Complete Arabic the Basics Excerpt

COMPLETE

ARABIC THE BASICS BAS ICS

Written by Amine Bouchentouf Edited by Rym Bettaieb and Christopher A. Warnasch

Acknowledgments

Thanks to the Living Language staff: Tom Tom Russell, Nicole Benhabib, Christopher Warnasch, Zviezdana Verzich, Suzanne McQuade, Shaina Malkin, Elham Shabahat, Sophie Chin, Denise De Gennaro, Linda Schmidt, Alison Skrabek, Lisbeth Dyer, and Thomas Marshall. Thanks also to Wafaa H. Wahba for his valuable contribution. Copyright © 2008 by Living Language, Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc. Living Language is a member of the Random House Information Group. Living Language and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc. www.livinglanguage.com Editor: Chris Warnasch Production Editor: Lisbeth Dyer Production Manager: Tom Marshall Interior Design: Sophie Ye Chin First Edition ISBN 978-1-4000-1992-2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request. This book is available for special discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions or premiums. Special editions, including personalized covers, excerpts of existing books, and corporate imprints, can be created in large quantities for special needs. For more information, write to Special Markets/Premium Sales, 1745 Broadway, MD 6-2, New York, New York 10019 or e-mail [email protected]. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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TABLE OF CONTENT S Introduct Introduction ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

Pronunc Pronunciati iation on and Transcript Transcription ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Hello! Hello! ‘assalaa ‘assalaamu mu xalaykum xalaykum!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Vocabu ocabula lary ry Practi Practice ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Gramm Grammar ar and and Usa Usage ge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 1 “To Be” in Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 2 Definite Definite and and Indefinite Indefinite Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3 Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4 Nouns and and Adjectives Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usag Usage e Exe Exerc rcis ises es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 G Pron Pronun uncia ciati tion on Practi Practice: ce: Vowel owelss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 H Arabi Arabicc Scrip Script: t: Ove Overvi rview ew,, the let letters ters baa’ , taa’ , and and thaa’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 I Cultu Cultural ral Note Note:: Wha What, t, Exa Exactl ctlyy, is is Arab Arabic? ic? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Lesson 3: Where Are You From? min ‘ayna ‘anta? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 A Dialo Dialogu gue e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 D Vocabu ocabula lary ry Practi Practice ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usag Usage e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 1 Subject Pronouns Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 2 Gender in Animate Nouns Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 3 Definite Noun/Adjective Noun/Adjective Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 4 Adjective Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usag Usage e Exe Exerc rcis ises es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 G Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Prac Practi tice ce:: -ay and -aw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 H Arabi Arabicc Scri Script: pt: Vowel owelss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 I Cultu Cultural ral Note Note:: Rel Relig igio ion n in in the the Arab Arab World orld . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Lesson Lesson 1: Lesson Lesson 2: A B C D E


VI

Lesson 4: 4: Is Kareem Kareem Home? Home? hal kariim fii fii l-bayt? l-bayt? . . . . . . . . . . . 37 A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 D Vocab ocabul ulary ary Prac Practic tice e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 E Gramm Grammar ar and Usag Usage e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 1 Forming Forming Questio Questions ns in Arabic Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 2 Common Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 3 Linking Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 4 There is / There are . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 5 Basic Sentence Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usa Usage ge Exer Exerci cise sess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 G Pronunci Pronunciati ation on Practice Practice:: Fami Familia liarr Sounds Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 H Arab rabic Scri cript: jiim, Haa’ , khaa’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 I Cultu Cultural ral Note: Note: The The Arab Arab World orld at at a Glan Glance ce . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Lesson 5: At the Airport. fii l-maTaar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 A Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 B Lan Language Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 C Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 D Vocab ocabul ulary ary Pra Pract ctic ice e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 E Gram rammar and Usa Usagge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 1 Numbers 1–100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 2 Telling Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 3 Question Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 4 Negative “To Be” Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usa Usage ge Exer Exerci cise sess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 G Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: kh, r, gh, q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 H Arab rabic Scri cript: daal, dhaal, numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 I Cultu Cultural ral Note Note:: Gett Gettin ingg Aroun Around d in the the Arab Arab Worl World d . . . . . . . 62 Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Lesson 6: At the Hotel. fii l-funduq. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 A Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 B Lan Language Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 C Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 D Vocab ocabul ulary ary Pra Pract ctic ice e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 E Gram rammar and Usa Usagge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 1 Nationalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 2 Gender Endings in Human Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69


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3 “Sound” “Sound” Plurals Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 4 The The Dual Dual Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

F G H I

Gram Gramma marr and and Usag Usage e Exe Exerc rcis ises es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: S, D, T , and DH . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Arab Arabic ic Scri Script pt:: The The let lette ters rs raa’ and and zaay zaay . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Cultu Cultural ral Note Note:: Livi Living ng in in the the Arab Arab Wor World ld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Lesson 7: Around Town. fii l-madiina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 D Vocabu ocabula lary ry Practi Practice ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usa Usage ge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 1 Introduction to the Consonant Consonant Root System System . . . . . . . . 79 2 “Broken “Broken”” Plurals Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 3 Sound Plurals vs. Broken Plurals and Plurals Plurals of Complex Complex Noun Nounss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 4 Adjectiv Adjective e Agreemen Agreementt with Non-Hu Non-Human man Plurals Plurals . . . . . . 85 5 Adjective Agreement with Human Human Plurals . . . . . . . . . . 85 6 Adjective Adjective Agree Agreement ment with with the Dual Dual Form . . . . . . . . . . 87

F G H I

Gram Gramma marr and and Usag Usage e Exe Exerc rcis ises es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Arab Arabic ic Scri Script pt:: The The let lette ters rs siin and and shii shiin n . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Cultu Cultural ral Note Note:: The The Gold Golden en Age Age of of Isla Islam m . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Lesson 8: This is Delicious! haadhaa ladhiidh! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 D Vocabu ocabula lary ry Practi Practice ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usa Usage ge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 1 Demonstratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 2 Introduc Introduction tion to Arabic Arabic Verbs Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 3 The Past Tense Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 4 Review of Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usag Usage e Exe Exerc rcis ises es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 G Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Daad . . . . . . . . . . 102 H Arab Arabic ic Scri Script pt:: The The let lette ters rs Saad and and Daad I Cult Cultura urall Not Note: e: Midd Middle le Easte Eastern rn Cui Cuisi sine ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104


