Dubai & Abu Dhabi 7 - Full PDF eBook

Language

Arabic is the official language of the uAE, but
English is widely understood� Note that there
are significant differences between the MSA
(Modern Standard Arabic) – the official lingua
franca of the Arab world, used in schools, ad-
ministration and the media – and the colloquial
language, ie the everyday spoken version� The
Arabic variety spoken in the uAE (and provided
in this chapter) is known as Gulf Arabic�
Read our coloured pronunciation guides as
if they were English and you’ll be understood�
Note that a is pronounced as in ‘act’, aa as the
‘a’ in ‘father’, ai as in ‘aisle’, aw as in ‘law’, ay
as in ‘say’, ee as in ‘see’, i as in ‘hit’, oo as in
‘zoo’, u as in ‘put’, gh is a guttural sound (like
the Parisian French ‘r’), r is rolled, dh is pro-
nounced as the ‘th’ in ‘that’, th as in ‘thin’, ch as
in ‘cheat’ and kh as the ‘ch’ in the Scottish loch�
The apostrophe ( ’ ) indicates the glottal stop
(like the pause in the middle of ‘uh-oh’)� The
stressed syllables are indicated with italics�

basics
Hello. .اهلا و سهلا ah·lan was ah·lan

Goodbye. .مع السلامة ma’ sa·laa·ma

Yes./No. .لا/.نعم na·’am/la

Please. .من فضلك min fad·lak (m)
.كِمن فضل min fad·lik (f)
Thank you. .شكران shuk·ran

Excuse me. .اسمح is·mah (m)
.اسمحي لي is·mah·ee lee (f)

Sorry. .مع الاسف ma’ al·as·af

How are you?

ك؟ِحال/كَكيف حال kayf haa·lak/haa·lik (m/f)

Fine, thanks. And you? here.

.بخير الحمد الله bi·khayr il·ham·du·li·laa

؟و انتِ /و انتَ ta/win· win·ti (m/f)

What’s your name?

ك؟اسمِ /كاش اسمَ aash is·mak/is·mik (m/f)

My name is ...

...اسمي is·mee ...

Do you speak English?

تتكلم انجليزية؟ tit·kal·am in·glee·zee·ya (m)

تتكلمي انجليزية؟ tit·ka·la·mee in·glee·zee·ya (f)

I don’t understand.

.مو فاهم moo faa·him

Can I take a photo?

ممكن اتصور؟ mum·kin at·saw·ar

accoMModaTion

Where’s a ...? ؟...وين wayn ...

campsite مخيم moo·khay·am

hotel فندق fun·dug

Do you have عندك/عندك ’and·ak/’and·ik

a ... room? ؟...غرفة ghur·fa ... (m/f)

single لشخص واحد li·shakhs waa·hid

double لشخسين li·shakh·sayn

twin مع سريرين ma’ sa·ree·rayn

How much ؟...بكم كل bi·kam kul ...

is it per ...?

night ليلة lay·la

person شخص shakhs

Can I get another (blanket)?

)برنوس(احتاج الى ah·taaj i·la (bar·noos)

الثاني من فضلك؟ i·thaa·nee min fad·lak

The (air conditioning) doesn’t work.

)الكنديشان( (il·kan·day·shan)

.ما يشتغل ma yish·ta·ghil

WanT More?

For in-depth language information and

handy phrases, check out Lonely

Planet’s Middle East Phrasebook� You’ll find

it at shop�lonelyplanet�com, or you

can buy Lonely Planet’s iPhone phrase-

books at the Apple App Store