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”
Tag Archives: analysis
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).
Root Exploration: ك-ش-ف
جَذْر root: ج-ذ-ر / noun / plural: جُذور / definition: root I feel a very nerdy rush of excitement as I begin this post, because it’s the first in the new Root Exploration series! In this series of posts, we’re going to take a single Arabic root and explore all of its different forms, derivatives,Continue reading “Root Exploration: ك-ش-ف”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #4
اِستِعارة root: ع-و-ر / noun / plural: اِستِعارات / definition: metaphor And… we’re back with the fourth post in the literature translation series! This time, we’re going through an excerpt from another poem: مَسرَح (Theatre) by الصادق الرضي (Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi), whose poetry I previously mentioned in this post.
Arabic Headline Analysis #4
عُنْوان root: ع-ن-و-ن / noun / plural: عَناوين / definition: title, headline This week, we’re embarking on another Arabic Headline Analysis—exploring the vocabulary and grammar of a recent news headline and concluding with the resulting translation. Our Arabic headline this week is taken from an article posted on the Project Syndicate website. I really recommendContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #4”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #3
قَصِيدَة root: ق-ص-د / noun / plural: قَصائِد / definition: poem You may remember me mentioning Badr Shakir al-Sayyab previously, when I used a quote from a poem of his to exemplify one of the Four Synonyms for “to Begin to” in Arabic. And—unsurprisingly, I suppose, considering my dissertation was centred around his poetry—al-Sayyab’s works wereContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #3”
Arabic Headline Analysis #3
بِيئَة root: ب-و-ء / noun / plural: بِيئات / definition: environment I hadn’t realised how long it’s been since I last did an Arabic Headline Analysis which—for those of you who don’t know—is where we go through a news headline in Arabic word-by-word to understand the vocabulary and grammar. Seeing as this week’s choice isContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #3”
Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #2
رِوايَة root: ر-و-ي / noun / plural: روايات / definition: novel Note: this is part two of the previous Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation, so if you haven’t read that one yet, you might want to start with that first! We’ll keep this introduction short because it’s safe to assume this will be a very longContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #2”
The Arabic Pages 