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Lesson 9: How Much is This? bikam haadhaa? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 D Vocab ocabul ulary ary Prac Practic tice e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usag Usage e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 1 Irregular Irregular Adjecti Adjectives ves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 2 Nouns Nouns and Pronou Pronouns ns in “To “To Be” Senten Sentences ces . . . . . . . 109 3 Direct Direct Object Object Pronouns Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 4 Omission of of Subject Pronouns Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usa Usage ge Exer Exerci cise sess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 G Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: hamza hamza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 H Arab Arabic ic Scr Scrip ipt: t: The The lett letters ers Taa’ and and DHaa’ . . . . . . . . . . 112 I Cultu Cultural ral Note: Note: Traditi radition onal al Clo Clothi thing ng in in the Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Lesson 10: I’ll See You on Wednesday. sa-'araaki l-'arbixaa' . . . . . . 115 A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 B Languag Language e Notes Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 C Vocabula ocabulary ry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 D Vocab ocabul ulary ary Prac Practic tice e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usag Usage e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 1 Days Days of the the Week Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 2 Months, Months, Seaso Seasons, ns, and and Dates Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 120 0 3 The Presen Presentt TTense ense of of Verbs Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 122 2 4 The Negative Present Present Tense Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 126 6 5 “To “To Be” in the Past Past Tense Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 126 6 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usa Usage ge Exer Exerci cise sess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 127 7 G Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: th vs. dh, k vs. q . . . . . . . . . . . 12 128 8 H Arab Arabic ic Scr Scrip ipt: t: The The let lette ters rs xayn and and gha 129 9 ghayn . . . . . . . . . . 12 I Cultu Cultural ral Note Note:: The The Conce Concept pt of Time Time in the Arab Worl World d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 130 0 Lesson 11: The Family. al-xaa’ila. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 131 1 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 D Vocab ocabul ulary ary Prac Practic tice e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 134 4 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usag Usage e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 135 5


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1 “To “To Have” in Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 2 Possessive Suffixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 3 Possessive Possessive Noun Constructions Constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

F G H I

Gram Gramma marr and and Usag Usage e Exe Exerc rcis ises es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: h vs . H vs. kh . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Arab Arabic ic Scri Script pt:: The The let lette ters rs faa’ and qaaf . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Cult Cultur ural al Note Note:: The The Fam Famililyy in in the the Mid Middl dle e Eas Eastt . . . . . . . . 141 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Lesson 12: My Head Hurts! ra’sii yu’limunii! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 D Vocabu ocabula lary ry Practi Practice ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usa Usage ge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 1 Express Expressing ing the Future Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 2 Common Common Irregul Irregular ar Verbs Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 3 Important Command Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 4 Courtesy Courtesy Expressi Expressions ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usag Usage e Exe Exerc rcis ises es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 G Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: gh, k, and and q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 laam . . . . . . . . . . . 156 H Arab Arabic ic Scri Script pt:: The The let lette ters rs kaaf and and laam I Cult Cultura urall Note Note:: Visit Visitin ingg the the Doct Doctor or . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Lesson 13: Where do You Work? maa hiya mihnatuka? . . . . . . . 159 A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 D Vocabu ocabula lary ry Practi Practice ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usa Usage ge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 1 The Subjunct Subjunctive ive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 2 Can, Want Want to, Like to, Have to, and and Must . . . . . . . . . 163 3 Review Review of Possess Possessive ive and and Object Object Suffixes . . . . . . . . 165 4 Review of of Verb Tenses Tenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usag Usage e Exe Exerc rcis ises es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 G Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: s, d, t, and dh vs. S, D, T, and and DH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 H Arab Arabic ic Scri Script pt:: The The lett letters ers miim, nuun and haa’ . . . . . . . 169 I Cultu Cultural ral Not Note: e: The The Econ Econom omyy and and the Edu Educat catio iona nall System in the Middle Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170


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Lesson 14: I Would Like to Change $100. ‘uriidu ‘an ‘aSrifa mi’at duulaar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

A B C D E

Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Vocab ocabul ulary ary Prac Practic tice e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Gramm Grammar ar and and Usag Usage e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 1 Review Review of Posses Possessive sive Noun Noun Construc Constructions tions . . . . . . . . 175 2 The Jussive Jussive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 3 The Negative Negative Past Past Tense Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 4 Summary Summary of Negat Negatives ives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usa Usage ge Exer Exerci cise sess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 G Pron Pronun unci ciat atio ion n Pract Practic ice: e: H and and x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 yaa’ . . . . . . . 182 H Arabi Arabicc Scri Script pt:: The The cons conson onan ants ts waaw and and ya I Cultu Cultural ral Note Note:: Tel Televi evisi sion on and and Inte Interne rnett in the the Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 sh-shaaTi’! . . . 185 Lesson 15: Let’s Go to the Beach! hayyaa binaa ‘ilaa sh-shaaTi’! A Dial Dialog ogue ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 B Lang Langua uage ge Note Notess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 C Vocab ocabul ulary ary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 D Vocab ocabul ulary ary Prac Practic tice e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 E Gramm Grammar ar and and Usag Usage e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 1 Suggestions with “Let’s . . . ” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 2 Personal Personal Pronoun Pronoun Suffixes Suffixes on Preposit Prepositions ions . . . . . . . 189 3 Degrees Degrees of Adjectiv Adjectives es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 F Gram Gramma marr and and Usa Usage ge Exer Exerci cise sess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 G Pronun Pronuncia ciatio tion n Pract Practice ice:: Revi Review ew of hamza, x, and H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 H Arabi Arabicc Script Script:: Impo Important rtant Symb Symbol olss That That Are Not Letters Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 I Cultu Cultural ral Note: Note: Sports Sports and and Recr Recrea eatio tion n in in the the Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Answer Answer Key Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Grammar Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 1 Noun Nounss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 A Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 B Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 C Plurals Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 196 6


XI

D The The Dual Dual Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 E Noun Noun Cases Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 2 Pron Pronou ouns ns and and Perso Persona nall Suffix Suffixes es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 200 0 3 Adject Adjectiv ives es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 201 1 A Position Position and Agreeme Agreement nt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 201 1 B Irregular Irregular Adjectives Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 201 1 C Degrees Degrees of Adjectives Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 201 1 4 Demo Demonst nstrat rativ ives es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 5 Numb Numbers ers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 A Cardinal Cardinal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 B Ordinal Ordinal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 6 Verbs erbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 A Regular Regular Verbs Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 B Irregul Irregular ar Verb Verbss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 C Negation Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 D Derived Derived Forms of Verbs Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 E Verb Verbal al Nouns Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 7 Arabi Arabicc Sen Sente tenc nces es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 A Sentences Sentences Without Without Verbs Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 B Word Order Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Glossary of Grammatical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Arabic-English Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 221 1 English-Arabic English-Arabic Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266


