Tag Archives: learning

Fixed-Form Passive Participles with Prepositions

شَرْح root: ش-ر-ح / form I verbal noun / definition: explanation One of my classmates, a while back, asked me if I could clarify the grammar of the phrase غير المُبلَغ عنه, which translates as “unreported”. We’ve talked before about the different meanings of غَير—here, it gives the word its un- prefix in English, soContinue reading “Fixed-Form Passive Participles with Prepositions”

Delving into لَلأَسَف

اِكفِهْرار root: ك-ف-ه-ر / form IV quadriliteral verbal noun / definition: gloom It’s mid-November and my winter blues are bursting vibrantly into full swing. I sort of feel like I’m in a gloomy room with a heartbroken flamenco dancer who keeps passionately swishing her black skirt in my face whilst I’m trying to draft anContinue reading “Delving into لَلأَسَف”

Dictionary Finds: عَطَن

جَمَل root: ج-م-ل / noun / plural: جِمال / definition: camel I didn’t realise it’d been so long since our last proper Dictionary Finds post, especially as I’m always adding to the list of intriguing vocabulary I’ve stumbled upon whilst consulting the dictionary for one reason or another. So today I’ve chosen a word fromContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: عَطَن”

Arabic Headline Analysis #9

ساعة root: س-و-ع / noun / plural: ساعات / definition: hour, clock So the clocks went back by an hour here on the weekend, and I felt like I turned back time in another sense a few days ago when my new purchase—a 1928, first-edition Ottoman Turkish book about arts—arrived in the post. “What areContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #9”

Some Arabic Words and Phrases for “to Cry”

دَمْع root: د-م-ع / noun / plural: دُموع / definition: tear October is the month of the pomegranate, according to the fruit tree calendar on my wall. Which means I’m begrudgingly ushering in the wintery months where a gloomy disposition clouds over me and clings on until the dawn of spring. It happens every yearContinue reading “Some Arabic Words and Phrases for “to Cry””

Arabic and Akkadian Case Endings

إعْراب root: ع-ر-ب / form IV verbal noun / definition: inflection Thanks to an unexpected but very welcome email from one of my Akkadian teachers I met during my summer course, I’m happily resuming my Akkadian language studies this week! I wrote about some of the Arabic-Akkadian lexical similarities I noticed back in July, butContinue reading “Arabic and Akkadian Case Endings”

Uncommon Arabic Words for the Desert

صَحراء root: ص-ح-ر / noun / plural: صَحارٍ / definition: desert In this series so far, we’ve explored uncommon Arabic words for colours, clouds, and rain. This time—as I’ve kept on coming across alternative terms for it in my regular resorts to the dictionary—I’m compiling a list of uncommon Arabic words for “desert”, most commonlyContinue reading “Uncommon Arabic Words for the Desert”

Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #13

اِستِسلام root: س-ل-م / form X verbal noun / definition: surrender I was torn this week between: writing about Arabic-Akkadian case endings; adding to the Uncommon Arabic Words for… series; and dedicating my time to a step-by-step literature translation. As you can see from the title, I settled on the third option. It only seemedContinue reading “Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #13”

The Exclamation of Lament

أَسَف root: ء-س-ف / noun / definition: grief We’re all familiar with the vocative particle (حَرف نِداء) that is يا, which we use to call on someone. (And you can find another use of يا explained in the comments under Wehr Wednesdays #174…) But how many of us have heard of the particle وا, whichContinue reading “The Exclamation of Lament”