Author Archives: thearabicpages

Between Observations and Wishful Thinking

حالِمة root: ح-ل-م / form I active participle, feminine form / definition: dreamer, dreaming Maybe, from my writings on this blog, you get the impression that I’m always floating between thoughts. An observation here, a dictionary find there, multiple pivots per post… And you’d be right to think so, of course. My mind is alwaysContinue reading “Between Observations and Wishful Thinking”

Arabic Observations: ذانِكَ

بُرْهان root: ب-ر-ه-ن / noun / plural: بَراهين / definition: proof It seems that I’ve unintentionally created a new series of posts this Ramadan, and now I can’t help but add to it. We’ve been looking at variations of ذلك/تلك in the Qur’an—specifically, how these demonstratives are modified with pronoun suffixes: But things don’t endContinue reading “Arabic Observations: ذانِكَ”

Arabic Observations: تِلكَ and تِلكُما and تِلكُم

التَّوْطين root: و-ط-ن / form II verbal noun / definition: to grant citizenship Ten-thousand-and-something days after my birth, Cyprus has finally acknowledged my existence. I can’t blame them for not granting me citizenship earlier though, as—well, how could they have known me? I was born in a London borough and have, since then, spent aContinue reading “Arabic Observations: تِلكَ and تِلكُما and تِلكُم”

Arabic Observations: ذلكَ and ذلكِ and ذلكُم

مُنْتَشِر root: ن-ش-ر / form VIII active participle / definition: widespread, ubiquitous We all know ذٰلِكَ. And how could we not? It’s that ubiquitous demonstrative pronoun meaning “that”. But have you also heard of ذٰلِكِ and ذٰلِكُمْ? Because those are demonstrative pronouns too—but ubiquitous? Not so much. More like rare, actually. So, where can weContinue reading “Arabic Observations: ذلكَ and ذلكِ and ذلكُم”

Seven Arabic Terms for “Twilight”

غائِب root: غ-ي-ب / form I active participle / definition: absent, third person (gramm.) Writing about yourself in the third person always feels strange. And when I think of “third person”, I always think of Attila İlhan’s poem and then I feel even stranger. But I had to set that strangeness aside and rewrite myContinue reading “Seven Arabic Terms for “Twilight””

Opportunity: Online Literary Translation Summer School

أَدَبيّ root: ء-د-ب / nisba adjective / definition: literary I don’t know where the time’s gone, but it’s been about a month since I started my work placement with an Arabic literary magazine, and I’ve just written tomorrow’s piece for their poetry-in-translation newsletter (subscribe to emails here!). And speaking of literature and translation… someone reachedContinue reading “Opportunity: Online Literary Translation Summer School”

Arabic Observations: The Cross-Linguistic-ness of “Eating” a Beating

الضَّرْب root: ض-ر-ب / form I verbal noun / definition: beating, hitting I left the house this morning, planning to attend the 10:30am sit-down-and-write session at my university. But after window-(and actual)-shopping in Regent Street, I bought myself a matcha oat latte (why does everything have oats in nowadays?) and decided to work from aContinue reading “Arabic Observations: The Cross-Linguistic-ness of “Eating” a Beating”

New Hats, and More Wednesday Writings

دَوْر root: د-و-ر / noun / plural: أَدْوار / definition: role What’s new? Well, quite a lot. I’ve found myself, as we tick through month one of twenty-twenty-six, switching between several roles—with my work placement, consultation sessions, study, and new endeavours. (I also keep meaning to set a date for my workshop; let me knowContinue reading “New Hats, and More Wednesday Writings”

Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “Autumn”

ضَباب root: ض-ب-ب / noun / definition: fog, mist It’s never great to have brain fog. It’s even worse if someone else suggests you have it. And more so if your brain doesn’t feel particularly foggy and you start to question what “symptoms” the other person noticed… And then, all of a sudden (the sameContinue reading “Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “Autumn””

Reading Arabic Literature: Back to ذا

خُبْز root: خ-ب-ز / collective noun / definition: bread After much anticipation, I’ve finally started my work placement with an Arabic literary magazine. I spent the day with head tucked into laptop, pausing now and then to graze on the delicious flour-free muffins I’d made at 7am and—now—I remind myself that I said I’d startContinue reading “Reading Arabic Literature: Back to ذا”