LESSON 1 PRONUNCIATION PRONUNCIATION AND TRANSCRIPTION

In this first lesson you’re going going to focus on Modern Standard Arabic pronunciation and the transcription system used in this course. course. The purpose purpose of this first first lesson lesson is not to make make you an expert, so don’t pressure yourself yourself to master every sound and memorize every single transcription symbol used. You don’t even have to memorize the meanings of the examples now. now. What this lesson is meant to do is to give you a general sense of Arabic pronunciation and show you that by far the majority of sounds used in Arabic are not reall reallyy so foreign. foreign. That way way, when you you move move into the actual language lessons, lessons, you’ll have have something to hold on to. Luckily most of the sounds in Arabic are pronounced exactly like sounds in English, English, and in these cases the transcription system in this course simply uses the letters that represent those sounds. For example, there is a sound in Arabic that is pronounced just like like the sound at the beginning beginning of the English word word “big,” “big,” so the transcription symbol used for that sound is b. Then Then there there are are other other sounds that do not occur in English, English, but are found in other EuroEuropean languag languages, es, so even even if you’re you’re not not familiar familiar with them, them, they’re they’re explained explained easily easily enough. enough. Finally Finally,, there are a small small number number of sounds that are are most likely likely very very foreign to you, but still, they’ll be described in detail, and you’ll have have plenty of opportunities to hear, hear, repeat, repeat, and practi practice ce them. them. The key key is to listen listen carefu carefully lly to the recordings and mimic the native speakers as they pronounce the examples of each sound. Before Before we get into into the pronunciatio pronunciation n of Arabic, let’s talk talk very briefly about the Arabic Arabic alphabet and writing system. system. For a much more in-depth presentation presentation of Arabic script, along with plenty of reading and writing practice exercises, exercises, see the Complete Guide to Arabic Script . Arabic Arabic is written written right-to-l right-to-left eft in a cursive cursive script, script, meaning that most of the letters are joined to one another, another, like English handwriting as opposed to the letters you’re reading right now. now. The letters take different different shapes depending on where where they appear appear in a word word—fi —first rst,, in the middle middle,, last, last, or in isolat isolation ion.. The Arabic letters you’ll you’ll see in this section section are the isolated forms, and they’re they’re included included not not so that you you memorize memorize them, them, but just just to remind you that the transcription you’ll be using is a short-cut to the “real” “real” thing. thing.


2

LESSON 1

Another characteristic of written Arabic to keep in mind is that short vow vowels els are not not normally normally written, written, except except in childr children’s en’s courses, courses, the Koran, Koran, and, thankfull thankfullyy, in courses courses for studen students ts of AraArabic! Normally Normally,, just the consona consonants, nts, long vowel vowels, s, and diphth diphthongs ongs are written. written. When the the short short vow vowels els are are written written,, they appear as small strokes or swirls above or below the consonant that is “carrying” rying” them. them. In other other word words, s, da would be written in Arabic as the letter d with a small stroke written just above above it. Long vowels vowels and diphthongs are written as bona fide fide letters, but you don’t don’t need to concern yourself too much with this right right now. now. All vowels vowels are of course written in the transcription used in this course. You’ll learn much more about the Arabic alphabet in the Arabic Script section of each lesson and in the supplemental Guide to Arabic Script . Now we’ll take take a look at all of the sounds in Modern Standard Arabic so that you’ll know how to pronounce each new word that you see in this course. We’ll divide the sounds sounds into groups—vowels, groups—vowels, the many sounds that will give you no problem because they’re pretty much identical identical to sounds in English, the fewer sounds that will give you very little trouble because they’re found in other familiar languages, languages, and finally the few difficult cases. You’ll see the actual actual Arabic Arabic letter, letter, its name, the transcripti transcription on letter used used in this course, a description of the sound, and several several examples examples of Arabic words where the sound occurs. Don’t worry if you you want more practice—you’ll focus on particular sounds of Arabic in each of the lessons that follow. Vowels

There are three vowels vowels in Modern Standard Arabic, but each one has both a long and a short variety. variety. There are also two diphthongs, which are compound vowel vowel sounds formed by gliding gliding more more than one simple simple vow vowel el together together.. So, all in all, all, there are eight vowel vowel sounds to focus on. Bear in mind that vowels vowels in Arabic should always always be clear and crisp, and they should never be reduced as vowels vowels often are in English.


P r o n u n c i a t i o n a n d Tr a n s c r i p t i o n

n

3

a

The first short vowel vowel in Arabic, Arabic, called fatHa, is writ written ten as a short stroke on top of other letters. letters. It can be pronounced like like the o in hot ,the , the u in sun or the e in bet , depending depending on the the consonant before before it. it. Consonants Consonants pronounc pronounced ed in the front front of the mouth or with the teeth tend to make this sound more like eh. wa (and) walad (boy) walad (boy)

man (who) kataba (he wrote)

o

u

The second short vowel in Arabic is Damma . It is is writ writte ten n like a tiny, tiny, backwards backwards e over another letter letter.. It’s pronounced pronounced like the vowel sound in put or foot . kutub (books) hunna (they)

hum (they) funduq (hotel)

p

i

The third and last short vowel vowel in Arabic is kasra, written written just like the a sound, but below the letter that carries it it instead of above it. it. It’s pronounced like like the vowel vowel in sit or fit . bint (girl) bint (girl) ‘ism (name)

min (from) rijl (foot) rijl (foot)

G

aa

The long vowel ‘alif , which which is also the first first letter letter of the Arabic alphabe alphabet, t, is pronounce pronounced d like like the short a, but but it’ it’ss hel held d longer. longer. It can also sound like like a long –eh, depend depending ing on the the consonant before it. baab (door) laa (no)

kitaab (book) salaam (peace)


4

LESSON 1

h

uu

The long vowel written with the Arabic letter waaw is pronounced like the vowel in pool or tool . If you you pronounc pronouncee the English words look and Luke, but hold hold the the vow vowel el in in Luke, you’re pronouncing both the short and long u and uu of Arabic. nuur (light) nuur (light) thuum (garlic)

duud (worms) duud (worms) katabuu (they wrote)

…

ii

The long vowel written with the Arabic letter yaa’ is pronounced like the vowel in sea or me. If you you prono pronounc uncee the English words pit and Pete, you’re you’re pronou pronouncing ncing the short short and long Arabic i and ii. diin (religion) qaSiir (short) qaSiir (short)

hr

kabiir (big) kabiir (big) ‘ismii (my ‘ismii (my name)

aw

The compound compound sound, sound, or diphthong, diphthong, written written with the letter letter waaw with a small circle over it is pronounced like the vowel in house or brown. yawm (day) dhawq (taste)

