All dialects: early/late

Hemza

Senior Member
French, Mor/Hijz Arabic (heritage)
Hello,

How do you say "early" and "late" across the dialects ? In Morocco, early is said بِكري and late is متعطّل or متأخّر.

Thank you.
 
  • In Syria, early is بَكِّير and late is متأخِّر and متلقِّس.

    You found that b-k-r ܒܟܪ is a root in Syriac meaning 'to precede, to be ahead'.
    The root 2-x-r ܐܚܪ also exists in Syriac with the meaning of 'to be late, to delay'.
    The latter is from Syriac ܠܩܝܼܫܵܐ lqiišaa 'late, tardy' ; ܠܩܝܼܫܵܝܵܐ lqiišaayaa 'late', root l-q-š ܠܩܫ.
     
    Last edited:
    In Palestinian Arabic:
    Early: mostly بدري but I’ve also heard بكّير.
    Late: متأخر.
    Very late at night: نص الليل or آخر الليل.

    In Iraqi Arabic:
    Early: من وكت
    Late: متأخر
    Very late at night: تالي الليل or نص الليل. Both could also be used in the plural for some reason: توالي الليل and نصاص الليالي.

    late is متعطّل or متأخّر.
    In both PA and IA متعطّل means delayed not late. You don’t say: رجع متعطّل مبارح, if you do you would probably be asked شو اللي عطّله؟; but you can say: تعطّل اليوم لأن السيارة خربت.
     
    In Palestinian Arabic:
    Early: mostly بدري but I’ve also heard بكّير.
    I agree, except that I've heard بكّير way more than بدري, and بكّير is what I say. I think they differ in regional distribution. I don't think بدري is used much if at all in the Galilee, for example.
     
    عالنبوري = very early in the morning
    ف نصاص/نصاصات الليل = very late at night
    معطل or متأخر = late
    بكري = early
    بلا وقت = very early
    حتى لاين = very late
    مازوزي = late used for crops mostly
     
    عالنبوري = very early in the morning
    ف نصاص/نصاصات الليل = very late at night
    I completely forgot about these two although my mum uses them quite a lot!
    معطل or متأخر = late
    My phone "corrected" me by adding a ت in the middle without me noticing it.
    بلا وقت = very early
    حتى لاين = very late
    مازوزي = late used for crops mostly
    These three are new to me.
     
    In both PA and IA متعطّل means delayed not late. You don’t say: رجع متعطّل مبارح, if you do you would probably be asked شو اللي عطّله؟; but you can say: تعطّل اليوم لأن السيارة خربت.
    Both meanings exist in Morocco though the context allows to distinguish.
     
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