Introduction to Gulf Arabic

C O L L O Q U I A L A R A B I C O F

T H E

A N D

G U L F

S A U D I

A R A B I A

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

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HOW TO USE THIS BOOK PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

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UNIT 1 Expressions of quantity; Orders and requests; 'Please'. UNIT 2 The Arabic equivalent of 'the'; The 'dual'; The plural. UNIT 3 'How much/many?' Prices; Numbers 1-10; Greetings. UNIT 4 Simple descriptive sentences; Noun-adjective phrases; Some other types of adjective. UNIT 5 Numbers 11 to 1,000,000; Age; Telling the time; Personal pronouns; 'Who?' and 'What?' i REVIEW UNIT I

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18 22 30 40 49 61

UNIT 6 Expressions of place; The verb: past tense. 6£ UNIT 7 Past-tense verbs: verbs beginning with a glottal stop; Past-tense verbs: 'hollow' verbs; T o say that';, 'To ask whether'; li'ann: 'because*; Expressions of manner; Further expressions of time. 76 UNIT 8 Noun-phrases; The elative adjective; Word order. 89 UNIT 9 Past-tense verbs: 'doubled' verbs; Past-tense verbs: 'weak* verbs; Time conjunctions; Ordinal numbers; Months. 100 UNIT 10 Relative clauses; Demonstrative pronouns; Demonstrative adjectives; The negative in equational sentences; 'Somebody' and 'nobody'. 112

vi CONTENTS REVIEW UNIT II

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UNIT 11 The imperfect verb: basic forms; The imperfect verb: different stem-types; Review of verb forms; The uses of the imperfect. 131 UNIT 12: Verb strings; The imperative: strong verbs; The imperative: other types of verb; The negative imperative. 146 UNIT 13 The present participle; The passive participle. 163 UNIT 14 The derived themes of the verb: CaCCaC, CaaCaC, tiCaCCaC and tiCaaCaC. 178 UNIT 15 The verbal noun; Co-ordinated negatives; Compound adjectives; 'Self. 194 REVIEW UNIT III

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UNIT 16 The derived themes of the verb: aCCaC, inCaCaC, iCtaCaC and istaCCaC; Conditional sentences. 213 UNIT 17 Quadriliteral verbs; To wish/want' and 'to prefer'; Verbs with double objects. 228 UNIT 18 Diminutives; Uses of dbu and umtn; 'How big!' etc.; 'So-and-so'; Forms of personal address; Exhortations. 239 UNIT 19 Verb strings involving kaan/yikuun; More conjunctions; 'As if; Expressions meaning 'I think'; 'Some' and 'each other'; adverbs in -an. 251 UNIT 20 Texts. 264 ANSWER-KEY

270

APPENDICES

316

INTRODUCTION

WHO IS THIS/BOOK FOR?

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This book has been written for anyone who needs to acquire a solid working knowledge 67 the education 'colloquial Arabic spoken' in an area extending from Basra in southern Iraq, down through Kuwait, Bahrain, eastern Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the" United TArab Emirates and Oman. No previous knowledge of Arabic is assumed. The emphasis is on the acquisition of a working knowledge; therefore, language items needed at the major points of social contact between Gulf Arabs and western residents are given prid6 of place. Teachers, engineers, businessmen and others who need to be able to communicate in spoken Arabic in schools, offices, shops, markets and construction sites should find this book highly useful'. Grammatical explanation is given only where it serves some clarificatory purpose, and much of the book is given over to examples and exercises of a'type which the writer hopes the learner will find relevant in coping with day-to-day living in the Gulf. Some* reading texts also deal with'the customs and beliefs common \o the area. WHAT IS 'GULF ARABIC? It is estimated that Arabic is spoken as first language by some 150 to 200 million people, living in a vast geographical area which extends from Morocco to Oman along a west-east axis, and as far south as northern Nigeria and southern Sudan. Pockets of Arabic speakers can be found in such farrflung places as Soviet Central Asia and Zanzibar. Clearly, in such a large area, there is bound to be considerable dialectal diversity, certainly comparable to the differences between what in Europe are considered separate languages: Italian and Spanish, Polish and Russian or Dutch and Standard German. The factor which unites the speakers of this abel of dialects is the Arabic literary language, which shows "rtually no regional variation, and fs used for all written com-

2 INTRODUCTON munication throughout the Arab world: The subjee>X)f- this bppk is-the educatedspoken (not written)*Arabic of one fairly large area - the Arabian Gulf - in which, despite minor dialectal variants which may be specific to the particular states which lie along it, there is such a commonality of usage that it is possible to describe a single set of language forms which will be completely understood in every part of it. This set of language formsjs what will henceforth be referred to as 'Gulf Arabic' - a variety of Arabic which "refers not so much to the Arabic spoken in.any one state, but to a variety which is.increasingly used by Gulf Arabs, from different Gulf states when they converse, with each other ana" wjth.putsiders. In its sound system, grammar and vocabulary,, 'Gulf Arabic* represents a kjryi of distillation of .the common .features of all Gulf dialects, whilst avoiding the peculiarities of any one,^ea. It also shows the influence of-literary,, Arabic in its .vocabulary because-its users', tentj. to be well-educated. From the foreigner's,point pf view,, this,type of spojcen Gulf Arabic is likely to be the most useful. Most of the data and examples which werq collected, for* tru^§ bookjcome, in fact, from Bahrain- but where justifiedj a npte of important alternative forms is'made. j lJt The western resident will find that even.a modestknpwledgei of Gulf Arabic will .hugely repay the effprt expended tq acquire it. The Arabs are extremely proud of their linguistic heritage, and feel flattered-and impressed by westerners interested, enough to have tried to learn their language. From a personal point of view, too, it is very satisfying to be able to make .sense, out of^ the babble of unintelligible speech which surrounds one from the moment of arrival at the airporti Apart front its-practical value,'Gulf Arabic provides a good jumping-off point for "the further study of the Arabic language and its culture, should the-learn'er feel-inclined. Linguistically, 'Gulf Arabic is relatively close to literary Arabic, while, culturally, what remains oi 'Bedouin society provides a modern-day insight into the value's and social conditions which gave birth to Islam. t« >

H O W

TO USE THIS B O O K

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THE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE, When learning to speak any language, it is important' tp get a feeling for what'it should sound like, and to imitate the sounds and rhythms of the language as closely as possible, howeVer odd they may seem at first: To help youm this, some preliminary^pronunciation exercises haye been provided at the beginning of the tape which accompanies thistpurse*. Before you begin to work through the course proper [ play through these exercises several tirnes with the written version of them in front of you. Tjfe first time you play the tape, just listen carefully, and mentally'repeat the Arabic'to yourself. Then listen again arid repeat aloud. It doesn't matter1 a't this stage that you dbn't'tinderstahd'the words - the idea is simply to get used to what the consonants 'aiid vowels of Gulf Arabic sound like. ' ft THE TAPE " * ." t A large amount'of the, Arabic exercise material has been recorded on tape. Exercises on tape-are marked D. These exercises, at the same time as providing *a model of Gulf Arabic speech for those learning the language dutsidelhe area, can be exploited in a number of ways (e.g. as practice in listening"comprehension"without the help of the written version). If you don't have the tape (or«ven if you do), it's a"good idea to get hold of a native speaker* of Arabic from the Gulf to help you with' pronunciation*. This will .obviously be easier for those learning in the Gulf itself, but should pose no problem for anyone' living within reach of a British' university'or college: over the last few years there has been an enormous student influx into Britain from the Gulf area, and in my experience they are only too willing to trade help in Arabic for English conversation. Above all, remember that it is pointless mastering the grammar

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4 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 5

and vocabulary of this fascinating language'if you cannot make a passable shot at pronouncing it correctly. The difficulties in this have been greatly exaggerated. Whenever you possibly can, practise speaking the language to Gulf Arabs. Get them to correct your pronunciation and use of words ruthlessly. But one word of warning - impress on those who help you that it is Gulf, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary that you are trying to master, not Literary Arabic or some other well-known dialect of Arabic "such as Egyptian .t

Work through the Units in the order they are presented. Each Unit .contains a number of grammatical points, and is structured so that at the end of each piece of grammatical explanation and example there are related exercises for practice. Before you move on to the next grammatical point in the Unit, complete the exercises for the point you think you'ye mastered! These exercises generally provide generous practice on the point just covered together with material 'recycled' from previous Units. At the end of each Unit there is a Vocabulary Summary of all the new words which occur in that Unit - you will need to consult this as you do the exercises. Many of the exercises involve translation. When you have checked your answers to an exercise in the Answer-Key,'it is a good idea (and it doubles up on practice!) to use the Key as an exercise-itself, and translate it back into the other language. Try as far as possible to learn the vocabulary - at least those words you consider most useful for your purposes - as you go along. Vocabulary learning is always the most difficult part of learning a language (even one's own), and this is particularly true of an 'exotic' language like Arabic. The vocabulary in the book (about 1,500 words) should suffice for all practical purposes. A couple of hints on,vocabulary learning: try writing down individual words on small-pieces of paper on cards, Arabic on one side and English on the other, with perhaps an example of the Arabic word in use in a phrase or sentence on the Arabic-side. A pack of 50 or so of these, secured with an elastic band, can befitted easily into handbag or pocket and gone through in any idle moment. Examples:

T, .----' J"BU-J;&'

|ii!|l„UiUi!.U L.U. i I • Mir*!*"' i JMi ria-ihi^iliTi

glass

glaaspA. -aat glaas chaay

*

a glass of tea ;

„ gaam irnperf. yiguum

to get up; to start

1 gaam u raaH 2 gaam yiakil

1- He got up and went 2 He smarted to eat

^ THE UNITS

English side

Arabic side

Another possibility is.to group wprds in your own vocabulary book according to useful criteria or 'areas' of. life'/The words can be grouped in clusters. Examples: farriash 'cleaner'

kaatib 'clerk'

najja'ar a~alu 'carpenter' 'potatoes'

malfuuf 'cabbage'

naaTuur 'watchman' muhandis 'engineer'

9ciamil 'labourer'

la" Ham bagar jbeef

stmich 'fish'

Extra 'spokes' can be added to these wheels as new< 'jobs' or 'kinds of food' are learnt. Such an arrangement provides a ready way bf revising and associating words in groups* according to whatever factors are important for the learner, and they are a great help to the memory. The Vocabulary Summaries at the end.of each Unit are arranged alphabetically so as to make looking words up easier - but this ordering is not meant to be a recommendation about how to learn them! ' H O W LONG WILL IT TAKE TO LEARN? The answer to this question depends on many factors - among them how thoroughly you want to learn the language, whether you are a quick learner of languages in general, etc. As an average

6 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK figure, I should say you should spend between 3- and 5 hours per course Unit, all of this preferably within the same week at a rate of up to an hour per day. Some Units, particularly from Unit 7 on, may take somewhat longer than this rough estimate. In addition, there are three Revision Units which, if you have properly mastered the material in the five regular Units which precede each of them, yod should be able to cover in between \ and 2 hours. Given a "rhodicum of application, it should be possible for the average learner to acquire a basic working knowledge of Gulf Arabic from this course, in about 6 months.' It cannot be too strongly emphasised that in language learning, as in the acquisition of any skill", practice is everything: take .every opportunity you can to talk'to and listen to Arabs, however little you understand at first. THE APPENDICES C The Appendices provide a quick,means of reference on a number oflcnotty points of potential confusion to the learner of Gulf Arabic. Like speakers of all languages, Gulf Arabs-show variability jn their speech. Just as the same Cockney speaker otEnglish may say 'bo'le' or 'bottled (depending perHaps on whether he's trying to 'talk proper'!),-so Gulf Arabs vary between different pronunciations of the same word. The word for 'child', for example, may be pronounced by the same speaker as jdahil or ydahil, where j and y are both acceptable and commonly used; 'I filled' may be tirdst or trdst, in one case with an -i-. and in the other without; 'she told m&' may be gdalat I'd or gaaldt Hi, involving variation in which syllable is stressed/ In all these cases, and many more, there is no change in meaning signified by the variation - indeed the speakers themselves are seldom aware of it. But to a foreign learner this.apparent instability can be confusing. It is, however, something which one has to learn.to live with, and it is reflected in this book in the fact that I have deliberately allowed variation of the types exemplified in the Appendices to occur in the body of the text - to do otherwise would be to falsify tiie facts of the language and imply consistency where its opposite is the rule. The Appendices provide a. quick check on the main points in the' language where variation occurs, and should be regularly consulted until you are clear on where possible confusion may arise.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 7 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE TEXT

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adj. adjective adv. adverb conj. conjunction f. feminine fig. figurative use / imp. imperative irnperf. impe'rfect (tense) intrans. intransitive verb lit. literally " * m. masculine " "' n. noun p. past (tense) pass. part, passive participle pi. plural prep. preposition pres. part, present participle pron. pronoun s. singular trans. transitive verb v. verb v.n. verbal noun * signifies that a noun ending in -a is feminine and has' a final 'hidden' -r

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HOEjagtttmijjff^wfiffli PRONUNCIATION GUIDE 9 PRONUNCIATION

GUIDE

This guide is intended to help you acquire a reasonably accurate Arabic pronunciation, and to introduce you to the system of spell-1 ing used in the book. It should be used in conjunction with, the accompanying tape-recording and/or the help of a native speaker of Gulf Arabic. The, pronunciation model aimed -"at is that of an educated speaker.

} k m n s sh w y z

[*] M [my [nl [s] [/] [w] [y] M

Group 2 ra

CONSONANTS The consonants have been divided into three, groups: Group 1bdlagh' qdniar 'Ddrab bdTal >DHdbi- rabb. raaH shaaf rayyaah Sdafi siff' Hibir Sifir Dirba Tdbxi busTi siim fiik to kaqzttno thobr* goola HooD Soot kubar muhub Tub9dan ytDrub yigdul yiruuH&un xuTuuT maHDHuuDH baHrdyn sayf bayD Sayf

ndwas t gdalaw xdlliSaw HurDdw

aw

9dwwar HifDHaw

SYLLABLE-TYPES 'AND STRESS" •' *" "' . * „"* The stressed syllable in individual words of more than one-syllable is marked superscript a throughout the text. When wprds are strung together tororm seVrtencesV these, word-stresses 'are rnaintained, bu,t, obviously, the meaning'wnich a speaker wishes fo give his sentence leads him*fo stress some'.words mdre than others t An exhaustive treatment pf sentence-stress Is beyond "thd scope df this book, but you1 will not gof far'wrong if you simply copy", quite slavishly, the examples given" in' the" exercises. Gradiialfy you will acquire a feel for the rhythmic patterns of Arabic sentences-through listening and practice. Word-stress in-Arabic depends on syllable structure. There are Jwo kinds'of syllable: shortish),and long (lo). In the examples;below?,G andgY stand^pr 'consonant' and 'yoweP. In general, all, Arabic syllables,.must start.with a,C, and,]all syllables must have a V in them. ., ^ „, jv K* short syllables CV or CCVV smicha CVC Hijra sdbab shirbat

example smi-cha Hij-ra sa-bab shir-bat-

Three-syllables (all short): bdraka ba-ra-ka wardgdk wa-rag-tik sim9dthum sim-9at-hum shardbna sha-rab-na long syllables CWor gdalat CCVV shgdalat CVVC or guuluuh CVVCC muDdadd baHrdyn CVCC simd9t

syllable structure CCV-CV (sh-sh) CVC-CV (sh-sh) CV-CVC (sh-sh) .CyC-CVQ (sh-sh) CV-CV-CV CV-CVC-CVC CVC-'Cvb-CVC CV-CVC-CV

CW-CVC gaa-lat CCVV-CVC shgaa-lat •cvy-cvyc guu-luuh mu-Daadd c v - c w c c CVC-CVCC baH-rayn CVTCVCC si-ma9t

* (sh-sh-sh) (sh-sh-sh) (sh-sh-sh) (sh-sh-sh) (lo-sh) "(lo-sh) (lo-lo) (sh-lo) (sh-lo) (sh»

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE 17

16 PRONUNCIATION GUIDE From these examples it can be seen that stress is assigned on the following basis:

2 syllables, second one long:

(i) If the word contains one long syllable only, that syllable must be stressed: gdalat, shgdalat, muDdadd, baHrdyn, simd9t. (ii) If the word contains two long syllables, the last one is stressed: guuluuh. (iii) If the word contains no long syllable, t^en: (a) the ante-penultimate(syllable is stressed in words of three or more 'open' syllables (i.e. which end in a vowel): bdraka (b) the penultimate syllable is stressed in words of two syl: lables: smfcha, Hljra, sdbab and in three-syllable words if the penultimate syllable is 'closed* (i.e. e^ids in a consonant): wardgtik, sim9dthum, shardbna.

