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  3. Poetry & Literature

ما عنتش

English translation: first person singular verb negated in the past

17:47 Jun 21, 2016
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Arabic term or phrase: ما عنتش
In a novel by an Egyptian author, a character says (in Egyptian 3ammiya):

انا ما عنتش فاهم حاخة

The meaning SEEMS to be something like "I don't understand anything anymore (?)", but how do you parse عنتش?

Is it some past tense form, negated?

Thanks a bunch
Ondrej Elleder
Local time: 08:51
English translation:first person singular verb negated in the past
Explanation:
As long as your questions are not answered in the above proposed answers, I have to post mine. Here is my own analysis for such a colloquial expression that is used is more common in lower Egypt, while in my region in upper Egypt ما بقتش is more common.

First: the MSA equivalent
ما عدتُ I am no more


first person negated past tense but it indicates the present as well. It is like the English present simple or present perfect

Second: sheen indication
In the Colloquial Egyptian Arabic, ش is added at the end of words to indicate negation, e.g., ما أكلتش، ما فيش I did not eat, there is nothing
ش is basically contraction of ،شيئًا أو شيء anything
Hence it is ما أكلت شيئًا I did not eat anything, then, it is used to indicate negation even if the the word "anything" is not there as in the word in question. The same applies to "ما بقتش" because if we are going to translate it in light of the rule of adding /sheen/ to words, the literal meaning will be "I am no more anything!!"

So, ش is added to the verb عدت to be in harmony with other verbs that have such a contraction as a suffix to indicate negation.
Then it becomes ما عدتش

Third: ما عُتّش

letters of /dal/ and /taa/ are from one place of articulation, so they are assimilated and pronounced as two taas that some people pronounce it as
ما عُتّش

Fourth: adding extra /noon/

some people tend to replace the shdda (stress or emphasis on letters) and double letters with /noon/ letter, e.g., some people pronounce ممتاز as منتاز

Accordingly, it becomes ما عنتش

Fifth: Yes, the tense is past


Best,
Saleh
Selected response from:

Saleh Dardeer
Grading comment
:) شكرا
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2I do not / I'm not
Erfan Elzanaty
5 +1I don't understand anything anymore
Liliane Hatem
5first person singular verb negated in the past
Saleh Dardeer
4I could barely understand
Hadi Hadi (X)
3I do nor MORE understand
Chakib Roula


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
I do not / I'm not


Explanation:
أعتقد أن أصلها
ما عدت
ما عدت أفهم شيئًا
ثم حرفت في العامية لتصير بهذا الشكل

Erfan Elzanaty
Egypt
Local time: 09:51
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 32
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Erfan.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Randa Farhat: "أصلها بالفصحى "ما عدتُ فهمتُ شيئاً - I no longer understood a thing
2 days 1 hr
agree  fatma abou auf (X)
28 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
I do nor MORE understand


Explanation:
Suggestion

Chakib Roula
Algeria
Local time: 07:51
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 6
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Chakib.

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

40 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
I could barely understand


Explanation:
--

Hadi Hadi (X)
Palestine
Local time: 09:51
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Hadi.

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
I don't understand anything anymore


Explanation:
-

Liliane Hatem
Lebanon
Local time: 09:51
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 28
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Liliane.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sayed Fathy
9 hrs
  -> Thank you Sayed :)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
first person singular verb negated in the past


Explanation:
As long as your questions are not answered in the above proposed answers, I have to post mine. Here is my own analysis for such a colloquial expression that is used is more common in lower Egypt, while in my region in upper Egypt ما بقتش is more common.

First: the MSA equivalent
ما عدتُ I am no more


first person negated past tense but it indicates the present as well. It is like the English present simple or present perfect

Second: sheen indication
In the Colloquial Egyptian Arabic, ش is added at the end of words to indicate negation, e.g., ما أكلتش، ما فيش I did not eat, there is nothing
ش is basically contraction of ،شيئًا أو شيء anything
Hence it is ما أكلت شيئًا I did not eat anything, then, it is used to indicate negation even if the the word "anything" is not there as in the word in question. The same applies to "ما بقتش" because if we are going to translate it in light of the rule of adding /sheen/ to words, the literal meaning will be "I am no more anything!!"

So, ش is added to the verb عدت to be in harmony with other verbs that have such a contraction as a suffix to indicate negation.
Then it becomes ما عدتش

Third: ما عُتّش

letters of /dal/ and /taa/ are from one place of articulation, so they are assimilated and pronounced as two taas that some people pronounce it as
ما عُتّش

Fourth: adding extra /noon/

some people tend to replace the shdda (stress or emphasis on letters) and double letters with /noon/ letter, e.g., some people pronounce ممتاز as منتاز

Accordingly, it becomes ما عنتش

Fifth: Yes, the tense is past


Best,
Saleh

Saleh Dardeer
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 74
Grading comment
:) شكرا
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Saleh.

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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