Lebanon 3

Listen to Lebanon 3, a 30-year-old man from Beirut, Lebanon. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 30

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/05/1989

PLACE OF BIRTH: Beirut, Lebanon

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Arab/Lebanese

OCCUPATION: researcher

EDUCATION: currently pursuing a Ph.D

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject lived in Beirut from birth until age 20. Then he lived in the following areas:

Qatar: age 20-21
London, England: 21-22
Beirut, Lebanon: 22-23
London, England: 23-27
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 27-30
London, England: 30-present

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject was taught English and French from primary school through high school. He learned American, as opposed to British, English.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Sarah Maria Nichols

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 26/05/2019

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

So, I did my undergraduate degree in Lebanon, focusing on business studies. After that, I moved to Qatar for a year. Eh, I worked in consulting and auditing over there. But that didn’t last too long; eh, I wanted a change. So I wanted to further my education. And I decided to, uh, continue my master’s degree in London. So, I moved back to London, eh, for a year, where I studied finance. And after that, I applied for a job back in Lebanon to try and, uh, try the w – try working there again. Eh, but, eh, I missed London. So I decided to go back and continue my Ph.D. So that was a dream of mine, to continue my education in finance.

Usually during summertime, I would visit my, uh, family back in Lebanon. And we – I would go up with my uncle to the mountains, to one of the highest mountains there, called Sannine. And we would spend a day there, barbecuing and, uh, just right under the sky, no clouds. So, you’re way – high enough you’re over the clouds. And we spend a day, uh, barbecuing and eating and going on hikes. And at night, we would set up the tents and spend the night there. The next day, when you wake up, you would actually see the sun rising from behind the mountains, so sun rises actually from behind the mountain. That’s very – a beautiful view.

So, [in] the formal, written Arabic, you would say, “al taksou fi al kharej jamil,” which means, “the weather outside is beautiful.” In Lebanese, or the informal dialect, you would say, “ta’es barra helo,” which means, “the weather outside is beautiful, or nice.”

[See the image below for the subject’s transcription of his Arabic speech.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Sarah Maria Nichols

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 26/05/2019

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.

• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.

• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.

• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.