Archive for August, 2017
What is the Active Participle in Arabic? (I) Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Aug 31, 2017
The active participle (AP) is known as اِسمُ الفَاعِل in Arabic. It is one of many Arabic noun types that are derived from active verbs. Depending on how it is used in phrases or sentences, AP can be classified into two forms: adjectival (i.e. like an adjective) noun and non-adjectival noun (i.e. the doer or…
A Lebanese song: (Lawn ʕyoon-ak) – The colour of your eyes Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Aug 30, 2017
Today, we’re looking at the lyrics of a popular song by Nancy Ajram, a Lebanese singer. The song (video below) is in the Colloquial Lebanese Arabic. مَـا فِيِّ أَعِيشْ إِلَّا مَعَكْ I can’t live, but with you.. مَا فِيِّ أَكُونْ إِلَّا إِلَكْ I can’t be, but for you مَـا فِيِّ أَعِيشْ إِلَّا مَعَكْ…
MSA and Egyptian Pronunciation Differences [Consonants] Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Aug 24, 2017
Egyptian Arabic (EA) differs from Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in certain aspects of grammar, word-formation, and pronunciation. Differences in pronunciation can be in producing consonants, vowels, clustering (i.e. how many consonants can occur in a cluster), and stress. For this time round, let’s look at the differences in the pronunciation of consonants. In listening to…
The formation process of place nouns in Arabic Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Aug 23, 2017
In a previous post, we learnt about one feature that makes Arabic one of the few, most efficient languages in the world, and that feature is derivation: its productivity in terms of word formation. In today’s post, we’re looking at a specific aspect of this derivation process, and that aspect is the formation of place…
The Inception of Dotting and Diacritics in Arabic Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Aug 17, 2017
During the early days of Islam, Arabic scripts had neither dots nor diacritics. As illustrated in the Table (1), a word with neither of these typographic features had multiple meanings. Figuring out what it meant depended primarily on Arabs’ intuition, memory, and the context. By the time of fourth Caliphate, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib…
How to survive in a restaurant in Egypt? Useful phrases in Egyptian Arabic Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Aug 16, 2017
Today, we’re looking at a near-authentic, restaurant scenario you may come across during your stay in Egypt. The scenario includes many important phrases you’ll need to use to order your meal and pay for it. It also includes important questions that you may be asked by the waiter, from the beginning of your visit till…
Arabic Verb Forms [Transitive vs. Intransitive] Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Aug 10, 2017
We use the language to share our feelings and thoughts. This entails expressing a state of being or an action. In Arabic, the latter is done using a verbal sentence. As the name suggests, it should contain a verb; plus, it, the verb, must occur sentence-initially. To make sense, it is essential that we know…