Friday, March 28, 2008

Egyptian Arabic Alphabet

There's no way I can put Arabic orthography lessons on the site. The only way to learn the alphabet is to practice and memorize. But I'll give a run down of the sounds of Egyptian Arabic using words commonly found in Arabic music.

ا - alif, as in "Ah" آه which means "ow," like an expression of pain or frustration

ب - ba, as in "Bahebbak" بحبك which means "I love you"

ت - ta, as in "Tani" تاني which means "another" or "again"

ث - ta or sa, as in "Sawani" ثواني which means "seconds" from the same word as "tani." While this letter in Standard Arabic is a "tha," it has merged with the letters "ta" and "siin" now. For old and common words "ta" is more common, and from new, borrowed, or reborrowed wor.ds "sa" is more likely.

ج - giim, as in "Gameel" جميل which means "beautiful." In Egypt, it is usually pronounced as a "ga" as opposed to the Standard Arabic "ja."

ح - Ha (7a), as in "Habibi" حبيبي which means "my darling." This sound does not exist in English, but it is like a regular Ha in English only "harsher." A friend has described it to me as a "phone sex 'h'"

خ - xa (5a or kha), as in "Khudni" خدني which means "take me." This sound is like kinda the ch in Bach from german, the french 'r' in "quatre" or to an English speaker probably sounds like they are about to spit

د - daal, as in "Dunya" دنيا which can mean "the world," "the prevailing environment" or "everyone."

ذ - daal or zaal, as in "Dayeb" ذائب which means "melting" often in love. Like "tha," "dhaal" loses its standard Arabic pronunciation, becoming a "da" sound for old and common words and a "za" sound for newer, borrowed, or reborrowed words from Standard Arabic.

ر - ra, as in "Rooh" روح which means "soul." It is trilled like the Spanish r.

ز - zay, as in "Zaman" زمن which means "time" as in the 4th dimension

س - sin, as in "Sawa" سوا which means "together"

ش - shiin, as in "Shuf" شوف which means "see," "look," or "look at"

ص - Saad, as in "Sabr" صبر which means "patience." The Saad is like an English s but with more rounding of the lips to produce a deeper hiss.

ض - Daad, as in "Da3" ضاع which means "lost" or "wasted." Daad is like the English d in the same relationship as Saad is to s.

ط - Ta (6a), as in "Tayr" طير which means "bird." Ta is in the same relationship with the English T as Daad is with d

ظ - Da or Za, as in "Zalim" ظالم which means "unjust" or "oppressive." This sound is DHa in Standard Arabic, but either becomes a "Za" sound or a "Da" sound in Egyptian.

ع - Ayn (3ayn), as in "3ayni" عيني which means "my eye" (a very common term of endearment in Arabic). 3ayn has no equivalent in English and I don't know how to describe it. Just read and listen for it. For those who know linguistics, its the voiced version of ح

غ - ghayn, as in "Ghali" غالي which means "precious." It's like a ga sound only it's like you're gargling water.

ف - fa, as in "Farah" فرح which means "joy" or "happiness"

ق - qaff (9aff, 2aff), as in "Qalbi" قلبي which means "my heart." Originally this sound is like an English k only deeper in the throat, as if you were choking, but in Egypt it is usually pronounced as a glottal stop like the sound in between Uh and Oh in Uh-Oh. So "Qalbi" becomes "Albi."

ك - kaff (Chaff), as in "Keef" كيف which means "how" east of Egypt.

ل - laam, as in "Leel" ليل which means "night"

م - miim, as in "Majnun" مجنون which means "mad" or "crazy"

ن - nuun, as in "Nar" نار which means "fire"

ه - ha, as in "Hawa" هوى which is one of the many words for love "hawa"

و - waaw, as in "Waheshtini" وحشتيني which is how you tell a girl "I miss you"

ي - ya, as in "Ya habibi" يا حبيبي which means "oh my darling." To address someone like "oh" or "hey" in English, you say "ya" before the name or title you are calling them.

Topik 79: Format Baru

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Para pembaca yang dirahmati Allah. Untuk menambah variasi dalam tulisan ini, saya akan coba “permak” format penulisan, Insya Allah mulai tulisan topik ini. Saya akan bagi tiga bagian: (i) Ungkapan, (ii) Kosa Kata Baru, (iii) Al-Quran.

Sampai kapan format ini akan bertahan? Allahu a’lamu. Yang jelas saya mencoba mengubah format penulisan agar tetap segar. Baiklah kita mulai.

I. Ungkapan

السلام عليكم – assalamu ‘alaykum
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته – wa ‘alaykumussalaam warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh

صَبَاحُ الْخَيْرِ – shobbaahul khair : selamat pagi
صَبَاحُ النُّوْرِ – shobbaahun nuur : selamat pagi juga (jawaban)

مُنْذُ زَمَانٍ لَمْ أَرَاكَ – mundzu zamaan lam arooka : lama saya tidak berjumpa Anda
كَيْفَ حَالُكَ – kaifa haaluk ? : bagaimana kabar Anda?

الحمد لله أَنَا بِخَيْرٍ – Alhamdulillah ana bi khoir: Alhamdulillah saya baik-baik saja

أَنَا سَعِيْدٌ بِلِقَائِكَ – ana sa’iid biliqooik : saya gembira berjumpa denganmu

أَنَا فُجُوْرٌ بِلِقَائِكَ – ana fuujuur biliqooik: saya senang berjumpa denganmu

تَبْدُوْ سَعِيْدًا هَذَا الْيَوْمَ – tabdu sa’iid hadzal yaum : Anda tampak gembira hari ini

شُكْرًا – syukran : terima kasih

تَفَضَّلْ بِلْجُلُوْسِ – tafaddhol bil juluus : silahkan duduk

البَيْتُ بَيْتَكَ – al-baytu baitak : (rumah ini rumahmu) = anggaplah rumah sendiri

هَيَّا نَشْرَبْ الشَيْ – hayya nasyrobis syaay : mari kita minum teh


II. Kosa Kata Baru

سعيد – sa-‘iid : gembira
تفضل – tafaddhol : silahkan
نشرب – nasyrab : minum

III. Al-Quran

Baiklah kita coba lihat tiga kata baru yang kita pelajari tsb di Al-Quran. Kata سعيد – sa’iid, dapat kita tebak, sebagai kata shifat. Loh… kok bisa? Ya tampak dari adanya ya, yang menyebabkan bunyi iii panjang. Contohnya kariim كريم (mulia), kabiir كبير (besar), jamiil جميل (cantik), dsb.

Kalau mau tahu kata kerjanya, maka buang ya nya, sehingga menjadi sa-’i-da سعد.

Kata sa-‘i-da : bahagia (happy, blessed) dalam Al-Quran ada di satu surat 11:108

وأما الذين سعدوا – wa ammal ladziina su-‘iduu : dan adapun orang-orang yang dibahagiakan

Terlihat disini Al-Quran menggunakan bentuk pasif: su-‘i-da (dibahagiakan), atau su-‘i-duu (mereka dibahagiakan).

Sedangkan kata sa’iid (bahagia, kata sifat) ada dalam satu surat di Al-Quran, 11:105

فمنهم شقي وسعيد – faminhum syaqiyyun wa sa-‘ii-dun : dan diantara mereka ada yang syaqiyyun (celaka), ada yang sa-‘ii-dun (bahagia).

Selanjutnya, kata تفضّل - tafadhdhol, adalah kata kerja perintah, yang artinya: Silahkan. Ini adalah bentuk kata kerja turunan ke 5. Akar katanya adalah:

فضل - يفضل : fadhola - yafdhulu : lebih
تفضل - يتفضل : tafadhdhola - yatafadhdholu : memberikan karunia, atau melebihkan
تفضل : tafadhdhol: silahkan

Di Al-Quran akar kata tafadhdhol ini kita jumpai dalam 2 ayat: yaitu surat 13 : 4, dan surat 23 : 24. Akan tetapi bentuk yang dipakai adalah kata kerja asal bukan KKT 2. Contohnya di surat 13: 4:

ونفضل بعضها - wa nufadhdhilu ba'dhohaa : dan kami melebihkan sebagian dari mereka.

