A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday. يبحث عن (يسعى إلى) حتفه بظلفه yabḥaṯu ‘an (yas’ā ilā) ḥatfihī bi-ẓilfihī he brings about his own destruction, digs his own grave Root: ح-ت-ف Page: 183* Example: “أَلا يُدْرِكُ الزَّعيمُ أَنَّهُ كانَ يَسْعى إلى حَتْفِهِ بِظِلْفِهِ مُنْذُ لَحظةِ ذلِكَ القَرارِ المَلْعون!؟” Translation: “does…
مَعْرَج root: ع-ر-ج / noun of place / plural: مَعارِج / definition: place or route of ascent Over a year ago, in Non-Human Nouns, Human Plurals, we explored some non-human nouns that—unexpectedly—take on sound, masculine plural forms (which are usually reserved for nouns referring to humans). Think: سِنون and عالَمون and أولون. Or, with a different…
The Arabic Pages 