Diminutives in Arabic

صَغير

root: ص-غ-ر / adjective / definition: small

A diminutive is a modified word used to express smallness. Think of the English word duckling, derived from duck.

In Arabic, the diminutive is referred to as التَّصغير—a verbal noun meaning “to make smaller”. So how can we recognise and form diminutives in Arabic?

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Three Ways to Say “Bloodshed” in Arabic

دَم

root: د-م / noun / plural: دِماء / definition: blood

Yes, yes, I know this word seems quite specific compared to the others in the synonyms series, but that’s why I was so interested when I found three Arabic phrases for the English term “bloodshed”.

And—in all honestly, and quite unfortunately—with the topics universities often get us to write and read about for Arabic classes (war, colonialism, violent clashes, etc.), terms like this are useful to know for students.

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Using عدم

عَدَم

root: ع-د-م / noun / definition: nonexistence, absence, lack

The word عَدَم is a noun meaning “nonexistence”, “absence”, or “lack (of)”. When it’s used in an إضافة with a following noun, it can often be translated as a prefix like non-, un-, or dis-.

Let’s look at some examples…

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One Term Down… And a Few New Languages

(Photo courtesy of my photographer friend in London, taken in the British Museum)

اِمْتِحان

root: م-ح-ن / verbal noun of form VIII / plural: اِمتِحانات / definition: exam

As of earlier today, I’ve officially finished all of my Arabic exams for the first term! Woo hoo!

I have to say, the energy I’ve managed to build up since that gruelling four-hour drive to get to university in September has all but been depleted—but at least I’ve managed to drag myself across the finish line…

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Using مهما

فَصْل دِراسيّ

root: ف-ص-ل / noun phrase / definition: academic term, semester

It’s officially the final week of term 1 and I’m in that position where, on one hand, I can’t believe a whole term has passed and, on the other hand, I wish I could fast forward past this final wave of deadlines and exams. Such is student life!

Let me try to ignore my pressing deadlines and must-do revision for now, while I try to gather my thoughts into some sort of coherence for this (short) post.

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Form I Verb Vowelling Patterns

حَرَكة

root: ح-ر-ك / noun / plural: حَرَكات / definition: vowel

Have you ever come across some information about Arabic, long after you began studying, and you’re just like: how did I not know this before?!

Well, that’s how I felt reading Arabic for Nerds‘ post “What does the vowel on the second root letter of an Arabic verb tell us?“—where I found out that the short vowel on the middle root letter of form I past tense verbs (like the fatha of كَتَبَ or the kasra of تَعِبَ) is often related to the general meaning of the verb.

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What Does مما كان عليه Mean?

حالة

root: ح-و-ل / noun / plural: حالات / definition: state, case, condition

In the post Treasures in Translation, I used a quote from an article to illustrate a cool translation point—the quote being:

وما ينذر بالسوء أن درجة حرارة الأرض أصبحت الآن أعلى مما كانت عليه خلال عصر الهولوسين

…and the translation point being وما ينذر بالسوء (“ominously”).

But there’s another interesting phrase in the quote above—and in many other texts you’ll come across—and that is: مما كانت عليه.

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Reading Arabic Literature: Vocabulary Finds

صَفحة

root: ص-ف-ح / noun / plural: صَفَحات / definition: a page

I brought so many books with me to university and I really thought I’d be spending a lot more time reading Arabic literature during this degree. Alas, my novels have been banished to the dark corner underneath my desk for around two months now.

Two days ago though, I sat myself down with موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال (which we previously looked at in our literature translations) and actually read a chapter. So I thought I’d share with you some of my vocab finds…

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Listening Resource for Arabic Dialects

العامِّيّة

root: ع-م-م / noun / definition: the colloquial language

So I’m now seven weeks into this master’s course and we’ve just had our first عامية lesson. It sort of feels like being transported back to the first year of undergrad, except that the stakes are a bit higher now because in a matter of weeks, I need to have absorbed enough عامية to be able to speak it for my final oral exam of the term.

(Arabic oral exams, for me, are already nightmarish—so I can’t say that the thought is not already stressing me out. *I remind myself that it’s all part of the learning process…*)

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Forming “Too X to X” Constructions in Arabic

بَعيد

root: ب-ع-د / adjective / definition: far, distant

How do we form constructions like “too far away to see” or “too young to understand” in Arabic? Let’s take a look!

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