Disini yang di gunakan adalah KKT-2. Ingat-ingat lagi fungsi KKT-2 adalah untuk mengjadikan fi'il yang tidak punya objek menjadi punya objek. Dalam rumus praktis, KKT-2 itu adalah kata kerja yang mendapat tambahan me....kan.

Contoh KK asal: fadhola = lebih, maka
KKT-2: fahddhola - yufadhdhilu = me-lebih-kan.

Kata terakhir yang hendak kita bahas adalah: nasyrob = kita minum. Akar katanya adalah syariba - yasyrabu : minum.

Dalam AQ, kata syariba - yashrabu ini kita jumpai dalam banyak tempat.
Contohnya di surat 83:28.

عينا يشرب بها المكربون - 'ainan yasyrabu bihaa al-mukarrabuun: mata air yang a-lmukarrabuun meminum nya.

Terlihat disini yang digukakan adalah KK asal dalam bentuk present (fi'il mudhori').

Dan masih banyak lagi kata yasrabu (minum) ini terdapat dalam AQ.

Sebagai penutup, ayat ini cukup sering digunakan untuk menasehati teman/orang lain agar tidak berlebih lebihan dalam makan/minum, surat 7:31.

كلوا واشربوا ولا تسرفوا - kuluu wasyrabuu walaa tusrifuu : makan dan minumlah, tapi jangan berlebih-lebihan.

Demikian... Insya Allah kita akan lanjutkan pada topik berikutnya.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Salman al- Farsi

From: “Companions of The Prophet”, Vol.1 This is a story of a seeker of Truth, the story of Salman the Persian, gleaned, to begin with, from his own words:I grew up in the town of Isfahan in Persia in the village of Jayyan. My father was the Dihqan or chief of the village. He was the richest person there and had the biggest house.Since I was a child my father loved me, more than he loved any

Travels in Xanadu-du: The Book, it has Landed!

I know most of you are desperate to know about the progress of my novel, Travels in Xanadu-du. Not least because some of you have actually paid good, hard cash money to get a hold of a copy. Only a month late, I am pleased to announce that it is shipping! Not without glitches, of course. Life would be so boring if everything went to plan, now wouldn't it? The plan was that the printers would make a big pile of books. The bulk of these would be shipped to Liverpool where my publisher is based, and ten copies would be delivered to me in sunny Madrid to do with whatever I like. Hmm. Some bugger got it wrong. The doorbell rang at about noon today, and the nice (but sweaty) young man from UPS delivered box upon box of books into our micro-piso (if you've been following the plot, you'll know that we live in the world's smallest flat, but we love it because it's right in the middle of Madrid).



I've seen my name in print many times. But to stack up a bunch of books like this, well; it's a bit unusual.

So, I spent the afternoon printing shipping notes and address labels, printing and signing maps of Xanadu-du, signing the books themselves, and then packing up the pre-ordered books and taking them to the Post Office to wave goodbye to them. Please take note: no author that you've ever heard of went to such great lengths to keep his punters happy!

Actually, this cock-up didn't work out too badly: we saved a good old British pound on postage to the UAE. But we gained an extra one on postage to the UK.

Until the current stock is exhausted, you can get your book signed and personally taken to the Post Office by the author, and a signed colour map if I feel like it. So get on over to Xanadu-du, and place your order NOW!!!

I love you all.

Neurosurgery in Iraq

They say "blogging is difficult but its harldly brain surgery." But this one is. Dr. Haitham H. Shareef writes about all the latest developments in the field of neurology in Iraq. So if you are a brain surgeon looking for like-minded (no pun intended) people or desperate to know if you can get your suprasellar arachnoid cyst treated with endoscopy in Baghdad... this is the blog for you.

What I like about this blog is that it is so ordinary. It shows whatever happens to Iraq we will always bounce back.

So now we have brain surgery what next.. rocket science? oops lets not go there!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Topik 78: Kalimat Pasif KKT 5

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Para pembaca yang dirahmati Allah SWT. Mohon maaf karena satu dan lain hal frekuensi penulisan agak “slow” hehe… Kata salah seorang teman saya, Pak Herry Sudjono: “wah… lagi nyari inspirasi ya…” hehe… Sebenarnya bukan cari inspirasi, karena masih banyak materi di buku-buku bahasa Arab yang bisa diangkat disini untuk dibicarakan, termasuk membahas ayat-ayat Al-Quran. Akan tetapi yang sebenarnya terjadi adalah, saat ini saya merasa agak ”jenuh” untuk menulis. Tapi karena satu dan beberapa email minta saya nulis lagi, menambah semangat saya juga untuk terus menulis. Mungkin ini salah satu maksud mengapa di ayat-ayat AQ, menggunakan KKT 4, wa tawaashaw bil haqqi (tawaashaw, KKT 4 mendapat tambahan TA dan ALIF, yang artinya saling mengerjakan sesuatu). Wa tawaashaw (saling ”washi” – berwasiat), ya kita harus saling berwasiat, saling mengingatkan, saling memberi semangat, untuk tetap istiqomah dijalan kebaikan.

Oke baiklah. Karena hari ini adalah hari libur nasional memperingati Maulid Nabi besar Muhammad SAW, mari kita saling mengigatkan untuk senantiasa mengikuti uswatun hasanatun kita Rasulullah SAW. Ulama-ulama sholih mengingatkan kita untuk giat belajar bahasa Arab, sebagai pilar untuk mempertahankan kemurnian ajaran Islam. Dinasehatkan:
تعلموا اللغة العربية واعلموها الناس – ta’allamuu al-lughota al-arabiyyata wa ’allimuuhaa an-naasa
Pelajarilah bahasa Arab dan ajarkanlah kepada manusia.

Umar RA juga mengingatkan kita untuk belajar bahasa Al-Quran ini. Dia berkata:
تعلموا الغة العربية فإنها من دينكم – ta’allamuu al-lughata al-‘arabiyyata fainnahaa min diinikum
Pelajarilah bahasa Arab karena bahasa Arab itu bagian dari agamamu

Oke, baiklah kita segera mulai lanjutan pelajaran kita…

Aina washolnaa? (sudah sampai dimana kita kemaren?) Oh ya sudah bahas mengenai Kalimat Pasif. Tapi yang sudah kita bahas itu hanya kalimat pasif dari kata kerja 3 huruf asli. Contoh:

خلق الله الناس – kholaqo Allahu an-naasa (Allah menciptakan manusia)
خلق الناس – khuliqa an-naasu (Manusia diciptakan)

Kalau ada waktu insya Allah kita bisa bahas, ragam kalimat dari satu kalimat aktif menjadi 3 bagian:
1. Kalimat pasif
2. Kalimat berita tentang subject
3. Kalimat berita tentang object

Wah apa lagi nih… Gini Mas… Biar jelas, kita kasih contoh saja ya…

يفتح الموظف باب المكتبة صباحا – yaftahu al-muwazhzhofu baaba al-maktabati shobbaahan
Petugas itu membuka pintu perpustakaan pada pagi hari.

Oke kalimat diatas kalimat aktif kan? Oke... sekarang kita bisa membuat 3 macam kalimat dari kalimat diatas, yaitu:

يفتح باب المكتبة صباحا – yuftahu baabu al-maktabati shobbaahan.
Pintu perpustakaan dibuka pada pagi hari.

Itu kalimat pertama yang bisa kita buat. Sekarang kalimat ke dua, yang menjelaskan tentang subject. Siapa subjectnya : petugas. Ngapain dia? Membuka pintu.

الموظف فاتح – al-muwazzafu faathihun : petugas itu (adalah) orang yang membuka (pintu)

Kalimat ketiga yang kita bisa buat, adalah kalimat tentang object, yaitu pintu.

باب المكتبة مفتوح – baabu al-maktabati maftuuhun: pintu perpustakaan itu terbuka.

Terlihat kan bahwa dari satu kalimat aktif yang sempurna, kita bisa membuat 3 macam kalimat baru. Insya Allah kita akan latihan hal ini lagi di bagian-bagian lain.

Sekarang kita lihat hal yang sedikit lebih sukar. Apa itu?

Oke... Bagaimana membentuk kalimat pasif dari KKT 5. Oh ya KKT 5 itu adalah KKT dengan wazan تفعل – tafa’-‘ala.

