This site has been down during the past few days, due to problems with the server. The problems are resolved. I have backups of all the content, but it may take a day to get everything restored and back to posting regularly.
Coming soon are some new features on the site, including a dictionary feature that can be used to look up words that have been introduced here, along with other words. The dictionary will also be used to create some interactive exercises for practicing grammar and vocabulary.
Arabic words for “bird” include طير (tayr), which is most common and is a generic word. The word عصفور (asfuur) refers to a small bird, such as a house sparrow (عصفور دوري) or in describing such birds as the canary. Canary - Pet Care Guide (uses the word عصفور in describing the canary)
This video, with a song and pictures of various birds, is about عصفور:
There are several different words for a “store” or “shop” in Arabic. These include محل (mahall) and دكان (dukaan).
The word محل (mahall) is the most commonly used, especially in places including Egypt. To specify the type of store, you can say: محل زهور (mahall zuhoor) - flower shop محل بقالة (mahall baqal) - grocery store; alternatively, one can just say بقال (baqal) محل ملابس (mahall malahbis) - clothing store محل كبير (mahall kibeer) - department store (large store) دكان (dukaan) is used more infrequently in Egypt, though has greater use in other areas (e.g. Kuwait). This word refers to a small shop, such as a neighborhood corner store.
In informal spoken Arabic (colloquial dialects), the word سوبرماركت, borrowed from English, is also used and understood. Photo credit: stu spivack (Flickr), CC-BY-SA
تفاقم الازمة الدبلوماسية بين لندن وموسكو - BBC News (January 2, 2008)
The rest of the first paragraph is: ازدادت شدة التوتر في العلاقة الدبلوماسية بين موسكو ولندن عندما قام الروس بتحرك قضائي اضطر المجلس الثقافي البريطاني إلى اغلاق احد مكاتبه في سان بطرسبرج، ثاني المدن الروسية الكبرى. تحرك - move, instigate, set in motion, rouse, … قضائي (qada’i) - judicial, judiciary اضطر - to force مجلس - commission, council, board, court ثقافى (thaqafi) - cultural, educational أغلاق (i’ghlaq) - closing, shutting, locking, barring … مكاتبه (makatiba) - office ثاني (thani) - second مدن (mudun) - cities (pl) كبرى (kubra) - largest, greatest
Altogether, it translates as: “Tensions have intensified in the relations between Moscow and London, as the Russian judiciary moved to force the British cultural council to shut down its office in St. Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia.”
The idafa (الإضافة) or “construct phrase” is a way to express possession in Arabic. For example, “the professor’s office”, “car key”, “University of Damascus”, etc. The idafa is the way to say “x of y”, and there is no alternative way of expressing possessive relation between nouns. In Arabic, “the professor’s office” is worded in such a way to say “office of the professor” (مكتبُ الإستاذةِ - “maktabu al-ustathi”). “Car key” is worded as “key of a car” (مفتاحُ سيارةِِ - “miftahu sayaratin”), and “University of Damascus” is جامعةُ دمشق (”jamia’tu dimashk”).
Idafa (genitive) is also used for partitives, such as “cup of coffee” (فنجانُ قهوةِِ - “finjanu qahawatin”). Idafa can also be used to describe material that something is made of (e.g. wooden chair) - كرسىُ خشبِِ (”kursiyu khashabin”). Rules of Idafa
1. The first noun of the idafa can be in any grammatical case, however the second noun is always in the genitive case (with a kasra “i” or double kasra “in”) ending.
2. If the idafa phrase is definite (e.g. the student’s book), the ال prefix is added to the second noun. Exceptions include phrases like “my father’s house”, where the ي is attached to والد to make it والدي. The first noun of the idafa will never have the definite prefix, nor will it ever have a possessive suffix.
3. If the first noun of an idafa phrase ends in a ta marbuta (ة), it is pronounced as a ت (ta).
4. Any adjectives describing the noun must follow the idafa phrase. For example, “the professor’s large office” (مكتابُ الإستاذِ كبيرُ).
