Tag Archives: vocabulary

Quadriliteral Arabic Verb Forms

وَزْن root: و-ز-ن / noun / plural: أَوْزان / definition: form, pattern We’ve come across some Arabic words from quadriliteral roots before on this blog—that is, roots comprising four letters. And I even went into a little depth about a quadriliteral verb form in Wehr Wednesdays #23. But “a little depth” doesn’t really do itContinue reading “Quadriliteral Arabic Verb Forms”

Root Exploration: م-و-ه

بَسيط root: ب-س-ط / adjective / definition: simple What can we get from the root of a word as simple as “water”? In Arabic, quite a lot! Here we are, with the second post in the Root Exploration series, and this time we’re taking a look at the root م-و-ه.

How to Say “Such” in Arabic

كَيْف root: ك-ي-ف / interrogative / definition: how One thing I’ve noticed about myself since starting this blog is that I can never definitively plan out the order of my posts—I post what I feel like writing that day (well, night, usually), whether I noted down the topic months ago or just thought of theContinue reading “How to Say “Such” in Arabic”

Four Particles That Mean “So That”

حَرْف root: ح-ر-ف / noun / plural: حُروف / definition: letter, (grammatical) particle It’s never too soon for another synonyms post, so this week we’re taking a look at four different particles we can use to express purpose—they can all be translated as “so that” or “in order to“.

Arabic Observations: the Abstract Noun of a Question?

تَأنيث root: ء-ن-ث / verbal noun of form II / definition: feminisation You might know that, in order to create an abstract noun in Arabic, you can simply feminise a regular noun with the typical ـِيّة ending. Examples include: إنسانِيّة – humanity (derived from إنسان, human) اِشتِراكِيّة – socialism (derived from اِشتِراك, participation) لاشَيئِيّة –Continue reading “Arabic Observations: the Abstract Noun of a Question?”

Arabic Headline Analysis #5

نِقابة root: ن-ق-ل / noun / plural: نِقابات / definition: syndicate, union It’s been a while since the last instalment in the Arabic Headline Analysis series, so we’re back today with another headline from the Project Syndicate website to analyse. (Take a look at this post to find out why this news website is greatContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #5”

Three Ways to Say “One of” in Arabic

واحِد root: و-ح-د / active participle of form I / definition: one Do you know the different ways to say “one of” in Arabic? It seems quite a simple thing, but I remember that I didn’t actually learn these three ways until my third year of university. And if you haven’t learnt them yet, keepContinue reading “Three Ways to Say “One of” in Arabic”

Arabic Observations: Same Root Letters, Different Sequence

تَرْتيب root: ر-ت-ب / verbal noun of form II / plural: تَرْتيبات / definition: order, sequence I just couldn’t resist another post in the Arabic Observations series this week! (But an in-demand post about the Hans Wehr dictionary is coming soon! Can you guess what it might be?) For this post, we’re taking things downContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Same Root Letters, Different Sequence”

Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #5

شَمس root: ش-م-س / noun / plural: شُموس / definition: sun Welcome back! For our fifth post in the literature translation series, we’re taking a look at an excerpt from the famous novel رجال في الشمس (Men in the Sun) by the Palestinian writer غسان كنفاني (Ghassan Kanafani).