SawT (sound) SawT (sound) xawm (swim)

…r

ay

The diphthong written with the letter yaa’ with a small circle over it is pronounced like the vowel in bait or late, or some some-times like the vowel in my or buy. bayt (house) bayt (house) kayf (how) kayf (how)

laylaa (Layla) khayr (goodness) khayr (goodness)



5

Consonants

Now let’s take on the consonants. Remember that we’ll we’ll use the convention of dividing them into three groups—the ones that are just about identical to sounds found in English, English, the ones that occur in other familiar languages, and finally finally the really tricky ones that generally give non-native speakers the hardest time. Before Before we begin begin to to look look at at the the conso consonan nants, ts, though though,, it’s it’s important to mention one important point. There is a difference in pronunciation between single and double consonants in Arabic. Arabic. A double double consonant consonant must be held longer longer than a single single one. one. For example, example, the n in ‘anaa (I) is held for about half as long as the n in fannaan (artist). (artist). This is easier easier to do with some some consonants, consonants, such as f , z , s, sh, th, n, and m, which are produced with a continuous flow flow of air. air. Say these consonants aloud and you’ll see that you can hold them for as long as your your air supply supply lasts. Other consonan consonants, ts, such as b, t , d, or k, are produced by by blocking airflow airflow, so you can’t hold them as as you you can the others. others. In these these cases, cases, pronounce pronounce the the double consonants with a pause in the word. For example, shubbaak (window) sounds almost like two words shub and then baak. Group One

Ü

b

The letter baa’ is pronounced just like the b in boy or book. bint (girl) bint (girl) baab (door)

bayt (house) bayt (house) al-baSra (Basra)

ä

t

The letter taa’ is pronounced like the t in take or tip. taktub (you write) tilmiidh (pupil, student)

tazuur (you tazuur (you visit) fatHiyya (woman’s name)


6

LESSON 1

ç

th

The letter thaa’ is pronounced like the th in thank or think. Be careful not to pronounce it like the th in this or that ; this sound is a separate letter in Arabic. thaaniya (second) thaa’ (the thaa’ (the letter th)

thalaatha (three) thuum (garlic)

ê

j

The letter jiim is pronounced differently throughout the Arab world. In western and central North Africa Africa as well as in the Levant, it is pronounced like the s in measure or pleasure. In Egypt and Yemen, Yemen, it is pronounced like the hard g in go or get . And in the eastern eastern Arab Arab world, world, it is pronounce pronounced d like like the j in jelly or joke. jariida (newspaper) jaziira (island)

jamiil (beautiful) jamiil (beautiful) jayyid (good) jayyid (good)

O

d

The letter daal is pronounced like the d in day or do. darasa (he studied) dunyaa (world)

diin (religion) dimaagh (brain)

P

dh

The letter dhaal is pronounced like the th in this, that , or other . Do not confuse confuse it with with the th of thank or think. dhahab (gold) dhiraax (arm) dhiraax (arm)

dhahaba (he went) ‘ustaadh (professor)



R

7

z

The letter zaay is pronounced like the z in zoo or zipper . zaytuun (olives) xaziiz (man’s xaziiz (man’s name)

zaada (he added) zawj (husband)

¢S

s

The letter siin is pronounced like the s in so or sit . samiik (thick) samiik (thick) ’islaam (Islam)

rasm (painting) salaam (peace, hello)

¢T

sh

The letter shiin is pronounced like the sh in shoe or ship. shukran (thank you) sharibat (she sharibat (she drank)

shams (sun) shaykh (sheikh)

±

f

The letter faa’ is pronounced like the f in far or feel . fii (in) fii (in) fannaan (artist)

faransaa (France) fiil (elephant) fiil (elephant)

∑

k

The letter kaaf is pronounced like the k in kite or keep. kitaab (book) kayfa (how)

kalb (dog) kursiyy (chair) kursiyy (chair)


8

LESSON 1

∫

l

The letter laam is pronounced like the l in like or let . layl (night) layl (night) laTiif (friendly) laTiif (friendly)

laa (no) laysa (he is not)

Ω

m

The letter miim is pronounced like the m in make or meet . maa (what) maktab (office)

masaa’ (evening) masaa’ (evening) mumtaaz (wonderful, mumtaaz (wonderful, excellent)

¿

n

The letter nuun is pronounced like the n in now or neat . nuur (light) nuur (light) nawm (sleep)

‘anaa (I) naxam (yes)

√

h

The letter haa’ is pronounced like the h in here or happy. hunna (they) haadhaa (this)

h

huduu’ (quiet) huduu’ (quiet) hiya (she)

w

The letter waaw is pronounced like the w in we or wool . (It (It is is also used in the Arabic alphabet to represent the long vowel in tool or pool and the diphthong in house.) wa (and) waziir (minister) waziir (minister)

walad (boy) walad (boy) waSala (he arrived)



…

9

y

The letter yaa’ is pronounced like the y in yes or yellow. (It (It is is also used in the Arabic alphabet to represent the long vowel in week or see and the diphthong in bait .) .) yawm (day) yaktubu (he writes)

yaabaan (Japan) yasmiin (woman’s name)

Group Two

The following three consonants occur in other languages you may be familiar with.

ñ

kh

The sound of the letter khaa’ is not found in most varieties of English, but the sound at the end of the Scottish word loch is very close to it. It’s also similar to the German sound in Bach or Buch or the Hebrew Baruch. It’s It’s a deep deep,, th thro roat atyy sou sound nd like like a tight, tight, raspy raspy h. khawkh (peach) ‘ukht (sister) ‘ukht (sister)

Q

‘akh (brother) khamsa (five)

r

The sound of raa’ is not the standard r of English, English, but rather rather the rolled r of Italian or Spanish. rajul (man) rajul (man) rasm (painting)

rakhiiS (inexpensive) ra’s (head)

Æ

gh

The sound of the letter ghayn is very similar to the gargled r of the French words rue or rare. It comes comes from from the back of the throat, throat, near where where g or k are produced.


10

LESSON 1

ghadan (tomorrow) ghurfa (room)

ghariib (strange) dimaagh (brain)

Group Three

Finally, Finally, these are the letters that are most likely to give give you trouble, because they’re very very much unlike sounds in in English or in other European languages.

