Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 579 views

    AnIntroductionToModernLiteraryArabic PDF

    Uploaded by

    sfaiz87

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content

    You might also like

    AnIntroductionToModernLiteraryArabic PDF

    Uploaded by

    sfaiz87
    579 views216 pages

    Original Title

    AnIntroductionToModernLiteraryArabic.pdf

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    579 views216 pages

    AnIntroductionToModernLiteraryArabic PDF

    Uploaded by

    sfaiz87

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    of 216
    AN INTRODUCTION TO MODERN LITERARY ARABIC | DAVID COWAN Lecturer in Arabic Schoo! of Oriental and African Studies Univesity of London CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1958 PUBLISHED BY THE SYNDICS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS enley House, 00 Buston Rend, London N.W. 1 ‘Amerean Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York a2 N.Y. © CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS rss8 Printed in Great Brssin tthe University Pree, Camiridge (Brooke Crschley, Universey Printer) PREFACE “The purpose of this litle work isto explain to the student, in as concise a manner as possible, the grammatical structure of the modern Arabic literary language as it is found to-day in newspapers, magazines, books, the radio and public speaking. In it I have endeavoured to restrict the tnaterial 10 the bare minimum which may serve as a stepping-stone to a ‘eeper study of Arabic. Tam far from claiming that it contains everything that a scholar should know but certainly he should know everything it contains. As the fundamental grammar of written Arabic has hardly hanged at all during the las thirteen centuries this book may well serve fs an introduction to the classical language also. Having once mastered its contents the student should have a sound grasp of Arabic grammar and can then direct his studies towards modern literature or classical ‘according to his needs and inclinations. “As regards the method he should follow, itis, of course, better if he ‘an find an Arab or scholar of Arabic to direct him; but, failing this, T suggest that he adopt the following plan. Firstly, the Introduction on the writing of Arabic should be thoroughly assimilated before the actual lessons are tackled. Then each lesson should be worked through carefully ‘and the-stadent should not proceed from one lesson to the following before he is quite convinced that he has mastered the material in the first fone. Although a full transcription has been given of all Arabic words ‘and sentences in the first ten lessons this is @ help which should be dispensed with as early as possible. The student should obtain from the foutset two alphabetically indexed note books, one of which can be easily ‘adapted for Atabic, and enter into these each new word he comes across. Tn another note book he should write out the paradigms of the verbs which are scattered thoughout the book. ‘These three note books Should be his constant companions and referred to whenever he has a free moment. His exercises he must make for himself using, the material he has worked with. All exercises and examples should be rewritten withoue the vowel marks so that the student becomes accustomed qo reading Arabic without the vowels as it generally appears in print or in manuscript. If the above-mentioned plan of study is followed the student should acquire a sound knowledge of Arabic grammar in about six months. ‘But that is only the beginning! Arabic is an extsemely rich language and requites years of study to master. However, if this book is worked vi PREFACE through conscientiously the student should have, as it were, the founda~ tion and steel framework of his house which he can then proceed to build brick by brick with the aid of a dictionary and intercourse with Arabic speakers, For a thorough stmdy of Arabic, Wright's Grammar of the Arabic Language (2. vols., Cambridge University Press, reprinted 1955) js indispensable. When later on some ease in reading, has been acquired, the radio is an aid by which the ear may be attuned to the sound of the language and it goes without saying that a stay in an Arabie-speaking country would be of inestimable value. If the student of my little work one day becomes a master of Arabic it will have been through his own efforts and all I shall be able to claim is that T put him on the right road towards his goal. “This work has been published with the aid ofa grant from the Publica- tions Committee ofthe School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, whom T wish to thank for their help and generosity. D. COWAN 1g Febeuay 1956 CONTENTS ! Preface page Inrropucrion 1. ‘The Arabic Alphabet 1 2. Pronunciation of the Consonants 3 3. Vowels 4 4. Doubled Consonants 5 5. ‘Tanwin’ or Niination 6 6. Hamga 6 7. Madde 8 8. Accent 8 9. Punctuation 9 Lesson T 10, The Arti 9 1 Gender 10 12, Nominal Sentences 10 15. Singular Personal Pronouns 1 | 14. Interrogative Particles n Lesson If 15. The Feminine 8 Lesson IIT 36, The Dual 7 17. ‘The Sound Masculine Plural 8 i 18, The Sound Feminine Plural 19 i 19. Dual and Plural Personal Pronouns 20 Lesson 1V 30. The Broken Plural 22 - 2a. 23. 