Contohnya:

تفكر في – tafakkara fii : memikirkan

تفكر محمد في درسه – tafakkara muhammadun fii darsihi : Muhammad memikirkan pelajarannya.

Bagaimana pasifnya?

درسه تفكر في -darsuhu tufukkira fii : Pelajarannya dipikirkan.

Oke, apa yang bisa dipelajari? Insya Allah mudah. Yaitu, jika kita bertemu wazan KKT-5, maka urutan aktif pasif sbb:

تفعل – tafa’-‘ala (aktif)
تفعل – tufu’-‘ila (pasif)

Contoh lain:

تقدم الوالد أمام ولده – taqoddama al-waalidu amaama waladihi : Bapak itu berjalan mendahului anaknya.

Lihat KKT 5 nya: تقدم – taqoddama : berjalan mendahului

Jika dipasifkan, ingat ingat lagi wazannya: tufu’-‘ila, berarti taqoddama menjadi tuquddima. Sehingga kalimatnya menjadi:

تقدم الولد – tuquddima al-waladu : anak itu didahului.

Oke… Insya Allah mengerti ya… Kita akan lanjutkan lagi dengan topik lain, dengan masih membahas seputar kalimat pasif. Insya Allah.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Shopkeeper

Once a boy went to a shop with his mother.The shop keeper looked at the small cute child and showed him a bottle with sweets and said 'Dear Child...you can take some of these sweets...but the child didnt take them. The shop keeper was surprised, such a small child he isand why is he not taking the sweets from the bottle. Again he said take the sweets...this time the mother also heard that and

Hard Rock To Close in Three Months

Apparently the land that the Hard Rock Café stands on has been sold to somebody who wants to build a skyscraper, and we know how desperately Dubai needs more of those. So yet another Dubai landmark will be pulled down. There's a Facebook Group. As I remarked on there:

What a shock! I remember when HRC was first built, and I thought 'what a crap location'. Now it's in the heart of New Dubai. I think I left Dubai at the right time: the powers that be have no idea how to build a city: they only know how to build buildings (well, some of them know how to build buildings). But cities are about much more than the buildings that they are made of: they're about soul and culture and character. Dammit.

Anyone can join this group: I wouldn't expect it to make a difference, but it would be nice to think that the authorities do take a bit of notice. Not that the evidence bears this out, of course: the Exiles and Country Club gone, Satwa and Safa Park under threat. Surely there must come a point where you stop throwing away the good stuff that you have and replacing it with tacky and soulless rubbish? Oh, sorry, this is Dubai.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Teach English this Summer in Morocco

Morocco has a very good demand for English at the moment as well as a low cost of living. For new ESL teachers, a good way to get experience is by teaching in English camps. The Language House is now offering this opportunity to its graduates. Upon completion of our TESOL course you can have paid work arranged for the months of June and July. Our English camps are based in Marrakesh, one of the most exciting cities in Morocco.

We still have space available on our TESOL Course program in Montpellier for the month of May. Come and join us by visiting our site for more details at www.teflanguagehouse.com or by contacting Gyl Johnson at gb@tesolhouse.com.

Egyptian Arabic Vocabulary

Egyptian Arabic Vocabulary. Organized alphabetically in Arabic. Use browser "search in this page" function to search the list in English or Arabic.

This vocabulary is comprised of words from the lessons on this site as well as other important vocabulary drawn from Badawi's Dictionary of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic and AUC's Let's Chat in Arabic colloquial Arabic textbook.

أ

to begin - ابتدى
never - أبداً
April - أبريل
son of a dog (son of a bitch) - ابن كلب
white - أبيض
to be happy, enjoy oneself - اتبسط
to graduate - اتخرج
to amuse onself - اتسلى
to imagine - اتصوّر
to be reassured - اتطعن
to have dinner - اتعشى
to learn - اتعلم
to have lunch - اتغدى
to watch - اتفرج على
come in, go ahead - اتفضل
to run into each other, meet - اتقابل
to talk, to speak - اتكلّم
two - اتنين
bus - اتوبيس
to be born - اتولد
to answer - اجابة
vacation - أجازة
better - أحسن
red - أحمر
we - احنا
brother - أخ (ج) اخوات
sister - أخت (ج) اخوات
news - أخبار
green - أخضر
as much as - أد
in front of - اُدام
here is, that's - أدي
to give - ادّي
how much? - أدّيش
four, Wednesday - أربعة
ground, earth, land - أرض (ج) أراضي
close, near - أريّب
how? - ازّاي
how are you? - ازيّك
blue - أزرق
disturbance - ازعاج
week - اسبوع (ج) أسابيع
sir, professor - أستاذ (ج) أساتذة
to exchange - استبدل
to rest, relax - استريّح
to consider charming, cute - استظرف
to borrow (except money) - استعار
to prepare oneself - استعدّ
to borrow (money) - استلف
to continue - استمرّ
to wait, to await - استنى
sorry - آسف
sorry for - آسف على
name - اسم (ج) اسامي
diarrhea - اسهال
black - اِسوِد
to miss, long for someone - اشتاق ل
before, in front of - أصاد
because, origin - أصل
to add - أضاف
upset stomach - اضطراب في مِعْدة
yellow - أصفر
August - اُغسطس
song - أغية (ج) أغاني
to remember, to think - افتكر
form of address, yes - افندِم
economics, the economy - اقتصاد
less - أقلّ
October - أكتوبر
food - أكل
be serious - اكلّم جد
certainly, for sure - أكيد
except, less - إلّا
both - الاتنين
next week - الاسبوع الجاي
last week - الاسبوع اللي فات
heart - ألب
to join - التحق ب
thank God! - الحمد لله
what time is it? - الساعة كام
next year - السنة الجاية
in the morning - الصُبح
you're welcome - العفو
one thousand - الف (ج) آلاف
thank you very much (a thousand thanks) - ألف شكر
which, that which - اللي
whatever you like - اللي يعجِبك
tonight - الليلة
this time - المرة دي
today - النهارده
mother - أم
yesterday - امبارِح
but? then? - اُمّال
test, examination - امتحان
when? - امتى
matter, affair - أمر (ج) أمور
I leave it to god - أمري لله
America - أمريكاني (ج) أمريكان
constipation - امساك
if - اِن
God willing, hopefully - ان شاء الله
me - انا
to enjoy oneself - انبسط
you (masculine) - انت
you (feminine) - انتي
you (plural) - انتو
English - انجليزي
Miss - آنسة
to subtract, deduct - انقص
people, relatives - أهل (ج) أهالي
greetings - أهلاً وسهلاً
here are (plural) - أهم
here is (masculine) - أهو
here is (feminine) - أهي
Europe - أوروبا
a master, skilled worker - أوسطى
room - اوضة
god forbid, don't you dare, don't (something) - أوعى
first - أوّل
very, a lot - أوي
don't (command) - اياك
what? - ايه
so what? - ايه يعني؟
yes, yeah - أيوه
how - إزّاي
to be at ease, to be comfortable, to be content, to relax - ارتاح

ب

present tense marker - ب
with, in - ب
door, gate - باب (ج) أبواب
sir, pasha, form of address - باشا
form of address, engineer - باشمهندس
to sell - باع
remainder - باقي
exactly - بالظبط
on the contrary - بالعكس
at night - باليل
unpleasant, sucky - بايخ
he/it seems - باين علىه
of, belonging to, marker of possession - بتاع
woman hunter, womanizer - بتاع نسوان
of, belonging to (feminine) - بتاعة
of, belonging to (plural) - بتوع
seriously - بجد
I love you - بحبك
for something to begin - بدا
beginning - بداية
early - بدري
suit (like for a man) - بدلة (ج) بِدل
I want (lebanese) - بدّي
oranges - برتقان
an orange - برتقانة
orange (the color) - برتقاني
a cold (like the disease) - بَرْد
program - برنامج (ج) برامج
outside - بره
ten piasters - بريزة
but, only just - بس
quickly!, fastly - بسرعة
slowly - بِشويش
to look at - بصّ على
to look at - بصّ ل
potatoes, fried potatoes, french fries, fried potato sandwich - بطاطس
slow - بطئ
to send - بعت
after - بعد
afternoon - بعد الضهر
to get away from - بعد عن
and after that - بعد كده
after that - بعدين
far - بعيد
to be, to become, to get, to remain - بقى
grocer - بقال
tip (monetary), bribe - بقشيش
how much? (money) - بكام
tomorrow - بكره
forget it, forget about it, don't bother - بَلاش
town, country - بلد (ج) بلاد
just fine (health), bomb - بمب, زي بمب
pink - بمبي
pants - بنطلون
purple - بنفسجي
by yourself - بنفسك
bank - بنك (ج) بنوك
brown - بنّي
doorman - بوّاب
a kiss - بوسة
steak - بوفتيك
information (written) - بيانات
beer - بيرة
white (plural) - بِيض
eggs - بَيض
white (fem) - بيضاء
an agg - بَيضة
between - بين
form of address, sir - بيه