3 or more syllables, at least one long: •,

These rules may appear unduly complicated at this stage, and there is 'no point in learning them by heart -» a 'feel' for where stress should occur will come with practice. There is in fact a certam amount of variation in the placement of stress in certain words and types of phrase in any case (see Appendix E).

Stress exercise 2 short syllables: Hljra, slm9at, shfsmik, Hllba, fitna, gdlam 3 short syllables: (i) all 'open' bdraka, xdlaga, HdTaba, wdraga, gdlami (ii) penult, 'closed' simd9na, Dardbtik, Hijrdthum,tirdstah,shuwdndar 2 syllables, first one long: rdayiH, kdanaw, shdafat', mdaltik 2 syllables, both long: guulduh, shaafdok, xaayfiin, HaaTTUn

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mudiir, baHrdyn, ghashmdrt, 9ishriin kuwaydyyfin, balaaliiT, yismaHHun, /nudarrisfin, tistahliktin, insiHdab, shifndahum, Hadddada, isti9laamdatt mu9taqaddatah

UNIT'1

U N I T 1

'a piece' guT9a nftfa 'a bit,' Hdbba, •'a grain*

l.I EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY took at the way the Arabic words for 'cup', 'glass', 'tea' and 'coffee'*are combined to form phrases: glaas finjdal

'glass' 'cup'(Arab-styte)

chaay gdhwa

'tea' 'coffee'

glaas chaay 'a glass of tea' finjdal gdhwa 'a cupkpf coffee' Now memorize the following words: sandawiich 'sandwich' ddrzan 'dozen' nuSS ddrzan 'half-dozen kdylo 'kilo' nuSS kdylo 'half-kilo* buTil ibottle'

burtugdal IdHam simich, Haliib bayD jlbin

guT9at IdHam jiitfat xubuz Hdbbat 9aysh

'a piece of meat' 'a bit of bread' t 'a grain of rice*

Words like bayD' 'eggs's arid -simich ''fish' -are called -'collective/ nouns: that is, they.denote 'eggs! or 'fish' in general. If we wish to talk about 'one egg' or 'a fish', we add the -a feminize endjng to form the so,-cal!ed 'unit noun': '* 3, bayD bdypa eggs; 'an eggj simich simicha 'fish' t 'a fish'" xubuz xubza 'bread' 'a loaf1.2 ORDERS AND REQUESTS

'orange' 'meat'' '.fish' 'milk* 'eggs' 'cheese'

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In Arabic, as in English, we camask people to do things'by giving them one-word orders. For example, when addressing male speakers, the following forms-are^used: 9aT jiib saww ruuH

'give!' 'bring!' ''make!,' 'go!'

Exercise, 1.1

If the person addressed-is female', an -i is added:

Translate the following phrases:

9dTi jiibi sdwwi ruuHi

1 a half-kilo of meat 2 a bottle of milk 3 a dozen eggs 4 a kilo offish 5 half-a-dozen oranges 6 a cheese sandwich

In phrases of quantity of this type, no Arabic words for 'a* and 'of are needed. Note that when the first word of the phrase ends in •a, for example guT9a 'piece, chunk', a final -/, is added to it before the second word. This -t is in fact a so-called 'feminine' ending, and most Arabic nouns ending in -a have this 'hidden' -t which shows up in 'quantity' phrases (and other types which we shall meet later). Such words are marked * in the vocabulary summaries. Some examples of phrases involving -/:

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J becomes the same sound asJ'W the first letter of that'nouir, e.g: I guT9atdyn IdHam 'two pieces'df ' '' " '! suujg 'market' is-'suug 'the market' (not*il-sudg). When fhis'fissim- I me,at' '*' t " y » ilation occurs, it is important to hold the dojuble consonant for what is-sayydard '* Jthe car** - I i ' seems to an English ear an unnaturally longtime. Assimilation'of f is-sayyaaratdyn **tb'e two dars'1 * *> / occurs before nouns which'begin with: If the noun ends in (", e.g^ingllizi 'English', -yy- is inserted,between tthd'dhznsshS D T DH,n I the -i and the s'uffix-ayn: ' •. „ * but does not'occur before nouns which begin with; ** 'the Englishman il-ingliizi 'the two il-ingliiziyydyn bpchjxHkggh9qmhwy Englishmen Thus we have* is-sayydard the gar, iT-Tayydara the-aeroplane'/but miSri 'an Egyptian' il-baab the door and il-Jariidcf the newspaper. miSriyydyn 'two Egyptians' '*,

> . Exercise 2.1 Make the following nouns definite, assimilating the / where necessary. Be careful about pronunciation, holding the doubled letters twice as long as single letters. * mudiir farrdash rayydal pooliis sikirtiir.

boss servant man policemen secretary

sammdach gaSSdab muddrris 9dam.il shdrika

fisherman butcher "teacher worker company, firm'

( ii Change the following nouns into the correct dual form. Remember that the stress must' fall on -ayn as it is the last long syllable* in each'word.

Exercise 2.2

shdrika ddrzan guT9a baHrdyni guuTi jigdara glaas

'a company' 'a dozen' 'a piece; 'a Bahraini* 'a packet' 'a cigarette' 'a glass'

js-sikirttir il-muhdndis is-smkha il-mukdan il-finjdal il-mikdaniki il-bayt

Uhe secretary' 'trje engineer' 'the fish' 'the place' .'the* cup' 'the mechanic' 'the house'

UNIT 2 25

24 UNIT 2

2 The suffix -aat This suffix is the feminine^equivalenrof -iin, and is used whefe-a wholly female group is being referred to. (-iin is used .where the group is mixed male and female). Thus? 'female mudarrisa 'female'teacher' mudarrjsaa' teachers' ^policewomen* shurTiyya 'policewoman' _ shurTiydat The same suffixes, are used for the plurals of nouns denoting nationality or origin:' kuw&yti 'Kuwaiti' kuwaytiyyiin ^ 'Kuwaitis' kuwaytiyya 'Kuwaiti woman' kuwaytiyydat 'Kuwaiti women'

2.3 THE PLURAL

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In Arabic, nouns form their plurals (that is, more than two) in two basic ways: by adding a suffix, or by changing the vowel pattern" within the word. In English, most nouns form their plurals by the first method - we simply add -s or -es - and there are only a few nouns like 'mouse' and 'louse' which form their plural througn vowel'change. Arabic is unlike English in that a very large number of nouns - certainly the majority - form their plurals by vowel changes rather than suffixation. The nouns which pluralise by adsding a_ suffix can be divided into ..three groups-according to the suffix used, and examples are provided below,. r4ouns which pluralise by internal vowel change - the so-called 'broken' plurate - do so according to a variety of different patterns! The problem for the beginner is that you cannot predict by* looking at the singular of a noun which of the plural patterns applie§ to it: it is,best to learn what the plural of each noun is at the time you learn the singular. At first this may seem a daunting task, but in fact the number of plural patterns in common use is relatively small, and the problern will diminish as you progress. i Plurals by suffixation

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1 The suffix -iin Many nouns denoting professions and occupations, particularly those which begin with the prefix mu-, form their plurals this way: The -(in suffix is only used with nouns denoting human beings. Examples: muddrris muhdndis muqdawil muHdssin mikdaniki shiirTi SdHafi

'teacher' 'engineer' 'contractor' 'barber* 'mechanic* 'policeman' 'journalist'

mudarrisiin muhandisiin mitqaawiliin muHassiniin mikaanikiyyiin shurTiyyiin SaHafiyyiin

'teachers' 'engineers' 'contractors 'barbers' 'mechanics' 'policemen' 'journalists'

Notice that if the singular ends in -i, -yy- is inserted before the -iin suffix, just as it is before the -ayn 'dual' suffix.

3 The suffix -iyya, There are a few nouns, again denoting professions or occupations; which pluralise by adding the suffix-iyya. Most of them are borrowings from other languages, e.g. 'driver' draywiliyya 'drivers' draywil 'secretaries* sikirtiiriyya 'secretary' sikirtiir 'layabouts' loofarlyya Idofar 'layabout'

4 The suffix -aat with inanimate nouns In addition to the use of -aat noted above, it is also used to pluralise many inanimate nouns. Some of these have the feminine ending -a, while many others are foreign.borrowings. Examples: sayydara shdrika baaS sandawdch kdylo

'car* 'company' 'bus' 'sandwich' 'kilogram'

sayyaardat sharikdat baaSdat sandawiichdat kaylowdat

'cars 'companies' 'buses' 'sandwiches' 'kilograms'

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*^v*mr.nwcxt^iMt&^.KE&TirW**rT?J'ft 26,

UNIT 2*

UNIT 2 . 27

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'Broken' plurals

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Some common patterns which apply to many 'different Singular patterns: •t * $

•'

A particularly striking feature of Arabic is its system'of/roots-anti -vowel patterns, which cdnstitute the- 'bricks and mortar,' \>f> the language. To the root k tfc,„which-has4hetbasicmeaning*'writing", .different vowel patterns can be applied to form words which modify this basic meaning in (mostly) predictable ways. For example, we can derive: Pattern kitdab 'book; < CiCaaC =* Nouri •• J U" kdatib 'clerk, one, who writes' CaaCiC = Age"nt' NoUh mdktab 'office, place where maCCaC = Noun of Place , writing is done; maktuub 'written, letter' maCCuuC= Passive Participle

3 The plural pattern aCCaaC wdtad lawtaad *bby* gdlam Idgldam 'pen' filim I afldam 'fifm'

shayx I shuyuux 'sheikhl sayf I suyuuf 'swbrd'" ° fits I fuluus' 'money'

ddrzan ddftar ddxtar mdSna9 mdblagh mdktab

I dardazin / iafdadr •I daxdafir •I maSdani9 4 rt}abdaligh ,'hmakdqtib

' f . "] cftomis the Gulf Arabic "word *for 'how much/many*, and it is used : with.singu/or nouns: * \ -1 chdm'Haliibl 'How much .milk^'i chdm rayydal! 'How many men?' cliam kdylo! 'How manykilos?' >>-* The words Hast (used mainly in'Bahrain) and^u (used,elsewhere) .both mean''there is/are', and they are often 'used with cham in questions: chdm sayydara hdst! chdm qtsim hdstl chdm jibin fill

'How many cars are there?' 'How many departments are thfere?' 'How many workers are there?'

If the answer to such questions as these is that 'there isn't/aren't any', the negative word maa ('not') is used: maa hast, maa fii. There is also a third possibility, which is used only in negatives: maa mish. All three of these phrases may occur before or after the noun. Thus, in reply to; chdm ndas hdstl

'How many people are there?'

UNVTCV 31 it It 15 possible tb say mda hdst rayydal, md$ hdst gldas, using -the^ singular noun, but^ this would »be'interpreted as '{hej-e'is not a single. . : (e,g.''there is not a single man^who can do that') or as1 a contradiction of \statement that there was a, man, glass in,some place' or other, e.g. „„ s f hThereVft man inside (a foom)' A: hdst rayydal.;ddaxit v *'No there'isn't' "• ** **' B: Id, mda hdst rayydal *** Exercise 3.1 Translate the following short exchanges .using maa hdstlfiil mish: 1 How many notebooks' are there? There' aren't a'ny* notebooks' at all. 2 How many policemen a;e there? There aren't any at all. '" 3 How much meat is there? There isn't any meat. 4 How many women are there? There are no.wpmen.- e * 5 How many bottles are there? There aren't any bottles at all.

"*" •< _

,*

i

all of the following are possible negative replies: mda hdst ndas I ndas mda hdst mda fii ndas I ndas mda fii "There aren't any people' mda mish ndas I ndas mda mish Note that, although the noun which follows cham is in the singular (except for collective nouns like Haliib, jtbin and naas which have no singular), the noun which follows maa hastlfii/mish is in the plural: chdm rayydal fill rayaaytil mda fii host chdm gldas! mda hdst glaasdat

'How many men are there?' "There aren't any' 'How many glasses are there?' 'There aren't any'

Exercise 3.2 Look'at the following exchange: fii IdHam! Id, mda fii il ydom or ay, fii

Ts tnere any meat? 'No', there isn't any today'* 'Yes, there js*

Now translate the following exchanges,' (maa)fii, (maa) hast and maa mish. *

sra^^ZEEsssmi UNIT. 3 33

32. UNIT 3 3.3 NUMBERS 1-10

'l Js1 there any bread? Yes there is. 2 Are there any onions?' No, there aren't today. 3 Are there any people here? No, there aren't any here today. 4 Are there any teachers there? Yes, there are. 5 Are there any doctors here? No, there aren't. *i

The numbers-1-10 have both a masculine >nd,feminine form m Gulf Arabic, as follows: Masc. wdaHid ithndyn thaldath drba.9 xams sitt sab9 thamdan tis9 9dshar

3.2 PRICES When asking the price of something, use bi chdm ('for how much') rather than simple cham. Look at these examples: ,' il-xiibuz bi chdm! il-ldHam bi chdm il-kdylo!

il-Haliib bi chdm il-buTil! is-smlit bi chdm il-xdysha!

1

v

'How much is bread? "• (lit: 'the bread for how much?') 'How much is a kilo of meat?' (lit: 'the meat for how much the" kilo?') 'How much is a bottle of" milk?' 'How much is a sack of cement?'

Exercise 3.3 Translate: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How much is a dozen eggs? How much is a bottle of cooking oil? How much is a kilo of oranges? How much is a packet of cigarettes? How much is a bag of potatoes? How much is a box of matches? How much is a sack of rice? How much is a bottle of Pepsi? How much is a glass of tea? How much is a kilo of prawns?