24 25. 26. 27 28. 30. 31 3% 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40. conTENTS Lesson V Declension ‘The Genitive Prepositions Lesson VI Adjectives Comparative and Superlative Compound Adjectives Lesson VIE Pronominal Suffixes “To have’ Lesson VIIT . The Perfect of a Simple Verb ‘Word Order ‘The Passive of the Perfect Lxsson 1X ‘The Perfect of SU kane, he was Predicate of OU” kana Adverbs ‘Verbal and Nominal Sentences Construction after Ul "amma, as for Lesson X. Demonstrative Pronouns Demonstrative Adjectives Relative Pronouns Interrogative Pronouns age 29 2 35 0 a 44 8 su 54 7 58 6 6 64 66 69 ™ B an ae 4 ae 46. a7 48 so st 5m 53 Sa 5 56 58 59 6 conTENTS Lesson XI Derivatives of Verbs Derivatives of Nouns Lesson XID ‘The Imperfect of the Simple Verb ‘The Future ‘The Passive of the Imperfect ‘The Future or Imperfect of SS" kina ‘The Imperfect of the Simple Quadriliteral Verb Lesson XII] The Subjunctive Mood ‘The Negative of the Future Subordinate Clauses after Si ‘an, that Lesson XIV ‘The Jussive Mood Prohibition ‘Negation of the Perfect ‘The Imperative ‘The Vocative Lesson XV ‘The Simple Doubled Verb ‘The Active Participle of a Doubled Verb Lesson XVI Verbs which have Hamza as a Radical Verbs with » as First Radical Lesson XVII Hollow Verbs ‘The Passive of Hollow Verbs page 77 82 85 38 88 88 89 2 93 94 96 98 9” 99 100 103 106 4 122 a. 63. 4. 6. 6. 6. 69. 7. pm Be 7 ae 76. 78. 19 Bo. ar Ba. 83. 84. conTENTS Lesson XVIII Weak Verbs ‘The Passive of Weak Verbs Doubly Weak Verbs laysa, he is not hy rea, he saw, considered Lesson XIX Derived Verbs Verbal Form IL Vecbal Form IT Verbal Form IV Lesson XX Verbal Form V Verbal Form VI Lesson XXI Verbal Form VI Verbal Form VIII Lesson XXIT Verbal Form IX Verbal Form X ‘Nouns of Place and Instrument of Derived Verbs Lesson XXIII The Optative Verbs of Surprise or Admiration “The Sisters? of SS” kana “To begin’ Lesson XXIV ‘The Caedinal Numbers ‘The Ordinal Numbers Fractions ‘page 125 3 152 133 133 137 137 14 43 150 153 158 16 176 17 "9 182 186 188 contants 85. Days of the Week 86. Months 87. Festivals 88, Dates Lesson XXV 89, Notes on Syntax ‘go. Conditional Sentences Appendix [. "The Patterns of the Broken Plural 1, Phonetic Changes in Arabic ‘page 188 189 190 190 192 195 abit INTRODUCTION 1. The Arabic Alphabet ‘The Arabic alphabet consists of a9 letters, all of which, with the exception of the first, are consonants. They are written from right to left. Most of these letters vary slightly according to whether they (i) stand alone, Gi are joined to the preceding letter only, (ii) are joined to the preceding and following letters, (jv) are joined to the following letter only. There are no capital letters. The following table shows the di alphabet: eatcsane HOE Pig Pca Slowing Si 1 Lu — — see note ee = + 6 eon : ook ke GC oe ee ne . Ceo em =F mp RR ge ee + 8. dls pat 2 ro — _ d 9. JIS Daat a — —~ & eR ye a Gi zay > —- = ¢ eS e os 13. deb Sm te = sh joined to: standing preceding PESTANEAN4 following | trans: aubic nme aie ewer FUOWME ee only ertion my esd ~ ~ ts. 3G pad oo a 2 od 16. tb yat b & ae. + r 1. 4B za’ & & ae bog wien ee ~ aoe ee a * + ogh 20. 1G Fa’ 3 a oa 3 fF a. Jaf 6 & = 5 4 a Op dk x Sok 23. FY Lam J a 1 J i be fe Min ~ “om as. Obwin Oe ~ jon 26. Ha Ha’ ° ao - = A ay SI wae _ — » Be 8S me = ay 28 Hama | | | 29. |As a simplification it can be said that most letters are joined to a preceding one simply by a small connecting stroke. In conjunction with ‘following letter those which can be joined (see note 3) merely lose their tails if they have such, In this case those letees which are provided with dots move these above, or below, the main part of the letcer which remains, The letters to be especially noted and mastered are ¢, &) ,.¢ and ¢. Where two alternatives are given the one on the right hand side is the usual one in modern printing and that on the left the form for ‘manuscript. J followed by 1 is written Y not U. a] 3 Note 1. i lifhas two uses. Firstly it indicates a long 2 (see §3) Hamza (see § 6). Note 2. When the leter 4a’ (0) denotes the feminine ending of nouns and adjectives it is written with two dots above (3) and pronounced‘ This is known as tgs. 1 Ta’ Marbizta (tied 4) for, when linked with a following genitive, it must elvays be pronounced ‘1", Ta” Marbita and its following vowel (ease ending) are not pronounced at the end of ‘2 sentence or complete clause. In modern spoken Arabic it only has the 'P value when itis immediately followed by a noun or pronoun in the genitive. Note 3. ‘The six feters |, 5, 5, ,} and » cannot be joined to the following letters, Note 4. The letters ©, 2, 5,353, 0% ob ut, b, Bd and & and secondly it acts as the bearer of are known os ‘sun letters? GSA huriff shamsiya) and assimilate the ‘7’ of the definite article J! (al) as will be shown in Lesson I. ‘The letters.» and are called ‘weak levers’ (ali Gaia furifealg ila) for they occasionally become | or diseppear altogether when they are radical consonants. 