Nationalities in Algerian Arabic

Ever been asked “m’ni:n inta/inti?” (where are you from?) and didn’t know how to answer naturally in Algerian Arabic?
In this lesson, you’ll learn how Algerians talk about nationalities in real life — the easy, everyday way.

[Note: You’ll see F for female and M for male in the examples.]

Let’s get started 👇

In general, nationality words are similar to Standard Arabic.

Examples:

I’m Egyptian (M) /ana: masri:/ أنا مَصْري

I’m Jordanian (F) /ana: ordoniyya/ أنا أُرْدُنِيّة

I’m German (M) /ana: alma:ni:/ أنا ألماني

I’m Canadian (F) /ana: kanadiyya/ أنا كَنَدِيّة

Some nationalities are a little different, and that’s why I made this lesson 😊.
They have a special Algerian touch.
They come from French words mixed with Arabic,
and that’s how they become nationalities in Algerian Dialect. The most popular ones are the following:

I’m Spanish (M) /ana: ispa:nyouli:/ أنا اسْبانْيولي

I’m Italian (F) /ana: tilya:niyya/ أنا طِلْيانِيّة

I’m Moroccan (M) /ana: marrouki:/ أنا مَرّوكي

I’m American (F) /ana: ma:ri:ka:niyya/ أنا ماريكانيّة

I’m Chinese (M) /ana: chi:n’wi:/ أنا شينْوي

I’m Japanese (F) /ana: ja:pouniyya/ أنا جابونيّة

I’ll end the nationalities lesson with my own country 🥰,
because many beginners don’t know this about Algeria.

“Al-jazair (Algeria)” is a Standard Arabic word.
In our dialect, we say “D’zayer”.
So as an Algerian woman I say:

I’m Algerian (F) /ana: d’zi:riyya/ أنا دْزيريّة

Now you know how to talk about nationalities in Algerian Darja.
Tell me in the comments “m’ni:n inta/inti?” (where are you from?). Thank you for reading!