ت

revenge - تار
history, date - تاريخ
taxicab - تاكسي
third (ordinal) - تالت
second, another, again - تاني
to get lost, to be lost - تاه
under, downstairs - تحت
at your service - تحت أمرك
fat, overweight (literally thick) - تخين (ج) تخان
ticket (for an event) - تَذكرة (ج) تذاكر
ticket (for an event) - تزكرة
Good night! (literally wake up well) - تصبح على خير
come (to a male) - تعالى
come (to a female) - تعالي
come (to a group) - تعالوا
to get tired - تِعِب
to tire someone - تَعَب
tired, fatigued - تعبان
details - تفاصيل
approximately - تقريباً
ice, snow - تلج
to ruin one's health - تلف صحته
television - تلفزيون
telephone - تليفون
always - تملي
tennis - تنس
never again! - توبة
figs - تين

ج

to bring - جاب
to get hunger - جاع
university - جامعة
to answer - جاوب
coming - جاي
maybe - جايز
cheese - جبنة
Greek cheese, Feta cheese - جبنة رومي
cheese - جديد
wound - جرح (ج) جروح
bell, doorbell - جرس
waiter, garcon - جرسون
to run, to happen - جرى
to happen to - جرى ل
pair of shoes - جزمة (ج) جِزَم
newspaper, journal - جرنال
hungry - جَعان
geography - جغرافي
everyone (form of address) - جَماعة
camel - جمل (ج) جِمال
beautiful - جميل
wing - جناح (ج) أجنحة
funeral - جنازة
paradise, heaven - جنّ
next to, beside, at the side of - جنب
madness, craziness - جنون
fetus - جنين
garden - جنينة
Egyptian pound (currency) - جنيه (ج) جنيهات
to come - جه
to occur (to, like to dawn upon) - جه على البال
mood, weather, atmosphere - جو
letter, answer - جواب
husband - جوز
skirt - جونِلّة
within, inside - جوه
army - جيش (ج) جيوش

ح

future tense marker - ح
form of address to someone who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca - حاج
thing - حاجة
yes sir! sure, right away - حاضر
currently - حالياً
to try - حاول
piece, place - حتة (ج) حتت
one, someone - حد
I, you, he is feeling, feel - حاسس
putting - حاطط
to love - حبّ
love - حبّ (ج) أحباب
darling, beloved - حبيب (ج) حبايب
until, even - حتى
someone, anyone - حد
one, someone, anyone - حدى
hot (for weather) - حر
free, independent - حرّ (ج) أحران
hotness, dial tone - حرارة
shame - حرام
shame on you - حرام عليك
feeling hot - حران
freedom - حرية
to feel - حسّ
bill, check, tally - حساب
to happen - حصل
to obtain - حصل على
you (polite, like spanish usted) - حضرتك
to embrace, to hold in ones arms - حضن
embrace, arms - حضن (ج) أحضان
to put - حطّ
good luck - حظ سعيد
to memorize - حفظ
party - حفلة
truth - حقيقة
to tell, to say - حكى
story - حكاية
government - حكومة
to dream - حِلِم
dream - حِلم (ج) أحلام
sweet, pretty - حلو
ass, donkey, asshole - حمار
bathroom, turkish bath - حمام
swimming pool - حمام سباحة
red (female) - حمراء
around, about - حوالي
life - حياة
wall - حيطة (ج) حيطان

خ

to be afraid, to fear - خاف
to be scared of - خاف من
uncle - خال (ج) أخوال
completely, very (in negative sense), at all - خالص
to betray, to cheat on someone - خان
scared - خايف
to take - خد
to deceive, to go behind someone's back - خدع
service, anything (like need anything?) - خدمة
to go out, to exit - خرج
autumn, fall - خريف
to lose - خِسِر
green (plural) - خضر
green (feminine) - خضراء
to be finished - خِلِص
to finish - خلّص
to let, may (someone) - خلى
that's it, it's over - خلاص
imagination, fantasy - خيال

د

to melt, to fall in love - داب
to fall in love with - داب في
to taste - داق
dizzy - دايخ
always - دايماً
to enter - دخل
study, studying - دراسة
to chat, discuss - دردش
chat - دردشة
to teach - درّس
to pay - دفع
doctor - دكتور (ج) دكاترة
now - دلوقتي
blood - دم
world, everyone - دنيا
this, that (masculine) - ده
gold - دهب
gold (color), golden - دهبي
to make something melt - دوّب
floor (in a building) - دور (ج) أدوار
to look for, to search for - دوّر على
noise - دوشة
invitation - دوعة
these, those - دول
dollar - دولار (ج) دولارات
medicine, treatment, cure - دوى
antacid, digestive medicine - دوا مهضّم
this, that (feminine) - دي
December - ديسمبر
religion - دين (ج) أديان

ر

coming back, returning - راجع
man - راجل (ج) رجالة
to go, to leave - راح
going to - راح
opinion - راي (ج) آراء
going to, going, gonna - رايح
Lord - ربّ
one-fourth, a forth, quarter - ربع
possibly, m aybe - ربمّا
Our Lord, God (especially for Christians) - ربّنا
God bless this marriage - ربّنا تمّم بخير
Spring - ربيع
to come back, to return - رِجِع
a trip - رحلة
cheap, inexpensive - رخيص
rice - رز
thesis, essay - رسالة
thin, skinny - رُفيّع
to dance - رقص
to ride - ركب
to throw, to throw away - رمى
gray - رمادي
soul - روح
to go home - روّح
to send home - روّح
prescription - روشِتّة
Greek - رومي
20 piasters - ريال
a smell, odor - ريحة (ج) روايح
boss - ريّس

ز

to visit - زار
to study - ذاكر
yoghurt - زبادي
butter - زبدة
crowding - زحمة
blue (plural) - زرق
blue (female) - زرقاء
to get angry - زِعِل
to anger - زعل
angry, irritated, aggravated - زعلان
intelligent - زكي
time, past - زمان
he'll be here soon - زمانه جاي
colleague, classmate - زميل
female colleague, way to refer to girl indicating she's not your girlfriend - زميلة
to become bored - زِهِق
like - زي
oil (not gasoline) - زيت
olive oil - زيت زيتون
olives - زيتون

س

to leave behind, to abandon, to let - ساب
plain (said of coffee) - سادة
to travel - سافر
to drive - ساق
to help, to assist - ساعد
cold (like a soup or drink) - شاعقة
hour, watch, clock - ساعة
residing in, living in, resident - ساكن (ج) سكان
to ask - سأل
hearing, listening to - سامع
second (time) - سانية (ج) سواني
September - سبتمبر
blackboard - سبورة
woman - ست
housewife - ست بيت
to wander, to go astray - سرح
speed, quickness - سرعة
to steal - سرق
pleasure - سرور
quick, fast - سريع
to make happy - سَعَد
cigarette - سجارة
(ج) سجاير
embassy - سفارة
culture - سقافة
sugar - سُكر
secretary - سكرتيرة
to reside - سِكِن
silence - سكوت
peace, a greating - سلام
stairs - سِلّم
to greet - سلّم على
offensive, lame, jerky, douchey - سمج
to pardon, to forgive - سمح
to hear, to listen to - سمع
broker (like for finding an apartment), middleman, agent - سمسار
(ج) سماسرة
fish - سمك
sandwich - سندويش
year - سنة سنين
easy - سهل
easiness - سهولة
question - سؤال
(ج) أسئلة
market - سوق (ج) أسواق
together - سوى
wanderer - سواح
driver - سواق
sir, mr. - سي
politics - سياسة
sir, mr. - سيد
cinema, movie theatre - سينما