2, Pronunciation of the Consonants “The following letters are pronounced more o less as in English: Gab ont Sethasin ‘think’, ¢ . 'E ig an emphatic 7’ pronounced with tongue and teeth in the same position as for .*. It is often confused with { i# @ guttural stop pronounced with constriction of the larynx. Onntalists are accustomed to transliterate this letter by an inverted ‘comma but as this may encourage the student to neglect it it has been retained here in the transliteration. 2 is exacily the sound one makes while gareting. Fis @ guuural ‘# pronounced from the back of the throat, Collo~ ‘quially, with the exception of Lower Egypt and some parts of Syria and Palestine where it generally becomes a glottal stop, itis almost universally pronounced as ‘g” in ‘go". & (Hama) is the glottal stop (see §6). “These consonants which are very difficult for English-speaking people to pronounce should preferably be learnt from Arabs. 3. Vowels In Arabic there are three vowel marks which are written divectly above or below the consonants they fallow. ‘These are: = a(as in the English ‘pat’), += u(as in‘put’) and =E (as in ‘pit’); 66g, © bey bu, & bi. These'three vowels are shore but may bbe lengthened by a following unmarked |, sand 6, eg © a, 9 Bi, op be In certain common words 2 long 4 is expressed by a small aif written lika, that, AU\ Alléku, God, {55 akin, above the consonant, e.g. 405 di bout, ete: in Arabic phonetics the sound groups ‘awu’ and ‘ayu’, which only occur at the end of a word, ate contracted to ‘2’ and in the latter case written ay eg Gat caged, piety. Note that the « is vowelless and does not have the two dots. As the accent is never on the last syllable of the written word this ‘a tends to be pronounced short and must be pro- ounced shore before SAT Eb amcaalwal (ee 5, hance Ht Arabic name Sais Cl ‘lif magsiird or shortened "aif 4 5 “The sign that a consonant isnot followed by a vowel is *,e.g ar Bib. ‘This sign is called SX sulin or ‘resting’. “With this sign and the weak consonants » and «swe can thus make two diphthongs composed of a shore‘a’ followed by a vowelless » or «S vhich in pronunciation must Be given full consonantal value, eg [B baw and ¢j bey. Thus ‘aw’ and ‘ay’ are almost identical with ‘ough’ in bough’ and ‘igh’ in “bight’. "The vowel marks and other orthographic signs explained in this introduction (with the exception of 84+ mada (§7) and bi] * hamatalegare (66) are generally omitted in manuscsipe and in printed books from which it will be seen that Arabic writing is a form of short- hand. They are always written in editions of the Qu’'é, generally in colder collections of poetry, in school books and in cases of difficulty or “obscurity in well-edited books. They do not represent all the vowels in ‘Arabic phonetics but change more or less according 10 their proximity to diffecent consonants. In this work I have not attempted to give more than a transliteration of the Arabic in the first few lessons and have not tried to give exact phonetic equivalents of the vowel values. Buti the proper vowel lengths are borne in mind and if the consonants are properly pronounced which the student should endeavour to do right from the beginning of his studies the consonants will force.the true pronunciation of the vowels. 4, Doubled Consonants If two identical consonants come together and ate not separated by @ ‘vowel only one is written with the mark above it. This mark is called 445 shade or ‘strengthening’. Thus we have j* gallama (for js), he taught. Tt is imporrant for the student to pronounce such doubling fof a consonant clearly as the meaning might otherwise be quite different. ‘Vowelless dental consonants are generally assimilated to a following © 4 the fist being wsten without any sign and the second restving “shadda’, eg, G8 quttu for 38 gqudeu, I led. The latter is not considered incorrect but in any case the correct pronunciation of the consonants ‘would bring about this assimilation. "A vowelless & n assimilates to a following d fither in pronunciation 6 6.6 or actually in weiting as in the conjunctions I ’alls for J Sivan la (that not) and fl ila'for Vb "in 12 (not, otherwise). ‘See Lesson I for the assinilation of the “of the definite article to the 5. ‘Tanwin’ or Nanation ‘When the three vowel marks are written double at the end of a word, eg. 2, and —- they represent the three case endings, nominative, accusative and genitive, of a fully declined, indefinite noun or adjective (Gee Lesion V)- The second vowel is pronounced ‘n’! Thus we have ELF palbun, a dog (nom), OF kalban, a dog (acc.) and AF kalbin, a dog, (gen.). This process of doubling the final vowel is called 23% ranwin on, Dy orientalists, nfination, or ‘n'ing’, from the Arabic name for the lester. ‘Note thatthe accusative ending |... is also followed by an