراسة اللغة العربيّة بكلّ مستوياتها نتيجة للظروف التي خلقتها السياسة، والعولمة، والثورة الرقميّة من جهة، وتدنّي مستوى العربيّة لدى أبنائها. غير أنّ لهجات العرب في إسرائيل، تواجه تحدّياتٍ إضافيّة تجعل من دراستها حالة خاصّة وملحّة. ذلك أنّ التحوّلات الجيو-سياسيّة التي مرّ بها المجتمع الفلسطينيّ بعد النكبة وما زال، تركت أثرًا بالغًا في لغته. لذلك يمكن اعتبار اللغة العربيّة بشقّيْها الأساسيّين، المكتوبة والمحكيّة، بالنسبة لفلسطينيّي إسرائيل العنصر الأساسيّ في هُويّتهم القوميّة، والسياسيّة، والثقافيّة، والاجتماعيّة. لعلّنا لا نبالغ إذا قلنا إنّ لهجات فلسطينيّي إسرائيل قُرابة المليونيْن، هي آخر ما تبقّى لهم من هذه الهُويّة التي باتت مهدّدة بالتراخي وربّما بالاندثار، أكثر من أيِّ وقت مضى، تحت وطأة موجات العبرنة، والأسرلة والعولمة.
وعليه، تنبع أهمّيّة هذه الدراسة الرياديّة في تسليطها الضوء على إحدى لهجات عرب الـ 48، ممّا يسمح بتتبّع التحوّلات التي تطرأ على اللغة في سياقاتها الاجتماعيّة، والتاريخيّة، والسياسيّة من جهة، وتوثيقها قبل فوات الأوان من ناحية أُخرى. وهذا الكتاب بشقّيه، العربيّ والإنچليزيّ، معدّ في المقام الأوّل لفلسطينيّي الداخل والخارج، ناهيك عن الأجانب الكُثر من الباحثين والطلّاب المهتمّين بتعلّم وبحث اللهجات العربيّة.
بين دفّتي الكتاب مادّة وافرة بلهجة كفرياسيف نثرًا وشعرًا، لا نظير لها بالنسبة لقرى وبلدات حتّى في العالم العربيّ برُمّته. في البابين الأوّل والثاني تمارين في علم الأصوات لأهمّيّة النطق السليم في اللغة؛ ثلاثة آلاف فعل تقريبًا مصنّفة بحسب الأوزان وطريقة تصريف كلّ وزن مقرونة بالصيغ الستّ الأساسيّة: ماضٍ، مضارع، اسم فاعل، اسم مفعول، مصدر. تلي ذلك قائمة بقُرابة خمسمائة صفة بحسب أوزانها.
عدد النصوص النثريّة ثمانية وخمسون وهي مُنَقْحَرة بالحروف اللاتينيّة وَفق الأبحاث اللغويّة المعاصرة، وهي مشفوعة بشرح الكلمات الصعبة بالإنچليزيّة في القسم الإنچليزيّ. ويضمّ القسم العربيّ اثنتين وعشرين مقطوعة شعريّة عامّيّة لخمسة كفارسة، وأكثر من ثلاثين أُغنيّة أو أُنشودة شعبيّة مستمدّة من التراث الشعبيّ، وتردَّد في مناسبات الفرح والترح المختلفة. تلي كلَّ وَحدة نثريّة أو شعريّة مجموعة من التمارين بلغ عددها الإجماليّ حوالي الخمسمائة. وفي نهاية الكتاب قائمة محتلنة بالمراجع، وهي الأشمل حتّى الآن، وبلغ عددها أكثر من ألف. من نافلة القول، إنّ النصّ الجيّد هو أساس قواعد اللغة ومعجمها.
أخيرًا، نأمل أن تؤدّي مثل هذه الدراسات الجادّة، إلى إيقاظ الوعي وتعزيزه بأهمّيّة البحث في اللهجات، فهي لغة الأُمّ بالنسبة لكلّ عربيّ/ة، والحِفاظ عليها كجزء لا يتجزّأ من الهُويّة القوميّة والثقافيّة.
صدق الشاعر الصقِلّيّ، إجنتزيا بوتينا، بقوله:
”إنّ الشعبَ يفتقرُ ويُستعبَد
عندما يُسلب اللسان
الذي تركَه الأجدادُ وعندها يضيعُ إلى الأبد“.
مع الاحترام
د. ورود جيوسي د. إيمان يونس
رئيسة المعهد الأكاديمي العربي للتربية رئيسة مركز الأبحاث

Rate the article
Bad	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Very good
Result : 100%							Participated in the vote : 2