¢U

S

The letter Saad is pronounced like an emphatic, forceful s. It doesn’t exist in English, but it’s not difficult difficult to make ifif you practi practice. ce. Start Start by sayi saying ng s as in saw, but then then dra draw w your your tongue back and lower lower your jaw slightly slightly.. If you’re having having troubl troublee doing doing this, this, just just pronoun pronounce ce the long, long, deep deep “ah” that that you make make when the doctor doctor examines your your throat. That will automatically put your tongue in the right position for Saad. Saad (as well as Daad, Taa’ and Dhaa’ ) change the quality of the vowels vowels near them—they make them deeper. deeper. (Be careful in the transcription system to differentiate between s, whic which h is like the English s,and S.) Siin (China) Sadiiq (friend)

Saghiir (small) Saghiir (small) SabaaH (morning) SabaaH (morning)

¢V

D

The letter Daad has the same relationship to the d in day as S has to the s in say. Practice Practice in the same same way—sa way—sayy a d, and then draw your tongue back and lower lower your jaw. jaw. Make the surrounding vowels deep. Dabaab (fog) mariiD (sick)

Daruuriyy (necessary) Daruuriyy (necessary) Daxiif (skinny) Daxiif (skinny)



•

11

T

The letter Taa’ is a t with the tongue drawn back and the t he jaw lowe lowered red.. Start Start with with t as in toy, and mak makee the same same adjus adjusttments as you did for S and D. Taqs (weather) Taalib (student)

Tifl (child) Tifl (child) Taawila (table)

®

DH

The letter DHaa’ is the last last of the emphatic letters. It’s the th in this, but pronounced with with the tongue drawn drawn back and the jaw lowered. DHahr (back) DHahr (back) DHahara (he appeared)

DHuhr (noon) DHuhr (noon) DHalaam (darkness)

¥

q

The letter qaaf is similar to the sound of a g or a k, but but it’ it’ss produced produced further further back back in the throat, throat, closer to where where the the sound of the gargled French r is produced. You should feel the constriction at the very very back of your your mouth, near the top of your throat. qaa’id (leader) qaa’id (leader) qaamuus (dictionary)

qalb (heart) Sadiiq (friend)

A

‘

The sound of the letter hamza isn’t thought of as a “standard” dard” English English sound, sound, but if you you know know what to listen listen for, for, you’ll hear that it’s far from rare. In fact, you produce produce it every every time you say “uh-oh!” It’s technically called a glottal stop, because it’s a quick block in the airflow through your mouth caused by by closing the very very top of your throat, the glottis. But you don’t need to get get so technical to make this sound. Think


12

LESSON 1

of the Cockney pronunciation pronunciation of the words words “bottle” or “settle,” tle,” with a short, gentle gentle coughing coughing sound where where the double t is written. There are are also many regional American American accents, particularly around New York York City, City, that use a very similar sound to pronounce the final t in words like put , cat , or sit . Notice that this sound is transcribed transcribed by an apostrophe, and in fact it occurs in the names of many of the Arabic letters. Make sure you pronounce it when you see it. ka’s (glass) qara’a (he read)

maa’ (water) maa’ (water) maa’ida (dining room table)

You’ll also see this letter at the beginning of Arabic words that start with a vowel. vowel. Don’t make any special effort to pronounce the hamza at the beginnin beginningg of words. words. It’s natural, natural, even in in English, English, to automatical automatically ly produce produce a glottal glottal stop whenever you begin to pronounce a word that starts with a vowel. ‘ayna (where) ‘awlaad (boys) ‘awlaad (boys)

‘adrusu (I study) ‘ibn (son)

ì

H

The sound of the letter Haa’ is perhaps the second hardest Arabic sound to make. But again, you’ve you’ve probably probably made this sound many many times. Imagine Imagine that you’re you’re lowering lowering yoursel yourself f into a very very hot bath. That very enthusiasti enthusiastic, c, forceful forceful Ha!, with some constriction at the top of your throat, throat, is the sound of Haa’ . You also make make this sound when when you’ve you’ve put too much jalapeño in your chili or too much wasabi on your sushi. sushi. Or, Or, if you you pref prefer er meat meat and potatoe potatoes, s, you you make make this this sound when when you blow blow on your glasses glasses to clean them. them. The only difficulty in pronouncing Haa’ probably comes from the fact that you think of it as an exclamation rather than a consonant. If you get used to that, you’ll have have no trouble propronouncing Haa’ . Haarr (hot) Haarr (hot) masraH (theater) masraH (theater)

Hajar (stone) Hajar (stone) miSbaaH (lamp) miSbaaH (lamp)



´

13

x

Following the tradition tradition of leaving the best for last, the letter xayn is almost definitely the hardest Arabic sound to pronounce. nounce. It’s similar similar to the very very emphatic emphatic H of Haa’ , but it vibrates as well, well, and airflow is just about choked off by constriction at the top of the throat. You use the necessary muscles when you gag, and if you put your fingers on your your throat and make yourself gag slightly, slightly, you’ll feel the muscles you’ll need to produce xayn. Again, Again, it’s not that that it’s impossible impossible to produce this sound, but it’s hard to get get used to the idea that it’s a regul regular ar consonant consonant in a langua language ge.. In Arabic, Arabic, it’s even even a common consonant! xarabiyya (Arabic language) al-xiraaq (Iraq)

xalaykum (on you) faxaltu (I did)


LESSON 2 HELLO! ‘assalaamu xalaykum!

In this first lesson you’re going to learn some basic greetings and how to ask questions such as “how are you you doing?” and “what is your name?” If you need to review any of the tips for how to use each lesson and get the most out of this course, turn back to the introduction. 2A Dialogue

Listen as Kareem bumps into an old high school friend, Kamal. They haven’t haven’t seen each other in a long time. kariim kariim kamaal kamaal karii kariim m kamaal kariim kariim

‘ahlan ‘ahlan wa sahlan! sahlan! ‘ahlan ‘ahlan wa sahlan! sahlan! kayfa kayfa l-Haa l-Haal? l? al-Hamdu al-Hamdu lillaah. lillaah. wa ‘anta, kayfa l-Haal? al-Hamd al-Hamdu u lillaa lillaah. h.

Kareem Kamal Kar Kareem Kamal Kamal Kar Kareem

H i! H i! How are you? I’m doing doing well. well. And And you, you, how how are are you? you? I’m I’m doi doing well.

