Arabic dialects / How to say
How to say “Wait” in Arabic dialects
“Wait” changes from one Arabic dialect to the next: tsenna in Morocco, istanna in Egypt, ntor in Lebanon, lahtha in Saudi Arabia.
| Dialect | Say it | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| 🇲🇦 Moroccan Arabic | tsenna | تسنى |
| 🇩🇿 Algerian Arabic | asber | اصبر |
| 🇹🇳 Tunisian Arabic | stana | إستنى |
| 🇱🇾 Libyan Arabic | raji | راجي |
| 🇪🇬 Egyptian Arabic | istanna | استنى |
| 🇱🇧 Lebanese Arabic | ntor | نطر |
| 🇯🇴 Jordanian Arabic | istanna | استنى |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabic | lahtha | لحظة |
| 🇦🇪 Emirati Arabic | asber | أصبر |
| 🇮🇶 Iraqi Arabic | istanna | استنى |
Arabic often changes with who you are talking to. These are the forms taught in each Lahja course. In the spelling, 3 is the letter ayn, 7 is a breathy h, 2 is a glottal stop, 5 is kh and 9 is qaf.
There is no single Arabic word for most everyday things. Modern Standard Arabic has its own formal version, but in conversation people use their local dialect. Lahja teaches each dialect as its own course, so you learn the version people around you really say.
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