ش

street - شارع (ج) شوارع
clever, smart, good boy! - شاطر
to see - شاف
to carry, to remove - شال
tea - شاي
seeing - شايف
carrying, holding, bearing - شايل
holding something against someone - شايل من
window - شبّاك (ج) شبابيك
winter - شتاء
sever, violent, awesome (like a good thing) - شديد
(ج) شداد
Good morning! - صباح الخير
Good morning (response to صباح الخير meaning good morning) - صباح النور
to drink, to smoke - شِرِب
company - شركة
chess - شطرنج
work - شُغل
apartment, flat - شقة (ج) شقق
thank you - شكراً
to suffer, to complain - شكى
5 piasters - شِلِن
clique, group, gang - شلة (ج) شلل
left, north - شمال
sun - شمس
bag - شنطة (ج) شُنَط
month - شهر (ج) شهور
what (lebanese) - شو
look! - شوف
desire, love - شوق
a little, somewhat, slowly - شويّة

ص

soap - صابون
bar of soap - صابونة
friend, patron, owner - صاحب (ج) أصحاب
waking up - صاحي
piaster - صاغ
to make good, to reconcile - صالح
hall - صالة
to become, to start to - صار
morning - صباح
good morning - صباح الخير
good morning - صباح الفل
good morning - صباح الورد
response to good morning - صباح النور
patience - صبر
correct, right? - صحيح
to wake up, awaken - صحى
to wake someone up - صحّى
headache - صُداع
to spend (money) - صرف
hard, difficult - صعب
difficulty - صعوبة
small, young - صُغيّر
yellow (plural) - صفر
yellow (feminine) - صفراء
salad - صلاطة
sandal - صندل (ج) صنادل
sound, voice, vote - صوت
(ج) أصوات
picture - صورة
(ج) صُوَر

ض

officer - ضابط
to laugh, to smile - ضحك
to hit, to rink - ضرب
necessary - ضروري
to hold, to hug, to grab - ضمّ
to reassure - ضمّن
noon - ضهر
guest - ضيف (ج) ضيوف

ط

to fly - طار
fresh - طازة
to be long, to last, to go on - طال
student - طالب (ج) طلبة
fine then, alright then, ok then, then - طب
chalk - طباشير
to cook - طبخ
of course, naturally - طبعاً
table - طرابيزة
way - طريق (ج) طرق
falafel - طعمية
ashtray - طفاية
to request, to dial - طلب
to go up, to ascend, to rise - طِلِع
tomatoes - طماطم
throughout - طول
as long as - طول ما
airplane - طيارة
fine, ok, alright - طيب
bird - طير (ج) طيور

ظ

officer - ظابط
oppressive, unjust - ظالم
pleasant, charming - ظريف
to oppress, to wrong - ظلم

ع

on, upon - ع
on, upon - عا
usually - عادةً
knowing - عارف
knowing - عالم
to want, to need - عاز
in love, lover - عاشق
what's up? - عامل ايه؟
high - عالي
to swim, to float - عام
colloquial - عامية
wanting, want - عايز
wanting, want - عاوز
to please, to be pleasing to - عجب
old, elderly - عجوز
to count - عدّ
number - عدد (ج) اعداد
Arabic, Arab - عربي
car - عربية
to know - عرف
bride, doll - عروسة (ج) عرايس
groom - عريس
broad - عريض
honey - عسل
soldier - عسكري
dinner - عشاء
because, for - عشان
love - عشق
to love, to adore - عِشِق
juice - عصير
broken, out of order - عطلان
great - عظيم
furniture - عفش
you're welcome, pardon - عفواً
mind - عقل
opposite - عكس
can, box - علبة (ج) عِلَب
science - علم
(ج) علوم
on upon - على
on the mind - على البال
at the expense of - على حساب
straight on, right away, from now on - على طول
at once, all of a sudden - على غفلة
as you wish - على كيفك
I have to (do something) - عليّ
uncle, form of address - عم (ج) أعمام
building - عمارة
age, lifetime, life - عمر
I've never - عمري ما
to do, make - عمل
generally - عموماً
about - عن
grapes - عنب
when necessary - عند اللزوم
address - عنوان
bread - عيش
family - عيلة
eye - عين (ج) عيون

غ

to be away, to be absent, to be missing - غاب
dark (colors) - غامق
mostly - غالباً
precious, valuable - غالي
lunch - غداء
betrayal - غدر
passion, love - غرام
strange, weird, stranger - غريب (ج) غرباء
to wash - غسل
wrong (inanimate) - غلط
mistaken - غلطان
a mistake - غلطة
to sing - غنّى
rich - غني (ج) أغنياء
other than - غير

ف

so - ف
in - ف
to pass, to go by - فات
to pass by - فات على
open, light (colors) - فاتح
mouse - فأر (ج) فيران
left, remaining - فاضل
free (as in having time for) - فاضي
remembring - فاكر
fruit - فاكهة
passing - فايت
February - فبراير
to open - فتح
emptiness, void - فراغ
happy, joyous - فرحان
to get happy - فِرِح
joy, happiness - فرحة
French - فرنساوي
dress - فستان (ج) فساتين
class, classroom, season - فصل (ج) فصول
semester - فصل دراسي
literary Arabic, modern standard Arabic, "the most eloquent, highest" Arabic - فصحى
to remain, to be left - فضل
to prefer - فضّل
silver, coin - فضة
breakfast - فطار
to have breakfast - فطر
really, actually, truly - فِعلاً
poor unfortunate guy - فقري
poor - فقير (ج) فقراء
to thinkg about - فكّر في
idea, thought - فكرة
(ج) أفكار
change (money) - فكة
money - فلس
(ج) فلوس
hotel - فندق
(ج) فنادق
to understand - فهم
above, upstairs - فوق
beans, fava beans, fava bean sandwich - فول
in - في
at the beginning - في الأوّل
really, actually - في الحقيقة
film, movie - فيلم (ج) أفلام
where? - فين
there is - فيه

ق

to meet - قابل
can, able to - قادر
sitting - قاعد
to say - قال
to get up - قام
to cash, to collect (money) - قبض
before - قبل
as much as - قد
old (not people), ancient - قديم
how much? - قدّ أيش
in front of - قُدام
to be able to - قدر
to read - قرا
pills - قراص
to get close - قرّب
piaster (unit of currency) - قرش (ج) قروش
shark - قرش
(ج) قروش
close, near - قريّب
before, in front of - قصاد
train - قطر
to sit - قعد
heart - قلب (ج) قلوب
to undress, to take off (clothing) - قلع
pen - قلم (ج) القلام
moon - قمر
coffee - قهوة
Turkish coffee - قهوة تركي
strong, powerful - قوي
very, very much - قوي

ك

writer, author - كاتب
cafeteria, low-scale restaurant/hangout - كافتيريا
everyone, all the people - كافة الناس
how much? - كام
to be - كان
kebab - كباب
big, large - كبير
book - كتاب (ج) كتب
to write - كتب
cute (little kid) - كتكوت
a lot, many - كتير
like this, like that, this, so - كده
notebook - كراسة
to repeat - كرّر
chair, seat - كرسي (ج) كراسي
to earn, to gain - كِسِب
to break - كسر
lazy - كسلان
doctor examination - كشف
enough - كفاية
to eat - كل
all, each, every - كلّ
dog - كلب (ج) كلاب
to call (on the phone) - كلّم
word - كلمة
college - كلية
also, as well, too, more, in addition - كمان
to finish, to complete, to go on - كمّل
church - كنيسة
good - كويس
very nice - كويس خالص
bag - كيس
kilogram - كيلو
chemistry - كيمياء

