The word 'Lissa' is prominently displayed in a bold, rounded font against a warm orange background, with soft, wavy shapes resembling sand dunes beneath it.

Lissa in Egyptian Arabic

When I first started learning Egyptian Arabic, there was one word that gave me a headache: lissa -ู„ูุณู‘ู‡; sometimes spelled ู„ูุณูŽู‘ู‰ or ู„ูุณู‘ุฉ. Let’s see why.

Last updated: 2 months

Many beginners struggle with the word lissa in .

Let’s put it under the microscope.

The word lissa – an overview

Lissa (ู„ูุณู‘ู‡) can mean “still“, “just“, “not yet” in Egyptian Arabic.

  • Lissa means not yet in negative sentence. This is also the case when lissa is used as a stand-alone .
  • In non-negative sentences (affirmative) the word lissa usually means still or just.

“Just” versus “not yet”

This can be confusing for beginners.

Lissa in the meaning of “just” or “only recently”

I have just arrived..ู„ูุณู‘ู‡ ูˆุงุตูู„
They just came.. ู„ูุณู‘ู‡ ุฌุงูŠู‘ููŠู†
He was standing next to me just a second ago..ุฏู‡ ู„ูุณู‘ู‡ ูˆุงู‚ูู ุฌูŽู†ู’ุจููŠ ู…ูู† ุซุงู†ู’ูŠูŽุฉ

Note that the word lissa is frequently used in combination with the active participle (ุงูุณู… ูุงุนูู„) to express a past tense meaning (meaning of just): ู„ูุณู‘ู‡+ุงุณู’ู… ูุงุนูู„

The meaning of “not yet”

I haven’t arrived yet..ู…ุง ูˆูŽุตูŽู„ู’ุชุด ู„ูุณู‘ู‡
They haven’t come yet.. ู„ูุณู‘ู‡ ู…ุงุฌููˆุด

Note that if you want to express the meaning of not yet, you use the past tense (ุงู„ู’ู…ุงุถูŠ) in Arabic in combination with the negation (ู…ุง+ุด).

The meaning of “still”

No action involved

How do we use lissa if there is no action (no verb) mentioned in the sentence, but an adjective or ? Some examples:

It is still early.ู„ูุณู‘ู‡ ุจูŽุฏู’ุฑููŠ
There is still time.ู„ูุณู‘ู‡ ููŠู‡ ูˆูŽู‚ู’ุช
There is still one week (to go);ู„ูุณู‘ู‡ ุฃูุณู’ุจููˆุน
He’s still young.ู‡ููˆู‘ูŽ ู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡ ุตูุบูŽูŠู‘ูŽุฑ
It’s still to soon for…ู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡ ุจูŽุฏู’ุฑููŠ ุนูŽู„ูŽู‰

What verb-form do you use if you want to express “still”?

The present tense (ุงู„ู’ู…ูุถุงุฑูุน).

I am still eating.ู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡ ุจุขูƒูู„
I am still studying at the center.ู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡ ุจุงุฏู’ุฑูุณ ููŠ ุงู„ู’ู…ูŽุฑู’ูƒูŽุฒ
I’ve still to deliver the menu (food).ู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡ ุญุงูˆูŽุฏู‘ููŠ ุงู„ู’ูˆูŽุฌู’ุจุฉ

Note that you use the present tense in Egyptian Arabic (ุจ+ููุนู„ ู…ูุถุงุฑูุน) to express still. Do not use the active participle (ุงูุณู’ู… ูุงุนูู„) as this usually expresses just – see number 1.


“Just” in the meaning of “now”

The word lissa is often used in the connection with the for now, i.e. dilwa’ti (ุฏูู„ู’ูˆูŽู‚ู’ุชููŠ)

They just now left.ู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡ ุทูู„ู’ุนููˆุง ุฏูู„ู’ูˆูŽู‚ู’ุชููŠ

Lissa as a stand-alone word

Haveโ€ฆ yet?

You will also hear the word lissa very often in questions that contain Haveโ€ฆ yet?

Question: Have you written it?ูƒูุชูุจู’ุชูู‡ ูˆูŽู„ุง ู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡ุŸ
Answer: Not yet.ู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡

Directly connected to a sentence

She put up with a lot, and there’s more to come.ุงูุณู’ุชูŽุญู’ู…ูู„ูุชู’ ูƒู’ุชููŠุฑุŒ ูˆูŽู„ูุณู‘ูŽู‡

Remark:

In some Arabic dialects, the word lissa (ู„ูุณู‘ุงis connected to a pronoun (ุถูŽู…ููŠุฑ), for example:

Haven’t you…ู„ูุณู‘ูŽุงูƒููˆ

Egyptian Arabic is a wonderful dialect – here is some “proof”:

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Muhammad
Muhammad
5 years ago

Thats an amazing post
Thanks a lot

Muhammad
Muhammad
5 years ago

In this sentence the translation is not accurate , lissa here means โ€žyetโ€œ or โ€žstill willโ€œ
Mostafa yet/still will appeal after the judgeโ€ฆ

Muhammad
Muhammad
5 years ago

Thats an amazing post
Thanks a lot

Jacob West
Jacob West
6 years ago

I have “The Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs” and an example sentence is given

“ู…ุตุทูู‰ ู„ุณู‡ ู‡ูŠุณุชุฃู†ู ุจุนุฏ ู…ุง ุงู„ู‚ุงุถูŠ ูŠุญูƒู… ููŠ ู‚ุถูŠุชู‡” and the translation is given as “Mostafa will appeal after the judge rules in his case”.

I can’t find out exactly what ู„ุณู‡ is doing in this case. Maybe “he will still appeal”? or just a filler word?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you

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