حَلْقة root: ح-ل-ق / noun / plural: حَلَقات / definition: episode I’m rushed off my feet this week and to top it off, I have an important deadline lying menacingly in wait on the footstep of Friday evening when it will, assuredly, catch me off-guard and drag me into the lair of panic that I’veContinue reading “Resource: Arabic Literature Podcast”
Category Archives: resources/reference
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 letterContinue reading “Form I Verb Vowelling Patterns”
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 ofContinue reading “Listening Resource for Arabic Dialects”
Arabic Vocabulary Resource for Students
مَورِد root: و-ر-د / noun / plural: مَوارِد / definition: resource It’s reading week already—which means this year is going entirely too fast and I’m mildly wildly panicking about what I’m going to do next September. At least, though, I finished writing the first essay that I actually enjoyed researching so far this year. Anyway,Continue reading “Arabic Vocabulary Resource for Students”
The Online Dictionary for Arabic Dialects
لَهْجة root: ل-ه-ج / noun / plural: لَهْجات / definition: dialect I can’t believe we officially hit the 200th-post mark with Wehr Wednesdays #99, where we looked at the phrase ضاح للشمس—a phrase which has been allocated to the “I love this bit of vocab and I can’t explain why” section of my brain (whereContinue reading “The Online Dictionary for Arabic Dialects”
Quadriliteral Active Participles in Arabic
اِسم فاعِل root: ف-ع-ل / phrase / definition: active participle If you’d asked me a week ago, I’d have told you that I lead a somewhat minimalist life—I hate having *things* cluttering up spaces around me which could very well be left empty. (This is, of course, ignoring my book-filled shelves and surfaces—books are entirelyContinue reading “Quadriliteral Active Participles in Arabic”
The Grammar of Using Arabic Numbers
عَدَد root: ع-د-د / noun / plural: أَعْداد / definition: number I remember learning the grammar for using Arabic numbers at university. It seemed fairly simple as there were essentially three sets of rules: one for the numbers 3-10, one for 11-99, and another for whole hundreds, thousands, etc. But when I looked a littleContinue reading “The Grammar of Using Arabic Numbers”
Two of My Favourite Arabic Blogs
مُدَوَّنَة root: د-و-ن / noun / plural: مُدَوَّنات / definition: a blog The Arabic Pages certainly isn’t the only blog out there focused on the Arabic language, and I’ve come across so many brilliant online resources since I started studying Arabic. My intention is to (eventually) make a list of all the best Arabic resourcesContinue reading “Two of My Favourite Arabic Blogs”
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 helpfulContinue reading “Dissertation Topic Ideas for Arabic Language Students”
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 AmazonContinue reading “Arabic Books Currently in My Basket”
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. (TheContinue reading “My Favourite Arabic Podcast is Back!”
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!).
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 itContinue reading “Quadriliteral Arabic Verb Forms”
Reference: A List of Abbreviations in the Hans Wehr Dictionary
اِخْتِصار root: خ-ص-ر / noun / plural: اِختِصارات / definition: abbreviation So, admittedly, this may not be the most interesting post you’ll read on this blog. But anything that helps with understanding the Hans Wehr dictionary—and, by extension, Arabic—is worth posting, in my opinion.
Learning Arabic Through Poetry
شِعْر root: ش-ع-ر / noun / plural: أَشْعار / definition: poetry In the course of my language learning journey, I’ve found that going through Arabic texts and looking up each unfamiliar word is a really great way to pick up vocabulary. And what helps is if you encounter those pieces of vocabulary in interesting contexts.
The Arabic Pages’ Vocabulary Lists
قائِمة root: ق-و-م / noun / plural: قَوائِم or قائِمات / definition: list, table When I first started this blog, I wasn’t entirely sure where The Arabic Pages would go or what it would become. But I did know that I eventually want to create and share Arabic learning resources. Now, I’ve finally taken theContinue reading “The Arabic Pages’ Vocabulary Lists”
Arabic Books on My Bookshelf
رَفّ root: ر-ف-ف / noun / plural: رُفوف / definition: shelf While you can see eight neatly-arranged books on my tiny bedside tea shelf in the photo above, in reality, the term “bookshelf” in the title is somewhat metaphorical. Yes, some of these books are arranged on one of my actual bookshelves. But others migrateContinue reading “Arabic Books on My Bookshelf”
Grammar Book: Arabic for Nerds 2
تَوْصِيَة root: و-ص-ي / verbal noun of form II / plural: تَوصيات / definition: recommendation So I finally gave in: I ordered the grammar book that’s been sitting in my Amazon basket for months. And while I can’t actually put this hefty 800-ish-page book on my already-overburdened bookshelf for fear of a catastrophic collapse, IContinue reading “Grammar Book: Arabic for Nerds 2”
Reference: Arabic Verb Forms Table
جَدْوَل root: ج-د-ل / noun / plural: جَداوِل / definition: chart, table I can’t quite believe that I have been posting on this blog since October without actually posting an Arabic verb table for reference. So, without further ado:
The Best Arabic Podcast I’ve Found So Far
اِستِماع root: س-م-ع / verbal noun of form VIII / definition: listening Listening skills are essential to build when you’re learning a language. But for many students, it can be hard to find listening resources that are: (a) at the right level and (b) interesting enough to maintain your focus.
The Arabic Pages 