ل

no - لأ
wearing - لابس
must, gotta - لازم
suitable for - لايق ل, لايق على
to wear - لبس
milk - لبن
until - لحد
to lick - لَحَس
moment - لحظة
meat - لحمة
delicious, tasty, sweet - لذيذ
must, gotta - لازم
to find, to meet - لاقى
still, yet - لسه
necessity - لزوم
pleasant, nice - لطيف
to play - لعب
language - لغة
good bargain - لُقطة (ج) لُقَط
to find - لقى
but - لكن
when (non-interrogative) - لمّا
lamp - لمبة
to touch - لمس
lemons - لمون
if - لو
pardon, if you please, if you permit - لو سمحت
if not for - لولا
night - ليلة
why? - ليه

م

to die - مات
March - مارس
ok, fine, it works, ca va - ماشي
there is not - مافيش
what's up with you, what's wrong with you? - مالك
mango - مانجة
objection - مانع (ج) موانع
I'm not - مانيش
he/it's not - ماهواش
May - مايو
congratulations - مبروك
happy, content - مبسوط
late - متأخّر
museum - متحف
thanks, thankful - متشكر
example - مثال (ج) أمثلة
for example - مثلاً
conversation - محادثة
lecture - محاضرة
conservative - محافظ
respectable - محترم
probable - محتمل
magazine - مجلة
needing, in need of - محتاج
tripping over oneself, stupefied - محتاس
local - محلّي
madam - مدام
trainer, instructor - مدرّب
school - مدرسة (ج) مدارس
director - مدير
time, once - مرّة
my wife - مراتي
jam - مربّى
illness - مرض (ج) أمراض
exhausted - مرهق
sick, patient (at a hospital) - مريض (ج) مرضى
Good evening! - مسا الخير
traveling, gone on a trip - مسافر
example - مسال (ج) أمسلة
matter, question - مسألة (ج) مسائل
ready, prepared - مستعدّ
for example - مسلاً
drunk, stoned, intoxicated - مسطول (ج) مساطيل
unfortunate, poor, wretched - مسكين (ج) مساكين
responsible, an official - مسؤول
not - مش
longing - مشتاق
busy, preoccupied - مشغول
not bad - مش بطال
incredible, unreasonable - مش معقول
to leave, to go, to walk - مشى
Egypt - مصر
Egyptian - مصري
airport - مطار
rain - مطر
restaurant - مطعم (ج) مطاعم
right, just right - مظبوط
with - مع
stomach - معدة
guest at a party - معزوم (ج) معازيم
reasonable - معقول
nevermind - معلش
spoon, spoonful - معلقة (ج) معالق
information - معلومات
supposed to - مفروض
useful, beneficial, fruitful - مفيد
there is not - مفيش
in advance - مقدّم
place - مكان
desk, office - مكتب (ج) مكاتب
library, books store - مكتبة
iron (for ironing clothes) - مكوة
ironing shop - مكوجي
to fill - ملى
million - مليون (ج) ملايين
excellent - ممتاز
nurse - ممرضة
maybe - ممكن
forbidden - ممنوع
pleasure - ممنونية
from, because of, part of, since - مِن
for quite some time - من بدري
about ...(time)... ago - من حوالي
for a long time, a long time ago - من زمان
without - من غير
please - من فضلك
from where? - منين
important - مهمّ
no matter how much/long - مهما
engineer - مهندس
present, available - موجود
bananas - موز
topic, subject - موضوع (ج) موضوعات
wish, desire - مُنية (ج) منا
who? - مين
water - ميّة

ن

club - نادي (ج) نوادي
fire, hell - نار
people - ناس
to sleep - نام
intending to - ناوي إلى
sleeping - نايم
red wine - نبيتي
to succeed - نجح
to forget - نسى
to descened, to leave the house - نزل
half - نُصّ
clean - نضيف
to bounce - نطّ
self - نَفس
I wanna - نِفسي
to negate - نفى
to subtract - نقّص
number - نِمرة (ج) نِمَر
day - نهار
time, instance - نوبة
light - نور (ج) أنوار
light of the eye - نور العين
kind, type - نوع (ج) أنواع
November - نوفمبر
sleep, sleeping - نوم

ه

future tense marker - ه
give!, hand it over!, bring it here! - هات
lady, form of address - هانم
wonderful - هايل
to beat up - هبد علقة
clothes - هدوم
pyramid - هرم (ج) أهرام
to joke - هزّر
they - هم
here - هِنا
there - هِناك
cheers! - هنيّا
he, it (masculine) - هو
to love - هوى
air - هوا
love - هوى
she, it (feminine) - هي
و

and - و
one - واحد
wide - واسع
low (derogatory towards people) - واطي
standing - واقف
eating - واكل
reply to تصباح على خير meaning goodnight - وانت من اهله
boy - واد
by myself - وَحدي
by himself - وحده
bad, ugly - وحش
late - وخري
to bring, to convey - ودى
behind - ورا
to show - ورى
flower - وردة (ج) ورود
paper - ورق (ج) أوراق
dirty - وسخ
among - وسط
downtown - وسط البلد
face - وشّ
to arrive - وصل
to bring someone, to drop someone off - وصّل
time - وقت (ج) أوقات
to stand, to stop - وقف
or, neither, nor, not, don't, never - ولا
never - ولا يوم
lighter - ولاعة
I swear, I swear to God, swear to God? - ولله
free time - وقت فراغ
with - ويّا

ي

hey everyone - يا جماعة
if only, I hope - يا ريت
wow - يا سلام
hey man! - يا عم
Japanese - ياباني
let's, let's go - يالله
so much, so many times!, how often! - ياما
oh my! - يانا
oh! - ياه
hand, arm - يد (يد) ايدي
it means, you know, I mean, like (filler) - يعني
what does it mean? - يعني ايه؟
possibly, could - يِمكن
right (directional) - يمين
January - يناير
tangerines - يوسفندي
July - يوليو
June - يونيو
Tuesday - يوم الاتنين
Sunday - يوم الأحد
Friday - يوم الجمعة
Thursday - يوم الخميس
Saturday - يوم السبت

Sunday, March 16, 2008

New Blogs

2 New Arabic Blogs (I'm thinking of adding them in a separate blogroll), and 2 English Blogs.

Arabic:

Ali العراق من الخارج
مدونة لعراقي في أمريكا يتكلم فيها عن رؤيته العلمانية للعراق و ضرورة فصل الدين عن الدولة
Free Human حاتم عبد الواحد
مدونة الكاتب و المثقف و الإعلامي العراقي حاتم عبد الواحد الذي تنشر مقالاته في عدة مواقع الكترونية عراقية- مدونة ثائرة على الدين عموما و فيها أيضا قصص عن بعض المثقفين العراقيين
English:
Iraqi Translator blogs from Iraq where he works as a translator with the American troops, this is the first blog of its type, his English is far from perfect and hasn't blogged so far about anything important but he's bound to have some interesting stories to tell in the near future.

I also advice you to check the blog Najma added below, Mosul is in heart, it's occasionally funny, lively and has a lot of personal feel in it.

Also, a blog we counted as "stopped" has recently featured a new article, Abbas Kadhim [not me, a published Iraqi academic in America] writes about a Post-Surge Iraq.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Resources for Intermediate Students

         In my experience the best way to continue learning a language once you have the basics down is to have a listening passage with a transcript included. If you just have a listening passage with no transcript there are bound to be some, if not a lot, of words and phrases that you don't know. With the similarity of many of the Arabic letters (to native English ears anyway) sometimes you won't be sure whether the word that you don't know is spelled with a س (seen) or a ص (saud), a د (del) or a ض (daud), making the word hard to look up in a dictionary. If you have a transcript of the passage it will save you a lot of wasted time trying different combinations of letters until you stumble upon the correct one that gives you a meaning that makes sense with the rest of the sentence. The following websites I recommend for intermediate students, but beginners who at least know what sounds the letters make may benefit as well.
  • GLOSS (Global Language Online Support System)
        This site was made by the Defense Language Institute which is the place that the US government sends military members to learn languages. Luckily it is a free site open to everyone. On this site you can search for listening or reading passages based on your skill level. GLOSS has a large selection of passages that will keep you busy for months. They go from DLPT level 2 to level 3 in Arabic. Some of the languages go up to level 3+ passages, and Spanish has some level 4's. All of them have a listening portion and a transcript.