aif, exceptions to this rule being the endings 3 ands... Calif magstira) contracted from and after ilt ‘albatan, a bitch (acc.), 638 hudan, guidance (all three cases), Ei hamaral-gare preceded by a long & agen, a recompense (ace). At the end of a sentence or complete clause I... may be pronounced as a long @ and the other ease endings not pronounced at al 6. Hamza ‘There are two kinds of kama, <3 Ihamza’ and JosT $4 hamzat-al-wasl ‘the joining hamza’, & hamzat-al-gate ‘the cutting ‘The first of these is a pure glottal stop with full consonantal value and in welledited books and periodicals is generally writen. At the begin, ning of @ word iis always written on alif, eg, GST "akala, he ate, Jt “ukila, i was eaten, SUA “insdnum, a human being, In the middle or at the end of a word itis written on I, 3 or (without the dots) or standing alone on the line of writing as determined by the vowels coming before and after, eg Slo so'ala, he asked, Je sila, he was asked, 1G gara’a, he read, pF quri'a, it was read, 9) bolus, he was wretched, 3-> janie, be was bold, 83> fug’un, a part. 4d 7 ‘Through reading the student will acquiee a feeling about the proper bearer for kamar-al-gare . If a systematic tabulation of the ways of ‘writing it is preferred, I Fefer him to Wright’s Arabic Grammar, vol. 1, pp. 16-18. “Hamzat-al-wasl always occurs at the beginning of a word and its vowel is written above or below ’alif. If any word precedes it hamat-al-wagl and its vowel must Be elided. Te is not actually written although we some~ times find it written as. Modern opinion, however, does not approve of this use of - which is reserved for Aamat-al-gate. The sign of the clision is + which I transliterate by >. ‘The hamga is hamzat-al-wasl in the following cases: article di af, eg CLT abbaym, the house, bur OU babu el-bayti, the door of the house. © Gi In the relative pronouns gil $39). iit) In the imperative of the Ist form of the verb (see Lesson XIV), lbhab, { said: go! (iv) In the perfect, imperative and verbal noun of the Vil, VIII, IX and X forms of the vecb (see Lessons XXT and XXID, eg, he went off, bue 6313 warmpalaga, and he went off. alladlt, who, which, ete. (see Lesson eg, C531 idthab go, bur C857 StF qult. (@) In the following common words: G1 aun, a som EAL inva, a man. ibratwn, a daughter. imra’arun, a woman. GE} inhnani, vwo (mase.). fe tomar a name, ithnatani, ewo (fer.). Long vowels followed by hamar-al-wasl must be pronounced short, although they may remain written long, since itis a general rule in Arabic that two vowelless consonants or a long vowel and a vowelless consonant cannot come together, eg, aiff il taburt-walad, not 'abinl-waladi, the boy's father, UIT 5 fibayt, not. firl-ayti in the house. If the word preceding hamyatal-wasl ends with a vowelless consonant 1 vowel must be inserted to facilitate the liaison. In most cases this i i’, 8 ins ege qed dhahaba, he has gone, but ila!t a5 gadinngalaga, he has gone off ‘The preposition ¢+ min, from, takes ‘a’ before che definite article becoming {+ mina. “The persoral pronouns (2 dum, they, #1 Yantum, youy kum, you (ace and gen) andthe and pes. asc plural ending ofthe perfect am, become, Aum, i “antumuy kumu and # tuna when followed by hamgaral.warl es, ASST 8 pumurbmulita, they (are) the kings. Nib. AT <5 Bisminitati, In the name of God, where the 'alif of i tamu, a name, i lided as well 8 hamgateal-wasl 1. Madda When hamat-al-garg written on 'alifis followed by a long d the second “alifis witten horizontally over the frst and the kame and vowel mark omitted, e.g, (ST “ahilun, eating, SUT al-qur’anu, the Qur’an. So the group T=". This sign is called 2. madda or ‘lengthening’. As a general rule when the form of the word demands that two ‘alife come together they are written T, no matter which of them is the bearer of hamgat-al- 921 2g alfa ie wrinen for both Al alee, he frequented so. and cl ’clafa, he reconciled. 8. Accent “The accent or stress is as important in Arabic as it is in English. If you divide the word into syllables you can determine where the accent will fall. Arabic words can be divided into short or long syllables. A short or open syllable consists of consonant-+vowel, a long or closed syllable of consonant-+long vowel or consonant+vowel+-vowelless consonant. ‘hataba, he wrote, is VOU, Ste mugatilun,a fighter, isv—v—, maktibun, a leter, is --—3 and 455 madrasarun, a school, is =Ou-. Theaccent is never on the last syllable of a word (including case and verb endings) but falls on the nearest long or closed syllable to the last, eg, mugdsilin, maktdbun, médrasatun. Xf there is no long syllable 4 9510) 9 before the last the accent falls on the first syllable, e.g. Kétaba. Prefixed hamzetal-waslisignored, 6g. SiES\ insdlaga, he went off. Note especially E. mata, when? and such short disyllabic words. ‘Colloquial Arabic has its own rules for the accent which do not always agree with those for written Arabic. 