Tag Archives: arabic

Arabic Observations: the True Meanings of Poetry

اِرتِباط root: ر-ب-ط / form VIII verbal noun / plural: اِرتِباطات / definition: connection, link During one of your sessions journeying through an Arabic dictionary, you might have stumbled upon the entry for شِعْر, and maybe you also noticed how it has two primary meanings: knowledge and poetry. (You’ll find quite a nice phrase underContinue reading “Arabic Observations: the True Meanings of Poetry”

Root Exploration: ج-ن-ح

طائِرة root: ط-ي-ر / active participle of form I / plural: طائِرات / definition: airplane A wise woman I met in the Jordanian desert told me to always have my next flight booked before the end of a trip. Good advice that I didn’t take at the time, and that now has me searching forContinue reading “Root Exploration: ج-ن-ح”

Meanings of ما لم

مَجَرّة root: ج-ر-ر / noun / plural: مَجَرّات / definition: galaxy Four 5.5-hour flights in a matter of weeks seem to have taken their toll on my body, but my mind is alive with the memories of a night under the Milky Way on Wadi Rum’s dunes, a sunset from the mountaintop in Wadi Musa,Continue reading “Meanings of ما لم”

Three Arabic Phrases Meaning “to Take Someone’s Place”

اِستِبْدال root: ب-د-ل / verbal noun of form X / definition: replacement Back in December, we explored the مَـ of place and time. Today, we’re taking a look at three phrases meaning “to take someone or something’s place” that combine a verb with a place noun from the same root:

Strangeness and a Summer of Reading

غَريب root: غ-ر-ب / adjective / definition: strange Orhan Pamuk’s A Strangeness in My Mind has been sitting on the tiny, just-enough-space-for-tea-and-a-book shelf beside my bed, having remained unopened for far too long after I’d got into it and read a decent amount. I’m not sure why it’s hard for me to pick it backContinue reading “Strangeness and a Summer of Reading”

Imperatives of Sound Form I Verbs

سَجّادة root: س-ج-د / noun / plural: سَجاجيد / definition: carpet On the weekend, I returned from an expectation-exceeding week-long stay in beautiful Baku, Azerbaijan. And I would jump on the five-and-a-half hour flight again in a heartbeat, even just to get my hands on the perfect xalça that I didn’t have time to shopContinue reading “Imperatives of Sound Form I Verbs”

Dictionary Finds: Collocations of شقّ

جَوّ root: ج-و-و / noun / plural: أَجْواء / definition: air, atmosphere I try to evoke, in my physical spaces, an air of refreshing minimalism. My bedroom walls, for example, are washed in white and bare, save the two (white) floating shelves and narrow (white) floating desk that quite subtly jut out along one side.Continue reading “Dictionary Finds: Collocations of شقّ”

Arabic Observations: “Seeking” in Arabic and Turkish

لُغَويّ root: ل-غ-و / nisba adjective / definition: linguistic I’ve been toying with the idea of writing this Arabic Observations post for a while, but I was unsure whether it’s too small of an observation to be added to this series. I’ve since concluded, however, that no linguistic observation is too small to be noted.Continue reading “Arabic Observations: “Seeking” in Arabic and Turkish”

The End, the Middle, and the Beginning

أُفُق root: ء-ف-ق / noun / plural: آفاق / definition: horizon Today, I was conducting the Arabic oral exams for my second-year students and it became apparent that I have some residual anxiety from my undergraduate days as I felt nervous for them. They seemed chilled in comparison, which I’m happy about. This sort ofContinue reading “The End, the Middle, and the Beginning”