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azimuth
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Topic: Ask Questions about Arabic languge Posted: 13-Apr-2006 at 20:19 |
this thread for whom who has questions about Arabic words' meaning and pronounciation.

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Apples n Oranges
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Posted: 13-Apr-2006 at 22:56 |
Azimuth I once bought a book on Learning Arabic.The Sun and the Moon letters and the way they affect the pronounciation of 'L' in 'AL' killed my desire to learn Arabic.
Could you explain the rules in a simple manner.When the 'L' in 'AL' is pronounced and when it is silent.
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azimuth
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 00:27 |
i dont remember but i guess it has to do with the Letter comes after the Al.
i think Mira would know that better than me.

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Apples n Oranges
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 00:40 |
OK for the time being plz show us how the Arabic alphabets are pronounced.There are major differences in the way many Arabic alphabets are pronounced in Arabic and Farsi/Urdu.
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kotumeyil
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 02:40 |
I know that when the Arabic words are pluralised, the whole word changes. Like sing. "veled" pl. "evlad". I want to learn the rules. Also the rules of ism-i fail, if possible
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Mira
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 04:06 |
Originally posted by Apples n Oranges
Azimuth I once bought a book on Learning
Arabic.The Sun and the Moon letters and the way they affect the
pronounciation of 'L' in 'AL' killed my desire to learn Arabic.
Could you explain the rules in a simple manner.When the 'L' in 'AL' is pronounced and when it is silent. |
The letter L in Arabic looks like this:
In English, L is pronounced "El." In Arabic, it's "Laam."
We have two laams in the Arabic language. al-Laam al Shamsiya (Sun letter) and al-Laam al Qamariya (Moon letter.)
How you categorize these laams (as Sun or Moon) depends on the definite nouns they precede. "Al" in Arabic is usually the equivalent of "The."
E.g. The car =
Although it's written this way: Al-Sayyarah, it's actually pronounced
this way: As-Sayyarah. That's an example of "Sun letters," where
the laam is pronounced like the consonant that follows it.
For learners of Arabic, I think it's easier to memorize the "Sun letters." They are as following:
Ta, Tha, Dal, Thal, Ra'a, Zaay, Seen, Sheen, Saad, Dhaad, Tah, Dhah, and Noon.
The same letters in Arabic, from right to left:
The rest of the letters are "Moon letters."
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Mira
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 04:14 |
Originally posted by Apples n Oranges
OK for the time being plz show us how the
Arabic alphabets are pronounced.There are major differences in the way
many Arabic alphabets are pronounced in Arabic and Farsi/Urdu. |
I found this website with the Arabic alphabets and their
pronunciation. You can listen to how the alphabets are pronounced.
http://www.arabic2000.com/arabic/alphabet.html
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The Chargemaster
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 04:30 |
Originally posted by azimuth
this thread for whom who has questions about Arabic words' meaning |
Well, what means the arabic text in your signature?
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Mira
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 04:30 |
Originally posted by kotumeyil
I know that when the Arabic words are
pluralised, the whole word changes. Like sing. "veled"
pl. "evlad". I want to learn the rules. Also the rules of
ism-i fail, if possible |
Salaamz kotumeyil,
Isim al-fa'il is an advanced question
Basically, any verb that you can 'nounize' (if I may use such a word) is called isim al-fa'il.
E.g. The boy wrote the book. The boy is the writer. Writer is the isim al-fa'il for the verb 'wrote.'
In Arabic:
Kattaba al-Waladu al-Kitaab
Kattaba is the verb. Al-Waladu is a noun, and he's the
fa'il. Al-Kitaab is a noun, and it's the maf'oul bihi. (I'm
assuming you know all this?)
Because the "walad" was the fa'il, who did the fi'il (verb), which is
kattaba, he is referred to as the kaatib (writer). So kaatib
becomes the "isim al fa'il."
I'm not sure I'm a good teacher. I'm doing my best.
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Mira
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 04:36 |
Originally posted by kotumeyil
I know that when the Arabic words are
pluralised, the whole word changes. Like sing. "veled"
pl. "evlad". I want to learn the rules. Also the rules of
ism-i fail, if possible |
I forgot to add:
The "rules for pluralizing nouns" is pretty heavy grammar. If you
think I can explain well, I'll tell you more about al-Jumu'ou wa
Ahkamuha (Plurals and its forms.)
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The Chargemaster
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 04:40 |
What are the differences and the similarities between the arabian and the jewish languages?
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kotumeyil
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 04:58 |
Originally posted by Mira
Originally posted by kotumeyil
I know that when the Arabic words are pluralised, the whole word changes. Like sing. "veled" pl. "evlad". I want to learn the rules. Also the rules of ism-i fail, if possible
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I forgot to add:
The "rules for pluralizing nouns" is pretty heavy grammar. If you think I can explain well, I'll tell you more about al-Jumu'ou wa Ahkamuha (Plurals and its forms.)
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I have little knowledge on Arabic grammar. However we have a lot of Arabic words in our language. Also the Ottomans used the Arabics much more than today. So I want to learn how the singular and plural forms differ and if there's a simple rule for it. Yes, you are good teacher, however I'm the very beginner student so you'd better teach simpler
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Beylerbeyi
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 08:42 |
Kattaba al-Waladu al-Kitaab |
So the word order in a gramatically normal sentence is VERB-SUBJECT-OBJECT? VSO?
