Tag Archives: vocabulary

Academic Arabic: Birth Years and Birthplaces

إهْمال root: ه-م-ل / form IV verbal noun / definition: neglect It’s another Academic Arabic post this week because, frankly, too many weeks had passed without one and I feel guilty for my neglect. Plus, it’s back-to-uni season and I’m sure you want something to spice up your academic writing and/or show off your eliteContinue reading “Academic Arabic: Birth Years and Birthplaces”

Academic Arabic: The Early, and the Late

قاسِم root: ق-س-م / form I active participle / definition: divider, partition August and September passed like a swift breeze and now winter no longer feels far to reach—especially if (like I was taught) you count November as the start of the season. I remember asking my husband if he liked Kasım—meaning “November”, in Turkish—asContinue reading “Academic Arabic: The Early, and the Late”

Adverbs of Return: The Origins of أيضًا and عادةً

آضَ root: ء-ي-ض / form I, past tense verb / definition: to return Did you know that the Arabic adverbs أَيْضًا (“also, too”) and عادةً (“usually”) are derived from roots with the same core meaning? What is the core meaning linking them? And why? Let’s take a look.

Dictionary Finds: غُطَيطة

غُطَيْطة root: غ-ط-ط / diminutive noun / definition: fog I overslept this morning. Upon rising: a foggy, rainy sky, and a suspiciously clear mind. Is there a term for the inverse of pathetic fallacy? What do we call it when my brain fog has ventured into the sky and its cloudlessness has migrated into myContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: غُطَيطة”

Uncommon Arabic Words for Wife

زَوْجة root: ز-و-ج / noun / definition: wife One way to understand how a particular culturo-linguistic group view a concept is by looking into their dictionary. So, what does the Arabic dictionary tell us about how a wife is perceived? Setting aside the common term زَوجة (literally meaning “one of a pair”), let’s explore someContinue reading “Uncommon Arabic Words for Wife”

Root Exploration: ن-و-ر

نور root: ن-و-ر / noun / plural: أَنْوار / definition: light Perhaps I was too busy playing in the tides of the summer heatwaves to realise that the season was ebbing into the horizon—and then, at six this morning, I woke up to a Sun-less sky and realised the days do feel shorter again. IContinue reading “Root Exploration: ن-و-ر”

Dictionary Finds: Lawlessness and the Last Child

جَريمة root: ج-ر-م / noun / plural: جَرائِم / definition: crime What do youngest siblings have in common with lawlessness? A few ideas might spring to your mind (although I, as the youngest child myself, see no relation whatsoever…). But Arabic dictionaries hold the two definitions under the same term. Let’s see why.

A New App: ArabyBuddy

تَطْبيق root: ط-ب-ق / form II verbal noun / plural: تَطْبيقات / definition: app, application I n three Tuesdays it’ll be autumn—but no one has time to dwell on that because, here in London, we’re being pulled into the swell of a fifth heatwave and our fridge is still full of pink-red watermelon. So, we’reContinue reading “A New App: ArabyBuddy”