صَديقة root: ص-د-ق / feminine noun / plural: صَديقات / definition: friend Has it really been over a year since I last wrote an Arabic headline analysis? My archives nod “yes” and guilt sinks me into my chair. I think of my friend who was the inspiration behind both the headline analysis and literature translationContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #11”
Tag Archives: analysis
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #16
حَصاد root: ح-ص-د / form I verbal noun / definition: to harvest Last week left me exhausted. So I spent the weekend wearily harvesting whatever grains of energy I’d managed to sow, and trying hard to herd unwieldy guilt into the back of my mind. I’ve noticed I tend to write step-by-step literature translation postsContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #16”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #15
قَيْلولة root: ق-ي-ل / noun / definition: nap It must be this autumnal weather that’s breezed into mid-summer like an uninvited guest that has me seeking out daytime naps all of a sudden. Maybe I’m squirrelling away energy so I can cope with the gloom. But I’ll claw myself away from another micro-hibernation long enoughContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #15”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #14
دِفْء root: د-ف-ء / noun / definition: warmth December has brazenly blustered in with its frost and chill and here I am, sitting at my desk with my right foot pressed against the radiator beside me, hoping for a semblance of warmth to spread to the rest of my body. I may as well typeContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #14”
Arabic Headline Analysis #9
ساعة root: س-و-ع / noun / plural: ساعات / definition: hour, clock So the clocks went back by an hour here on the weekend, and I felt like I turned back time in another sense a few days ago when my new purchase—a 1928, first-edition Ottoman Turkish book about arts—arrived in the post. “What areContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #9”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #13
اِستِسلام root: س-ل-م / form X verbal noun / definition: surrender I was torn this week between: writing about Arabic-Akkadian case endings; adding to the Uncommon Arabic Words for… series; and dedicating my time to a step-by-step literature translation. As you can see from the title, I settled on the third option. It only seemedContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #13”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #12
طَبيعة root: ط-ب-ع / noun / definition: nature My appointment to reconnect with nature is approaching and it can’t come soon enough. I’ve been feeling sort of anxiously suspended between buildings and roads here in London and—whilst local parks have been somewhat of a refuge from all things grey—sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and sunshine areContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #12”
Arabic Headline Analysis #8
مِقْرَعَة root: ق-ر-ع / noun / plural: مَقارِع / definition: door knocker In the photo above is the newspaper page, dated 1991, that was used to wrap up the ornate brass door knocker I bought from an artisan workshop on my last day in Agadir. The newspaper page is now folded up and nestled betweenContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #8”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #11
مُواصَلة root: و-ص-ل / verbal noun of form III / definition: continuation This week we’re continuing on from last week’s literature translation where we went through the first part of our extract:
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #10
سِكّين root: س-ك-ك / noun / plural: سَكاكين / definition: knife As September swept in, I made a resolution to read more in both English and Arabic. Novels, specifically, because I miss getting lost in them as I used to. And I’ve now, for various reasons, found myself in a situation where I have multipleContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #10”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #9
حَقيقة root: ح-ق-ق / noun / plural: حَقائِق / definition: reality, truth Well, well, well… it’s been quite a while since we had a literature translation post, hasn’t it? (On consulting the calendar, that “while” appears to be nearly six months—time must have taken a shortcut somewhere…) Time anxiety aside, in this post we’ll beContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #9”
Arabic Headline Analysis #7
جامِعة root: ج-م-ع / noun / plural: جامِعات / definition: university So I’m finally here, at university (!), after a four-hour drive which depleted my already-sunken energy levels and temporarily numbed my arm that had the misfortune of being the support pillar of a precariously-balanced bag. But who cares about the fatigue, the six hillsContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #7”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #8
سيرة root: س-ي-ر / noun / plural: سِيَر / definition: biography For this post in the literature translation series, we’ll be going word-by-word through a non-fiction excerpt, taken from بغداد: سيرة مدينة (Baghdad: Biography of a City) by the Iraqi writer نجم والي (Najem Wali).
Root Exploration: ع-ر-ق
زَمَن root: ز-م-ن / noun / plural: أَزمان / definition: stretch of time It’s been a long time since our last post in the Root Exploration series. (In all honesty, though, it hasn’t felt long at all to me since I explore roots in the dictionary every day!) I’ve had a few roots written downContinue reading “Root Exploration: ع-ر-ق”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #7
مُؤَلِّف root: ء-ل-ف / noun / plural: مُؤَلِّفون / definition: author, writer We’re adding to the literature translation series this week—it’s been a while!—with a short excerpt from عائد إلى حيفا (Returning to Haifa) by غسان كنفاني (Ghassan Kanafani).
Arabic Headline Analysis #6
شَهر root: ش-ه-ر / noun / plural: أَشهُر or شُهور / definition: month Seeing as it’s the first week of Ramadan (!رمضان مبارك)—and hopefully it still is by the time I finish this post—I’ve chosen a fitting headline to analyse in our latest addition to the series. Let’s begin our word-by-word vocabulary and grammar explanationContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #6”
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 foreshadowContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #6”
Root Exploration: م-و-ه
بَسيط root: ب-س-ط / adjective / definition: simple What can we get from the root of a word as simple as “water”? In Arabic, quite a lot! Here we are, with the second post in the Root Exploration series, and this time we’re taking a look at the root م-و-ه.
Arabic Headline Analysis #5
نِقابة root: ن-ق-ل / noun / plural: نِقابات / definition: syndicate, union It’s been a while since the last instalment in the Arabic Headline Analysis series, so we’re back today with another headline from the Project Syndicate website to analyse. (Take a look at this post to find out why this news website is greatContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #5”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #5
شَمس root: ش-م-س / noun / plural: شُموس / definition: sun Welcome back! For our fifth post in the literature translation series, we’re taking a look at an excerpt from the famous novel رجال في الشمس (Men in the Sun) by the Palestinian writer غسان كنفاني (Ghassan Kanafani).
The Arabic Pages 