Phrases
Ahmar, Azrag, Jozi: Colors in Iraqi Arabic
أزرگ
azrag
Blue (Iraqi pronunciation)
The Iraqi 'g' shows up in color words too
The word for blue swaps the Standard Arabic 'q' for the Iraqi 'g': أزرگ (azrag) instead of 'azraq'. It's the same shift you hear across Iraqi dialect, and it instantly marks the word as Iraqi rather than textbook Arabic.
أزرگ
azrag
Blue
Iraqi 'g' replaces Standard Arabic 'q'
Jozi: Iraq's own word for brown
Most Arabic dialects use بني (bunni) for brown, but Iraqi Arabic has its own word: جوزي (jozi) — literally 'walnut-colored,' from جوز (joz), 'walnut.' It's a small but genuinely distinctive piece of Iraqi vocabulary.
جوزي
jozi
Brown
Literally 'walnut-colored' — most other dialects say 'bunni'
The rest of the palette
أحمر (ahmar) is red, أصفر (asfar) is yellow, أخضر (akhdar) is green, اسود (aswad) is black, and أبيض (abyadh) is white — the core colors you'll use every day.
أحمر
ahmar
Red
أصفر
asfar
Yellow
اسود
aswad
Black
أبيض
abyadh
White
Pink, orange, and purple
وردي (wardi) is pink, named after ورد (ward), 'rose.' برتقالي (burtuqali) is orange, from برتقال (burtuqal), 'orange (the fruit).' And بنفسجي (banafsaji) is purple.
وردي
wardi
Pink
برتقالي
burtuqali
Orange
بنفسجي
banafsaji
Purple
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