That wasn’t wasn’t so so bad, was it? it? Now let’s let’s let’s listen listen as Chris, Chris, a student student at Al-Azhar Al-Azhar Univ Universit ersityy in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, Egypt, introduces introduces himself to his classmate Layla on the first day of classes. kris laylaa laylaa kris kris laylaa kris layl laylaa aa kris layl laylaa aa kris laylaa laylaa Chris Layla Chris

‘as-sal ‘as-salaamu aamu xalayku xalaykum. m. wa xalaykum xalaykum as-sala as-salaam. am. kayfa kayfa l-Haa l-Haal? l? al-Hamdu al-Hamdu lillaah. lillaah. wa ‘anta, kayfa l-Haal? al-Hamd al-Hamdu u lillaa lillaah, h, shu shukran kran.. maa ‘ismu ‘ismuka? ka? ‘ismii kris. wa ‘anti, maa ‘ismuki? ‘ismuki? ‘ismi ‘ismiii laylaa laylaa.. ‘ahlan ‘ahlan wa sahlan. sahlan. ‘ahlan ‘ahlan wa sahlan. sahlan. Hello. Hello. How are you?


Hello! ‘assalaamu xalaykum!

Layl Layla a Chri Chriss Layla Chri Chriss Layla Chris Layla

15

I’m doing doing well well.. And And you, you, how are are you? you? I’m I’m doin doingg well well,, ttha hank nk you. you. What hat’s yo your na name? My nam name e is Chr Chris. is. And And you, you, wha what’s t’s your your nam name? e? My nam name e is is La Layla. la. Nice to to me meet yo you. Nice to to me meet yo you.

2B La n ng gu a ag g e No N o t es es

The most basic greeting in Arabic is the phrase 'as-salaamu xalaykum . Literally it translates as “may peace be upon you,” you,” but it is the English equivalent equivalent of “hello.” “hello.” When a person says ‘as-salaamu xalaykum, the most common reply is wa xalaykum as-salaam. This This transl translate atess as “and “and upon upon you you peace,” peace,” but it also simply means “hello.” “hello.” Another Another very very common greeting, greeting, a bit bit less less formal, formal, is ‘ahlan wa sahlan. This is is the friendl friendlyy greeting greeting that that Kareem and and Kamal used. In Arabic, just like like in many many other languages, languages, there are certain greetings that are used at specific times of the day. day. For example, pl e, you can can use use SabaaH al-khayr or “good “good mornin morning” g” to greet greet someone someone before before noon. If someone someone says says SabaaH alkhayr to you, you, you can reply reply by saying saying SabaaH an-nuur , which also means “good “good morning.” morning.” As a general rule, you can use this greeting anytime between sunrise and noon. You can use the greeting masaa’ al-khayr and its response masaa’ an-nuur during during late late after afternoo noon, n, early early eve evenin ning, g, or at nighttime. nighttime. As a general general rule you can start start using masaa’ albefore the sun sets. sets. This khayr and masaa’ an-nuur an hour before greeting can then be translated as “good “good afternoon,” afternoon,” “good evening,” evening,” or even even “good “good night” in some circumstances. To say good night more personally, personally, for example to a loved one before going going to bed, bed, you might might say layla saxiida (good night) or TusbiH xalaa khayr (wake up in good health). An important and useful expression to know is, of course, “good “good bye. bye.”” In Arabic Arabic it’s it’s literall literallyy “[go] “[go] with with peace, peace,” or maxa s-salaama.


16

LESSON 2

Did you notice in the second dialogue that when Layla speaks to Chris she says ‘anta for “you” “you” and maa ‘ismuka for “what is your your name?” name?” But when Chris Chris speaks speaks to Layla Layla he says ‘anti and maa ‘ismuki to mean the the same things. things. Those aren’t typos—they’re feminine and masculine forms for the same expression. You’ll also notice that in the first dialogue, Kamal addresses Karim with ‘anta. You’ll learn much more about these forms later, later, but for now, now, just be careful careful to notice the differences. 2C Vocabular y

Now let’s take a look at the vocabulary you saw in the dialogue as well as some other words and expressions you’ll come across in this lesson. Read through the list and familiarize yourself with the new words by repeating them several times, times, writin writingg them dow down, n, or even even using using flash flashcar cards. ds. At the the end of the lesson, you might might want to come back and work work with the list again. For more tips on learning new vocabulary, vocabulary, turn back to the introduction. ‘as-salaamu xalaykum wa xalaykum as-salaam kayfa l-Haal al-Hamdu lillaah ‘anta, ‘anti kayfa ‘ism ‘ismii ‘ismuka, ‘ismuki wa maa yawm SabaaH masaa’ layl shukran kitaab Taalib Taaliba ‘ustaadh ‘ustaadha jaamixa

hello, good day response to ‘as-salamu xalaykum How are you? I’m fine, I’m doing well. you (masculine, feminine) how name my name your name (masculine, feminine) and what? day morning late afternoon, evening night thank you book student (m.) student (f.) professor (m.) professor (f.) university



kulliyya qaamuus bint walad rajul ‘imra’a Saghiir kabiir

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college dictionary girl boy man woman small, little, young (people) big, old (people)

2 D V o ca c a bu b u la l a r y P ra r a ct c t ic ic e

Before you go go further, further, take a moment to practice some of the new vocabulary you’ve just learned. Answer each of the following questions. 1. You walk into into a conferenc conference e room in Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Saudi Arabia. Arabia. What is the first thing that you say? 2. What What would would be said said to to you in respo response nse? ? 3. How How do you you say say “morn “morning ing?” ?” 4. How How would would you you say say “nig “night ht?” ?” 5. You see a friend and want to ask her how how she’s doing. How would you say it? 6. To tell tell someone someone your your name, name, what would would you you say? say? 7. Translat ranslate e into into English: English: bint, Saghiir, shukran, kitaab. 8. Now translate translate into Arabic: Arabic: woman, man, big, and, and, what? what?

2 E G r am a m m ar a r an a n d U sa s a ge ge

Now let’s begin to take a closer look at Arabic grammar and structure. Ev Every ery lesson will add on to what you’ve you’ve learned in previous ones, so be sure that that you’re comfortable with each of the follo following wing points. points. Go at your your own own pace, and don’t don’t be afraid to review rev iew..

q “To

Be” in Arabic

Take a look at the sentences kayfa l-Haal? and ‘ismii laylaa. You know that they mean “How are you?” and “My name is Layla, Layla,”” but do you notice anything missing in the Arabic? If you’ve you’ve guessed that there are no words words for “are” and “is,” “is,” you’r you’ree right. right. In Arabi Arabic, c, there there is no no transla translatio tion n of “to be” be” in


18

LESSON 2

the present present tense. tense. That means that “am,” “am,” “are,” “are,” and “is” are understood. ‘anaa Taaliba. ‘ismii kamaal kayfa l-Haal

w Definite

I [am] a student. My name [is] Kamal. How are you? (Literally, How [is] the condition?)

