Algeria: To Exist or Not to Exist  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A query on LINGUIST List the other day asked for examples of other languages which, like English, have a verb “exist” distinct from the general-purpose existential “there is”. In Algerian Arabic, such a verb has emerged in recent years through borrowing from French, explains Algerian linguist and blogger Lameen Souag.