How to greet someone in Tunisian Arabic

In this article we’re going to cover the most common ways to greet someone in Tunisian Arabic. Knowing these different expressions will give you a wider variety of what you can say to a Tunisian Arabic speaker when you enter a café, on the street, at a restaurant, and more.

Here are the expressions you will learn or learn more about in this article:

1. Chna7welek? / شنحوالك؟
2. Ça va? / سا فا؟
3. Lebes alik? / لباس عليك؟
4. Wenti lebes? / وأنت لباس؟
5. Kifennek? / كيفنـّك؟
6. Greetings with metaphors

A note that for the sake of publication we have delineated the concept of an English “Hello” type phrase from a greeting. To understand the most popular way that Tunisian Arabic speakers say Hello (words like Asslema / عسلامة, Salem / السلام, etc.) access the IBL article: How to say Hello in Tunisian Arabic.

1. Chna7welek? / شنحوالك؟

Chna7welek? / شنحوالك؟ is the most indigenous way to ask how someone is doing. You may say something like Asslema, chna7welek? / عسلامة شنحوالك؟ which in English would be like saying, “Hello, how are you?” Chna- /شن is a compressed version of Chneya / شنيّة which means “What”, a7wel / أحوال means something to the effect of a “state” or “matters” (these words in the context of a general situation) and the suffix -ek / ك- puts the word in the You form. You may wonder why a 7 is used in the word when it’s written using the Latin script. To understand this topic access the IBL article, Numbers as letters in Tunisian Arabic.

Listen to IBL contributor Samar H. speak Chna7welek?:

2. Ça va? / سا فا؟

As might be imagined Ça va? / سا فا؟ is a derivative of the French greeting Comment ça va? (also usually spoken as simply Ça va? amongst French speakers). Ça va? is also a way of saying, “How are you?” And although Chna7welek? and Ça va? are very popular greetings amongst Tunisian Arabic speakers, it has been observed that Ça va? is more popularly spoken.

Listen to IBL contributor Samar H. say Ça va?:

3. Lebes alik? / لباس عليك؟

A third way that has the effect of How are you? in Tunisian Arabic is the greeting Lebes (or Labes) alik? / لباس عليك؟. Lebes is a popular word amongst the Maghrebi dialects of Arabic and means Good in an emotional context. Alik / عليك can be found in other popular greetings like Salem alikom / السلام عليكم. Al / عل is a preposition that means “on” or “upon”. Again, the -ik (or -ek) / ك- frames the greeting in the You form. If you wish to address more than one person simultaneously with this type of greeting you would say or write Lebes alikom / لباس عليكم؟. In Tunisian Arabic, like in Standard Arabic (fos7a / فصحى),  the -kom / كم puts a word or phrase in the You plural form.

A relevant side note: If you’re asked Chna7welek?, Lebes alik?, the most common way to respond that has the effect of I’m good is Ena lebes /نا لباسا. See the IBL page, “I’m good” in Tunisian Arabic.

Below IBL contributor Amine B. speaks Ena lebes:

4. Wenti lebes? / وأنت لباس؟

In Tunisian Arabic Ena / انا means “I”, Enti (or Enty) / أنت means “You” and w / و means “and“. To return a greeting after you’ve responded to any of the greetings in this article that have the effect of How are you? you can say the phrase Wenti (Wenty) lebes (labes)? / وأنت لباس؟. Given the definitions above, Wenti /وأنت is composed of W-enti / و-أنت and means “And you…” and lebes / لباس, as covered in the section above, means Good. These two words together is akin to, “And how are you?”

Listen to IBL contributor Aroua F. speak Wenti lebes?:

4. Kifennek? / كيفنـّك؟

The greeting Kifennek? / كيفنـّك؟ is another way of saying How are you? Kif / كيف is derived from the Fos7a word Kifech / كيفاش which means How and -ek / ك– puts the word in the You form. It has been noted by a Tunisian that this phrase is more commonly spoken amongst the older generation. But it’s a phrase that anyone can comfortably use and is understood by Tunisian Arabic speakers.

Samar H. speaks Kifennek?:

5. Greetings with metaphors

A fun part of the study of greetings in Tunisian Arabic is learning various greetings that use metaphors to enrich the communication and connection with each other. Below are thoughtful greetings that Tunisian Arabic speakers, at times, say or write to each other that have some use of a metaphor or metaphors.

Sbeh l ward / صباح الورد

Sbeh (or Sbe7) / صباح means “morning” l / l is a condensed version of el / ال and means “the” and ward / ورد means “flower” (ward / ورد is derived from fos7a). By someone speaking Sbeh l ward / صباح الورد to another, they are effectively saying, “I wish you a morning of flowers.”

If you’re curious about why a 7 is used as a letter in Sbe7 above, again, read the IBL article: Numbers as letters in Tunisian Arabic.

As a side note: The most popular way to say Hello in the morning in Tunisian Arabic (and in most Arabic-speaking countries) is Sbe7 lkhir / صباح الخير, which in English directly means “Good morning”. Here is the IBL page on this phrase (with a recording file and sample statements translated) and Sbe7 lkhir is covered in detail in the IBL article How to say Hello in Tunisian Arabic in this section.

Samar H. says Sbeh l ward:

Sbehek nawar / صباحك نوار

Sbehek / صباحك  has sbeh / صباح in its root and, and as usual, the –ek / ك puts the word in the You form. Nawar/ نوار is another way of saying “flower” in Tunisian Arabic. (Nawar / نوار and ward / ورد both mean “flower” in Tunisian Arabic. Nawar / نوار is indigenous to Tunisian Arabic, whereas, ward / ورد is derived from Fos7a, as noted above.)

Sbehek degla w hlib / صباحك دقلة و حليب

Sbehek / صباحك appears in this greeting again. (its definition is covered in the subsection above), Degla / دقلة means the fruit, “date”, w / و, means “and”, and hlib / حليب means “milk“. Brought together this phrase is saying “May your morning be met with dates and fruit”. As described by a Tunisian, the dates is to represent “sweet” and the milk is to represent “smooth”. So with this in mind, by using food as metaphors, someone who says this greeting is wishing that the other’s morning is sweet and smooth.

Samar H. speaks Sbehek degla w hlib:

Sbehek fol w yasmin / صباحك فل و ياسمين

Sbehek / صباحك makes an appearance again in this lively Tunisian Arabic greeting. As covered above, Sbehek / صباحك means “morning” in the You form. Fol / فل means “Arabian jasmine” (a type of jasmine flower) and yasmin / ياسمين is the general word for the jasmine flower, both in Tunisian Arabic and fos7a.

Samar H. speaks Sbehek fol w yasmin:

What’s next

Studying and learning the above material will give you plenty of ways to thoughtfully and vivaciously greet other Tunisian Arabic speakers. If you want to continue studying greetings & farewells we recommend you read the IBL articles: How to say Hello in Tunisian Arabic and How to say Goodbye in Tunisian Arabic. There is also an IBL platform list on this topic that will provide you more greetings & farewells with audio pronunciations and full statements translated: Tunisian Arabic — Greetings & farewells.

Are you instead looking to get into and learn an entirely different topic on Tunisian Arabic? You may find it constructive to read the IBL article, How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic.

Sbehek degla w hlib!

And as always, we wish you a marvellous journey.