and Indefinite Articles

An article is a little word that tells you something about a noun. For exampl example, e, in English, English, if you you say say “a compute computerr,” the indefinite article “a” shows that you you mean any old old undefined computer computer.. But if you say “the” “the” computer computer,, that definite definite article article “the” means that you you have have a specific, specific, defined defined computer computer in mind. There are no overt indefinite articles (a/an) in Arabic. For example, SabaaH (morning) (morning) means means both “morning” “morning” and “a morning, morning,”” because because even though though it’s not there, the indefinite indefinite article is implied. Similarly, Similarly, masaa’ (evening) can mean both “evening” and “an evening. evening.”” But Arabic does have a definite article (the) which can be added to the beginning of a word by attaching the prefix al-. For example, al-masaa’ means “the evening.” evening.” Here are a few more examples bint al-bint kitaab al-kitaab

(a) girl the girl (a) book the book

Arabic uses the definite article much like English, English, to specify something in particular. particular. But it also uses the definite article to make general general statements. For example, while in English English we’d say “chocola “chocolate te is good” good” or “internation “international al phone calls calls are expensi expensive, ve,”” Arabs Arabs say “the “the chocolate chocolate is good” good” and “the “the interinternational phone calls are expensive.” There is one other important rule to keep in mind when it comes to the definite article al . Do you you rem remem embe berr the the expression SabaaH an-nuur , or “good “good mornin morning?” g?” The The an in an-nuur means “the,” “the,” but as you you can see, it’s pronounced pronounced differently from al . That’s That’s because because the –l in al will change before the letters t–, th–, d–, dh–, r–, z–, sh–, S–, D–, T–, DH, and finally n–, into that letter. letter. You’ll sometimes hear these letters letters called called “sun “sun letters, letters,” because the word word for



19

“sun”— shams—begins with one of them. The other letters, letters, which don’t force the l in al to change change,, are called called “moon” “moon” letters, letters, because because the the word word for moon— moon—qamar —begins —begins with one of them. The easiest way way to remember remember the sun letters is that they’re the ones that are pronounced with the tongue very close to where it is when the l in al is pronounced. SabaaH aS-SabaaH dhahab adh-dhahab shams ash-shams rajul ar-rajul

(a) morning the morning gold the gold sun the sun (a) man the man

e Gender Arabic, Arabic, like like Spanish or French French or German, is a language language that has gender. gender. This means that every noun is either masculine masculine or femini feminine. ne. Someti Sometimes mes this this can can be pretty pretty obv obviou ious, s, if the the grammatical gender of a noun is the same as its natural gender. der. So, an animate animate male male noun will will be masculi masculine, ne, and an anianimate female noun will be feminine. ar-rajul al-‘imra’a walad bint

the man (masculine) the woman (feminine) a boy (masculine) a girl (feminine)

But even nouns that do not have natural gender—inanimate objects, for example—are example—are grammatically grammatically either masculine masculine or feminine. Luckily, Luckily, it’s easy to tell whether an inanimate noun is masculine or feminine. Inanimate nouns are generally generally feminine if they end in –a, and masculine if they end in anything else, including including a hamza (‘). kitaab Taawila al-qaamuus al-kulliyya al-masaa’

(a) book (masculine) (a) table (feminine) the dictionary (m.) the college (f.) the evening (m.)

Keep in mind that not all feminine nouns end in –a. An anianimate female female noun, regardle regardless ss of its ending ending,, is feminin feminine, e, such as bint (girl) or ‘ukht (sister). (sister). There There are also a few inanimate inanimate


20

LESSON 2

nouns which are feminine but do not end in –a, such such as ash shams (sun). This kind of irregul irregular ar gender gender is rare, rare, though, though, and it will be indicated in the vocabulary lists.

r Nouns

and Adjectives

Nouns in Arabic function the same way as they do in English—the glish—theyy are used to name a person, person, place, place, thing, thing, quality quality,, or concept. concept. In both English English and Arabic Arabic,, we use adjecti adjectives ves to describe describe or modify modify nouns. nouns. But in Arabic, Arabic, unlike unlike in English, English, adjectives come after the nouns that they modify. kitaab Saghiir qaamuus kabiir

a small book a big dictionary

As you can can see, since there there are no definite definite article articless in the above phrases, they’re translated into English as indefinite indefinite phrases—tha phrases—thatt is, phrases phrases with “a” instead instead of “the.” “the.” So, kitaab Saghiir means “a small small book” and not “the small small book. book.” We’ll see how to say “the small book” book” in the next lesson. For now, now, get used to the idea that whenever whenever you see a noun followed lowed by an adjectiv adjective, e, and neither neither one has al (or its other forms) attached, it’s translated as an indefinite indefinite phrase such as “a small book” or “a big dictionary. dictionary.” 2 F G ra r a mm m m ar a r a n d U sa s a g e E x er e r c is is e s

Are you ready to practice some of what you’ve learned in this lesson? If not, don’t be afraid to go back back and read read over over the Grammar and Usage section again. Change these indefinite nouns into definite nouns, making sure to use the appropriate form of the prefix al-. Then translate each definite noun phrase into English. Exercise 1

1. 2. 3. 4.

shams kitaab qaamuus bint

Exercise 2

5. 6. 7. 8.

rajul ‘ustaadh Taaliba dhahab

Give the gender of each of the following Arabic

nouns. 1. 2. 3. 4.

rajul Ta Taawila qa qaamuus ‘ustaadh

5. 6. 7. 8.

‘imra’a kulliyya ki kitaab shams



21

Exercise 3 Translate the following phrases into English.

1. 2. 3. 4.

aT-Taawila rajul kabiir ‘ismii laylaa. wa ‘anta, kayfa l-Haal?