More questions,
a. does Arabic have gender (i.e. masculine and feminine words)?
b. How different is classical Arabic from local dialects? Can everyone in the Arabic world speak/understand classical Arabic? Are all TV shows and newspapers written in classical Arabic? Is this language the same as Arabic of the Quran?
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Apples n Oranges
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 13:16 |
Originally posted by Beylerbeyi
How different is classical Arabic from local dialects? Can everyone in the Arabic world speak/understand classical Arabic? |
I may not be qualified to answer these questions but from my understanding.
a]Arabic is spoken over a large area and dialects vary a lot.Arabic dialect spoken in Morocco and Arabic dialect spoken in Iran can vary as much as Portuguese from Romanian/Italian.
b]Literate people all over the Arabic world can speak/understand classical Arabic.
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Mira
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 15:14 |
Originally posted by kotumeyil
I have little knowledge on Arabic grammar. However we
have a lot of Arabic words in our language. Also the Ottomans used the
Arabics much more than today. So I want to learn how the singular and
plural forms differ and if there's a simple rule for it. Yes, you are
good teacher, however I'm the very beginner student so you'd better
teach simpler |
Aay! I'm flattered
Let's see ..
*rolling up my sleeves*
Mufrad = Singular
Muthanna = Dual
Jam' = Plural
Both Muthanna and Jam' are equivalent to the English "Plural."
Walad = Boy (Mufrad)
Walad aan = 2 Boys (Muthanna)
Awlaad = A group of boys. (Jam')
You asked about why "walad" changes to "awlaad" when pluralized. This form of jam' we call, Jami al-Qillah (literally: Pluralizing the few.)
For numbers between 3-10 (remember, 1 is Mufrad and 2 is Muthanna) the
words should be on the scale of (ya'ani similar in sound and
construction) of:
Af'al, e.g. Ajmal (Plural for jameel; beautiful)
Af'aal, e.g. Awlaad (Plural for walad; boy)
Af'illah, e.g. Akhbizah (Plural for khubz; bread)
Fi'lah, e.g. Fityah (Plural for Fataa; young boy)
I didn't really brief you on the Plural and its forms like I said I
would. It would take a good two hours to come up with a simple
explanation. I just answered your question about "walad" and
"awlaad." I hope you don't mind?
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Mira
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 15:27 |
Originally posted by Beylerbeyi
Kattaba al-Waladu al-Kitaab |
So the word order in a gramatically normal sentence is VERB-SUBJECT-OBJECT? VSO? |
In this sentence only.
It could also be SVO, or VO only.
Originally posted by Beylerbeyi
More questions,
a. does Arabic have gender (i.e. masculine and feminine words)? |
Yes. The dual and plural forms of gender-words differ, too.
Originally posted by Beylerbeyi
b. How different is classical Arabic from local
dialects? Can everyone in the Arabic world speak/understand classical
Arabic? Are all TV shows and newspapers written in classical Arabic? Is
this language the same as Arabic of the Quran? |
Everyone in the Arab world can speak, write and understand classical
Arabic. In fact, kids learn it before going to school because
cartoons (and dubbed Mexican serials ) are done in classical Arabic. The grammar is studied throughout school (12 years).
Not all TV shows are done in classical Arabic. Most kids'
shows are in classical Arabic. Egyptian serials, for example,
will speak with an Egyptian dialect. Newspapers, however, are all
published in classical Arabic.
It differs a lot from the local dialects. I heard some
Westerners who learned Arabic say that they found the Yemeni dialect to
be the closest to the classical Arabic - I'm not sure about that
though. Arabs from all over the Arab world do understand each
other, but in varying degrees. I'm pretty sure that all Arabs are
familiar with the Egyptian dialect, since it's the most popular.
Shaami (Greater Syria; which includes Syria, Jordan, Palestine and
Lebanon) dialects come second in their popularity. Gulf dialects
are not easily understood, but conversing with a Gulfanian sounds more
"Arabic" compared to dialects from the Moroccan bloc. We usually
require a translators when a Moroccan is involved in the conversation Actually, in all the times I've come across a Moroccan, we've ended up switching to classical Arabic.
Classical Arabic is the same as the Arabic of the Qur'an, except
that the Arabic of the Qur'an is a bit more sophisticated and eloquent.
I hope this answers your questions.
Edited by Mira
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Akolouthos
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 15:27 |
Could I ask a question that has more to do with dialect and use than meaning?
In the Christian churches that still use classical languages, the dialect used is archaic (although the pronunciations are often modernized). Is the same true in Islamic worship? What form of Arabic do you use?
-Akolouthos
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Mira
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 15:32 |
Originally posted by Akolouthos
Could I ask a question that has more to do with dialect and use than meaning?
In the Christian churches that still use classical languages, the
dialect used is archaic (although the pronunciations are often
modernized). Is the same true in Islamic worship? What form of Arabic
do you use?
-Akolouthos |
For worship, we all use classical Arabic.
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Akolouthos
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 15:33 |
Talk about prompt! Thank you much Mira .
-Akolouthos
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Mira
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Posted: 14-Apr-2006 at 15:36 |
You're most welcome, Akolouthos
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