*•

<

Fern. wdHda thintdyn thaldathaft) drba9a(t) xdmsa(t) sitta(t) sdb9a(t) thamdanya(t) tis9a(t) t 9dshra(t)

.<

t

'one** J 'two' 'three' 'four' 'five* 'six' 'seven' 'eight;, 'nine' 'ten'

A peculiarity of Arabic is ihat feminine numbers are used to enumerate masculine nouns, and masculine numbers -to enumerate feminine nouns! Nouns can be feminine either by meaning) e.g. bint 'girl', uxt 'sister',, umm 'mother', or feminine by grammatical category, and ending ip -a, e.g. shdrika 'company', sayydara Icar' or, in a few cases which have to be "learnt by heart, by contention, e.g. riiH 'wind'. Some examples: xdms sayyaardat 'five cars' xdmsa rayaaylil 'five men' thaldath bandat 'three girls'1 9dshra kutub 'ten books' drba9 niswdan 'four women' sdb9a mudarrisdn ''seven teachers' If the plural of a masculine noun begins with a vowel, the 'hidden' ' (in brackets in the list above) is sounded for each pronunciation: sittat awldad (not sitta awldad) thamdanyat ayydam

'six boys'

sdb9at dshhur,

'seven months'

'eight days'

thaldathat anfdar 'three persons'

The words for 'one' and 'two' are exceptional in two ways. Firstly, tr »ey normally follow the noun they enumerate, and secondly, they are of the same gender as the noun they follow. Thus: wdlad wdaHid

'one boy'

bint wdHda

'one girl'

.v,y.v*-» I

34 UNIT 3

As. we saw in 2.2, we would normally translate* 'two bWs' and'two girls' by using the 'dual' form waladdyn, bintdyd.' Sometimes, however,*itkndyn and thintdyn are usecl with th^'normal plural,of these words. Thus: > s * ' waladdyn ) ,t , awldad ithndyn \ twoh°ys'

nzayn'. \ . uwfii^ummddl!1" ay ndfarn' „ k, cham yvdaHidfii! 9dshra

cham rayydal hast! xdmsa (understood; rayaayiit) cham bint fii! '' thaldath (understood: bandat)" cham muddrrisa has't! thintdyn •cham wdladfH% wdaHid

'How many'men are there?' 'Five.'' ' „ 'How many $rls are there?' 'Three.7 '' * 'How many women teachers l< ".are there1?' J s 'Two.*' t 'How many- boys are there?' 'One.' c -

The'phrase cham wdaHid! (lit. 'how many one?') js often used when asking about how many there ate of somethingYalready referred to: ' ' ' X fii kutub wdayid ihni 'There are a lot of books here' cham wdaHid fii! _ 'How many (exactly)?'

J

*'

*

Read and translate the following dialogue. Practise reading it aloud, paying special attention to the stressed syllables: - hast cham kdatib fish-shdrika! - Hs9a kuttdab - uu cham sikirtiir! - hast sin sikirtiiriyya - nzdyn, hast faraariish bd9ad! - ay wdllah,fiifaraariish ihndyh -uu dray willyya . . . cham fii! - wdllah, maa mish draywiliyya ii-Hiin

j

" (i1 "

bintdyn '} , . , , '"* bandat thintdy]n \ « * ° . P ' ^ ^

Numbers are often used in conversation with" the noun they, enumerate omitted: •'• *

Exercise 3.4

UNIT*3 35

A ,* Exercise 3.5 ! • . *?• Translate into Arabic:' How many boys are there m the class? J iT. '. i ... i. Nine. • • ( How many days are trtere in'the'Veek? * Seven. *" t How many,roonjsi are there m Jhe.,house? Five rooms' and two bathrooms. ' * How many engineers areHhere in the company? There aren't any. * ' * How much money is there irr the wallet? Seven dinars. n 3.4 GREETINGS Greeting somdone in Arabic cart be a somewhat'elaborate business, particularly"in'the Gulf. As in English, there" are standard formulas roughly equivalent to 'How d'ybu do?', 'How are you?', 'Pleased to meet you', etc. but in Arabic there are-a much larger nunibe'r °f them, and they vary with tfae degree1 of formality bf the situation. We note here only the commonest and most usefiri expressions. At the most formal end of the scale, especially when greeting a number'of people,in a group/say on entering-a room or office), one says: is-saldam Paldykum

'Peace be upon-you'

to which the reply is; «« 9aldykum is-saldam

'And peace be 'hpbrf 'you'

%

UNIT 3

UNIT 3 37

Less formally, especially with friends and acquaintances, one says: j fdhlanl

'Welcome! Hello! Hi!'.

When taking leave of someone, one normally says:. . ft amdan illdah

or

to which the reply is usually:

dhlan wa sdhlanl

ma9a s-saldama

f

'In the safe-keeping of God' 'farewell\(Iit. 'with security,')

to which the reply may be:

*a

dhlan biik/biichl dhlan marHdbal yaa hdlal

Exercise 3.6 Dialogue:*'At the butcher's': 9ind il-gaSSdab

) 'Welcome! Hello! Hi!'

The last of these three has a particularly 'Gulf flavour.. ^ After the initial .exchange, jane asks abput the, person's health: \chayfil Haal! ) chayf Hdaliklich! > shloonaklach! )

'Hotf are you?'

('How is the state?;) ('Howis*your state?') ('What is your colour?'}

A number of replies are possible, which may be us'ed singly dr in combination: il Hdmdu lilldah bixayr i zayn ) dllah yisdtmjk/ich

'Praise be to God' 'Good'

Read aloud the following" dialogue and 'translate it: r « Customer: is-saldam 9aldykum Butcher: wa 9aldykum is-saldam C: il-yoom fii IdHam bdgar? B: ay nd9amfii. J C: il-kdylo bi cham!' r* B: dinaardyn uu nuSS. > C: nzdyn,'9dTni nuSS^kdylo min fdDlak. B: inshdallah. -. . . ufii.shay bd9ad! C: hast dajdaj! B: la, dajdaj il-yoom mda mish. bdachir inshdallah. C: nzdyn. fi amdan illdah^ B: md9a s-saldama.

%iJ8KM-h-. il JU JJ? ••JBWWW

'Five to/past.•. .' and 'ten to/pa^t' are expressed using u and ilia, but the masculine form of the number is "used. The word for 'minutes', dagdayig (sing, dagiiga) is not usually used in colloquial speech:

[» I

'Twenty-five to/past. . .'*involves*the*use of nuSS: one says 'and a half and five'*for thirty-five minutes past the hour, and 'and a half except five' for twenty-five'minutes past the hour:

'The word for 'a watch,; 'a clock' and 'an hour' is the same in Arabic - sda9a. 'What time is it?' is chdm is-sdaQa! The answer is is-sda9a. . . 'It's . . . Oj'clock'. The feminine form of the cardinal numbers is used: is-sda9a xdmsw is-sda9a thintdyn

'Twenty to ten' 'Quarter to nine'

,Five past five' is-sda9a xdmsa u'xdmS is-sda9a 9dshra ilia 9dshar 'Ten to ten'

'About sixty.'

'5.3 TELLING THE TIME

is-sda9a 9dshra ilia thilth is-sda9a tis9a ilia rub9

t

is-sda9a drba9a u miSS u xams is-sda9a thamdanya u ndSS ilia xams

'Twenty-five to fiye' 'Twenty-five past eight'

When it needs to be specified which part of the day is being referred to one uses thes following expressions: iS-SubH (or SabdaHan) 'in the morning*,'bd9ad iDH-DHuhur^ 'in,the afternoon', il-masda (or masda'an)''in the evening', bil-layt'at nighty These expressions are used more or less as their English equivalents, 'the evening* beginning about 5.00 p.m., and 'the morning* beginning at sun-up. It is worth noting, however, that there are, other' modes of timekeeping in the Gulf region: the westerner is unlikely nowadays to meet anyone who sets his watch by Muslim Sun-time, according to which the day begins with sun-up and ends with sun-down, but he may well meet the words iDH-DHiHa 'the forenoon', il-gayiiuld noon-time' il-9dSir 'mid-afternoon', aifd il-mughdrb 'the even,n g'- These words refer to parts of the day which we do not normally distinguish, and are still in common use: iDH-DHiHa refers to the jate morning'from about 9.00 a.m. to noon, while iS-SubH is really e arly morning'; il-gayuula refers to the early part of the afternoon from noon to about 3.00 p.m, and the late afternoon is il-9dSir (3.00 to 5.00 p.m roughly)v.. il-mughdrb comes after il-9dSir and means the period from sun-down to when daylight has faded completely. The truly black part of the night is il-layl. These expressions We re a means of measuring the passage of time before patches w ere common, but are still often used.

U

ii P

M

Exercise 5.3

,

Translate (the following fihrases, which are responses to the. 'question: ' ^ s '"•* * $ il-mdw9idfis"-sda9qchdm!' •*At what tirrie is the appointment?' 1 fis-sda9d wdHda u nHSStbd9qd iDH-DHuhur 2 fis-sda9a ti§9a ilia thilth SabdaHan$ H-9dSir is-sda9a drba9a 4*fis-sda9athamdanya u ndSS il-masda ' f, 5 iS-SubH is-sda9a sdb9a Wrub9 " < Exercise 5.4

'

'Someone asks you chdm is-sda9a! Refer to your watch and. answer: '

.

M

UNIT 5 55

<

54 UNIT 5

.

.

.

©

5.4 PERSONAL PRONOUNS \ \ •' The most common.forms of the personal pronouns used in the Gulf are as below. Note tha( a sex distipction is made in the 2nd person singular. ana T iHna we' ihta 'you' "(rhasc. "sing) intu 'you' (comm.pl.) inti 'you' (fern, 'sing*) huwwa 'he* humme 'they' (comm.pl.) hiyya 'she'

The forms given here are the* most/dfalectally''neutral', and-the learner is advised to use these. However, there is a' greatdeal of variation from" dialect 1:0 dialectand" many variants wjll.be encountered, ani 'is a*feminine fofmi^r 'I' used by' sqthe '(uneducated) women; ihtay 'you' (fem.sing) and inlaw (comm.pL)!may be heard as alternants to inti aijd^ intu; and ){rn is heard,in* the Lower, Gulf as a feminine form of hdnjma. There .are other less common variants besides these. '.,*••• * H Generally speaking, -as will become clear through the examples spread through the followirfg units; the 'independent'-personal pronouns listed* above are used for emphasis' only -'-in 'Arabic, sentences like 'I'go**, 'she sat down's consisfof'a yerb"only, which contains an ending signifying"1'!* ?ihd 'she'.'The independent personal pronouns are used- when one • wishes for some reSson to emphasise riho was invblved in'ah-actibh', e.g. *I go (not hhfi)\ 'it was she who sat'dowh (ribt someone!else)'. i i i" * ' These independent personal pronouns are matched by a set of 'dependent'* personal pronouns \vhich perform a function in'Arabic equivalent to tffat otthe object pronouns and possessive a'djectives in English. Thus in Ara'bic *him/his", 'us/otlr', 'them/thesis trans* lated by the'same-word. In only one case o*oes Arabic make a distinction - between 'me' and 'my'. 'us/our' -i na my -ni 'me' -iklak 'you/your (m.s.)" 'you/your (pi.)' kum -ichlach 'you/your (f.s.)' -ah 'him/his7its (m. nouns)' _hum 'them/their (pi.)' -ha 'her/her/its (f. nouns)' As noted previously, -ikj-ak and -ichl-ach are freely variable. These suffixes are attached directly to verbs, nouns, and prepositions: 9

°T 'give(m.s.)! + ni kitdab 'book' + i 9ind 'with, at' + ik

;(

'me' 9dTni -'give me!.' 'my' k'itddbi 'my book' *you(m.)' 9indik 'you'hive'(lit:. 'with you') ! i

56 UNIT 5

UNIT 5 57

A number of points should be noted:'

The omission of the definite article before the adjective in this example

(i)„As with other suffixes which begin with a vowel (such as the dual ending -ayn) the'hidden.' -t of feminine nouns ending in -a shows up when these suffixes are attached: sda9ati 'my watch' Hijrdthum 'their room', (ii) Where suffixes which begin with, a consonant are aUded to 9ind, which already ends with two consonants,^some speakers insert -a- to make the word more easily prdnotonceable: 9indahum 'they have', 9indana 'we have'. Yet others simply drop the -n-: 9tdhum, 9tdna.* Either of these types of form is acceptable. (iii) Two. nouns,, ab 'father' and ax 'brother' insert a -uu- .before suffixation: abuuk 'your father' axtiuh 'his brother'. The 'my' suffix with these two words is -yi rather than -i: qbuuyi,'my father'. •* (iv) There are a few nouns which end in -a which do not have 'hidden' -t which lengthen and stress the final vowel when suffixed, e.g. ghdda 'lunch' ghaddach 'your (f.) lunch', 9dsha 'dinner' 9ashdahum 'their dinner'.

sda9atik jadiida changes the meaning to 'your watch is new'. 5.5 'WHO?' AND 'WHAT?' There are a number of words ifsed for 'what?' in interrogative sentences. The commonest are shinhu and waysh, which may both, be abbreviated to sh- and directly prefixed to nouns: waysh I shinhu shiighlik! shismich! minhu int! min ddaxil!

'What's your job?' 'What's your (f.) name?' 'Who are you?' 'Who's inside?' 11

Exercise 5.5

» i,

Read aloud and translate tr^e dialogue,Jjelow. iDH-DHuruuf ish-shaxSiyya: 'Personal circumstances'

sayydarti Idonha dHmar

-

ismik il-kdamil min fdDlik! ismi Hsdyn mHdmmad Hasan. nzayn . . . wil-jinsiyya! baHrdyni. uu l-Hdala l-ijtimaa9iyya! mitzdwwaj. 9tndik yihdal! ay wdllah. bintdyn u sittat awldad. sittat awldad . . . wdayid! uu wayn sdakin! sdakin wdllah fi madiinat 9i'isa. fiay shdari9! ish-shdari9 sitt u arba9iin, il-bayt rdqam thaldath miya u iHdd9shar. ~ nzayn, u shinhu shiighlik il-Hdali! - 9damil fish-shdrika.