5. 6. 7. 8.

kitaab Saghiir maa ‘ismuka? al-kulliyya ‘ustaadh kabiir

2 G P ro r o nu n u nc n c iia a ti t i on o n P ra r a ct c t ic ic e V o w e l s

In each lesson lesson we’ll focus on certain sounds in Arabic. As you know know,, some of them are very very simple simple and similar similar,, if not identical identical,, to sounds you you know from from English English and perhaps from other other European European languag languages. es. But there there are a few that you’ve you’ve probably never never heard before. Don’t worry, worry, we’ll get get to them slowly and steadily. steadily. For now, now, let’s begin with some easy sounds. Listen to your recordings recordings and repeat after the native native speakers as you work through this section. Arabic has three basic vowel sounds, a, i, and u. Thes Thesee are are each short, short, crisp sounds. sounds. kamaal, wa, ‘ahlan, walad ‘ism, bint, min, ‘ibn mudun, ‘ukht, kutub, shukr

One important aspect of Arabic pronunciation is that these vowel vowelss have have a range of pronunciati pronunciation, on, especiall especiallyy the –a, which can sometimes sound like the a in “father” “father” and somesometimes like the e in “set.” “set.” It all depends depends on the the consonant consonant before the vowel. vowel. Don’t worry about any rules at this point— just be careful to listen to how the vowels are pronounced on the recordings. Another important aspect of Arabic pronunciation is that these vowels vowels can be either short or long. A long vowel vowel is pronounced literally longer than a short one—hold it for a beat or two. two. In transcri transcription, ption, we’ll we’ll show show these these vowel vowelss as aa, ii, and uu. masaa’, laa, ‘ustaadh, Taalib kabiir, Saghiir, diin, qariib nuur, thuum, tuunis, suuq

2 H A r ab a b i c S c ri ri p t O v e r v i e w , t h e l e t t e r s b a a ' , t a a ' a n d thaa'

The Arabic script script is written and read from right to left, so if you were to pick up a book you would have to open it from


22

LESSON 2

the opposite side of a book book written in English. English. Lines would also start on the right side of the page instead of on the left, and you would read the letters in individual words from right to left as well. The Arabic script consists of two two kinds of letters—ones that connect connect to the letters after them, them, and others that don’t. For example example,, the letter letter baa’ (b) is a connecting connecting letter letter,, which which means that it is written differently depending on whether it is located at the beginning beginning of a word, in the middle middle of a word, at the end of a word, word, or isolated isolated and and not part of a word word.. So, there there are really four different forms of each connecting letter—initial, tial, medial medial,, final, final, and isolat isolated. ed. Non-co Non-conne nnecti cting ng letter letterss only only have two two forms. Since they do not connect to the letters letters after them, their their isolated isolated and and initial initial forms forms will will look look alik alike, e, as will will their final and medial ones. This may may not make make much sense right now, now, but it will become become clear as you you see examples of actual Arabic letters and how they’re used to form words. We’ll start with the first three consonants of the Arabic alphabet—baa’ , taa’ ,and , and thaa’ . They’re They’re pronoun pronounced ced b–, t–,and th– respectively respectively, and they’re all connecting letters. This means that they have have four different forms, although there is is only a slight variation among those forms. The initial form is is written with a “tail” that connects connects to the letter after it, the medial medial has two “tails” “tails” connecting connecting to letters letters on either side of it, and the final final has a “tail” connecting connecting it to the letter before it.

Ü ä ç

isolated

b t th

H à ã

initial

Ñ` à` ã`

m ed i a l

Ö ` ä ` å`

final

As you you can see, these three letters are all identical, identical, except for the number of dots that that they carry. carry. The letter baa’ has one dot below, below, while taa’ has two above and thaa’ three above. Try reading these example words using the letters baa’ , taa’ , and thaa’ . Don’t worry worry about the vow vowel el sounds yet—w yet—we’ll e’ll come back to them. For now, now, focus on picking out baa’ , taa’ and thaa’ .



ÜÉH

baab (door)

23

âÑK

thabata (it was confirmed)

For more more practice, practice, read The Basics, The Arabic Alphabet , Connecting and Non-Connecting Letters, and Reading Reading Practice 1 of Part 2: Reading Arabic in the Complete Guide to Arabic Script . Or, Or, if you you prefer prefer to tackle tackle Arabic Arabic script script later, later, move right ahead to section 2I. 2I Cultural Note What, Exactly, is Arabic?

Generally speaking, speaking, there are three three forms of Arabic found in any given given place in the Arabic-speaking world. There is Modern Standard Arabic, which is the language language of business, business, literatur ature, e, educ educat atio ion, n, poli politi tics cs,, th thee med media ia,, and and mos mostt “off “offic icia ial” l” situations. situations. There’s There’s also also Koranic Koranic Arabic Arabic,, which which is the the strict strict and traditiona traditionall form used in religious religious matters, matters, such as the Koran. These two two forms of Arabic Arabic do not vary vary across across the Arab world. But the third form does vvary ary from place to place. It is the local colloquial (spoken) dialect, dialect, which is used in informal and familiar settings, and which is not usually writwritten. These dialects do not necessarily split split along easily easily identified geographical geographical lines, but you’ll often hear of such dialects dialects as Egyptian, Saudi, Iraqi, Gulf, Levantine, and North African. These dialects dialects are are all very closely related, of course, but their differences can be either subtle or not so subtle, related related to pronunciat pronunciation, ion, vocabul vocabulary ary,, or even even grammati grammatical cal constr construct uction ions. s. In other other word words, s, the Arab Arabic ic spok spoken en among among men sitting sitting at a café in Amman, Amman, Jordan, Jordan, is going going to be differdifferent from the Arabic spoken by a family f amily sitting down to a meal in Bahrain. But the language language that they use when when reading the the Koran, Koran, listening listening to to the news, news, or conver conversing sing in in academic academic or or business settings will be the same for the most part. That is the type of Arabic that we are using in this book, called Modern Standard Arabic Arabic (MSA), (MSA), which is is the most generic and most widely used and understood form of Arabic in the Middle East and beyond. It is more formal than some of the local dialects, dialects, but less rigid than the very strict Koranic Arabic. Most people in the Arab world world understand and speak speak Modern Standar Standard d Arabic, Arabic, and if you you learn it, it, you can communicate with the majority of Arabic speakers.


24

LESSON 2

If you would like to move on later to learn a local dialect, MSA will be an excellent foundation. Lesson 2 Answer Key Vocabulary Practice: 1. ‘as-salaamu xalaykum .; 2. wa xalaykum as-salaam. ; 3. SabaaH; 4. layl; 5. kayfa l-Haal? ; 6. ‘ismii . . . (insert your name); 7. 7. girl, little/small/young, little/small/young, thank you, book; 8. ‘imra’a, rajul, kabiir, wa, maa? Exercise 1: 1. ash-shams (the sun); 2. al-kitaab (the book); 3. al-qaamuus (the dictionary); 4. al-bint (the girl); 5. ar-rajul (the man); 6. al- ‘ustaadh (the male professor); 7. aT-Taaliba (the female student); 8. adh-dhahab (the gold)

Exercise 2: 1. masculine; 2. feminine; 3. masculine; 4 masculine; 5. feminine; 6. feminine; 7. masculine; 8. feminine Exercise 3: 1. the table; 2. a big (or old) man; 3. My name is Layla.; 4. And you, how are you?; 5. a small book; 6. What is your name? 7. the college; 8. a big (or old) professor


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