العقد عالطاولة.

Because this is a present-tense nominal sentence. In Levantine Arabic, simple present-tense sentences often leave out the verb to be. So العقد عالطاولة literally looks like the noun + on the table, but it means the noun is on the table.

If you wanted past or future, you would usually add a verb, such as كان for was or رح يكون for will be.

عالطاولة is a very common colloquial contraction of على الطاولة.

It breaks down like this:

• عَـ / عَ = shortened spoken form of على
• الطاولة = the table

So عالطاولة is basically on the table.

In everyday Levantine speech, على is very often shortened to عَ before another word, especially before الـ. So على الطاولة naturally becomes عالطاولة in normal speech.

Both forms are understandable, but عالطاولة sounds more natural and conversational in Levantine.

Because ط is a sun letter. With sun letters, the ل of الـ assimilates to the next consonant.

So:

• الطاولة is pronounced more like aṭ-ṭāwle
• and عالطاولة sounds like ʕaṭ-ṭāwle

The spelling stays the same, but the pronunciation changes.

Here, the ل is pronounced, because ع is not a sun letter. So the article does not assimilate.

In Levantine, الـ is usually pronounced il- or el- in speech, so the beginning of العقد is typically something like il-ʕ... or el-ʕ..., depending on the speaker and region.

Because normal Arabic writing usually leaves out short vowels. That means a spelling like عقد does not show every vowel sound you need for pronunciation.

So learners often need one of these to know the exact spoken form:

• context
• prior vocabulary knowledge
• vowel marks
• a teacher or audio model

This is completely normal in Arabic, and it is one reason listening practice matters a lot.

ع is one of the sounds English speakers usually find hardest. It does not have a true English equivalent.

A good beginner description is:

• make a voiced sound
• tighten the throat farther back than for normal English sounds
• do not replace it with a plain vowel if you can avoid it

Even an approximate ʕ-like sound is better than dropping it completely. Over time, listening and imitation help much more than abstract explanation.

It is clearly Levantine-style colloquial Arabic because of عالطاولة.

In Modern Standard Arabic, you would more normally write:

العقد على الطاولة

The overall structure is the same, but the contracted عالـ is a spoken colloquial feature.

Yes. People will understand it, and it may sound a bit more careful or less contracted. But in everyday Levantine speech, العقد عالطاولة is more natural.

In very casual writing, you may also see slight spelling variation in colloquial style, because people often write closer to how they speak.

Yes, you could change the meaning by changing definiteness.

• عالطاولة = on the table
• ع طاولة or على طاولة = on a table

So the الـ on الطاولة is there because the sentence refers to a specific table, not just any table.