Crazy Lebanese

.
Languages are funny clowns : they have universal principles, but they all put so different make-ups on their faces.
I was thinking about Lebanese the other day. This language is related to Arabic, spoken in Lebanon, and it's my mother tongue along with French. But French I studied at school and used every day, whereas Lebanese, I spoke and heard without reflecting on it. These days I've been looking at it more closely, and I discovered funny things about it.
Let's give a sample, translated word for word.
"Hallo Mum, how in-you ?"
"Fine. Where brother-yours ?"
"Went football match. Me hungry. Me want food. In our home food ?"
"Yes, in our home. In my home potatoes and taboule."

Have you noticed there is no verb "to be" ? What about the verb "to have" ? Can you find it in the sample ? I've always thought there was a verb "to have" in Lebanese, because I knew how to express possession, but I was mistaken : there is no verb "have". Instead, Lebanese uses an adverbial group :
hande : in-my-home = I have
handic : in-your(fem.)-home = you(girl) have
handac : in-your(masc)-home =you(boy) have
handa : in-her-home = she has
And so on.
So weird : I've always thought I was using the verbs "to be" and "to have" when I spoke Lebanese, but I wasn't, and I didn't even know it.

I love Lebanese idiomatic expressions. This language is stuffed with images. Like :
"Your blood's so heavy !" = You're annoying me.
"You're taking the soul out of me" = You're annoying me.
"His face is upside-down" = He's annoyed.
"He took a face" = He's cheeky.
"He's making his face white" = He's flattering you.
"Ya my uncle !" = gosh.
"Ya blindness !" = damn.
"May he send you [over there] !" (yib'atlac) = go to hell !
My grandmother grew up in Syria, so she sprinkles her talk with Syrian expressions. To ask "How are you ?", she says "your corner ?" - Arabic languages are very concise as you can notice.
When someones coughs, you pat him on the back and say "Smala !" (meaning "in God's name!"). When you see a healthy babe, a very intelligent child or a beautiful person, you can also say "smala".

My father's language is interesting : it's a mix of French and Lebanese. The definite article in Lebanese is "al". In French, for"glasses" we say "des lunettes". What does my dad say ? "Des al-lunettes". *grins*

Crazy languages. Crazy Lebanese. Crazy country - 150 years of troubles, of robot speech and funny idioms and delicious cuisine and Lebanese way of thinking. Let's hope all won't be lost. Lebanese are a very stubborn - they just have to be so about peace. Ya lebnaniye, ma lesim tet'aatalo !

Ya hamme, ana johane ! Ya uncle, me hungry ! *winks*