9. Punctuation ‘The following punctuation marks are commonly used in Modern Arabic: Sere t tae Note. In this introduction I have transliterated the few technical texms of grammar given according to the usage of spoken Arabic in omitting the case endings. Thus I write madda (334) for maddatun and sukiin (052) for sukznun, The transliteration of the examples in the early lessons is given in full with all case and verb endings. LESSON I 10, The Article ‘There is no indefinite article in Arabic. “The definite article for all cases, numbers and genders is Jf af, which is writen prefixed to the word it defines. The defined noun or adjective loses its ‘niination’ (Introduction, § 5), &g- BS ith, a book — GEST ality the book BF galanun, a pen. pi ‘The kama of the definite actcle is hamyat-al-vasl (Introduction, §6) so tha the ‘a’ must be elided if preceded by any word, eg. alls US tebkitabu wanl-galamt, the book and the pen. ‘When the noun or adjective defined by df al begins with one of the ‘sun’ leters (Introduction, §8, note 4) the ‘l' of the definite article is sesimilated to the ‘sun’ letter which is written with shadde (Introduction, § 4) the ‘1’ of the article losing its sukin (Introduction § 3), e.g, 3S) rojutun, 2 man. SEA. axrajute, the man. cal-galams, the pen. 2X afarun, ajourney. ind as-safaru, the journey. 10 fy aye [As the ‘I’ of the-article remains written in Arabic although losing its force most modem Arabists prefer to write it in translteratioa, e.g. al-rajuls, al-safera. But of course since these words begin with ‘sun’ letters the £7’ must be assimilated in pronunciation as indicated above. Special attention should be paid eo the ‘sun’ lecters as the above practice will be followed in this work. LL. Gender ‘There are two grammatical genders in Arabic, masculine and feminine. All the words in this lesson are of masculine gender. | 12, Nominal Sentences In simple nominal sentences consisting of subject and predicate the | copulae ‘is" and ‘are’ are not expressed. Adjectives or nouns used as predicates of a preceding definite noun remain indefinite, eg. Jel LAT atrajulu fatirun, the man is present. i al-Baytu kabirun, the house is big. i al-kitabu saghzrun, the book is small. Adjectives follow the nouns they qualify. If the noun is definite the adjective must receive the definite article, eg. waladun goghtrun, a small boy. al-waladwrL-seghtru, the small boy. raja thoriyun, a wealthy man. alerjulurs-thariyu, the wealthy man. 1, 13, 14] u 13, Singular Personal Pronouns I “dnd, 1. BE twa, he, it *énta, thou (masc.). P hiya, she, it. én, thou (fem.). ‘The second person singular pronouns are used in ordinary address eg. LE Sit Yen gain, you ae lenned. Apart from such honorific modes of address as “Your Excellency’, “Your Lordship’, ee. the plural jg occasionally used for the singular to denote respect. ‘Note where the accent falls in these pronouns. 14. Interrogative Particles “The inteceogative of simple sentences such as those given above is made by preiing the particles JS fal or | = Gpoken question matis) of merely by the tone of the voice. JS hal becomes J} hall before hamgas- calewag¢ jo JE hal hua ghaniyun? 1s he rich? 2nd SUIT ye hati nl-waladu gh ibun? Is the boy absent? Of these two spoken question marks J» Aaf is much more common than 1a, If fais followed by hamgatal-wazl the two classically form mada (iatroduction, §7); 28 G desk JET tatsafaru tawilun? Is the journey long? Surrrementany Vocanubary ae | 25 garabiyun, Arabic, an Arab. i EEE faranstyun, French, Jak jadidun, new. bt (jahilun, ignorant. ¢ Sh eyna? where? 2 ty megan, yes be jiddan, very (adverbial © © accusative). || “inkiligiyun, English. peal abyawme, to-day (adverbial accusative). Saal qasirun, short. JV Bro. gadimun, old (of things). Exercise I jade ML LTT gs oc Jat TRANSLITERATION alewalade nl-gaghira hadirun. hali rl-baytu kabirun? Ua, hava saghirun jiddan, abkitthu soghtrun worl-galamu gasirun. hal huwa gélimun Tabirun? la, husve rajulun jahilun. al-bayts gadinun jiddan. °a’ ance rajulun ghaniyun? na eam, 'and thariyunjiddan. hal huowa Risin faransiyun? la, hove Kitdbun “inkiligyun, huwa garobiyun fagiran, *ayna ob-rajulunle Elma? hua ghiibunind-yewna, Riswa waladun gasrunjiddan, al-qalame Feedidun war-kitibu gadimun. halt nl-safare tavilun? 12, huowa gastrin. al-bayt obkabire gadimun. halt ob-kitahe kabirun? 12, huowa saghirun. al-rajuie gama fagirun worb-rajula o-jahil ghaniyun, ‘Translation ‘The small boy is present. Is the house big? No, itis very small. The ook is small and the pen is short. Is he a great scholar? No, he is an ignorant man. The house is very old. Are you a rich man? Yes, I am 433) 5 very wealthy, Is it a French book? No, itis an English book. He is a poor Arab, Whereis the learned man? He is absent to-day. He is a very Thon boy, ‘The pen is new and the book is old. Is the journey long? No, it is short. The big, house is old. Is the book big? No, itis smal. “The learned man is poor and the ignorant man is rich. ) LESSON IT 15. The Feminine Jn general the feminine is formed from the masculine (participles oF i nouns indicating professions) by