There is a lesson with each one that you can follow if you choose, but most of the time I simply listen to them 2 or 3 times without looking at the transcript and then I go back and dissect the passage while following along with the transcript and looking at the English version to make sure I'm translating the Arabic correctly. If there are any parts that I don't fully understand I'll replay those parts until I can figure out how the sentence is working (i.e. which verbs are being done by which nouns, which nouns the adjectives are modifying, etc). GLOSS is the single most beneficial site on the internet for intermediate students looking to break into the advanced level and being able to listen to the news with ease.

        This is a site with the same type of passages that GLOSS has which is due to the fact that it was also made by the US government. It has 57 Arabic passages also from level 2 to 3.

        Watching TV programs in Arabic will help you get a bit of immersion in the language. SCOLA offers several Arabic programs. Most of the programs are news, but sometimes they have regular shows in between news broadcasts. There's no transcript included which makes it hard to learn from if you're a beginner in the language, but intermediate students should get some benefit from watching Arabic TV broadcasts.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Travels in Xanadu-du

Aaargh. We've had a couple of weeks of completely unexpected delay in the production of my wonderful novel. Firstly, I thought I had uploaded the files to the printer's website. There was no obvious way to verify this, so I emailed my 'client services representative', who ignored me for a few days and finally, after a whole wasted week, said the files had not been received by them, and explained the completely impossible-to-find way to find out what the situation is on their (absolutely bloody horrible) website. Marvlious.

So I uploaded the files again, and after a three-day wait the pre-flight crew in the US complained about 'multiple missing fonts'. We're talking about PDF files here, and standard practice when creaing PDFs is to embed any unusual fonts, but not to embed things like Arial or Times New Roman which are present on every PC and have direct equivalents on Macs, Linux boxes, etc. So these #$%#$^ in the US were quibbling about the absence of Arial and Times New Roman. Arial is actually used in the headers of the bookblock, but TNR appears nowhere. Anyhow, I had to produce and upload another file for the bookblock, and force the embedding of these common-as-muck fonts, and then wait another three days while they got around to opening it. Finally: two days ago the status was 'printing'. Yesterday, the status was 'shipped'.

Hopefully I will receive the proof copy tomorrow or the day after. If it's ok I can order the initial print run and fulfill the pre-orders that we have. So those of you who have not yet ordered your copy: the special offer of a full-colour map of Xanadu-du, signed by moi, still stands, but only until the point where the book goes into production. So get thee over to the Xanadu-du website and place thy order.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Carnage On Sheikh Zayed Road

Driving on SZR always used to give me the willies, even in clear weather. Driving on it in fog had me turning religious and hoping there actually was a God who was listening to my prayers. Because the sad fact is that 99% of people on that road have no clue whatsoever about how you should drive in fog. This morning there has been absolute carnage on SZR. Accurate figures are yet to arrive, but we can say at least six dead, 300 injured, and 200 cars trashed. In one out of about five incidents. This is completely insane. Nobody seems to know or understand why this happened. I hate to be a smart-arse, but this is why it happened: they were going too fucking fast.

Simplissimo.

Gulf News gives some tips for driving in fog. Not bad, not wrong, but they missed the absolute crucial point. It's all to do with visibility and stopping distance. The GN article says 'slow down'. This needs to be expanded upon. What it should say is 'slow down so that you are confident that you can stop within the range of your visibility'. In dense fog, this can mean that you are travelling at 10 kmph. Or less. But it means that if you suddenly encounter a pile of 200 blazing wrecks, emerging out of the fog 6 metres ahead of you, you will be able to stop or avoid becoming wreck #201. It also means, of course, that there's a good strong chance of some other moron hitting you from behind. The only consolation is that they might be in the outer lanes while you are sticking to the inside one. If you possibly have the option: don't drive in fog.

Let me get really boring and repeat: if you can only see 10 metres ahead of you, you should not be travelling so fast that you cannot stop within, say, eight metres. Got it? Your car is probably no longer than 2.5 or 3 metres long. To be able to stop in such a short distance, you should be crawling at less than 10 kmph (166 metres per minute). And forget about being late for work. You are going to be late for work. And so is your boss and so are your colleagues. You will not score any Brownie points for beating them. Especially if you are dead.

The point is that in seriously thick fog, you must think like this: can I stop within the bounds of the wall of fog I see before me? If you don't think you can, SLOW DOWN!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Khadijah

Khadijah رضى الله عنها,I do yearn to be like you,In words and actionsAnd character too.Pure of heart,You gave us the perfect start,Truthful in words,Honest in dealings.With piety,You alleviated anxiety,Giving peace, solace,And tranquility.My motherYou are the perfect role model,A woman of strength,Chaste and humble,My support and comfort.Source: Mothers of the Believers

Hmm...



I came across this picture when I wasStumbling a few days ago (which is frickin awesome tool if you haven't heard about it). Those don't seem like looks of disapproval to me. Women like that are another benefit of knowing Arabic ;).

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Some Basics

Arabic seems like an impossible language to learn for most English speakers, but this is due mostly to how strange it sounds. Once you get past the sounds that we don't have in English the language is rather logical and the words are easy to remember. The vast majority of the words in Arabic come from a 3 letter root. You'll have a 3 letter root and variations of that root make different words that are all similarly related. For example, كتب (pronounced kataba) means "he wrote". مكتب (maktab) is a desk. مكتبة (maktaba) is a library. كتاب (kitaab) is a book. There are a lot more words that come from the root kataba, but you get the idea. Sometimes you'll have two words that aren't related at all but which have the same root which can be a little annoying, but most of the time there is some logic involved which really helps in memorizing words. In this respect Arabic is more logical than English. A foreigner learning English has to learn 4 totally different sounding, unrelated words; "he wrote", "desk", "library", and "book", while the Arabic words for these things are all related.

The grammar of Arabic isn't hard to grasp either. The most common way to structure an Arabic sentence is VSO (English is SVO). In Arabic you'd say, "Threw the boy the ball" if you wanted to say the English, "The boy threw the ball." You don't have to say it this way though. You can structure the sentence just like you would in English and they will still understand you. It's just more common to put the sentence in VSO form.

Verb tenses are also much easier in Arabic than they are in English. Easier than Spanish also. I remember trying to learn the Spanish verb tenses in high school and I never knew when to use one past tense or the other past tense. In Arabic there's no worrying about that because it only has 3 tenses (4 if you count the imperative). They are simply past, present, and future. There's no past-subjunctive-progressive whatever. To make a verb future tense all you have to do is put an "s" sound on the front. For past, all of the 3 letter roots are already in the past tense, so you don't have to change them for past tense. For present tense it's a little more complicated, but not much. You put an أ (pronounced "a" as in apple) in front of the root for 1st person present (I write), a ي (pronounced "ya" as in yak) in front for 3rd person masculine (he writes), an a ت (pronounced like "t") in front for both 2nd person and 3rd person feminine (you write and she writes). Those are the basics of the tenses. There is more about the tenses that is slightly more complicated but still really simple compared to other languages.

There are a few sounds in Arabic that English doesn't have, such as the خ which sounds like someone trying to cough up some phlegm and the ق which is like a "k" but is pronounced in the back of the throat. There are also 2 "s" sounds and 2 "d" sounds that are very hard for native English speakers to tell the difference between even with a lot of exposure to the language. Even if you can't tell the difference between some of the sounds you can still know from context what is being said.

Economic Benefits of Knowing Arabic

With the discovery of oil in the Arabic countries in the 1930s the economic importance of the Arabic language began it's ascent. On September 11th the US was caught off guard by it's lack of Arabic linguists. It had to start producing Arabic speakers quickly. To do this the military began offering bonuses for linguists which it still does to this day. The current reenlistment bonus for an Arabic linguist is about $60,000. Arabic and Chinese are the only 2 languages that will give you that much of a bonus right now which reflects how badly they are needed by the military.

It also says something about the civilian jobs that are available for people who can speak those languages. The government has to offer pay comparable to what the private sector is offering, and the private sector is offering a lot. The same thing is seen with doctors in the military. They get lots of bonuses because if they got the same pay as all the other officers none but the most patriotic would think about the military as a viable employment option. Why take a pay cut and risk your life in the military when you can get a safe job that pays more in your home town? The salary for an Arabic linguist is even more if you're willing to go to Iraq. There are a lot of contractor jobs out there that will pay upwards of $150,000. Go to any online job search site and you'll see tons of offers like this. It's sad to say, but there is a lot of money to be made in war.

