وَطَن root: و-ط-ن / noun / plural: أَوْطان / definition: homeland Is your homeland still your homeland if you’ve never set foot on its soil? I don’t give myself much time to come up with an answer because my flight is due to take off in a matter of hours. But perhaps it’s not thatContinue reading “Five Arabic Words for the Metaphorical Heart”
Tag Archives: foreign language
Form VI: Gradualness, Exchange, and Pretence
التَّدَرُّج root: د-ر-ج / form V verbal noun / definition: gradual advance or progression I’ve gone straight from floating to hitting the ground running. And between that landing and my approaching take-off, things have progressed unexpectedly quickly in the space of a week. I could get used to this pace. But Arabic’s form VI verbsContinue reading “Form VI: Gradualness, Exchange, and Pretence”
Four Weeks, and Three Arabic Phrases
العَوْم root: ع-و-م / form I verbal noun / definition: floating I returned to London yesterday with my glasses broken, heart full, and mind a mess. Those four weeks in Majorca, in my childhood home and bedroom with the sea-blue curtains I’ve had for the past twenty years, felt like too little time to honourContinue reading “Four Weeks, and Three Arabic Phrases”
Dictionary Finds: A Page of Woe
مُخَلِّص root: خ-ل-ص / form II active participle / definition: saviour, Salvador These days, I’ve been thinking a lot about Salvador—the diabetic former boxer who drove my mum and I to the airport two years ago. He was driving between motorway lanes whilst scrolling through photos on his phone to share with us and pullingContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: A Page of Woe”
Journeys with Arabic: James Scanlan
مَعْز root: م-ع-ز / collective noun / definition: goats After six hundred posts and more than five years, I think I can graciously forgive if you have tired of my (written) voice at any point. I’ve been planning to introduce some other voices, here and there, to the blog for quite some time. And thanksContinue reading “Journeys with Arabic: James Scanlan”
Seven Arabic Passive Participles Meaning “Infatuated”
طُفولة root: ط-ف-ل / noun / definition: childhood Isn’t it interesting how places from our childhood seem smaller when we revisit them? Maybe it’s that we’ve grown physically—sure—and the space is narrower, relative to our bodies. But maybe it’s also our worldview that has expanded and, subsequently, made our past seem that little bit moreContinue reading “Seven Arabic Passive Participles Meaning “Infatuated””
From an Airport, into the Blur
مَطار root: ط-ي-ر / noun of place / plural: مَطارات / definition: airport I’m writing this from a quiet(er) corner of Gatwick’s North Terminal after arriving four hours early, burdened with overstuffed cabin bags and guilt from having to throw away an unopened pint of milk before I left home. Even after a sit-down matchaContinue reading “From an Airport, into the Blur”
Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “the Past”
حُلْم root: ح-ل-م / noun / plural: أَحْلام / definition: dream A few nights ago, I had a series of vivid dreams—each storyline defined and profound in and of itself. And yet I couldn’t help but to try to tie those threads together in my fervent hunt for “greater meaning”. I think that sums upContinue reading “Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “the Past””
Seven Phrases of Rage in Arabic
غَضَب root: غ-ض-ب / noun / definition: anger My mind feels switched off today, and I think it’s because I poured out all of my thoughts into the other post. I talked about the word عدن, my PhD status upgrade, and my search for olive leaves to burn. My friend said she liked that metaphor—aboutContinue reading “Seven Phrases of Rage in Arabic”
Arabic Observations: Returning to مُحيط
إعادة root: ع-و-د / form IV verbal noun / definition: return, re- In the past few days, I reconnected with someone I haven’t seen in eleven years. And it made me reflect on the reasons why we return to our past—or why it returns to us. And in terms of ideas, one theme I keepContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Returning to مُحيط”
Dictionary Finds: بقيت دار لقمان على حالها
دار root: د-و-ر / noun / plural: دِيار / definition: home I had this idea a few days ago to vlog a week in my life as a PhD student. And now, every action poses a conundrum. Like, do I record the aftermath of my disastrous attempt to bake a sugar-free brownie without a recipeContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: بقيت دار لقمان على حالها”
A De-Forgotten Song, an Antidote, a Last Post
أَخير root: ء-خ-ر / adjective / definition: last Something usually goes wrong in the first few days of me living alone. This time? I almost got locked out of the house, thanks to a jammed lock (remedied with olive oil, what else?)—oh, and I almost poisoned myself. After messaging my sister to make sure sheContinue reading “A De-Forgotten Song, an Antidote, a Last Post”
Arabic Diptotes: الممنوع من الصرف
اِنْتِظار root: ن-ظ-ر / form VIII verbal noun / definition: waiting Time and tide wait for no man. Yesterday was the first day I came across this English proverb. Its meaning resonated, but what really drew me to this phrase was the word “tide”. You see, I’ve been thinking about the sea a lot lately.Continue reading “Arabic Diptotes: الممنوع من الصرف”
The Taste of Language
لِسان root: ل-س-ن / noun / plural: أَلسِنة، أَلسُن / definition: tongue, language I’m on day 3 of a five-day run of meetings and meet-ups. TfL continues to fleece me, my average step count continues to rise, and I continue to wonder what kind of rehab my introverted self will need after this. Popping intoContinue reading “The Taste of Language”
Academic Arabic: Bridging, Framing, and Projecting
صَباح root: ص-ب-ح / noun / definition: morning Today, I woke up busy. I spent all my morning hours—and half of my afternoon ones—on my rocking chair with laptop in lap, steadily ticking through my checklist. I’ll become a morning person by force at this rate. Yet, don’t fret, nothing can distract me from writingContinue reading “Academic Arabic: Bridging, Framing, and Projecting”
إيمان: Form IV Verbal Nouns of Hamza-Initial Roots
صُداع root: ص-د-ع / noun / definition: headache I keep forgetting I’m 27. In my head, I’m already 28, and I’m not sure why. It’s slightly ironic that I can’t digest the number 27; it seems I recognise 27 in everything but myself. (I wonder if I lost a year in the time difference betweenContinue reading “إيمان: Form IV Verbal Nouns of Hamza-Initial Roots”
Writer’s Grief and Closing a Chapter
كاتِبة root: ك-ت-ب / form I active participle, feminine form / definition: writing, a writer I get emotionally attached to plans. I’ve been gathering quotes, ideas, and notes for months—only to realise there’s not enough word count (or time) to include everything in the chapter I’m writing. So I save bullet points of brain clutterContinue reading “Writer’s Grief and Closing a Chapter”
Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “Hour”
سائِع root: س-و-ع / form I active participle / definition: abandoned Do you remember, back in January, when we explored why سنة is longer than عام? Well, we’re back with the Exploring Time series—and this time we’re taking a deep dive into the Arabic word for “hour”. And it’s more interesting than you might expect…
Hidden Form V Verbs in the Qur’an
مَخْفيّ root: خ-ف-ي / adjective / definition: hidden, concealed Last week, I attended an online talk about developing a writing system for Cypriot Arabic. As a Cypriot linguist who’s studying Arabic, I kind of couldn’t miss it. I hadn’t realised, though, that it was a “camera-on” event—so I quickly threw on a headscarf and smoothedContinue reading “Hidden Form V Verbs in the Qur’an”
10:27, Baghdad, Page 63
مَقْهًى root: ق-ه-و /noun / plural: مَقاهٍ / definition: café I can’t help but notice that, beyond my screen, my تبغدد top is drying on the heater upside down. . I’m normally the most unobservant person—my friends can tell you that. But there are some things, especially in times of stress, that I’ll notice toContinue reading “10:27, Baghdad, Page 63”
The Arabic Pages 