suffixing 4... arun (Introduction, § 1, note 2), ef. ua Rétibun, be is a writer. Kiya Katibatun, she isa writer. Juswa mudarrisun, he is @ wacher hiya mudarrisatun, she is a teacher. sewa tabbaklun, he is a cook. hiya tabbakhatun, she is a cook. “The feminine ending ® masculine form, eg. _ atwn occurs in many words which have no 12. madinatun, a city. ELE jumaynatun, a garden (diminutive of & Tat “Jannat, Paradise). jannatun, -mabkamatun, 9 law-court. It is occasionally, athough rarely, found in words whick are masculine, eg Mbalifatun, a successor, Caliph. eallamatun, a savant. BE} rabhlonun, a great traveller, globe-trotter. (us, a5 4 “These two latter are intensive forms of the active participle, ‘Other feminine endings are oS... 4 (Introduction, §5) and #. (when singular) suffixed to the Zast radical of the word. Both of these mee without ‘nitnation’, eg e653 dhikra, remembrance, souvenir. ane sahrd’u, a desert. ‘The following classes of words are ferninine without requiring the distinctive feminine ending: @) All words and proper names which are by their nature feminine, eg. G2 garitsun, a bride, au cl Tummun, a mother. Jet gaitqun, an old woman. EL) cubheun,a sister. Participles which with a special meaning, ean only be applied to females such as Git familun pregnant, g murdi gun suckling (adj). Most (though not all) names of countries and cities, eg, UE Fardnsd, France. DAs Misru, Egypt, Cairo. ii Al-Hindu, India. Note that such proper names which have no definite article have also. 635 Landanw, London. ro ‘niination’ (see Lesson V). ii) Most (though not all) parts of the body which occur in EE gaymn, an eye. & yadun, a band. Bal udh(w)men, an ear. Jey rijlun, @ foot. a (iv) A number of words which are feminine by usage, eg. Ey rthunawind. 3 fardun, a war. dérun, a house (note that G3 bays is mase.). 56 5 nar, a fire. ST rardun, earth, ground. en5i abshamew, the sun. 1, 35] 45 ‘A number of words are of common gender and may be masculine or feminine, eg. feilun (also 3 falatun), a state, condi sarigun, a road. Ee stun, a market (usually fer.). GX sikkinun, a knife (usually fem.). For reference full lists of these last two classes of nouns will be found in Wrights Arabic Grammar, volt, pp. 180-3. ‘The feminine ending #2. atun is used to form the singular from collective nouns, e- ginabun, grapes. ginabarun, a grape. nGfthucr, apples. 2 ruffépatun, an apple. sin, Bs. sinatun, a 6G. dajajun, poultry. 4203 dajgjacun, a hen. Lastly note that all plurals which do not refer to rational beings are grammatically feminine singular (see Lesson IV, p. 27). "The following are a few simple examples illustrating the foregoing wales: SEE cH cane paBbabhewn makiratun, you (fem.) are a - clever cook. i) al-sayyidatu cl-ghantyat adiratun, the rich Tady is present. i alhmudarrisu gallématun skakirun, the teacher is a famous savant. iva eardsun jamtlann, she is « beautiful bride. abjunaynatu saghiratun, the garden is small. aljunaynatu “l-kabirate jamilasun, the big, garden is beautiful 16 {15 Landanw madinacun gaximatun, London is a mighty city. ‘yadun gawiyauun, a strong, hand. + abmabkamans dérun kabiratun, the law-court is a large building (house). al-unffthanw ladkidhatun, the apple is delicious. dojajatun soghiratun, a small hen. Seeks mazkhiran, famous. Hhayyazun, 2 tlor. bse ‘un, quiet, gentle, calm. malikun, a king. 55 sfin, pleasant, charming, 31, bilddan (fem.), a country. CaS mandi gun, a place, imra’atun, a woman. Link dagifin, weal. TRANSLITERATION hiya sayyidatun faranstyatun mashiratun jiddan, hal "anti ghanlyatun ? 1,’and fagiratun jiddan. *ayna LBhayyatat~"inkiliiyatu? hiya ghi'iba- uni obyawma. hali rlrihu shadidacuni cl-yewma? li, hiya hid atu. ut, 16] 7 al-malikatunteghantyatu maskhiratun, halint-uffthacunazifatun? nagam, wahiya ladhidhawn jidden, al-dire ol-gadimate saghiratun (al-bayte bgadimu saghirun). al-garisu oLjamilata laifarun. al-Hinds biladun whaniyatus, ali wbsiiga saghiranun? Ia, hiya Rabiracun jiddan halt ljuneynatu mawdigun jamin? na gam, hiya maw gun latifn jiddan. alinmra’ane eUfegiratu dagifacun. hal ‘anti dagiferun? (a, "and gawi- rat. TRANSLATION She is a very famous French lady. Are you (fem.) sich? No, I am very poor. Whereis the English dressmaker (tailoress) ? She is absent to-day. Is the wind strong to-day? No, itis gentle. ‘The rich queen is famous. Is the apple clean? Yes, and it is very delicious. The old house is small. ‘The beautiful bride is charming. India is a rich country. Is the market small? No, itis very big. Is the garden a beautifal piace? Yes, itis a -very pleasant place. ‘The poor woman is weak, Are you (fem.) weak? ‘No, Tam strong. LESSON III 16. The Dual In Arabic there are three numbers, singular with which we have already dealt shortly, dual and plural. In colloquial Arabic the dual is almost confined to periods of time and the dual parts of the body but in written Arabic it must be used to express two things of a kind. ‘The nominative dual ending is Ol... dni and the accusative and ayni added 10 the