Similarly, dna ismi mHdmmad 'My name is Muhammad' ('(, my name. . .'), Sadiiqa bdytha fil-muHdrrag 'Sadiiqa's house is in Muharraq' ('Sadiiqa, her house. . .') Nouns which have a personal suffix attached to them are treated in Arabic like 'defined' nouns if- they are modified by an adjective. Just as we have (4.2). 'the new watch*

so we have sda9atik il-jadiida

'

Parallel with shinhu we find mfnhu 'who?' or min for short:

In sentences of the type 'The colour of my car is red', it is quite common in Arabic to 'reverse the order' and say 'My car, its colour is red' (as in French 'ma voiture, elle est rouge'):

is-sda9a l-jadiida

! ! 1

'your new watch'

L

I I i >

n, • 1' ' i\

i 1

UNIT 5 59

58 UNIT 5 x-fly* shdrika! ,• , .. •** - shdrikat bdabko.t :j - u cham H-ma9dash!' - kill shdhar miya u tis9iin diindqr. .- rdatib zayn, wdllah. . .*.'u cha/n, 9umrik il-Hfin! - 9umri wdllah Hawdali xams uarba9tin sdna. - 9indak shahaadda{ Tdb9an.!' - ay nd9am. „9indi sh-shahdadq l-ibtidaa'tyya. * •- b'as? thaqnawiyya maa mish! >tr la. f

Exercise 5.6

t

Look at the table below:

' *

9dli HdafiDH Hsayn you name1: nationality: Bahraihi Palestinian Kuwaiti ? social status^: married divorced bachelor %» ? ? children: 2 boys 3 b. 2 g. domicile: Manama Doha Salmiyya '? 45 age: 23 27 s S ? job: "plumber foreman engineer ?* salary per 210 B.D:* 2,600 Q.R. 1,200 K.D. ? month: ..* education: primary secondary univer. deg. ? 1 Practise asking 9dli, HdafiDH, etc. (yaa 9dli. . .) about the topics in the left-most column of trie chart, usihg'the question forms exemplified in the'dialogue you have read. *' 2 Imagine you are 9dli, etc and make your answers. 3 Answer the questions as they relate to you yourself. Here is some vocabulary to help you: divorced bachelor Manama Doha Salmi yya

rawnn

mTdllag d9zab il-mandama id-d6oHa is-saalmiyya

plumber forerrfan Riyal university degree

baypfiita tinddyl riydal ddraja jaami9iyya

\

VOCABULARY SUMMARY^ \ ablubuhdat 'thousand' alftaaldaf T , )5 ana arba9td9shar,' 'fourteen' t[^ arba9iin, 'fPrty' t ,Zwhich?V ^ °y . 'bachelor* , d9zab 'only, justj but' bos 'plumber' baybflita bd9ad 'minute r dagiiga*/ dagdayig ddraja* (aat) 'degree' 'forenoon', DHiHa • 'noon' ^ DHuhur „ t 'circumstances' DHuruuf (Pi-)' filasTiini 'Palestinian' gayuula* , 'noon-day heat* ghdda 'lunch' s hiyya 'she' humma 'they* htiwwa 'he' Hdala*! 'condition, aHwdal state' Hdali 'preseqt, current' Hawdali 'approximately* il-HHn 'now' Ibtidda 'beginning' Ibtidda'i 'elementary, primary' lHdd9shar 'eleven' IHna 'we' 'jtimda9 'meeting; society' i Uimda9i 'social' ilia 'except*

into. inti intu isimlasdami "ithnd9shar jdami9a*(aat) jdami9i

'ypu'»(m.s:) * 'you' (f.s:) 'you' (pi.) . 'name' 'twelve' ^university' 'university' „ (adj.-) " 'Pound jinaystdrlin« Sterling' jinsiyya* laflt) 'nationality' 'complete') kaamil t 'all' kill taylilaydali 'night' . „ malfduf, 'cabbage' mar ra* (aat) 'time,.occasion' masda 'evening' masda'an 'in the evening* 'appointment,, mdw9idl, „ , mawda9id date' 'who?' jninhu mayllamydal 'mile' ma9dash(aat) 'salary' 'million' milydonl malaayiin mitzdwwaj 'married' 'hundred' miya* (aat) 'banana' mooz 'divorced' mTdllag 'evening, mughdrb sun-set' 'salary' rdatib/ rawdatib riydal(aat) 'Riyal' ruwdyd 'radish' sdakin 'living, domiciled'

* 1 A fl

•• „60 UNIT 5 sda9a*(aat)

'hour; watch, tlock' 'seventeen* 'seventy' 'year'

saba9td9shar sab9iin sdna*l sanawdat (or siniin) 'sixteen' sittd9shark 'sixty' sittiin SabddHan 'in the morning' 'early morning' SubH 'bundle, bunch' Surra* {aat) 'street' shdhri9I shawdari9 shahdada* (aat) 'certificate, diploma' shaxS/ashx'daS 'person' * 'personal' shdxSi shinhu 'what?" 'foreman' tinddyl 'nineteen' tisa9td9shar

^ninety* 'naturally' 'secondary (school)' thalaathtd9shar 'thirteen' ' thalaathiin 'eighty' i thamantd9shar 'eighteen'' Jhilth/athlddth 'one-third' 'where?' wayn \bafsh 'what?' xamsiih' 'fifty' i xamstd9shar 'fifteen' ydahil/yihdal 'child' yuunfyya*/ 'sack' yawdani 9dshd 'dinner' 9dSir 'late afternoon. 9ind 'with*, at' (+ ' pron. 'to have*) ] -9ishrlins 'twenfy' ' 9umr/a9mdar 'life' (length of tis9iinTdb9an thdanawi

REVIEW UNIT I Exercise LI Dialogue: polite requests Read aloud and translate the dialogue below: yaa 9dli, ta9dal\ nd9am. jiib Hi mday bdarid min fdDlik. ana wdayid'9aTshdan. inshdallah. ,1 i t Using the table below, make, as many similar polite requests as you can, in each case giving an appropriate"reason: jiib Hi sdww Hi bdnnid bdTTil

chday dHmar sandawiich il-kandishan il-pdnka id-dariisha

9aTshdan barddan juu9dan Hdarr

Exercise 1.2 Dialogue: business diary Read aloud and translate: Boss: 9indi mawda9id bdachir, yaa sdlwa! Sec: 9indik maw9iddyn iS-SubH1. . . . il-mdw9id ildwwal fis-sda9a tis9a wiyya zuwwdar rasmiyyiin min il-wizdara l-xaarijiyya with-thdani fis-sda9a iHdd9shar u nuSS wiyya l-muhdndis ir-ra'iisi min shdrikat Vdntar'. Boss: nzdyn, ufii shay bd9ad iDH-DHuhur! Sec: la mda mish . . . 9tndik fardagh. Boss: ufil-masda! Sec: 9indak mubdara tdnnis wiyya s-sdyyid Johnson fissda9a sitta u rub9. . . .

i'! • i t: t

F™" REVfEWUNIT,! 63

62 REV1E.W UNIT I Imagine now that you are the secretary.*Xpur'bpss asks yqy

Exercise I.'4 Text: a mother talks about Ver "family

9(ndi niawda9id il-ydom!

Read aloud and trarfsla"ter

and you refer to his business diary below''Give hirn a summary of what's in store for him! ' ., -, K -fi * 'f • MONDAY 4 JANUARY J a.m. -, 9.00 — 9.30 Journalist from 'il-jumhurriya> (newspaper) io:oo— " ' -• * '' 10.15 Two students from the university ll.'OO The contractor Ahmad 'Abdullah Pm... . i*' 4.00 Tea-party, at the British Embassy 7.30 Dinnerparty at^hpme D

v 4

Exercise 1.5 Translation1: gbing shopping J

Exercise 1.3 Diafogue: greetings Read aloud and translate: T -

i

ana ismi fdaTma mHdmmad 9iisa. fnawtuuda 'filrrtdndama u sdakina HaaliyyanfifiriijHl-fdaDih 9indi drba9at yihdal' 2 • c E shdrikat b&yti mdsyid "9antar." «1 O) *

(glQ^Qgi UNIT 6 9aliyyf,or 9alii

1 wayn il-mdtHaf! 2 wayn il-bank H-wdTani! yamm ,shdari9 9abddllah. 3 wayn ? wara mqdrdsat dbu bakr. 4 wayn- bdytik! .-shdrikat '9dntarl, fi^ 5 il-bariid shdrikat *9dhtar'. "6 madrdsat dbu bakr il-bank il-wdTani. 7 wayn il-mdl9gb! it-bariidfi

ila 'to; wiy'ya^ W h' # ..„„ wara 'behind!.

(ii) The other preposition + personal suffix forms are:^

Now translate the following questions, and answer, them from-the street map: -\ J

8. Excuse me; where's the^post-bffice? 9 Where's Abu Bakr school, please? " '* 10 Excuse rhe*, whefe's the'Antar Company?" 11 Excuse me, where's the(mqsqfie please? 12 Where's the cinema please?" ' \

Exercise 6.2 Translate into Arabic:

'on me," against me' iliyyi'ot ilii 'to, toward me' wiyydayi or wiyyday 'with me* wdraayCxyx warday foehiritf me'

fi: fiik,fiidh",fiih,%fiiha,"fiina,fiikum, fiihum bi: biik, biich, biih, biiha, biina, biikum, biihum 9dla: 9aldyk, 9aldych, 9aldyh, 9aldyha, 9aldyna, 1( 9aldykum,"9aldyhum r ila:- ildyk, ildych.Hldyh, ildy'ha, ildyna; ildykum, ildyhum wara: wardak, wardach,*wardah, wardaha,, wardana, wardakum, warddhum , wiyya: iviyydak:,*wiyydach, wiyydah, wiyydaha, wiyydanay wiyydakum,"wiyyddHum li: lik, l}ch, lih, liha, lina,,likum, lihum •* s * 'l Many of these prepositions are used in set phrases or idioms: filbi: waysh biiklfjik! shbiiktfhfiik!

i

'What's -the matter with" 'you?' "(lit: 'What is in you?,')

bi: bil-lughaj-9drabiyya 'in Arabic' bil-9arabi

on the' table; under the' car^ up tKe ladder; in the cinema; in the car; under the sea; "on the roof; near my house; in front of the bank; above the house; in the water; next to the new palace; far from Kuwait; behind al-Malik"Street," on the wall; near the window; under the table

9dla: 9a!dyk il-Hagg . 9aldyk-dyuun

Note-thatthe personal-pronoun suffixes (5.4) can be added-^irectly to any of these prepositions,, e.g. tdHtifc 'below you', mgdabilha 'opposite her'. A number df changes-occur when* the suffixes are added to prepositions ending in a,yowe!:(

H: likil-Hdgg

(i) The 1st person singular suffix is -i after prepositions ending in a consonant, e.g. gidddami 'in front^f-me\ buj note the following: after fi 'in, at' fiyyi or fiini f 'in me' bi 'in, with' biyyi oi~bii *in, with me' /(' 'to' liyyi or Hi 'to me'

L

""You're in the wrong' (lit: 'The "right is against you') 'You!re in debt' (lit: 'Debts are against/on you') • „ 'You're in the right'; you have the right' (lit! 'The right is to you') *

taHt: hu sdakin tdHti

'He lives right -next to me' t j(lit: 'He is living under me')

foog: mda fdogah fdog

'The best there is' (lit: 'There's not' above it an above')

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UNIT £ 69

68 UNIT'S fdog in-ndxal

^Fantastic, marvellous' (reply to 'How are you?') (lit: 'Above the palm-trees')

foog and taHt are also used as adverbs meaning 'upstairs* and 'downstairs'. - waynjlHa! -foog

'.Where's Jiha?' 'Upstairs'

Exercise 6.3 Translate the following sentence into Arabic} >The driver's in your office, and there's a maft with him-Now substitute into this sentence the following nouns', making appropriate changes in the pronoun: The servant/Your secretary (f.)/The foreman/My daughter/ The engineers/The journalist/The teacher (f.). £ Translate the following exchange into Arabic:

6.2 THE VERB: PAST TENSE * 6.2.1 Basic forms '

f '

In this Unit we have, our first encounter with the Arabic verb. For describing events which happened.at a definite time jn,the past that is, completed actions - and,for certain othef purposes which will be described later, the ',pa,st tense' verb is used. The basic form of the pas,t tense of-the first group of vdrbs we will consider (Theme I verbs^ consists of a consonant, skqletoq C-C-CT (where C = consonant) to which one of three vowel patterns is,applied: a-a, i-a, or u-a. Thus CaCaC, CiCaC and CuCaC are the possible Theme I basic forms. Typical examples of the three types are shdrab 'to drink' (sh-r-b), kitab 'to write' (k-t-b) and kubar 'to grow old, bigs (k-b-r). In fact, although verbs are always, by converftion/listed in vocabularies and dictionaries in this basic form, and translated into English as infinitives, they are in fact the 3rd person masculine singular form, and mean literally 'he drank', 'he wrote') arid 'he grew old'. There \i no infinitive in Arabic. Whether a verb has the a-a, i-a or u-a verb pattern has to be learnt - there is no reliable rule which predicts it, and there is a certain amount of variation in vowel patterns from area to area even within the Gulf region. The basic forms given in this book are the most common.

What's the matter with you (m.)? - I'm tired, that's all! Now substitute, into this exchange the following pronouns" and adjectives: you (f.) him you (pi.) them

thirsty - upset - hungry - cold

Translate into Arabic: 1 2 3 4 5

My house*is right next to yours (pi.) 'Antar' cigarettes are the best there are! I'm in debt and I don't have any money. Flow are you? Fantastic! What's wrong with the fridge? It's broken down.

To this basic form of the verb ,are added suffixes denoting gender and number. As you will notice below, the second vowel of the vowel pattern (a) is dropped in certain persons of the verb. The full paradigms of our model verbs are: shdrab 'to drink' kitab 'to write' shardbt shardbt shardbti shdrab shirbat shardbna s hardbtaw shirbaw

kitdbt kitdbt kitdbti kitab kitbat kitdbna kitdbtaw kitbaw

kdbar 'to grow old' kubdrt T 'you(m.)' kubdrt kubdrt •you(f.)' kiibar 'he/it' kubrat 'sfie/if' 'we* kubdrna kubdrtaw *you(pl.)' kdbraw 'they'

i\ •,>

VOCABULARY SUMMARY

* * Ks

arD(t) 'earth, floor' •jiddar/jidrdan 'wall (interior) 'il-bdarHa 'yesterday' rkisar 'to break' \ bdtiarlbiHdar 'sea' ktiab " ' J'to* write' i %anklbutiduk ''bank' kubar ^ ( ''to g;ow up, bariid 'post; post-office' "grow old' ^pa9qddyn 'afterwards' Hdakih '''but*' ba9tid 9an' 'far from' la9ab -r 'to, for' bi 'in, at, with' >li 'ddray(aat) 'la'rfgiiage' > 'steps,_ stairs, lugha*faatl ladder' maa 9aldyh' 'it doesn't dawwdar(aat) 'trafficmatter; OK, , roundabout•J nonobjection ddxal 'to enter' * mda9uunt * 'dishes, tabledaynldyuun 'debt'> •rhaWaa9fin ware' Ddrab •'to strike, hit' •madiind*t 'town, city" fishal 'to fail' r mudun foog 'above, OjVer, on " madrds'dV 'school' y top of, on; maddaris upstairs' ,mdl9apl ;phch play-, gdriib min 'hear to' malda9il> ing-field' i gd9ad 'to sit, stay' mdsyidl Jmosque' 'in front of gidddam masdayid ghdsal 'to wash' mdtHafl 'museum' Hagg *right'(n.) '• mqtdaHif gilna gaal + taw -> giltaw

7.2 PAST TENSE VERBS: 'HOLLOW' VERBS

gaal + at -» gaalat gaal + aw -> gaalaw

A second, and very important sub-class of past-tense verbs is the so-called 'hollow' verbs. The term 'hollow* refers to the fact that the middle consonant of the C-C-C skeleton is a 'weak* consonant - w or y - which fails to show up in the basic form of the verb. Thus the verb gaal 'to say' consists of the skeleton g-w-l on to which the vowel pattern a-a is superimposed, to give gawal. How-

'I said' 'you(m.) said' *you(f.) said' 'he said' 'she said' 'we said' 'you(pl.) said' 'they said'

'I, you(m.) said* 'we said' 'you(pl-) s a i d '

But where the suffix begins with a vowel (or where there is, no suffix) the basic form is retained: t ' 'she said' 'they said'

In a few 'hollow' verbs, the vowel in the 'shortened' form of-the s tem is u rather than i. Thus from gaam 'to rise, get up' we get Sumt 'I rose' rather than gimt, from baag 'to steal' bugt 'I stole*" rather than bigt.

