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”

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”

The Dialect Dilemma

مُعْضِلة root: ع-ض-ل / noun / plural: مُعضلات or مَعاضِل / definition: dilemma Imagine studying a language for years in a classroom. You can give presentations and write essays in that language (with moderate reliance on the dictionary), and you can read newspaper articles and understand the news (with, realistically, slightly more reliance on saidContinue reading “The Dialect Dilemma”