singular of the word after removal of the case ending (Introduction, § 5), eg. Hisabani, two books (nom). genitive ending 2 oll Kitabayni, two books (ace. and gen.). Before the dual ending the suffix 3 becomes an ordinary © ¢ and the ‘Aamza in the feminine ending #!.,. a’u changes into 9 w, eg. sayyidatun, a lady. sayyidatani, two ladies (nom.). sepyyidacayni, two ladies (acc. and gen.) 38 [uy sahrdwayni, two deserts (acc, and gen.). Adjectives agree in number with the nouns they qualify and in the dual they invariably have the same endings, e.g. OWS OIE sayyidani kabirdni two old (great) gentlemen (nom). uffthacin lad 5ni, co delicious apples. Cegmani abiraran, two large eyes. al-madinatani g eyimatani, the two cities are great. al-mudarriséni galimani, the two teachers are teamed. © 17. The Sound Masculine Plural “There are two kinds of plural in Arabic. Firstly we have the sound placal the use of which is practically confined (at least in the masculine) 10 participles and nouns indicating the profession or habitual action. Secondly there is the so-called broken plural which is made according to ‘many patterns by altering the vowels within or ouside the framework of the radical consonants. We shall come to the broken plural in the next lesson. ‘The masculine endings of the sound plural ate dy... dna (nom.) and ina (ace. and gen.), eg Sy 5L mudarrisna, teachers (nom). mudarrisina, weachers (acc. and gen.) (fallaiina, peasants (nom). fallahina, peasants (acc. and gen.)- tabbakhina faransiyina, French cooks (nom.). 1, 18) ae In the feminine sound plural the ending, LS hudaybun, a small dog, mun, 3 300, oh (also 2631 "adnan, 1st form of the broken plural. See next lesson). 9 18. The Sound Feminine Plural ‘atun becomes Gl... dun in the nominative and I... atin in the accusative and genitive, e.g. mudérrisatun, a female teacher. ‘mudarrisdeun, female teachers (nom.). ‘mudarrisatin, female teachers (ace. and gen.)- sayyyidieun, ladies (nom). sayyidatin, ladies (ace. and gen.). abghassalitw mashghilétun, the washerwomen are busy. Many nouns, especially foreign words, and most masculine diminutives (ee Lesson XI) take the sound feminine plural ending, e. Sis fayandinun, an animal, kayewandtun. EG nabaeun, a plant, nabatdtun. Junayhun, a pound (L), junayhtun, S80 fomun, a welephone, tilifindtun. Note especially the following sound plurals: ‘ ES bintun, a daughter, gil, ph Sis dandeun, q a : fl ‘ummum, a mother, "ummghiitun. 2 sat % ELI “ubieun, a sister, "akhawatun. 20 [o, 19 Yn the word £2 sanatun, a year, the thied radical disappeared but turns up again in the plaral, viz. a EL sna (mase. sound pl.!). sonant » w has sanawatun. An. alternative plural of 4 sanawun is 0 19. Dual and Plural Personal Pronouns ‘These are: 5 ndlnu, wee “éntum, you (mast) *antiinna, you (fem.). wma, you (mase. and fer. dual). ‘hum, they (masc.)- duinna, they (fem). ‘hima, they (mase. and fern. dual). Examples of the dual and sound plural: uma rajuléni shakirani, they axe two famous men. so famous ladies. sayyidatini shakira sabrawini gagimatdni, tro great deserts. alukhtini ghantyatani, the two sisters are rich. alekitabani W-kabir the two big books. abfallahani vLfagirani hadirdni, the two ‘poor peasants are present. absayyiditu ghivibatun, the ladies are absent. al akhawatu fagirdtun,thesistersare poor. al-sanawatu (al-siniing) favilasun,the years are long. (NB. Abstract plurals are grammatically feminine singular.) m, 19] at BIE SLB hum mudarivies galinana, they 0 - . learned teachers. 3 "antum ghaniyni, you (two) are tich. S3505 AE alin naj a LUCE EA tune Kheyyipanen mabiraran, they ate s Clever dressmaker (ailoresse). 1, We are carpenters. Superemenrany Vocanuvany sa giden, happy. Sek hazginun, sad. eamilun, a workman. gutrun (sase.), a country. al-Nilu, the Nile. SABI ab-Furdeu, the Euphrates. ahr, aves 8 tinat, why? Exerctse IT ‘TRANSLITERATION abmalikini ghaniyini. al-Khayy@tatini mahiratani. uma fallahani fe~ Gini. Kali rlrajulin’ sagidéni? lay huma haginini. al-eabbakhina nbefaransiyiina maskhirina,” al-ummakatu sagidanun. nahau ¢amilani (fagivini. hum fallehina. Misra warl-Hinds quiréni gazimani. heal hunna a [20 aihawine agindtun. al-Nile wart-Furtte nakrini gawilani. ’ayna Abmudarrisina cl-faransiyiina? hum hadirina. al-malikatani jamtlatani. abmalikatani I jamilatdni jahilatini. al-sanawatu sagidatun. lima ‘an sunna hagindtun? ‘TRanstatron “The two kings are rich. The two dressmakers are clever. ‘They are two poor peasants. Are the two men happy? No, they are sad. (The) French cooks are famous. ‘The mothers are happy. We are (two) poor workman, They are peasants. Egypt and India are great countries. Are they (fem, rich? “Yes, they are very rich. The mothers and sisters are sad. The Nile and the Euphrates are long rivers. Where are the French teachers? ‘They are present. ‘The two queens are beautiful. The two ‘beautiful queens are ignorant. ‘The years are happy. Why are you (fem. pl) sad? LESSON IV 20, The Broken Plural st majority of words in the Arabie vocabulary can