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78 UNIT.7

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UNIT 7 79

In all other respects, 'houpw' verbs behave like regular verbs. Thus when dependent ^personal pronouns, are suffixed to them*, we !get suphformst.as*thefollowing: jd'abawH jaab'aw + ah jaaBooh (ibt > • -*•*< •jibt +*• ah -»• jibtah

"'they "brought' -" " "they'brought'it/him' 'I brought' 'I brought* it/him^ -

5. a " One* very ..important1 'hollow? ,verb* is- jaa 'to come'. ThisJ'yerb is conjugated as follows: ' »« r jiit 'I came' jiit 'you(m.) came"" jtiti Jyou^f.) came' faalfa • 'he came' jaatljat 'she came' jiina *'we came' jiitaw 'you(pL) came' > • t 'they came' jaw Note that the vowel of jaa and jaat mayjbe shortened to ja arid )at. Many Gulf Xrabs also substitute /'for y in tins and other common words like jdab-'thui one hears yi'iV'I came', etc., yibt 'I brought' (see Appendix A.2). '" *•* ''

Exercise 7.1

• n -•

Study the following 'holldw''verbs:

\

gdam gaal baag shaal jaa Saar xaaf kaah

'to-get up/ rise1 * naam 'to say' baa9 'to steal' i maat 'to remove' jaab 'to come' raaH ''to become' Saad 'to fear' fi 'to be' "shaaf1 zaar

'to sleep-'* ( • 'to sell' < 'to die;a 'tp bring' 'to go' 'to hunt, catch' 'to see' } 'to visit'

->

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Translate the following into English: ndamaw'; "riHtaw; jibti; idarht; shift; bugt\ mitt; Sirna; xaaf; bi9taw; gdamat; gdalaw; Sidtaw; bi9na; jiiti; Sdarat; gumtfzirt; maat; jdabaw; shdafat;/limt; shdala% kint; silha; rdaHaw; idabdt; xufti;1 kdana't;}Saad. • j

Exercise^.! Extended translation,'practice.'Read aloud and translate thefollowing short dialogues: 1 - shu Saar! r **> i * - bdagaw s-sayydara u*t>aa9,6oha\

J

'" t

2 - wdyn'riHtdw il-bdafHa? mad'shifhdakum. galtil xafiif

'little, few' 'light (weight)

agdll axdff

Mess, fewer' 'lighter'

When two things are compared, the preposition min 'than, from' is used: sdlwa djmal min fdaTma 'Salwa is prettier than Faatima* il-kuwaytiyyiin dghna min il-baHrayniyyiin The Kuwaitis are richer than the Bahrainis' It can be seen from these two examples, in which feminine and plural nouns are being compared, that the elative adjective does not agree with the noun it modifies in number or gender. There are a few classes of adjectives whose elative adjective cannot be formed 'according to the above pattern. The elative in these 'cases is made by using the elative of kathiir 'many, a lot' - that is, dkthar 'more* - together with the ordinary form of the adjective. Adjectives of the CaCCaan pattern (e.g. ta9bdan 'tired*) and colour adjectives (e.g. aHmar 'red') form their elatiyes in this wayNote that in cases like these dkthar is not declined, but ta9bdan, dHmar, etc. is:

jdasim ta9bdan dkthar min 9dli 'Jaasim is more tired than Ali' fdaTma za9ldana dkthar min dHmad 'Faatima is more upset than Ahmad' ir-rayaayfil farHaaniin dkthar min in-niswdan 'The men are happier than the women' il-bdHar dzrag dkthar min is-sima 'The sea is bluer than the sky' bddlatik zdrga dkthar min bddlati ana 'Your suit is bluer than mine'

4 rt

In order to express the 'superlative', il is prefixed to the elative: sdlwa il-dHla 'Salwa is the prettiest' jdasim ta9bdan il-dkthar 'Jaasim is the tiredest' mdT9am il-'arz il-mdT9am il-dHsanfil-imqardat'The Cedars restaurant is4the best restaurant in the .Emirates' ish-shdrika l-akbarfil-baHrdynshdrikdt in-nafT ilbaHrayniyya 'The biggest company in Bahrain is the Bahrain Oil Company' d-wdlad il-kasldan il-dkthar mHdmmad "The laziest "boy is Muhammad'

ii

The superlative may also be expressed by other turns of phrase involving the elative. Note the following: (0 with a following singular noun:

A:

'

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9ali dHsan 9damil fil-qisim Ali is the best worker in the section' salwa dshTar bintfiS-Saff Salwa is the cleverest girl in the class' 00 with a following definite plural noun: %'dHsan il~9ummdal fil-qisim Au is the best wqrker in the section' s tt»a dshTar il-bandat fiS-Saff Sa *wa is the cleverest girl in the class'

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it 94 UNIT 8. (iii) with a following noun:

kill il-bandat'fiS-Saff shaaTrlin Idakin sdlwa dshfarhum 'All the girls in the class are clever, 'But'Salwa isthe cleverest' kdanaw xams txwdan, u 9ali dkbarhum' 'They were five brothers, arid Ali was the eldest (of them)' Mote that if a pronoun is suffixed to an elative which" has^a weak final consonant, e.g. ag'hna 'richer,', aglxla 'dearer, moresexpensive', the final -a is lengthened, to -aa. Such elative. fo,rm§ as aghna really have a 'hidden' final -aa, but this only shows.*up in suffixed y forms: shift xams sayyaardat, aghldahum {t-tuyuuta 'I saw five cars, the dearest of them was the Toyota' (iv) with a following wdaHid (fern. wdHda):

, -<

kilhum shaaTriin Idakin sdlwa dshTar wdHda 'All of them are clever, but Salwa is the cleverest one' il-bayt mdqli dkbar wdaHid fish-sHdari9 'My house is' the biggest one in the street' Exercise 8.3 Look at the following example: sd9ar-il-9ays'h wdayid ghdaH 'The price, of rice is very high' (IdHam) -*• ay, Idakin sd9ar il-ldHam dghla bd9ad\ 'Yes, but the price of meat is even higher!' Transform the following sentences in the same.way, using the cue words in brackets. Translate the sentences. sdVar il-ldHam ghdali 'dkil il-mdT9am zayn bandat miSir Halwlin sayydarat il-mudiir kabiira sikirtlirat il-muHdasib kasldana dukkdan U-xabbdaz wdsix rdatib il-9damil galiit sdmach U-kuwdyt ladhtidh

UNIT 8 95

,

(sdmach) (bayt) -» (lubndan) (axduk) —* (ra'tis) -+ (baggdal) (farrdash) (baHrdyn)

8.3 WORD ORDER In sentences which contain a verb, the norhial word order ih Arabic is verb-subject-obje'ct/cornplement: fishal 9dli fil-imtiHdan 'AH failed in the exam* Ddrab dHmad axuuh bi shidda 'Ahmed hit his brother hard' In subordinate clauses after inn, however, the order is subject-verb gaal 9dli'inn dHmad rdaHJl-bayt .f • -i , 'Ali said that Ahmad had gone Softie'> gdalat il-mdra inn dHmad maa 9indahfluus wdayid 'The woman said that Ahmad-hadn't got a lot of money*- -. In sentences which do.qot contain verbs - that is sentences which consist simply of a Subject and* non-verbal Complement - the subject comes first:' ty ' axduyi rayydal zayn 'My brother is a good man' huwa mudiir ish-shdrika He's the boss of the company' Sometimes, however, for reasons of emphasis, this order is reversed: rayydal zayn, axtiuyil My brother's a realty good man1.' (and not a no-good) mudiir ish-shdrika, hiiwal He s the company bossV (rather than an ordinary worker Hns reversal of normal order is. extremely common when, an assertion is being contradicted. Sometimes, however, it is used without any deliberate emphasis. For example, the Gulf Arabic quivalent of 'My friend's job is bricklaying' may be either: s u 0r r

^ Shul Sadiiqi bannday (lit. 'work my friend builder') Sadiiqi shughlah Bannday (lit- 'my friend his work builder')

UNIT 8 97

96 UNIT 8 Similarly: jinsiyyat abuuyi sa9uua\tyya or abuuyi jinsiyyatah sa9uudiyya 'My father's nationality "is Saudi Arabian'

Exercise 8.4 In this exercise, an assertion is made followed by the 'tagquestion' muu chidhii! 'Is that noj'so?' Contradict the assertion in the riianner exemplified', and' translate into English: * * ixit zdojtik, rdaHat miSir, muu chidhii! (ldndan)'Ha, zdojtj ixitha rdaHat ldndan\ 'Y6ur wife's sister went to Egypt, didn't she?' 'No, my wife's sister went to London!' (mumdrriDa)

shughul amiina kdatiba, muu chidhii! ., wild 9dli l-dkbar killish shdaTir, muu chidhii!

(ghdbi) il-bayt maal hdlikfirfiriijil-mukhdarga, muu chidhii! (firiij it-Hammdam) jarlimat sdlwa innaha b'dagat sitt Imyat diindar (gltlat zdojha) .-. ,.-• il-yoomlyya mdalat il-xdadim xdmsat danaaniir (sittat danaaniir) .' s iT-Tdabiq ith-thdani maal il-bankfiih' kandishan (maa fiih) : s bu9d il-baHrdyn 9an glTar xamslin mayl (thalaathiin)

Exercise 8.5 A* Pronunciation and comprehension practice Read aloud the following passage,and then answer the comprehension questions on it. Consult the vocabulary summary where necessary.. il-baHrdyh ddwlat U-baHrdyn\jaziirat Saghiirafil-xaliijil-9drabi. kaan isimhafi qadiim iz-zamdan dilmuun' u Saar isimha [il-baHrdyn' 96gubmaafitHoohail-9drab fil-qarn is-sdabi9 bd9ad il-miildqd, ya9ni 96gub il-hijrq bi shwdy. sammdoha 'il-baHrdyn' li'ann-fiiha noo9dyn maay - maay Hdlwa u maay bdHar. kdanat fi ayydam iz-zamdan il-mukddda, 1-waHlida mdalat il-baHrayniyyiin H-ghooS. . . . ya9ni il-ghooS Hagg il-lu'lu'. Idakinfil-arba9iin$atwil-xamsiindat Saar is-suug mdalah Da9Hf shway utirkaw il-ghawaawiiS dktharhum il-ghooS u rdaHaw shdrikat in-nafT - ya9ni bdapko. 9ddad is-sukkdan maal il-baHrd^ jfaaltyyan Hawdali thaldath Jmyat alf dktharhum Tdb9anjins(yyathum baHrayntyya. il-baHrdyn bdlad faqiir bin-nisbfl ila bulddan thdjaniyafil-xaliij~ mdthalan il-kuwdyt u gCTar ~ U'ann maa fiih zayt yydayid taHt 'drDha. Idakin il-, baHrdyn fi rd'yi dna djmal u dHsan minhum alf mdrra. laysh? li'dnnaha bdladi Tdb9an! la shakk innaha dHsan bdlad fil-xaliij! Now answer the following questions in English: 1 When did the Arabs conquer Bahrain? 2 Why did they name it Bahrain? 3 What happened to the pearl-trade in the forties and fifties? 4 Where did the ex-divers find work? 5 What is the population of Bahrain? ° Why is Bahrain a relatively poor country by Gulf standards? 7 How does the speaker feel about Bahrain in relation to Kuwait and Qatar? Why?

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UNITS'

99

98 UNIT 8 .VOCABULARY SUMMARY 'better' ^dHsaji 'the (19)4ts' afba9iindat baablbiibdan 'door' 3 s • suit of clothes' bddla*'(dat) 'Bahrain* il-baHrdyn l bdlad 'country; town' bannday! 'builder' bandani ' bul4dan & "cduntries" -'distance1' \bu9d ddwlalduwal 'nation-state' •difda9 'defence* .dukkdanh 'shbp' dajcaaktin\ -'weak' pa9iif(inn)'faqiirlfflgdaya 'poor' 'to'op^n; to ,,J fitaH conquer' >Saliil(iiti) *' 'few, small* in* number" 'to kill* "gital 'gdwi/agwtydd 'strdng' fehdbi/aghbiyda 'stupid' 'ghawdasl1 '* 'pearl-diver' ghawaawiiS ghooS •pearl-diving' il-hijra* 'The Prophet's flight from Mecca to' Medina' 'at the Haaltyyan moment' '(financial) Hisdab(aat) account' imdara*(aat) 'emirate^ 'sister' ixitlxawdat 'beautiful' jamiil(iin) 'crime' jariima*/ jarda'im

j r kathiir(iin) 'many, /'numerous }S fayt(aatp 'light'"(e.g. of a 'street, -car) •Wba*\ahtj "'game'"" lu'lu'Ila'dali 'pearl' mdaddd*) .'material, * mawdadd*' substance' maal ' 'belo'nging to' mashhuur 'famous' tndTbax-^ -1 'kitchen*" ** maTdabix mdthalan 'for example' ] miftdaHl' 'key; i^pener' i mafaatfiJJ 'miildad "birth' • muHdasib(iin) 'accountant' \ muk'ddda** 'job*1*way of 'earning money' 'nurse' mumdrfiDa* '{aat) mut9ib 'tiring' muu chidhii! 'isn't that so? ndadilnawdadi *club, society' nafT 'petroleum' qadiin} iz-, 'ancient times' zamdan qarhlquruun 'century' rd'ylarda 'opinion* sdabi9 "'seventh' sdmma 'to* name' sd9arlas9dar 'cost, price' sa9uudi(yyiin) 1 Saudi Arabian' sima 'sky' sdakin!sukkdan 'inhabitant' SaHUfa*! 'page (of a SuHuf book)' SaHrda 'desert'

shakklshkuuk ' 'doubt't shtdda* "strength, intensity*" 'by a small bi shwdy "amount tdrak '' 'to leav^j r t Tdabiql \& t 'storeyj Tawdabiq ** , , ! thagiillthigdal. ^ 'hgav^' ustdadhl ' 'J,eacher' j yqd}pr!aydadi 'hand' rf yoontiyya(aat) "day's wages'' , H-< i zayt,., '"i* »»'oi^ . - zirdaba*^,,' 'agriculture'.! 'zoojlaz'\bdaj 'husbapdj z6oja*faat) ^'jwife' &#anf ,from' , c 96gub ¥ >, 'after' Xprep,-) 96gubpiaa i 'after' (conj.)

