The Active Participle in an Arabic Dialect of Cyrenaica

Abstract

(a) Material for the present article was obtained before and during a recent period of study-leave in Cyrenaica. My particular informant, who also accompanied me during the tour, was Mr. Idris ‘Abdallah, from Gyrene, a member of the Ḥāsa tribe. The dialect illustrated may be termed the Bedouin dialect of the Jebel.Examples are given throughout in Arabic script and follow the method used by my informant for writing his dialect. Thus presented, they are immediately intelligible to a literate Cyrenaican, who is accustomed to written colloquialisms, for example in letters, petitions, agreements, and vernacular (usually Bedouin) poems appearing in the local Press. The phonetic transcription is intended to suggest a pronunciation for the examples.