Tag Archives: arabic

Dialects and Derivations: The Origin of بعدين

أَيّام root: ي-و-م / plural noun / singular: يَوْم / definition: days I remember the first time I heard the word بَعدَين—during my undergrad days, in the classroom. Hmm, I thought, I know the word بعد (“after”) and that sounds like the dual suffix ـَين at the end… but how does that make sense? CanContinue reading “Dialects and Derivations: The Origin of بعدين”

Arabic-Turkish Observations: İhtiyar and خِتيار

اِخْتِيار root: خ-ي-ر / form VIII verbal noun / definition: choosing I spent hours of the day yesterday—following a strong PhD-productive push in the morning—building a shelving unit that represents our latest bid to increase storage space in the home we already feel like we’re growing out of. I, just to clarify, am a loverContinue reading “Arabic-Turkish Observations: İhtiyar and خِتيار”

Uzbekistan and the Nine-Month Pause

واجِهة root: و-ج-ه / noun / plural: واجِهات / definition: façade On Sunday, the four of us (me, husband, parents) returned from our wondrous 18-day exploration of Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, and Tashkent again. My packed itinerary didn’t allow us much (or any) rest during the trip. But isn’t there such sweetness in aContinue reading “Uzbekistan and the Nine-Month Pause”

Academic Arabic: Birth Years and Birthplaces

إهْمال root: ه-م-ل / form IV verbal noun / definition: neglect It’s another Academic Arabic post this week because, frankly, too many weeks had passed without one and I feel guilty for my neglect. Plus, it’s back-to-uni season and I’m sure you want something to spice up your academic writing and/or show off your eliteContinue reading “Academic Arabic: Birth Years and Birthplaces”

Academic Arabic: The Early, and the Late

قاسِم root: ق-س-م / form I active participle / definition: divider, partition August and September passed like a swift breeze and now winter no longer feels far to reach—especially if (like I was taught) you count November as the start of the season. I remember asking my husband if he liked Kasım—meaning “November”, in Turkish—asContinue reading “Academic Arabic: The Early, and the Late”

Adverbs of Return: The Origins of أيضًا and عادةً

آضَ root: ء-ي-ض / form I, past tense verb / definition: to return Did you know that the Arabic adverbs أَيْضًا (“also, too”) and عادةً (“usually”) are derived from roots with the same core meaning? What is the core meaning linking them? And why? Let’s take a look.

Arabic-Akkadian Roots: ء-خ-ذ and و-ل-د

حَجْز root: ح-ج-ز / form I verbal noun / definition: booking, reserving Independently organising a three-week trip for four people across multiple cities—with international and internal flights, cross-country trains, five hotels, and jam-packed itineraries (plus sudden cancellations and panicked rebookings)—made me want to curl up in a suitcase and cry. Dry sobs on a warmContinue reading “Arabic-Akkadian Roots: ء-خ-ذ and و-ل-د”

Dictionary Finds: غُطَيطة

غُطَيْطة root: غ-ط-ط / diminutive noun / definition: fog I overslept this morning. Upon rising: a foggy, rainy sky, and a suspiciously clear mind. Is there a term for the inverse of pathetic fallacy? What do we call it when my brain fog has ventured into the sky and its cloudlessness has migrated into myContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: غُطَيطة”

Uncommon Arabic Words for Wife

زَوْجة root: ز-و-ج / noun / definition: wife One way to understand how a particular culturo-linguistic group view a concept is by looking into their dictionary. So, what does the Arabic dictionary tell us about how a wife is perceived? Setting aside the common term زَوجة (literally meaning “one of a pair”), let’s explore someContinue reading “Uncommon Arabic Words for Wife”

Root Exploration: ن-و-ر

نور root: ن-و-ر / noun / plural: أَنْوار / definition: light Perhaps I was too busy playing in the tides of the summer heatwaves to realise that the season was ebbing into the horizon—and then, at six this morning, I woke up to a Sun-less sky and realised the days do feel shorter again. IContinue reading “Root Exploration: ن-و-ر”