Winter, Aleppo, and Longing

الشِّتاء

root: ش-ت-و / noun / definition: winter

To round off my program here in Doha, I presented my research paper last week, focusing on the image of Aleppo in the Arabic novel.

It was somewhat of a triumphant end, on a personal level, as I decided—instead of reading notes or preparing a speech—to improvise during the presentation. I wanted to get over the fear of being “unprepared” to speak in Arabic.

I think that fear now, الحمد لله, is receding at pace.

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Dictionary Finds: أَبَّ

الرُّجوع

root: ر-ج-ع / form I verbal noun / definition: to return

Do you ever let your mind wander, then pull it back, then realise the wandering might have been going somewhere?

Let me explain.

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Root Exploration: ء-ب-د

دَهْر

root: د-ه-ر / noun / plural: دُهور / definition: long period of time, epoch

If you’ve been reading closely, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been talking about time a lot lately.

My term of studying here in Doha officially ends next week, and it’s as though I’m inside an hourglass trying to grapple with the passage of time, as it falls through the spaces between my fingers like grains of fine sand.

The here and now feels somehow distant while the end of the month laps at my feet.

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The “Would-Be” Active Participle in Arabic

مُتَفَلْسِف

root: ف-ل-س-ف / form II quadriliteral active participle / definition: philosophaster

There’s something comforting about being in this library as the Sun goes down and spills through the vast windows in waves of golden orange light, deluging everything around me in a soft, forgiving glow. Or maybe I’m just a would-be academic romanticising this place as I type.

Speaking of would-bes… Did you know there’s a word pattern in Arabic to refer to them?

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Oman and an Ever-Nearing Return

لُبان

root: ل-ب-ن / noun / definition: frankincense

Land of frankincense, endless arches, and smiling eyes: Oman, where I spent the past week on a solo trip. And upon my return to Doha, I’m caught off guard by only two-and-a-half weeks left of class and forced to gulp down the reality of flying back to London soon, straight into the depths of its winter where seasonal depression and cold feet reside.

Even those sentences feel like they went too fast.

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Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “Tomorrow”

غَدًا

root: غ-د-و / adverb of time / definition: tomorrow

In the new Exploring Time series last week, we took a trip to yesterday. This week, we’re looking ahead: exploring how we can understand the notion of tomorrow through the Arabic dictionary.

(Yes, we’re skipping today—call me future-thinking or something.)

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Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “Yesterday”

أَمْسُ

root: ء-م-س / noun / definition: yesterday

Some places make you feel as though you’ve stepped back into a distant yesterday or an even further yesteryear. And walking through Souq al Wakra at night, past its cosy courtyards snuggled into alleys meandering towards the coast, I’d set foot into a yesterday I was living for the first time.

There are particular moments in which you notice, more so, the passage of time and your place within (or perhaps in relation to) it. And maybe it was one of those moments that inspired this new series, where we explore concepts related to time—through the Arabic dictionary of course.

And where better to start than yesterday.

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Small Arabic Words with Conditional Powers

قُوّة

root: ق-و-ي / noun / plural: قُوًى / definition: power, force

Big things come in small packages—oh wait, that’s not how it goes. Nor is it what I meant actually. Maybe I meant “small but mighty” but didn’t want to sound like I’m advertising laundry detergent pods.

Ahem… today we’re looking at a group of small Arabic words that have grammatical power over the following verb, in the same way a conditional does.

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Arabic Observations: زوج and جوز

القَلْب

root: ق-ل-ب / form I verbal noun / definition: transposition, alteration

Something in this library is producing a noise that sits halfway between the whine of a hungry mosquito and the never-ending, impalpable ring of tinnitus, in both sound and annoyingness.

I feel like it’s the fluorescent light directly above my head but let me not self-center. I’m sure everyone else here is mentally swatting away the annoyance too.

المهم… It’s been a while since our last Arabic Observations post and any while feels too long when it comes to this series. So we’re back.

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Arabic’s Chameleon Words: أدّى

المَغرِب

root: غ-ر-ب / proper noun / definition: Morocco

This week, I’ve been missing Morocco and discovering Taiwanese fried chicken. I’m not sure there’s a direct link there, but who knows?

It’s been six weeks in which the Sun has greened my eyes and I can’t fathom returning to London in ten. I’ve been embracing digressions in my writing and have cut ties with conciseness because Kevin from The Office‘s motto of “why waste time say long word when few word do trick?” no longer resonates.

But Kevin has a point. There’s a few words we can learn that can do many tricks. And one of these words is أدّى.

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