فَرْق root: ف-ر-ق / noun / plural: فُروق / definition: difference Two small words, carrying the same meaning but differing in grammar: حَوالَي and تَقريباً. So what’s the difference… and why does it matter?
Tag Archives: foreign language
Arabic Observations: Words with Antonymic Meanings
ضِدّ root: ض-د-د / noun / plural: أَضْداد / definition: a word with two opposite meanings So, we’ve all looked up Arabic words before where we’ve been greeted by a whole paragraph of definitions that we have to sift through. Pretty standard when dealing with Arabic dictionaries, right? But what about those words whose definitionsContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Words with Antonymic Meanings”
Another Use of أصبح
اِسْتِخْدام root: خ-د-م / verbal noun of form X / plural: اِستِخْدامات / definition: use Previously, in this post, I mentioned that the verb أَصبَح / يُصبِح can mean “to become”. For example, “the man became a doctor” or “the situation became dire”—i.e. one thing becoming something else. But there’s another use of أصبح too.
Ideas for Language Learning in a Lockdown
إغْلاق root: غ-ل-ق / verbal noun of form IV / definition: lockdown, closing Classes cancelled, study abroad plans put on hold, and your sanity left bouncing between the same four walls for weeks on end… Most of us, in this coronavirus era, are in some form of lockdown or another. Since everyone is naturally copingContinue reading “Ideas for Language Learning in a Lockdown”
Three Meanings of حتّى
مَعْنَى root: ع-ن-ي / noun / plural: مَعانٍ / definition: meaning, sense I might be stating the obvious here, but learning those Arabic words with multiple meanings is really advantageous. I mean, learning a single word that you can use in numerous contexts to give rise to different meanings? Yes, please.
How to Say “No Longer” in Arabic
جُمْلَة root: ج-م-ل / noun / plural: جُمَل / definition: sentence, (grammatical) clause With some constructions, you won’t realise how often you’ll need to use them until after you learn them—and then you wonder why you hadn’t learnt them earlier! For me, this was one of them: creating sentences using “no longer” in Arabic.
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Arabic Observations: Doubled Roots
مُزْدَوِج root: ز-و-ج / active participle of form VIII / definition: double I really love writing these Arabic Observations posts, because the way the Arabic language reveals its beautiful complexities—no matter how “small” they may be—deserves to be recorded.
Certainties and Uncertainties
يَقين root: ي-ق-ن / noun / definition: certainty There’s a number of certainties in my life—one of them being that I must resume studying Arabic formally after this year-long hiatus that I decided to take.
Arabic Observations: Root Derived From Phrase
جَذْر root: ج-ذ-ر / noun / plural: جُذور / definition: root Flick through to page 1016 of the Hans Wehr dictionary (4th ed.) and you’ll find something really intriguing.
The Textbook Safety Net?
سَلامة root: س-ل-م / verbal noun of form I / meaning: safety, security Not long after I had paraded across the stage at my graduation, a shiny, new Arabic textbook was delivered to my door and I felt an engulfing sense of relief—ahh, structure.
Arabic Observations: Word Twins
تَوْأَم root: ت-و-ء-م / noun / plural: تَوائِم / definition: twin You notice many things when you look at the pages of Hans Wehr more than you see daylight. And time and time again, I’ve noticed this one phenomenon which I call (in my head) “word twins”.
Different Ways to Learn Vocabulary Through Association
عَلاقة root: ع-ل-ق / noun / plural: علاقات or عَلائق / definition: association, relation, connection There are some words in your target language that will cling on in your memory and others that will dig in their heels and refuse to go any further than the “vaguely familiar” section of your brain. For those stubbornContinue reading “Different Ways to Learn Vocabulary Through Association”
The Arabic Pages 