Learn Hardcore Arabic (Levantine): هاي لوحة تجريدية.

In Levantine Arabic, هاي is commonly used for this with feminine nouns, or as a feminine this when pointing to something feminine. Since لوحة is a feminine noun, هاي matches it.

You may also hear regional variants such as هيدي in some parts of the Levant.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

In Arabic, the present-tense verb to be is usually not said in simple sentences like this.

So instead of saying:

This is an abstract painting

Levantine Arabic simply says:

هاي لوحة تجريدية

This is called a nominal sentence. The idea of is is understood automatically.

If you wanted past or future, then Arabic would use other words, but in the present tense it is normally left out.

Is هاي acting like this in this painting, or is it a separate pronoun?

Here, هاي is best understood as a separate pronoun: this.

So the structure is roughly:

هاي = this
لوحة تجريدية = an abstract painting

So the whole sentence is more like: