Moving on to our eighteenth letter of the Arabic alphabet (غ), we will look at various words beginning with (غ) along with more culture/language related facts.

Let’s begin with looking at your basic forms of the letter غ.

Initial غـ‎, as in the word “غَيْمة” meaning “cloud”.

Medial ـغـ‎ ‍, as in the word “بَغداد” meaning “Baghdad”.

Final ـغ‎, as in the word “دِماغ” meaning “brain”.

Before looking at the following words, can you think of words beginning with غ?

غائِم: cloudy .كيفَ الطَقس؟ الطقس غائِم جُزئياً اليَوم

How’s the weather? It’s partly cloudy today.

غَابة: jungle/forest  أي نَوع مِن الحَيوانات تَعيش في هذه الغابة؟

What kind of animals live in this forest?

غاضِب: angry    .إنها غاضِبة مِني لأنني نَسيت المَفاتيح

She’s angry with me because I forgot the keys.

غالي: expensive  .هل يُمكِن أن تَعطيني خَصماً، هذا غالي جِداً

Could you give me a discount, this is too expensive.

غَذاء: lunch  .يُمكننا تَناول الغَداء في المَطعم الجَديد

We can have lunch at the new restaurant.

غَداً: tomorrow   .غَداً هو أول يَوم لي في العَمَل

Tomorrow is my first day at work.

غَزة

Sadly, we keep hearing about the ongoing political instability عَدم الإستقرار السياسي and conflict الصَّراع that has been occurring in the Palestinian city of Gaza غزة, but every city has its history تاريخ, richness ثراء, and beauty جَمال. Here is a video describing غزة from the meaning of its  name to its landmarks and people. You will be hearing both Levantine Arabic (Palestinian dialect) and Modern Standard Arabic as well.

غزة – فلسطين – حلوة يا دنيا

غَرْب: west  .اتجه غَرباً ثُم شَرقاً    Go west then east.

غُروب: sundown/sunset  .غُروب الشَمس الساعة 8:00 مَساءً  Sunset is at 8:00 pm.

غَريب: strange  .حَلمت حِلماً غريباً الليلة الماضية  I dreamt a strange dream last night.

غَسَلَ: to wash   هل غَسلت وَجهك هذا الصباح؟

Did you wash your face this morning?

غَسيل: laundry  .جَميع قُمصاني في الغسيل  All my shirts are in the laundry.

غَبيّ: stupid   .أعتقد أن هذه اللُعبة غَبية  I think this game is stupid.

غَنى: to sing  (from the verb “to sing”, you get “song” being أُغْنِيَة and “singer” being مُغَنّي)

.غَنى أغنية جَميلة  He sang a beautiful song.

هل تَعتقد أنكَ ستكون مُغنياً مَشهوراً؟  Do you think you’ll be a famous singer?

غالِباً: often  .غالباً ما أذهب إلى السوق يوم الأحد

I often go to the souq on Sundays.

غُرْفة: room (غُرْفة الجُلوس: living room, غُرْفة النَّوْم: bedroom, غُرْفة الضيوف: guestroom)

بابا غَنوج

When I tried thinking of an Arabic dish that had the letter غ, I thought instantly of baba ghanouj بابا غَنوج  which is a Levantine appetizer مُقبّلات of mashed cooked eggplant باذِنْجان mixed with tahini طَحينة, olive oil زَيت الزيتون, lemon juice عَصير ليمون, and various seasonings التوابل. It can be eaten at any time of day as a side dish with bread.

Here is a video on how to make it in Modern Standard Arabic. If you like باذِنْجان and wondered what other things you can make with it, بابا غَنوج is easy and delicious.

البابا غنوج – وصفة سهلة ولذيذة

Till next week, happy Arabic learning! 😊