Dissertation Topic Ideas for Arabic Language Students

رِسالة

root: ر-س-ل / noun / plural: رَسائِل or رِسالات / definition: dissertation

I remember—back in autumn 2018, starting my final year of BA Arabic and Linguistics—I was searching for dissertation ideas. I’m not sure why I was surprised, given the general lack of specific resources for Arabic students, but I didn’t find anything helpful online.

So I thought I’d sit down and write a post now to give other Arabic language students some dissertation topic inspiration.

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Meanings and Uses of غير

اِسْتِعْمال

root: ع-م-ل / verbal noun of form X / plural: اِسْتِعْمالات / definition: use, application

This week, it’s another grammar explanations post (yay!) which was requested through Instagram. And the question we’re going to answer is: what are the different meanings of the word غير and how can we use it?

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An Indefinite Noun Followed by ما

نَكِرة

root: ن-ك-ر / noun / definition: indefinite noun

It doesn’t feel like we’ve had a grammar explanations post in a while—perhaps because the last two were focused on less-discussed verb forms (interesting stuff for fellow grammar nerds) rather than syntactic structures.

So today, we’re going to look at what effect ما has on an indefinite noun in a particular formula.

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Arabic Observations: Time of Day and “to Become” Synonyms

وَقْت

root: و-ق-ت / noun / plural: أَوْقات / definition: time

The first post in the synonyms series was Four Common Words for “to Become” in Arabic. By definition, the verb “to become” is inherently linked to time—it indicates that something first wasn’t and then came to be afterwards.

But the synonyms of “to become” in Arabic have a much deeper relationship with time than that: they’re actually linked to the time of day.

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Arabic Books Currently in My Basket

سَلّة

root: س-ل-ل / noun / plural: سِلال / definition: basket

It’s been quite a few months since I told you about the useful Arabic books I have on my bookshelf. And while I’ve advised against overwhelming yourself with resources (advice mainly directed at myself), this hasn’t stopped me from steadily filling up my Amazon basket with exciting Arabic books I’ve discovered.

(It’s clear that my book vs. Nutella parallel in that post is less analogous than I thought.)

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My Favourite Arabic Podcast is Back!

عَودة

root: ع-و-د / verbal noun of form I / definition: return

Over a year ago, I shared with you the best Arabic podcast I’d found—recordings from The Arabic Circle, by the University of Chicago. The only issue was that new uploads stopped years ago and I was desperate for some new listening material.

(The episodes are somewhat reminiscent of my Arabic lectures at university, and have such a brilliant variety of topics.)

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Arabic Verb Forms XI-XV

أَكْثَر

root: ك-ث-ر / comparative, superlative / definition: more, most

As you can see, I couldn’t wait too long for another post about Arabic roots following our look at quadriliteral (four-letter-root) verb forms.

But this time, we’re going back to triliteral (three-letter) verb forms and exploring the ones above X—i.e. forms XI-XV (yes, they exist!).

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Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #6

شاعِر

root: ش-ع-ر / noun / plural: شُعَراء / definition: poet

For today’s addition to the literature translation series, I’ve chosen some lines from a poem that really had an impact on me the first time I read it.

And that’s because the poet’s words are not confined to a poem. Instead, they unsettlingly foreshadow his own unfortunate death.

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Six Ways to Say “Can” or “to be Able to” in Arabic

قُدْرَة

root: ق-د-ر / noun / plural: قُدُرات / definition: ability, capability

For the vast majority of us, this past year has swirled into a nebulous stretch of time—a calendar that’s run away with itself and plunged into senselessness.

One of the only things punctuating my weeks has been writing these posts (the Wehr Wednesdays posts, in particular, prevent the days of the week from slipping towards the arbitrary).

That being said, in the midst of uncontrollable events, there are still things within our power. And speaking of what we can do, here’s six different ways to say “to be able to” or “can” in Arabic!

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Quadriliteral Arabic Verb Forms

وَزْن

root: و-ز-ن / noun / plural: أَوْزان / definition: form, pattern

We’ve come across some Arabic words from quadriliteral roots before on this blog—that is, roots comprising four letters. And I even went into a little depth about a quadriliteral verb form in Wehr Wednesdays #23.

But “a little depth” doesn’t really do it for me when it comes to Arabic grammar.

So, in this post, we’re going to explore the various forms in which verbs with four-letter roots occur.

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