Friday, March 7, 2008

eArabic Flash-Cards Directory

eArabic Flash-Cards Directory has now moved to www.e-Arabic.com


e-Arabic FlashCards is an initiative to enhance vocabulary memorization and recall using digital audio flashcards. The collection of e-flashCards produced so far is composed of lists of thematic Arabic vocabulary, expressions and grammar rules.

The project’s pedagogy is based on the learning paradigm of declarative learning. The site provides sets of 15-30 digital flashcards on approximately 40 topics, organised and categorized by topic ranging from the Arabic alphabet, arts and media to economics, military, politics and grammatical rules.
The vocabulary is appropriate for beginners through to advanced learners of Arabic. Designed with a flashcard authoring software called (Before You Know It), learners can interact with the digital flashcards using a variety of learning modes, from reviewing to recognition to production.
Learners are assessed with points for correct answers throughout the learning session in each set.
Each digital card has an Arabic word/expression with its English translation and includes an audio recording of a native-speaker’s pronunciation (recorded by M. Diouri).
At the bottom of each list, learners can download the following:

  • The flashcard set
  • The PDF Vocabulary list
  • The podcast of the list

Based on students feedback, these resources are amongst the most popular and favourite eLearning tools that students have used regularly to memorise and consolidate the language.
This is an excellent resource for independent learning for students of Arabic at all levels and across all education sectors


Thursday, March 6, 2008

When language revitalisation reopens old wounds

Not everyone welcomes language revitalisation efforts. Apart from anything else, it often implies that a major decision taken by you or your parents - to speak to the children in a different language - was wrong, and, by increasing your exposure to the endangered language in question, puts you in a position where you can't help but notice that this decision's implications are nearly irreversible. (I have speculated that this might be one reason for the less than enthusiastic reaction of some of the first speakers to have brought up their kids as Arabic monolinguals to my arrival in Tabelbala.) The writer Ken MacLeod's recent attempt to come to grips with what annoys him about the proliferation of Gaelic-English bilingual roadsigns in Scotland nicely expresses this:
...my guess is this: we regret not speaking Gaelic, and we resent the presumption that we should. We have done their best with the hard hand we were dealt. Some of us have left for the Central Belt or the ends of the earth. Others have made a living in the desolate, depopulated landscape, working on the shooting estates or digging the thin and sodden fields in the old days; in tourism, commerce and industry today. And in almost all cases, to do this meant forgetting the language, leaving it to dwindle in the Sunday-morning sermon and the ceilidh and the old folks' private talk. We had to learn English, and we were proud that we spoke a more standard English than the Lowland Scots.

And after all that has left us illiterate and inarticulate in the language of our ancestors, but sharp and cutting in the lingua franca of the modern world, you come back and mock the teuchter again, with your signs for Raon Gnìomhachais (Industrial Estate) and Pàirc Gnothachais (Business Park) and Snaidhm-Rathaid (Interchange) and Port-adhair (Airport) - bright green sticking-plasters across what we had thought were faded scars.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Dhorat

Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Dhorat was born on the 7th of November 1962 in Bhoria; a small, rural village in India and from a very young age displayed the signs of piety, trustworthiness, zeal for knowledge and concern for humanity for which he is now well known.Shaykh arrived in England in 1973 at the age of 11 with his mother and siblings to join his father, Hafiz Ibraheeem Dhorat rahmatullahi alayh

Topik 77: Kalimat Pasif (lanjutan I)

Bisimillahirrahmanirrahim.

Para pembaca yang dirahmati Allah SWT. Setelah off, beberapa lama, kita coba lanjutkan pembahasan mengenai kalimat pasif. Mengapa topik ini yang dipilih?

Ada beberapa alasan. Tetapi yang paling menarik untuk disampaikan adalah, seringkali bagi pemula (saya Insya Allah juga termasuk pemula --don't worry), ada beberapa kesalahan pengertian dari orang yang berbahasa non-arab (Indonesia, Melayu, maupun Inggris) dalam memahami kalimat pasif dalam bahasa Arab.

Ambil contoh: Saya membaca buku.

Kita sudah paham, bahwa Subject, adalah saya, dan object adalah buku.

Kalau dalam bahasa Inggris juga begitu: I read a book.

Kalau dijadikan kalimat pasif, kita juga mengerti, kalimat itu menjadi:
Buku dibaca oleh saya.
A book was read by me.

Tapi dalam bahasa Arab, Subject dalam kalimat pasif tidak boleh muncul. (pakai bahasa gaul sekarang) Dilarang muncul boo'!

Sehingga kalimat diatas, hanya bisa di-Arab-kan sbb:
Buku dibaca.

Sudah. Gitu aja.

Kok bisa?

Ya begitu peraturannya.

Dalam bahasa Arab, sebuah kalimat, jika hendak memunculkan Subject, hendaklah dibuat dalam kalimat aktif.

Subject dalam kalimat pasif, mesti dihilangkan. Kata orang arab, subjectnya: Majhul. Majhul artinya: tidak diketahui.

Jadi kalau kita buat contoh diatas:

انا قرأتُ الكتابَ - ana qora'tu alkitaaba : saya membaca buku.

Jika dibuat pasif:

قُرئ الكتابُ - quri-a al-kitaabu : buku dibaca

Perhatikan hal-hal berikut:
1. Saya sebagai subject hilang (tidak ada dalam bahasa Arab: buku dibaca oleh saya).
2. Kata kerja yang dalam kalimat aktif: qora'tu (ada tu = saya), maka dalam kalimat pasif akhiran tu tersebut hilang.
3. Kata kerja dalam kalimat pasif, mengikuti dhomir dari naibul fa'il. Karena naibul fa'il adalah al-kitaab (huwa), maka kata kerjanya kembali ke KKA (Kata Kerja Asal), yaitu qora-a.
4. Cara membuat pasif qo-ra-a, adalah dengan men-dhommah kan kata pertama, dan meng-kasrah-kan kata sebelum akhir. Sehingga aktif: qo-ra-a, pasif: qu-ri-a.
5. I'rob (harokat akhir) dari al-kitaab, adalah dhommah, sehingga dibaca: quri-a alkitaabu.

Weleh-weleh... banyak yang musti diperhatikan ya...

Ada yang kadang sering terlewatkan. Apa itu?

Perhatikan, bahwa dalam pelajaran tata bahasa Arab, biasanya pertama yang dikenalkan adalah maf'ul (object) harus fathah.

انا قرأتُ الكتابَ - ana qora'tu alkitaaba : saya membaca buku.

Perhatikan, al-kitaab dalam posisi kalimat diatas adalah object. Maka dia fathah, sehingga dibaca al-kitaa-ba.

Nah kadang dalam kalimat pasif seorang pemula akan membuat kalimat sbb:

قُرئ الكتابُ - quri-a al-kitaaba : mereka membaca al-kitaaba.

Kalau ditanya ke pemula tsb: kok dibaca al-kitaaba? Mereka akan jawab, lha kan posisi al-kitaab dalam kalimat tersebut tetap Object (maf'ul). Nah kalau maf'ul kan dibaca fathah.

Nah disini kita harus hati-hati. Walaupun suatu kata benda, berfungsi sebagai Object, tapi lihat dulu, apakah dia ada dalam kalimat pasif. Kalau dalam kalimat pasif, maka Object tsb, berubah menjadi Naibul Fa'il, yang ber-'irob Dhommah.

Sehingga yang benar itu, membacanya:

قُرئ الكتابُ - quri-a al-kitaabu : buku dibaca

Sekarang kita hendak lihat, salah satu contoh dalam Al-Quran surat 84 ayat 21:

وإذا قرئ عليهم القراّنُ لا يسجدون - dan jika dibacakan Al-Quran kepada mereka, mereka tidak sujud.

Lihat disitu, bahwa yang menjadi naibul fa'il adalah Al-Quran, dan i'rob nya adalah dhommah. Sehingga dibaca:

wa idza quri-a alayhim al-quraanu (bukan al-quraana) laa yasjuduun.

Topik selanjutnya akan kita bahas Rumus mudah mengubah kata kerja dari aktif ke pasif. Insya Allah.