A study: "Which" in Tunisian Arabic

This article is another in the IBL "Study" series. (For related study articles see these on the words What, Where, When & Why in Tunisian Arabic)

In this article we're going to analyze the word Which, when translated into Tunisian Arabic. (For a good primer on Tunisian Arabic, see the popular article: What is Tunisian Arabic?)

"Which" in Tunisian Arabic

As a conjunction, in Tunisian Arabic, "Which" is translated as:

(masculine-based object) Enehou (Anehou) /أناهو

(feminine-based object) Enehi (Anehi) /أناهي

(plural) Enehom (Anehom) / أناهم

IBL Contributor, Aroua F. pronounces Enehou, Enehi & Enehom:

Tunisian Arabic, like Standard Arabic (Fos7a / فصحى) is a gender-based form of communication. Every noun is designated a gender, and when it comes to Tunisian Arabic, knowing the gender designation of singular form nouns can influence the words used in association to the nouns. In understanding the above, if referring to a masculine-based noun, Enehou is used, if referring to a feminine-based noun, Enehi is used. And if referring to a plural noun setting, Enehom is used. (For more information on this concept, see the IBL guide: How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic)

Let's look at an examples of each of the principal words above. (With recordings)

"Which table do you want to sit at?"

Enehi el tawla eli t7eb 3leha? / أناهي الطاولة الّي تحب عليها؟

Aroua F. pronounces Enehi el tawla eli t7eb 3leha?:

"What restaurant do you want to eat at?"

F enehou restaurant t7eb neklou? / في أناهو رستورون تحب ناكلو؟

"Which of these would you like?"

(m) Ana we7ed menhom t7eb? / أنا واحد منهم تحب؟ (f) Ana wa7da menhom t7eb? /أنا وحدة منهم تحب؟

Short forms

Some Tunisian Arabic speakers will short-form the feminine-based word Enehi (Anehi) as Ana / أنا. Some avoid this practice entirely: One reason for this is, coincidentally, Ana / أنا can also be translated into "I". (Albeit the spelling Ena is more common amongst Tunisian Arabic speakers)

Aroua F. pronounces Ana, as in Which:

In the following recording, Aroua pronounces Ana, as in "Which", followed by Ena (or Ana by some) as in "I": (listen for the slight varian in pronunciation)

"Which" not translating directly

Above we covered very conventional and typical uses of Which and its Tounsi counterpart: Enehou (Anehou), Enehi (Anehou, Ana) & Enehom (Anehom). In this section we'll look at some English statements, that don't translate into these core words.

"Which is why…?"

This statement would translate as Hedheka 3lech...? (Heka 3lech...?) / هذاكا علاش...؟ (هاكا علاش...؟), which means "That is why...?" Hedheka or Heka means "That" and 3lech means "Why". Interestingly, unlike many potential uses of Hedheka and its related words (f) Hedhika and (pl) Hedhikom, this phrase can only conventionally use Hedheka ("That" in the masculine form)

Aroua pronounces Hedheka 3lech...?

"That building, which was built last year,…"

This statement is translated as El banya hedhika eli tebnet 3amnewel. / البنية هاذيكا الّي تبنات عامناول [Add more eli taking the place of which]

"What" as which

It's worth bringing up that, in English, What and Which are commonly interchangeable. For example, "What country are you from?" and "Which country are you from?" mean the same. The same goes for "What restaurant do you want to eat at?" and "Which restaurant do you want to eat at?" In Tunisian Arabic, this degree of flexibility doesn't exist. In What/Which country are you from? the proper word to use is Enehi not Chnowa ("What") and the same goes for What/Which flavours do you want? (Enehom should be used, not Chnowa or Chnouma) A way to consider this topic is that Enehou/-hi/-hom is about choice, whereas Chnowa / Chneya (used commonly for feminine-based nouns) and Chnouma (used commonly used in the plural) is about what is so (exists). (in the present, future, or past)

Here are the full translations to the two statements in this section:

"Which country are you from?" - Men enehi bled enti? / من أناهي بلاد انتي؟ (Note that this statement could also be translated as Enti mnin? / انتي منين؟ ("Where are you from?") or Men ana bled enti? / من أنا بلاد انتي؟ (Also, "Which country are you from?", but using the short-form Ana)

(we) "Which flavours do you want" - Enehom les goûts eli t7eb 3lihom? / أناهم لاي قو الّي تحب عليهم؟

In closing

After studying the above, you should be a specialist on the use of "Which" in Tunisian Arabic! Again, IBL is continually producing these types of articles in our "Study" series. (Ones not mentioned yet are the articles that study Of, At & Not in Tunisian Arabic) If you want to deep-dive a separate, but important Tunisian Arabic topic, there is the IBL guide (over 5000 words with recordings): Guide: How verbs function in Tunisian Arabic. (premium) And of course, there is the main IBL catalogue you can study which contains over 6,000 principal Tunisian Arabic words with recordings (and over 30,000 statements). This kind of material can keep you busy for months.

Enjoy continuing to learn Tunisian Arabic!

And as always, we wish you a marvellous journey.