be traced ral verbal root, the third person masculine singular of the perfect of the simple verb. Thus from 5° kataba, he wrote, a host of derivatives exist such as GUS” Kntbun, a book, HES” kisdbanun, weiting Note. The ‘back to at (veal noun), Ca” Kaun, wtng ative parila det, GAR. makeidbun, written, a etter, + maktabun, a school, office,ete. As there js no infinitive of an Arabic verb itis under the third person masculine singular of the perfect of the simple verb that an idea and its derivatives are to be looked for in the dictionary. ‘There is a large number of nouns land particles which are not traceable back ro a verbal root but these are arranged in the dictionary as if verbal roots existed for them. Further a large number of four-radical verbsl roots exists but they are far out- numbered by the three-radical verbal roots. “When an Arab sees the three letters, & rand &, the idea of writing is immediately engendered in his mind, but itis only when the radicals are, as it-were, clothed with vowels and perhaps adjunct consonants that they acquire a definite meaning, The adjunct consonants which are used 0 form certain derivatives of the root idea and which, of course, may also bbe radicals are contained in the mnemonic word ists sa’altumiiniha, 1, 20] 3 meaning “You asked me for them!” If any of the remaining 19 letters of the alphabet oceurs in a word it must be a radical "When che Arabs began to study their language after the tslamic ex- pansion in the seventh century they took the simplest word in their language Jo) fagala, he did, and used its three radicals Gf ¢ and J 4, quite independently of any idea of doing to depict the various patterns ‘of words which they found existed, In this way they say that CS karaba, he wrote, is of the pattern Jai fagala, CS” kutiba, it was written, of the pattern Jel frgile LS" bieabun, a book, of the pattern Sis figaten, LX maketbun, a letter, of the pattern Jy2s maf lun, LS makeabun, ‘a school, of the pattern JL mafgalun and so on. ‘There are very many such word patterns in Arabic with the most important of which i is hoped to make the student familiar in this book. “When the student can see a word at a glance as a pattern of i fagala hie can consider that he has ualocked the door leading, after much Hard swork and diligent study, to a mastery of the Arabic language. “The most common patterns of the broken plural of nouns and adjec- tives are the following: From three-radical words: 6) AUS fata es *aglimun, pl. of A galamun, a pen. ¢ ALT casuaiqun, pl of Gs stiqun, a market. SGI awlaun, pl: of 433 waladun, a boy. IGT -abna’un, ple of G31 imum (ged radical » 9 omitted), a 00. SGT *abatun, pl. of Cl ‘abun (3rd radical » w omitted), 2 father. (In these last rwo note the change of the 3rd radical » w into © after long .) Note that 25 shey’un, a thing, has the irregular broken plural sh ‘ashyé?’u wichout‘nination” (cee next lesson). 24 fry, 20 Gi) GF fagatton, om. SEL sufi, phe of BX sayfien, a sword. ESS uyitun, ph of 253 Baytun, 3 house. (seb. 25 baytun a verse of poetry, has as its plural SC) abyatuny Sb qultbun, pl of Sek fudiidun, ple of 3 haddun, a limit, fronties. ralbun, a heart. i EAS jeyashun, pl. of Lz jayshun, an army. Git) SS fie guten ex LES utubun, pl. of S65" Kiedbun, a book. JS) rusutin, ple of Sy rasiilun, a messengers SL. mudunun, pl. of B24 madinatun, a city. EE rurugu, pl of Gash rariqun, a road. 398 danun (Gor 553 dinwurun), ple of 315 dérun (For nt aware), & house. Gv) Js figatin, ex lf GG, riiatun, pl. of S25 rajuten, aman. Bikarun, pl. of > babrun, a sea. 2, vivttun, pl. of Gy rum, GE van, pl. of Sag etn, long I Cy jibalun, pl of US jabalun, a mountain, / (0) Bat sefeutin, ex, Yeggunun, pl of. “arjulun, ple of dy rin, a foot. eavmun, an eye. "anhurun, pl. of ye nakrun, a siver. 35 1, 29] SpE eskdurun, pl of pe shabrun, 2 month. sg-human, poe sahmana share ia compar) (NB. £2 shu an arrow, has as its plural psu) (vi) AS fieg alae (no *nination’), €-% Hhulafa’, pl. of S15 khalifacn, a successor, Caliph. A safirun, an ambassador. ak sufard'y, pl. of a 4 1G semana, ph of bal “ema an emis, prince, com meander, PEL buhala’s, pl of Ge bakhtlun, miserly, a miser. AG fagard’u, pl of 2 fagiran, poor. (vit) asl “afta (no ‘ntnation’), 8, iS sagrida'n, pl. of CaF garthun, near, a relative. 162i agdiga’s, ple of Gre sadiqun, a friend. 1 aphniya'a, pl of 2 ghantyan, sich. 261 ‘agwiya’s, pl. of SoF gawiyun, strong. vapibba’u, pl of Cab sabibun, a physician. (ou, LL epibbatu is for ACL “gbiba', see Lesson XV, § 56) (vit) ES frg tinan, og Gyall duldinun, pl. of 33% biladun (fem.), a country. BOF firsainun, pl. of 99 farisun, a horseman. 2} qasibun, a rod, raile shaban, pl of GC shen, a youth. edb, pl of ces mf 26 by, 20 From four-radical words (or many words of three radicals plus an adjunet letter): Ge) Jal fagaia @o‘nination 0 HK makati, pl of CX maktabun, an office. SE jadi pl 0 35 jada iy team. sari, pl of 855 soba nl expen madirisa, pl. of Li madrasate, a school. maratibu, pl. of

    You might also like