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UNIT 9 101 'UNIT 9 9.1 PAST-TENSE VERBS: 'DOUBLED' VERBS 11

.il

The first of two further sub-categories of the verb is the so-called 'doubled' verb. In 'doubled' verbs, the consonants in second and third position in the consonant skeleton are the same. Thus,1 we i have the root 'd-sh-sh with-the basic meaning 'to enter*. By normal rules, the basic form of the verb from this root-would be dashash; this, however, is an inadmissible form in Arabic, and wefinddashsh 'to enter' instead. In the same way, wefindgaTT 'to throw' instead of gaTaT from the root g-T-T. The basic form of the past tense of 'doubled' verbs is always CaCC (where C = consonant), and they are all conjugated according'to the following pattern: shaggdyt shaggdyt shaggdyti shagg shdggat shaggdyna shaggdytaw shdggaw

'I tore' 'you(m.) tore* 'you(f.) tore' 'he tore* 'she tore* 'we tore' 'you(pl-) tore' 'they tore'

The main difference between the 'doubled' verb conjugation and that of the regular strong verb is that an -ay- infix is inserted after the root before consonant-initial endings, i.e. before -t, -ti. -taw, na.

mishdyt mishdyt mishdyti misha mlshat mishdyna mishdytaw mfshaw

'I walked' *you(m.) walked' 'you (f.) walked' 'he walked' 'she walked' 'we walked' 'you(pl.) walked' 'they walked'

gardyt gardyt gardyd gdra •gdrat gardyna gardytaw^ gdraw

*'I read' 'you(m.) read' 'you(f.) read' 'he read' 'she read' 'we read* > i saickdytil-baab gdbtfmaa «wuSla\y •v 'I shut»the;door before they arrived'^ " " »* ?* (iv) layn 'until; as soon as' ~* ••> r Tayardan il-xaltij 'As soon as I got to the airport, I went to the office of the head of the'Gulf Airways Company' ,., „> . ^

Exercise 9.1 A day in the life In this exercise,'you have to'translate and connect, using an appropriate conjunction; sets of sequenced events from an imaginary diary. >• *• Example: (as soon as) -* Saw the accident. Telephoned" the police* layn shift il-Hdadtha, Ddrabt tilifdun Hsh-shurTa

-»(Read triE'mbVning $ape'r. Left the'housei. °v * —» Got to'the office.'Wprit straight to'{heV factory. , ^ , ,v l' „ (after) >'=-» Inspected, tjieprpduct^. Talked to'the* H foreman*. * (as soon as) -» 'Returned to'.the office". F.arrash brought me tea. (before) -» Telephoned rny*wife. Werit tS!the\bahk. (wherif —*• Finished business at the bank.'*Walk|ed.by the sea-shore and had lunch. lfJ (before), (when)

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*, *• A ., 9.4 ORDINAL-NUMBERS: k 1 / 11 The ordinal ^nurnoers from\\6 10, have "masculine, and femjnine ! forms, as foUpws: ^ '* * , (f. •** masc. dwwal thdam' thdalith rdabi9 xdamis sdadis sdqbi9 thdamin tdasi9 9dashir

feminine fiula (t r thdanyat \thdaltha ' rd'ab9a -xdamsa„ sd'adsa ' * r sdab9fl thdamna tdas9a 9dashr&

'first! ''secorib*' 'third'^ 'fourth' ^fifth',. . 'sixth' 'seventh' 'eighth' 'ninth 'tenth'

.First of all, translate the djary entries into Arabic using the 1st person singular; then, go through the exercise again using the 3rd person 'he'.

Unlike other declinable adjectives, the ordinal numbers 1-10, njay occur before the noun they niodify, in which case they are not inflected for'gender: '» > •"«'

Tuesday, April 6 (as soon as) —> Got up. Drank a glass of tea and had breakfast, (after) —> Finished breakfast. Played with the kids.

ihdalith yoom dwwal wdlad thdani bint sdadis ziydara

'the third day' 'the first boy' 'the second girl' 'the sixth visit'

pi

UNIT 9 105

104, UNITA This adjective-noun.construction is alsojused, to render theiEnglish 'the first .one, the,second one', etc.:, i *• ay wdaHid Habbdyt dkthqr! ' 'WhicK one did you like "the most]?' -, dwwal wdaHid. j, 'The first one.*

T

''

If*the thing, being'referred to-is 'feminine by gender:

\

- ay "sayyddra shardyt!" * 'Which car did you* buy?' - thdani wdHda. 'The second one.' This ordinal number-noun construction is thus grammatically similar to the elative adjective-noun construction we saw in Unit 8 dHsan rayydal, though it'contains no definite "article, rrfearis'7ne best man'. Howpver, the ordinal, numbers can also, hp placed after the noun they nibdify, in which case they agree witrnij: in gender, and the definite article il must be used: il-yoom ith-thdalith il-wdlad il-dwwal il-bint il-uula iz-ziydara l-xdqmsa

'the third day' 'the first boy' 'the first girl' 'the fifth^visit'

When ordinal numbers function grammatically as nouns rather than adjectives, i.e._ in noun-phrases of the"kind described in 8.1.„ e.g. 'the fourth of his books', 'the second of the boys', they do agree in gender with the noun they refer to: thdani l-awldad xdamsat il-Hdjar thdalith kutubah sdadsdt in-niswdan

'the second of the boys' 'the fifth of the rooms' 'the third of his books' 'the sixth of the women'

Two exceptions to this are dwwal 'first' and %daxir 'last' which, when used as nouns, do not decline: dwwal il-bandat dwwal is-sdna daxir il-Hichdaya

'the first of the girls' '.the first (part) of the year' 'the end (part) of the story'

dwwal and daxif are also used in the" plural form awdayil and awdaxir in certain time phrases: '* Hhe first (few days)i of the awdayil ish-shdhar month' ( Ithe last (few days) in awdaxir ramaDdanRamadan'

1 \

The ordinal nurhbers from'41 onwards present few problems'/ They are the sairie in,form as their corrqsponding.cardinals, they do not decline, anq\they always,follow their-nouri: ish-shdhar U-ithnd9sHar il-mdrra th-thalaathtd9sha^ idh-dhikra l-xamsiin

'the^tweltri'month' 'the, thirteenth time' 'the fiftieth anniversary'

* Xi ji.

Exercise 9.2

,

Translate the following phrases and sentences'into "English: 1 is-safiina l-uula 2 id-dars il-dwwalfi$hdalith il-kutub 3 iS-SaHufa l-9ishribimin it-taqriir il-daxjrsA daxir ishshdhar ir-rdabi9.5 il-bayt issittd9shar 9qla l-yamiin 6 xdamis shdari9 9dla t-yasdar 7 dwwal shay, il-fluus maa 9indi u thdahi shay maa mish waqt kdafi 8 dwwal mdrra riHt is-sa9uudiyya Maa Hdbbdytha; thadhi mdrra, 9ijbdtni dkthar > K 9.5 MONTHS The western calendar is in general use in the Gulf, but there are alternative names for each month. The-sefe which is borrowed from European languages is becoming commoner,kbut -it'is well,to be able at least to recognise the local names: < , Europeans yanaayir fabrdayir maars abriil

Local kaanuun ith-thdani' ''January' 'February' shubdaT aadhdar 'March* 'April' hiisdan

It

106 UNIT 9 jndayo ,, yiiunyo ydulyo avfghusios \sibtdmbar uktuubar' nufdmb'ar disdmbar

UNIT 9 107 !< ayydan Haziirdan , tpmm&uz *** ' flflft * ayluul tisHriin il-dwwal tishrtin, ith-thdani kaqhuundl-dwwql ** ^

'May' •**„ •,'June' 'July' 'August' 'September' 'October"" 'Nqvember' „ ''December'*

processions which reach their culmination on the ninth and tenth of that month. The'proce'ssiohs-cQmmemorate the martyrdom of Hussain, son of,'Ali, the Prophet's cousin, auhe battle of Kerbela^ Iraq, on 10th muHdrram AD 680. The tenth day of muHdrram* which is particularly holy to all Shi'is, is called 9aashuura. '

Exercise 9.3

D,ates are expressed by prefixing the" riiastiiline'form (where there is one) of the cardinal numbers'to'the'mbhthi'Nd preposition is •required to express th,p Engfish 'on*, but, sometimes^ is used: wuSdlt il-kuwdyt (fi) yva'aHid Haziirdan miri-iSf-sdna'l-mdaDyq 'I arrived in Kuwait ori the 1st: of June last year' tirkaw s-sa9uudiyya (fi) sdba9 disdmbar il-mdaDi 'They Iqft Saudj Arabia on^the 7th of last December'

Reading coriiprehensiort*

i

The first of, January, New Year's Day; is called, raas is-sdna '(lit. 'head of the year'),; It is a" goodTidea 'for the 'western resident to be aware o) s&me of the principal events in the Islamic year. Since the'Islamic calendar as lunar, the festivals*describ6d_ below occur fen days earlier each year. ""ramaDdan^ is the fasting tnonth, when1 Muslims may not eat or 'drink between sun-up arid sun-down. The end o£ the daily, fast is signalled by a shot from a cannon (midfa9) in all large Gulf cities. At the end of ramaDdan, when the new moon is sighted, there is feasting for two or three days at the' 9iid il-fi.Tr 'Festival"of the Fast-breaking'. The most important 9iid (plural avydad) occurs "during the pilgrimage "month, called dhu l-Hijja. On'the tenth day of this month, every Muslim family slaughters a sheep or a goat (or a larger animal •if they can afford it) and eats it. This 9iid is called 9iid il-dD-Ha or 'Festival of the Sacrifice.' In some Gulf states*, most notably Bahrain, the first month of the Muslim calendar, called muHdrram, is marked by Shi'i religious

*

t ,J

Read aloud the following dialpgue, and consulting the vocabulary •summary, and notes wheret necessary-answer the comprehension questions;iThen translate the dialogue. il-imaardatfil-q'adlimwil-Hiin Interviewer: Saar Hk mudda Tawtilafil-xaliij,yaa sdyyid Johnson, muu chidhii! Johnson,: ay wdllah, Hawdali saba9td9shar sdna. ana ilHiin sitt sanawdatfidubfly, idakin tammdyt iHd49shar sdnafil-baHrdynmin gdb\il. I:, shinhu sMghlakfil-baHrdyn,1yd9/ii! J: shughli ya9ni muHdasib ra'iisifi sh&rikfit tijdqra. I: 9dyal laysh jiit il-bnaardat? maa 9ijbadk il-baHrdyn! J: bdla, bdla, 9ijbdtni wdayidrildakin iHdd9shar sdna mudda T,awiita . . . yoom min il-ayydam, gdalat liyyi zdojti innaha mdllatwin il-bi\dad. gilt Itha inm~ malldyt min ish-shughutfishdrikat it-tijdaraudna bd9ad . . . nzayn, Tarrdsht risdala lil-mudiir pxaal shdrikat is-smiitfi dubay, wTaldbt fiiha waDhi'tfa jadiida. layn ligdyt il-jawdap faraHt li'dnnahum qibldoni Hdalan u 9aT6oni rdatib dkthar min maa 9aT6onifish-shdrika1-baHrayniyya. I: shrd'yik fil-imaardat! -»: dwwal maa jiit il-imaardat, ya9ni min Hawdali 9ishriin sdna, maa kaan fiiha shay - la maay wa la dkil zayn. bi SardaHa, ya9ni il-baHrdyn dHsan mtnha 9ishtiin mdrra Idakin^shway^ shway taghdyyarat (changed) ildshya, Hdtta yoom rijd9t, shiftha killish ghayr ildwwal.

UNIT 9 109

108 UNIT 9

1

11

% J I: shloon ghayr, ya9ni! J: fi kill mukdanfii mabdani Ddxma. buntiuk, 9imaardat, guSiiur, maTda9im. kill shay mawjuud, maa fii shay nddgiS. I: nzdyn, wil-imaardat maal il-Hiin 9tjbatik dkthar miA il bdlad (Hi (which) 9ardftah fil-xamsiindat, law bil-9aks! J: su'dal Sd9ab. fil-qadiim, in-naas fagdara, SaHUH, Idakin gldubhum zdyna. il-Hiin la. Sdaraw dghna min ' ' dwwal - 9indahum byuut mafruushq b\ kill shay, u sayyaardat amr'dkiyya Ddxma . . . Idakin fi rd'yi dna, Sdarat il-andasa aqdll min mad kdandt. I: ya9ni, fi rd'yik zdadat il-fiuus Idakin qdllat il-andasa! J: Sidj . . . u zdadat U-amrddD 6d9ad\

S

4 shloon HdSSal (got) shughul jadiid fi dubdy! 5 shloon il-imaardatfil-xamsiindat.bin-nisba ila lbaHrdyn! 6 shloon kaanat Haal sukkdan il-imaardat fil-xamsiindat! 7 fi ra'y is-sdyyid Johnson, ay wdHda dHsan, il-imaardat maal il-qadlim law maal il-Hiin? laysh!

VOCABULARY SUMMARY aab aadhdar daxir abriil andasa

Notes, Line 1 Saar lik. . . this phrase is commonly used to express the idea of'have been here for'. Saar is always masculine in form, even wheri, as here, its subject mudda 'period' is fefninine. 8 9dyal'we\\ then, so' 9djab 'to please sorrieone' 9 bdla is normally used like the French 'si*, i.e. td deny a negative assertion. 12 dna bd9ad 'me too'. 16 min maa 'than what*, mad means 'what' in this sense as well as 'not'. 18 shrd'yik = sh + ray + ik 'what - view - your' = 'What's your opinion?' 19 min 9ishr(in sdna 'twenty years ago' min * cardinal number + sdna means 'X years ago'. 30 bil-9aks 'on the contrary, vice-versa, the other way round'. Questions 1 Saar lis-sdyyid Johnson cham sdna fil-baHrdyn! 2 shinhu kaan shughlah hundak! 3 laysh ghdyyar (changed) shughlah!

awdaxir awdayil % awghustos dwwal

dwwal maa ayluul ayydar bdla b

&9admaa bida b Hdad! bulddan terafai) d ars!druus d

ashsh

'August' 'Marchl 'last, latest' 'April' 'enjoyment, companionship* *£nd parts' 'beginning parts* 'August' 'first, previous(adj .•) ;old times(n.); first of all' 'when first* (conj.) 'September' 'May' 'yes, on the contrary' 'after'fconj.) 'to begin' 'country' 'to know (something)' 'lesson' 'to enter'

dazz disdmbar Ddrab tilifuun Ddxim dhikra

dhu l-Htjja fabrdayir fdraH gdbil la ) gdbilmaa i min gdbil gdra gaTT gd9ad ghdlaTI aghldaT ghdyyar

'to push' 'December' 'to telephone' 'large, enormous' 'memory (of something); commemoration' 'twelfth month of the Islamic calendar' 'February' 'to be happy, joyful' 'before'fconj.) 'before'(adv.) 'to read' 'to throw (esp. 'away')' 'to sit; to get up (in the morning)' 'mistake' 'to change' (trans.)

