كرمال

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology

Visibly a univerbation of Arabic كُرْمًا لِ، كُرْمَى لِ (kurman li, kurmā li, “as an act of generosity toward”), attested in that meaning along with كُرْمَةً لِ (kurmatan li) in lexicons compiled as early as the 10th century. Compare عقبال.

Pronunciation

(Lebanon) IPA^(key): /kɪɾ.meːl/

Preposition

كرمال • (kirmāl)

1. for; for the sake of

   أنا بعِيش بس كرمال ولادي.

   ʾana bʿīš bas kirmāl wlādi.

   Me, I live only for my children.

Conjunction

كرمال • (kirmāl)

1. (Lebanon) to, in order to

   راحت معي عالمحل كرمال تشتري بندورة

   rāḥit maʿi ʿal-maḥall kirmāl tištiri banadūra

   She went to the store with me to buy tomatoes.

   (literally, “She went with me to the store for that she buy tomatoes”)

Usage notes

• As Arabics have no infinitive verb forms, instead using the subjunctive, a more-accurate translation might be for, in order for. The word is therefore equivalent to English’s usually-invisible for as in for to.
• Sometimes reinforced with synonyms, as in كِرمَال تَ (kirmāl ta).

Synonyms

• لَ (la)
• تَ (ta)
• حَتَّى (ḥatta)
• حَتَّالا (ḥattāla)
• حَتَّالِي (ḥattāle)
• حَتَّالتي (ḥattālte)
• مِنشَان (minšān)
• مشَان (mišān, mšān)
• عَشَان (ʕašān)