A question about Egyptian Arabic: feminine/masculine words?

Question

Hi. This might be a bit of a stupid/obvious question, but I want to make sure I totally understand before I carry on reading my book on Arabic.. xD

Right, there's feminine and masculine words, and I was wondering when and how they're used.. So, I'm female, and if I was asking "Izzaayyik?" (How are you, according to the book..), that would mean I'm speaking to another female? And if I used "izzaayyak?", that'd be to a male? Or does that not matter, and do I just use Izzaayyik all the time, since I'M female?

.. Just another example.. If I said "Ismak eh?" (my book says that's What's your name?), that'd be to a male, and "ismik eh?" to a female.. Or is it just "ismik eh?" constantly, because of the fact I'm female? I hope I'm explaining myself properly. xD

And when talking about myself, I'd use feminine all the time, regardless of which gender I'm speaking too?

Answer 1

momtaz = excellent :)

yes u got it right , if u r askin a female how are u ? u say "Izzaayyik?"

and if u are asking a male u say "izzaayyak?"

now when u r addressing a female u have to use feminine all the time unless u r talking to a female about a male here u use masculine

now when u r talking about ur self use  feminine becuz u r a female ....

now sayin " izzaayyak?" to a male or sayin " izzaayik?" has nothing to do with the fact that u r a female!! u r askin a male how is he and a female how is she!! so it has nothin to do with u!! its all about the one u r addressing .. got it ;)

now if smone asks u " izzaayyik?" u answer in feminine since u r a female ;)

i hope i'm explainin it properly

if u need help i am more than happy to help u :)

my mail is [e-mail]

good luck :)

Answer 2

hey

i am egyptian :)

yes what u wrote is right

Izzayik = if u r talking to a girl (how r u )

Izzayak = talking to a guy

esmik eh = talking to a girl (whats ur name)

esmak eh = talking to a girl

p.s.

And when talking about myself, I'd use feminine all the time, regardless of which gender I'm speaking too (yes thats right)

if u need anything else mail me i'd love 2 help

take  care.

Answer 3

No,it's not right to use Izzaayyik all the time ,since you are female because the words(pronouns)follow(or according to) the person to whom you talk not to you if you are female or male.So you say Izzaayyik when talking to female or Izzaayyak when talking to male.

Answer 4

1) I'm not quite sure about the Egyptian dialect, but in Standard Arabic, the part that shows the gender, goes at the end of the addressees' pronouns. For example, "IsmakAh?" ("Ma-ismokAh?" or "MasmokAh?" in standard Arbic) is for asking the name of a male, and "IsmakEh?" ("MasmokEh?") for female. However, in speaking, the last vowel of the sentence drops. That is, you have only "Masmok?" or "Izzayak?" in everyday conversation for both male and female addressees!

2) The speaker's gender has nothing to do with the rules, so the same thing as I mentioned above goes for both male and female speakers.

3) The vowel before the pronouns (I mean Isma"A"k, or Ism"O"k) show the function of the word (whether it is a subject, object, object of the (so-called) "wh-words" such az "ma", "man", "mata"...). and it has nothing to do with the gender of the person.

I hope it helped, although what I wrote here are about the Standard dialect of Arabic spoken in Southern Persian Gulf. Maybe the Egyptian dialect is different in these rules.