.*•• ear tr

Hi

110 UNIT 9 Hdadtha*/ Hawdadith Hdalan Habb Haziirdan HdSSdJ Hicha Htchdaya* kaanuun ildwwal kaamiun iththdani kishaf (9dla) layn

UNIT 9 111 'accident' • 'on the spot' -'to love, like' 'June' 'to get, obtain' 'to talk' 'story' 'December*' 'January' 'to inspect1' 'as sbon-as, until' 'to meet, find' 'March' 'May' 'Building'

tiga *'*" * maars mdayomdbnal mabdani * mafruush 'furnished*' 'to get fed up mall (min) with' manttiuj(aat) 'product' 'illness' mdraDi amrdaD midfa9i maddafi.9 misha mudda* muHdrram

ndagiS niisdan nfsa nufdmbar qibal

'cannon 'to walk' •'period of time' '1st month of the Muslim. calendar' 'lacking' 'April' 'to forget''November' 'to accept'

qall

'tb be little, ' ii *•* "few; •become1 ' •few' >dabi9 'fourth' raaslruus 'head' \ i ramaDdap, 'the Muslim month of fasting' rayiiug 'breakfast' sdadis 'sixth' saftina*!sufun /ship' sakk 'to shut' ,sibtdmbar ''September'1 siif * 'sea-shore'1 SaHtiH •'true, correct' bi SardqHa* 'frankly' Sd9ab 'difficult' shagg 'to tear' shubdaT ''February" shway shway 'slowly, little «* by little' tdasi9 'ninth' taghdyyar 'to change' • (in trans.) tamm 'To stay, continue* lammuuz 'July' tijdara* '*• "trade, commerce' tishriin il'October' 1 dwwal tishriin 'ith- 'November' thdani TaaH 'to fall' Taffdaya* 'ashtray* (aat) Tdlab 'to ask for, demand' Tdrrash 'to send*

Tayardan thdamin uktuubar uula waDMifa*! waDHdayif xdamis „> xdlfmaa yamiin yandayir f yasdar yoom yoom min ilayydam yuulyo yimnyo zaad 9dashir

'aviation' 'eighth' 'October' 'first'(f.) 'duty, job, post' 'fifth' *' » 'after' (conj.) 'righthand side', '/January' ,t 'lefthand'side' \vhen'"(conj.) 'pne day" 'July' 'June*' 'to* increase' 'tenth'

j

-'10th muHarram* 'to please 9djab (someqne)!» 'on the bil-9aks contrary' 'to know 9drdf (something or someone)' 9dTa 'to give,' 'well then, so' 9dyal 9iid/a9ydad 'festival' 'Festival of the 9ifd U-fiTr Fast-breaking' 9iid ii-dD-Ha 'Festival of the Sacrifice' 9imdara* (aat) 'apartment block' 9aashuura

I

h $i

I'

UNIT 10 113 UNIT

10

10.1 RELATIVE CLAUSES The relative pronoun as subject of the verb In the sentence 'I saw the man who brok'e his leg*, the'relative pronoun 'who' refers back to the definite noun 'the man', and functions as the subject of the verb 'broke' in' the relative clause 'who brake his leg*. This sentence in Arabic is shift ir-rayydfll (Hi kisar r(i(ah(Hi, 'who, which' is used in Arabic relative clauses to refer back to -an antecedent noun, whether animate or inanimate, if that noun is definite. It is definite either (as in the above example) by virtue of the definite article i7 or by any pronoun suffix, e.g. shift axuuyi UU kisar riilah 'I saw my brother who broke his leg' If the noun which is referred back to (the 'antecedent') is indefinite, tlti is not used: shift rayydal kisar riilah 'I saw a man who broke his leg' Wherever an antecedent noun is definite, (Hi is used to refer back to it in relative clauses; if it is indefinite, (Hi is not used.

'the girl whom I saw in the'shop' ir-rayydal (Hi gilt lik 9dnnah x : t 'The man whom I told you about' in-naas illi sa'dltik 9dnhum t J 'The people whom I asked you about' il-jartida~lli 9aT6ytik iyydaha t ' J 'The newspaper which I gav6 you' The literal meaning of these phrases is 'The man whom I saw him. . .' 'The girt whom I,saw her. . .', 'The people whom I asked you about them\ 'The newspaper which I gaveVou•,'','• I n Arabic, the antecedent noun, if it is the direct or indirect object of the verb, is 'echoed' by a pronoun which agrees with it in gender and number. This rule applies regardless of whether the antecedent is definite or indefinite: rayydal shiftah t J

fish-shdari9

'

UU also functions as the equivalent of 'whom': ir-rayydal UU shiftah fish-shdari9 t f 'The man whom I saw in the street' il-bint UU shlftha ftd-dukkdan t I

"ft cr

fi

*A man whom I saw ih the street' jariida 9aTdytik iyydaha A newspaper which I gave you*

11

'Verbless' relative clauses In equational sentences like

The relative pronoun as object of the verb

ii

ir-rayydal muddrris wil-riiu"rii mUddrrisa-'Tht man is a teacher and the woman is a teacher' Ttare is no need for afl Arabic equivalent of the English verb 'to be '- When such equatorial sentences are made into relative clauses in Arabic - 'The man/woman who is a teacher. . .' - the following type of construction is used: 'r-rayydal (Hi huwa muddrris. . . t i

5

i

114 UNIT 10

UNIT 10

'The man who is a teacher. . .* -* il-mdr'a—lli hfya muddrrisa. . . X t "The woman who is a teacher. . .'< ,, in-ndas (Hi hum fagdara. . . v-f * t 1 'The people who are poor. . .' \ ' v Thus we see that where the subject of a' 'relativised' equational sentence is" definite, an independent pronoun which refers back to it is inserted: it is as if one said The man wHo'he is a teacher. . . ',

The relative'pronoun as subject of the" main clause

115

y

Illi often stands for an unspecified person or thing in the ^iain clause of a sentence, equivalent to the English 'That which. . .', 'He who. . .** ,*. illi raaH raaH 'What's gone is'gone" (f.e. "'Don't cry over spilt milk') illi gilt liyyi 9dnha maa ligdyt 'I didn't meeVthe" woman you told me about' " (lit. ''She whom^ou'told me about her,' I didn't nieet')

t

J

etc. The Arabic equivalent of 'whose' presents ,np particular problem: ir-rayydal illi'shughlah muddrris The'rhan whose job'is tea'ching. . .' (lit. The man who^iis^o'b teacher. . .') it-bint illi shd9arha dswad 'The girl whose hair is black. . .' (lit. 'the girl who her hair black. .*.') in-naas illi awldadhum kaslaantin. . . 'The people whose sons are lazy. . i' (lit. 'the people who their sons lazy.-. .')

' r*

Exercise 10.1 Make as many Arabic sentences as you can from the table below:

' v s

* /' \ (

(

If the antecedent is indefinite, (MJLS omitted;

is the chief accountant is' a big contractor P*saw yesterday is a friend of the ruler I wrote a letter to is an important personality1 The man I sent my report to is the deputy director I told you about is a famous journalist I spoke with is the deputy Prime Minister '\ , is the chief engineer

bint shd9arha dswad 'A girl whose hair is black', 'A black-haired girl', etc. Verbless relative clauses expressing possession (using 9ind) are constructed according to the patterns already illustrated, e.g. definite antecedent noun: U-misk(in (Hi maa 9(ndahfluus. . . The unfortunate who hasn't any money. . / il-aghniyda—lli 9(ndhum likuuk. . . 'The rich who've got*tens of thousands. . .' indefinite antecedent noun: misklin maa 9(ndah fluus. . . 'An unfortunate who hasn't any money. . .', etc.

*

i

Exercise 10.2

m Ml * »** IJI J

tt\

Make as many sensible Arabic sentences as .you can from this table: The party I went to The holiday I spent in London The places I visited The hotels I stayed in The buildings I saw The university I went to __ ,

HI

famous nice expensive very P r e t t y .cheap large spacious •v

was were

116 UNIT 10

UNIT 10 117

Exercise 10.3 Make as many questions as you can from this table:

Where's the

ticket letter report newspaper file f 00( j telegram pen book parcel

I ordered half an hour ago?" I received yesterday? I gave ypu? 'I wrote? ' I asked for a week ago? I bought this morning? I put here 5 minutes ago? »

10.2 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS The forms are tabulated below, the bracketed elements being optional. As in English, 'this' and 'these' are used to refer to people and objects which are relatively nearer to the speaker in space or time. 'this* 'that' 'these' 'those'

masculine feminine hdadha hdadhi haadhdak haadhi'ichlhaadhiik (haa)dhayldyn (haa)dhayldakf(haa)dhooldak

Examples: hdadha zayn This is nice' (or 'This man/boy, etc. is nice') hdadha bayt 9atiij 'This is an old house' haadhdak rayydal shaghghdal "That (one over there) is a hard-working man' hdadhi flkra zdyna 'This is a good idea' haadhiich bint shdaTra "That (one there) is a clever girl'

haadhayjdyn 9ummdal shaghaaghiil 'These; (ones here) are hard-working labourers' dhayldyn samaamiich „ 'These (men here) are fishermen* haadhayldak kaslaandn 'Those (people) are lazy1 dhayldak maa ftihum fdyda 'Those (people, things) are useless' (lit. 'Those not in them use')

v

Often in Gulf Argpic.thedemonstrative pronounTfollowsthe noun to which it refers. When this-happens, the «ao-element of the form is usually missed,off, except in the case of hdadha, which always retains it. Thus 'the sentences above could alternatively be expressed as below, with no change in meaning: zayn, hdadha bayt 9at(ij, hdadha rayydal shaghghdal, dhaak ftkra zdyna, dhi bint shdaTra, dhiich, etc. Note the following type of construction where the person or object referred to by the demonstrative pronoun is definite: hdadha hdwa r-rayydal 'This is the man:' hdadhi hfya l-bint illi nijHat fil-iJntiHdan This is the girl who passed the exam' dhayldyn hum il-kaslaaniin Illi maa rdaHaw sh-shughul These are the lazy Xpeople) who didn't go to work' dhooldak hum illi mda ftihum fdyda Those are the ones who are useless' A. personal pronoun 'he', 'she' ('it'), or 'them' must be inserted between the demonstrative pronoun and its referent in equational sentences of the 'This is the X. . .' type. *03 DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES m order to say 'this man', 'that girl', 'those houses', etc., we prefix

Ijfr. •::i •hi ':\ *1ci !?,'

J :

UNIT 10 119

118 XINITilO, the'demonstrative pronoun" forms .which* we have'just"Weft to the defined fQrm of the noun: it isvas if we say 'this, the man*/ 'that the girl',, 'those the'houses'. The forms of the demonstratives whfchare used in this adjectival function are. slightly different: 'this! these* ha(adha) r-rayydal singular { m. This man' ha(adhi) l-mdra I *f. '•This woman' '

plural

'thatlthg$e\ „ (haa)dhaak ir-rayydal 'That man' ^ (haa/dhiifh il-mdra That'woman* •L

har-rayadyiih These men' han-mswaan 'These women'

^ "'

w

V> i 'if (hqa)dhayldak ir-rayaayiiit Those, men tt> (haa')dhayldak ih-niswdan "Those women' ^

Once again,'the bracketed eleirients are optional. It can be seen that the demonstrative phrases like 'this X;'and 'these Xs' tends to be sirnply a shortened form of the haa- + definite noun, whereas 'that.X' and 'those Xs' tend to be the second * element bf the demonstrative, the part'which begins'with dh-, + definite fioun. Examples: \ Ij

hdadha r-rayydal zayn* har-rayydal zayn 'This man is good' A hdadhi l-as9dar-ghdalya hal-as9dar ghdaly'a 'These prices are high'

An important point to note is that, in«all 'of these examples, omission of the definite*!/ would change,the sense to This is a gpod man'. 'These, are high prices', etc. -»i.e. the demonstratiye'wou|d function as a'pronoun (10.2. above)*. Frequently^ as^withthe demonstrative pronoun,.the denionstrative• adjective is placed after'thetyhb'le'noun-phrase'< • v v[ i il-faraariish dhayldak "min zaam in-nahdar' 'Those cleaners are from the day shift' ^ Examples with longer noun-phrases:* v* hdadha l-bayt il-9atiij il-bayt it-9atiij hdadha 'This old house'

.i> •\

iit=i

' , ,.

*

dhayldak iz-zuwwdar U-miSHyyUr) iz-zuwwdar il-miSriyytin dhayldak 'Those Egyptian visitors' •" **

i i fc*i

''

*

•* "X X

'' "*' »* '"

, "

'•

The shortened forms oi'this'^an'd 'these" in har-rayydal,'hal-mdra are never postposed: one does NOT say ir-rayydal ha, il-mdra ha. * t, v « the demonstrative adjective is postposed,- it must be placed after1 ne complete rioup-phrase^it re'fer's to. If one wants to say,T for* example, 'this company director' or 'that Prime Minister'*, one has to say: (

"*

haadhiich il-ldyla riHha s-sunama dhiich il-ldyla riHna s-siinama 'That night we went to the cineriia' haadhayldak il-faraariish min zaam in-nahdar dhayldak il-faraariish min zaam in-nahdar Those cleaners are from "the day shift'

Kudtir ish-shdrika hdddha ra 'iis il-wuzarda dhaak mudiir ish-shdrika and ra'iis il-wuzarda are the entities which, are being referred to^ not simply mudiir and ra'iis, hence the emonstrative follows the corriplete phrase. Note also'that it agrees^

r1

120' UNIT 10.

UNIT-10 121

withthe head-noun mudiir and ra'iis, not shdrika)(f.) or wuzarda (pi?); if we, were to-say •• * , mudiir ish-shdrika hdadhi ra'iis il-wuzarda dhayldak this would "be-understood as 'the director of this company', 'the head of these ministers', because hdadhi can only refer, to a feminine noun and dhayldak to a plural one. In an example hke miftdaH il-bayt hdadha

,

the meaning is ambiguous between 'this house-key' and, 'the key of this house' because both miftdaH and bayt are masculine nouns. In such cases, the context usually makes the meaning ^clear; however there is a tendency to'say miftdaH hdadha l-bayt when one means 'the key of this house' and

'

v-

6 (kutub) 7 (xiydash) 8 (shiqqa) 9 (jdnTa) 10 (shayx)

pub. 1902 100 lb '» £500 per '' month 1*5 lb £10 million

-pub. 1930 (qadiim) 15 lb " '(thagiit) £700 per month (raxiiS) 20 1b £7 million

(xafdfi (ghdni)

Now switch the focus tothe second of the things being compared: instead of hat-bay( dghla min dhaak, etc. we could say haadhdak il-bayt drxaS min hdadha, etc. using the opposite of ghdali 'expensive', which is raxiiS 'cheap'. Do the same for 1-10 above, selecting' an appropriate adjective.

miftdaH il-bayt hdadha for 'this (particular) house-key

Exercise 10.5

'

Translate into Arabic: *

Exercise 10.4 Look at the example below: (bayt) £50,000 £30,000 -» hal-bay) dghla min dhaak —> or hdadha l-bayt dghla min haadhdak -*• or il-bayt hdadha dghla min dhaak, etc.

(ghdalil

Now using the data below, make similar sentences using these patterns. Try to make several sentences, as illustrated, for each e'xample: 1 (ydahit)

90% correct

2 3 4 5

£5,000 60 sq. ft. 80 years old 5ft

(sayydara) (Hijra) (shayb) (wdlad)

60% correct answers £4,500 50 sq. ft. 70 years old 4 ft 6 in.

I This is the clerk who sent the letter 2 That's the woman who came to your office 3 These are the unfortunate (people) who have no money 4 These are the photos I told you about 5 That is the old man I bumped into yesterday 6 That is the shop in which I bought these shoes 7 That's the restaurant I ate in yesterday 8 This is the suit I bought last week 9 This is the money I found in the street 10 These are the labourers who asked for more money II Those are the young men I drank tea with 12 This,is the hotel I stayed in last time I came to Kuwait

(shdaTir)

10.4 THE NEGATIVE IN EQUATIONAL SENTENCES

(ghdali) (wdasi9) (kabdr) (Tawdt)

We have noted in previous units that map 'not' is used to negate v erbs and 'pseudo-verbs' like 9ind and Jii, e.g. maa baag 9ali fluusik Ali didn't steal your money'

>1

r 122

UNIT io

UNIT 10

! hdadha rayydal maa shiftah min gdbil , •'That's a rnan I've never seen before' fmaa fii afidam,zdyfiafis-siinamahal-ayydam i,;('There aren't any good films on the cinema these days' maa 9(ndi shay t , 'I don't -have anything'

.

