How to say “strike” in Palestinian Arabic
A strike, the kind where work stops, is 'iDraab. To go on strike is 'aDrab. And if you meant strike as in hit somebody, that's Darab. Capitals mark the emphatic letters, 3 is ع and 7 is ح; the whole reading key is one page.
'aDrab
أَضْرَب
verbto strike · go on strike
إِضْراب
nounstrike · walkout
Tap the word to hear it out loud.
ضَرَب
verbhe hit · struck · beat · to hit
Tap the word to hear it out loud.
Three words off one root
All three come from D-r-b (ض ر ب), the root for hitting. Darab is the plain verb: il-walad Darab il-baab, the boy hit the door. 'aDrab began as 'aDrab 3an, to turn away from a thing, and turning away from work is how it ended up meaning to go on strike. 'iDraab is the noun built from it.
You'll hear the noun far more than the verb. 'aDrab belongs to newsreaders and union statements. At home people say 3imlu 'iDraab, they held a strike, or just bukra 'iDraab, and everyone understands the shops will be shut tomorrow. A strike in a Palestinian town means metal shutters down the length of the street. In the general strike of 1936 they stayed down for six months.
An air strike is other vocabulary altogether. The news says ghaara, a raid, or Darbe jawwiyye. In conversation it's mostly qaSf, which covers shelling and bombing both.
Phrases built on it
- 'iDraab shaamelإِضْراب شامِل
- a general strike
- 'iDraab 3an iT-Ta3aamإِضْراب عَن الطَّعام
- a hunger strike
- il-m3allmeen muDribeenالمْعَلّْمين مُضْرِبين
- the teachers are on strike (one striker is muDreb)
- fakku il-'iDraabفَكّوا الإِضْراب
- they called the strike off
- Darbeضَرْبِة
- a blow, a single hit
- ghaaraغارَة
- an air raid
- qaSfقَصْف
- shelling, bombing
Same word, different English
The same words sit behind each of these.
In a sentence
'aDrab il-3ummaal marra taanye.
أَضْرَب الْعُمَّال مَرَّة تَانْيِة.
The workers went on strike once again.
ma 7ada ghaSabo, huwwe 'aDrab b-'iraadto.
ما حَدا غَصَبو، هُوّه أَضْرَب بْإِرادْتو.
Nobody forced him, he went on strike of his own will.
il-'iDraab kaan shaamel, jamee3 id-dakaakeen bi-l-qiTaa3 sakkaret.
الإِضْراب كان شامِل، جَميع الدَّكاكين بِالقِطاع سَكَّرَت.
The strike was general, all the shops in the Strip closed.
il-3ummaal 'ayyadu il-'iDraab.
الْعُمَّال أَيَّدُوا الإِضْرَاب.
The workers supported the strike.
jamee3 it-tujjaar sakkaru dakaakeenhum bi-l-'iDraab.
جَميع التُّجّار سَكَّروا دَكاكينْهُم بِالإِضْراب.
All the traders closed their shops during the strike.
sime3ti il-khabar? id-dawle 'a3lanet 'iDraab shaamel bukra.
سِمِعْتي الخَبَر؟ الدَّوْلة أَعْلَنِت إِضْراب شامِل بُكْرا.
Did you hear the news? The state announced a general strike tomorrow.
7izeret Sa7! shaaTer. il-7uzzeere 'a7la min khabar il-'iDraab u-il-fawDa.
حِزِرِت صَح! شاطِر. الحُزّيرة أَحْلى مِن خَبَر الإِضْراب وْالفَوْضى.
You guessed right! Clever. The riddle is nicer than the news of the strike and the chaos.
الوَلَد ضَرَب الباب.
The boy hit the door.
المِسْكِين ضَرَب نَفْسُه.
The poor guy hit himself.
الكَلْب؟ ما حَداش ضَرَبُه.
The dog? Nobody hit it.
il-m3allem qaaSaS il-walad lamma Darab Saa7bo.
المْعَلِّم قاصَص الوَلَد لَمّا ضَرَب صاحْبو.
The teacher punished the boy when he hit his friend.
Nearby words
Looking for a word that isn't here? Search eight thousand spoken words in the Palestinian Arabic dictionary. Need it in a different spelling system? Paste it into the transliteration converter.