In Classical Arabic or formal usage of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the noun following (subject of) the preposition is in the genitive case (with a kasra). If the noun is definite, a single kasra is added, such as في الكِتابِ (fi al-kitabi) “in the book”. If the noun is indefinite, a double kasra is added, such as في كِتابِ (fi kitabin) “in a book”.
Frequently used prepositions include: بي (fi) - in, at, on (time) عَلى (a’la) - on مِن (min) - from مَعَ (ma’a) - with فوق (fawqa) - above, over تحت (tahta) - below, beneath بِجانِب (bijanib) - besides خلف (khalf) - behind خلال (khilal) - during
Cases and case endings are used in Classical Arabic (used in the Quran), as well as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) for poetry, media broadcasts, and other formal situations. Case endings affect the pronunciation of words (nouns and adjectives). Case endings are normally omitted in informal conversation and writings, and regional dialects or Arabic.
A double damma, double kasra, or double fatha indicates that a noun is indefinite (e.g. “a book”) versus definite (”the book”). Which case ending used depends grammatical position or function of a word.
Nominative (مرفوع - marfua’) - Indicated with a damma (”u” or “un”) at the end of a word, such as كتابُُ (kitabun) which means “a book”. Nouns that are the subject of a sentence are in the nominative case. Such as كتابُُ على الطاولة (kitabun a’la al tawila) which is “A book is on the table.”
Accusative (منصوب - mansub) - Indicated with a fatha (”a” or “an”), such as أقرُ كتابََ (iqaru kitaban) - “I am reading a book.” The accusative case is used for nouns that are the object of a verb. Adverbs are also marked in the accusative case with a double fatha.
Genitive (مجرور - majrur) - Indicated with a kasra (”i” or “in”), such as القميصُ في درجِ (al-qamisu fi durjin) - “The shirt is in a drawer.” The genitive case is used for nouns that are the object of a preposition.
The word جداً is spelled with a ج (jim). In Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), it is pronounced like the g in “gem”. However, in some dialects including Egyptian Arabic, it is pronounced as a hard “g” as in “gate”. In this song, Ali Hussein pronounced ج with a hard “g”.
Along with learning Arabic grammar, it is very important to build one’s vocabulary. It helps to focus on learning words associated with particular topic areas and be able to converse or comprehend about that topic. It is not practical to learn so many topic areas at once, but focusing this way works. One tool to help me learn is a workbook called Build Your Arabic Vocabulary which is by Haroon Shirwani. The vocabulary words are broken down by topic area, starting from greetings. There is also a CD that might come with the book, depending on which edition you get. I now know most of the greetings and basic phrases. The next section is “House and home”, which I mostly know. I have also put time into learning the “food” vocabulary, which I think is crucial for being able to travel and order from menus.
When learning a language, it is an enormous help to practice reading news articles and other things, and read a lot. BBC Arabic is a good source for news articles, in addition to their audio broadcasts. From time to time, I post excerpts from articles, look up words I don’t know, and practice reading. This article is about relations between the UK and Russia.
فقم (faqima) - to aggravate, escalate, become grave, serious, critical, dangerous, come to a head
أزمة (azma) - crisis
دبلوماسية (diblomasia) - diplomatic
بين (beyna) - between
The word order in the sentence is Verb-Subject (adjective)-Prepositional phrase. The verb فقم (faqima) is conjugated in the present tense, in the feminine-third person form by appending the “ت” to the beginning of the verb and it is pronounced with a damma (”u” sound) at the end of the word. The word also changes form here, with an added alif. The verb in this form, tense, and conjugation is pronounced “tafaaqimu”.
The word أزمة (azma) is a definite noun here, because it refers to a specific crisis. This is a feminine noun. The adjective دبلوماسية (diblomasia) must agree with the noun in gender and also be definite.
With these words, the headline translates as “The diplomatic crisis escalates between London and Moscow”.
The first sentence of this news article is ازدادت شدة التوتر في العلاقة الدبلوماسية بين موسكو ولندن عندما قام
I am studying Arabic at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, and will be in Egypt in the summer. This site covers Arabic grammar, vocabulary, and other aspects of the Arabic language, and makes frequent use of YouTube videos, news, and other Arabic language resources on the Internet.
There are several different words for a “store” or “shop” in Arabic. These include 