In equational sentences - that is, sentences,which do,not have a verb or pseudo-verb - muu or mub is used as the negative particle. Examples:

,| , '

hdadha mub zayn 'This-is no good' il-dkil Ihni mub, raxiiS 'The food here isn't cheap' * ana mub za9ldan 9aldyk ''I'm not angry with you' dHmad muu mawjuud 'Ahmed isn't here' il-kitdab muu 9ala l-mayz 'The book isn't on the table' abuuyilmuu sammdach l .'My father isn't a fisherman' baghdyt 9ali, mub inta 'I wanted Ali, not you.'

i

i *> -r

Translate into Arabic: 1 The man I saw wasn't you 2 When I came back from 1he office51> found no one at home 3 'There's someone outside 4 This isn't what she wanted 5 They didn't see anybody and heard nothing 6 I didn't like the hotel - it wasn't clean and there* was a lot of noise 7 Nd one came to the airport when I arrived 8 This milk which I bought1 from you this morning isn't fresh 9 These spare parts I bought from you aren't any use, 10 -Nobody told me you were here

'i

10.5 'SOMEBODY' AND 'NOBODY' 'Somebody' and 'nobody' are respectively dHad and mdHHad: kaan mdHHadfit-bayt ' or maa kaan dHad fil-bayt 'There was nobody in the house' llgdyt mdHHad fish-sHdari9 or maa ligdyt dHad fish-shdari9 T didn't meet anybody in the street'

Exercise 10.6

Exercise 10.7 Read aloud and translate the following dialogue: -

yaa hdla jdasim! shldonik! dhlan dhlan abu xaltil. wdllah, ana mub zayn il-yoom. laysh? shfiik, ta9bdan! ay, 9(ndi zukdam shway . . . rdasi dday'ir. maariHtid-ddxtar! bdla riHt, bos maa 9aTdani ddwa iayn. wdllah, iddaxdatir dhayldak maa fiihum fdyda. . . - shgaal lik id-ddxtar 9dyat! - xaraabiiT yd9ni. gaal liyyi bos 'xudh had-ddwa marratdyn kill yoom u xudh rdaHtik fil-bayt' - u had-ddwa (Hi 9aTdak iyydah, shinhu ya9ni! - Hbdub bdyDa Saghiira bas. layn rija9t il-bayt akdlt wdHda minha Idakin idh-dhoog mdalha muu zayn kariih, ya9ni. maa akdlt m(nha bd9ad - gaTTdyt ilbdagi. - ana 9indiflkra z&ynaX - guull - hast ddwa dHsan min had-ddwa —Hi 9aTdak iyydah . . had-ddwa mawj&udfith-thalldajamdaltil ~ shinhu, ya9ni! - ghdrshat bdbsi killish bdarid1.

1'23

HiSSBsr l

124 'UNIT 10 VOCABULARY SUMMARY

H

i.

II

'no one' mdHHad 'someone' mildffa* (aat) 'file'', dossier' 'remainder, 'not' i muulmub rest' 'deputy' nda'ibl 'to want' bdgha nuwwdab , 'barqiyya*(aat) 'telegram' 'clean' nfDHiif •bindaya*(aat) 'building' 'to stay'(in 1 nizal 'going -round\ ddayir, a hotel); 'jnedicine' ddwa!adwiya> go down' 'noise, Ddjja* 'spare part' guT9a*!guXa9 clamour' •* ghiydar 'taste; flavour' dhoog 'rest' rdaHa* 'usefulness' fdyda* 'leg' riil/ryuul fikra*iafkdar 'idea, thought' 'letter' risdala*! 'to spend gdDa rasda'il (time)' 'picture, photo' SuuralSuwar 'pen' gdlamlgldama 'youth, shdabbl 'this' hdadhaldhi juvenile' shubba'an 'that' haadhdak! 'hard-working' shaghghdal! dhiich shaghaaghiil 'these' haadhayldyn 'personality' shaxSiyyat(aat) haadhayldak 'those' shayblshiydab 'old man' 'important' haamm .'hair (head)' shd9ar HabblHbuub 'pill' 'appartment' shiqqa*(aat) 'to put (on, in)' Halt 'ticket' tddhkira*! 'pair of shoes' juutiljawdati tadhdakir 'horrible' kariih 'fresh' Tdazij 'carton' kartuunl 'parcel' TardlTruud kawaartiin 'rubbish, xdrbuTa*! '100,000 rupees lakkllikuuk nonsense' xaraabiiT (= 10,000 'head-cold' zukdam Dinars)' dHad bdagi

,

REVIEW UNIT

II

Exercise II. 1 Look at the following short dialogue: - cham Tdabi9 shirdyt! - sitta. - gilt Hk sitttin, mub sittal

"'

Construct similar dialogues, using.the cue words below: 1 money . . . lake? 40 Dinars "• 4 not 40! 2 cartons of cigarettes . . . buy? 12 cartons* 2 not 12! 3 days, holiday . . . take? 15 days 5 not 15! 4 bags of rice . . . buy? ^ 16 6 not 16! 5 spoonfuls of medicine . . . take? 2 spoonfuls 4 not 2!

!

Exercise II.2 Example dialogue: - limdan Tarrdsht it-taqriir! ~ Ul-muHdasib ir-ra'iisi. - gilt lik il-muhdndis ir-ra'iisi, mub il-muHdasib\ Construct similar dialogues, using the cue words

to Cl:' tt.i

5P*

126. REVIEW UNIT II

REVIEW-UNIT II ¥ >v F

1 give the money to"? ^ the farraash the clerk, nojtfie farraash! 2 sell the fridge to?' the Egyptian woman the Lebanese, nqt-thfe Egyptian! ^ 3 give the news to? * , the deputy director' the director, not his deputy! 4 send the telegram to? j r your brotherin America 'my brother'in, England? not the one in Afnerica! 5 send the invitation to? the head of the trading company > the head pi the travel agency, not the*trading, company! ,t, •• "**

Exercise II.4

rarely) u: thus from ddxdl 'to enter' the stem is -dxal-, from tiras to fill' -tris- and irom'Ddrab 'to hit' -Drub-. Make a point, of' learning the stenrvowel of each verb as'you meet it, since there1 are no general rules which allow you to predict what it will be. The stem vowels given in this book are, like the rest of the grammatical forms given, ,those which"appear,to be in the widest circulatipn among educated speakers in all Gulf states, but there is none the

4! a SI 1?

132 UNIT 11

UNIT 11 133

less considerable local variation. The imperfect stems of all verbs so far encountered in the text are given for practice in 11.3 below. I

Turning now to the prefixes,,we see that a- is used for T,t- for all forms of 'you' and 'she', n- for 'we' and y- for 'he' and 'they'. The vowej of the prefix in Gulf dialects is determined by the following rule of thumb: if the stern vowel is a the prefix vowel is i ifthe'stem vowel is i or u the prefix,vowel is a This rule of 'vowel dissimulation', as it is called, is a noticeable feature of speech in most areas of the Gulf.

mfl

As far as the imperfect suffixes are concerned, it can be seen that -iin denotes feminine in the 2nd person (e.g. tdDrub 'you(m.) hit' taDrubiin 'you(f.) hit'), while -uun den&tes plurality (e.g. yisma9 'he hears' yisma9dun 'they hear'). i The dependent personal pronouns are suffixed directly to the imperfect verb as they are to the past-tense verb: yaDrubni asmd9ha yis'aluunich

'he hits me' 'I hear her' 'they're asking you(f.)'

However, in verb-forms like taktibiin, taktibdun, yishrabuun, etc., (whether suffixed or not) in which a long stressed syllable is preceded by a short unstressed one, there is a strong tendency in Gulf Arabic, especially in.uneducated or casual speech, to 'rearrange,' the syllables to give alternatives like takitblin,-takitbdun, yishirbiiun, yisi'luunich, eta When this happens, the vowel of the prefix is often also very much weakened, or dropped altogether: one hears tkitbiin, yshirbuun, etc. Exactly the same process of syllable rearrangement takes place when dependent personal pronouns beginning with a vowel are suffixed to forms of the verb which do not have a final long syllable. Thus one often hears: yishirbah or yshirbah instead of ylshrabah (yfshrab + ah) 'he drinks it', tiDirbich ,or tDirbich instead of tdDrubich (tdDrub -H ich) 'she hits you(f.)'. When this 'syllable rearrangement* occurs, the stem vowel in the resulting form is almost always 1".

11.2 THE IMPERFECT VERB: DIFFERENT STEM TYPES We noted such different types as 'hollow', 'weak' and other kinds of verb when considering the past tense. Corresponding distinctions are also made in the imperfect tense, which we now consider: 1 'Hollow' verbs These are verbs in which the middle consonant of the consonant skeleton is w or y, and*consequently fails to show up in the pasttense verb, e.g. gaal me said' (H and n.'Verbs' which have one of these consonants in.Ct position may be conjugated with a normal 'strong' imperfect stem (-CCv'C-) but often, in Gulf dialects, they have a CaCiC- or -CaCC- stem. The*verb ghdsal, for example, which means 'to wash', may have either a -ghsit- or -ghasil- stem; 9draf 'to know' may have a -9ruf- or (much more commonly) a -9arfstem. Compare:

3 'Doubled' verbs 'Doubled' verbs are those in which the 2nd and 3rd consonants of the skeleton are the same. The imperfect stem is always of the CvCC- type. The stem vowel is usually i or u. The prefix vowel is always /. Examples are the verbs Habb 'to like, love' and DHann 'to think'. aHibb , tiHibb tiHibbiin yiHibb tiHibb niHibb tiHibbuun yiHibbuun

135

dghsil or taghsil taghsiltin ydghsil tighsil ndghsil 'aghsiluun yaghsiliiun

aDHunn dDHunn tiDHunnun yiDHunn HDHiinn niDHunn tiDHunnuun yiDHunnuun

aghdsil tghdsil tghasliin yghdsil tghdsil nghdsil tghdsluun yghasliiun

dVruf or td9ruf ta9ruf(in yd9ruf td9ruf nd9ruf ta9rufdun ya9rufdun

a9drf t9drf t9drfiin y9drf t9drf n9drf t9arfdun" y9arfuun

i=

; i

I* 3 >\ ft

Unstressed i is elided where a vowel-initial dependent pronoun is suffixed: yghdsil 'he-washes', yghdslah 'he washes it'.

4 Verbs with a glottal stop as G

6

The most important verbs in this group are 'dkal 'to eat' and 'dxadh 'to take'. In the imperfect, the initial ' is dropped and the prefix vowel is lengthened. The,imperfect of 'dkal is thus:

Verbs with w as G

There are a number of common verbs such as wdgaf 'to stop, stand', wuSal 'to reach, arrive' which typically have an -oo- element

^

ll

T 136 UNIT 11

*i,i

UNIT 11 "137

in the prefix (cf. the -aa of yqakil). Instead of dwSil 'I arrive', we get doSil - aw becoming.oo as it does often in Gulf Arabic. The full paradigm is:

stem -ooCvC-, base form yooCvC (w as G)

doSil tooSil tooSliin ydoSil tooSil nooSil tooSluun^ yooSluun ,

wuSal

stem vowel i:

stem vowel u: wugaf i t,

11.3 REVIEW OF VERB-FORMS Listed below, according to imperfect stem "type„ and stem vowel, are, all the verbs which we have met in this book so-far. Try conjugating a few verbs from each category aloud, according to the models given in this Unit. Check that you remember the meaning of every verb listed.

Hollow verbs: stem -CvvC-, bas^form yiCwCstem vowel aa: stem vowel ii: stem vowel uu:

naam xaaf baa9 jaab shaal^Saad SqarTaaH zaad baag gaal gaam kaan maat raaH shaaf zaar

KK'1

Weak verbs: stem -CCv-)(base form yiCCv stem vowel a: stem vowel i:

tiga bida gdra nisa ja misha ddra Hlcha 9dTa bdgha gdDa shira

t, "I \ "i

Doubled verbs: stem -CvCC-, base form yiCvCC Strong verbs: stem -CCvC-, base form yvCCvC stem vowel a: ddxal gd9ad^ kubar nijaH rija.9 s(ma9 fitaH sCal shdrab Tdla9 fdraH qibal ti9ab

stem vowel i: stem vowel u:

dashsh dazz Habb sakk shaggjamm gaTT HaTT DHann

From this point on, new verbs listed in the vocabulary summary will be given with their imperfect base form.

stem vowel i: fishal kisar kitab rigad sikar tiros gital tdrak kishaf.nizal

ul 'III,, IF

H.4 THE USES OF THE IMPERFECT

stem vowel «:

1 Habitual action

Ddrab Sdraf Tdlab

The imperfect is typically used to describe what usually-happens, i.e. is used like the present simple in English. The following examples are taken from a description of Gulf marriage customs:

stem -CCvC- or -CaCiC, base form yaCCvC or yCaCiC ('gutturals') ghdsal Hdmal xdraj 9djab 9draf ghdlab stem -aaCiC-, base form yaaCiC (' as G) 'dkal 'dxadh

yirtiuH Hagg abuuha, yiguul lih dna^dbghi bindk. ... 'He goes to her father and says to him "I want your daughter". . .'

3

7 " 138

UNIT II

UNIT n

yidfa9"mahdrha gqdd maa ydTlub abuuha. . . . 'He pays her dowry according "to what her father demands. . . iji wiyya zdojtah, • , maa~drr biDJi-=DHabT. %•. gdbil iji shahrdyn, s , thaldatha. . . . oho! mub zayr) hdadha yaa~xuuyil Idazim tiHuTT kill shdharfi HaT-Taqs il-HdarrH nshuuf ii-mustdwa, mdalah . . . shuuf! mustawddh killish ndaSi! nifdat ilia shyvAyya! baHuT$lik 9u1batdyn d bitshuuf sayydartak, timshi 9ddif . . . Idakin la, 'Hdtta 9ulbatdyn muu kdafya' . .,( nziid 9ulba bd9ad, . ., hdadfya zayn chidhii'. . . xdldaS.'.hai diinaardyn u nuSS min fdDlik.* haiftuusik,. . . u shukran. laysh mda tdaxidh 9ulba bd9ad? yumkin yifiidikfiTTariigl Sidj . . . 9dTni 9ulba 96oda bqHuTJha'fiS-Sanduug.

Exercise 11.8 kint dl9ab kuurat il-qddam yoom ana^Saghiir 't used to play football when I was small* 1 2 3 4 lii !.

volley ball marbles she they

5 stay at hofhe* 6, old 7 go fishing 8 he

Exercise 11.9fil-garaaj- AHhe garage

Exercise 11.10 ila l-liqda - See you spon\ Read the following telephonetconversatibnvand, as you are reading'it, try to answer the following questions: *'

Read aloud and translate the following dialogue: - is-saldam 9aldykum. - u 9aldyk is-saldam . . . HdaDir. - sayydarati hdadhi maa timshi zayn. maa—dri \faysh fiiha . . . yiimkinfiih shayfil-blaagdatlp,fil~ karbrdytir. . . . - zayn, shiil il-bdnid nshuuf ddaxil shwdy . . . la, ilblaagdat maa fiiha shay . . . nshuuf U-plqatiin . . ,

1 Who answers the phone? 2 What time does the plane leave Kuwait? 3 What time does it arrive? 4 Who is going to 'meet Ahmad at the' airport? 5 Why can't Jaasim meet him? 6 How will Jaasim's father know Ahmad? - alio! - alto? t ~ alld? jdasim! ~~ la, hdadha dbu jdasim. minhu yiHchi! ~ dna dHmad mbdarak, Sadiig wildik.

•

I

UNIT 11 145

144 UNIT 11

«

- ha! dllah yisdlmik, yaa dHmad! gaal liyyi jdasim innik bit'doSil il-yoom, muu chidhii! - ay nd9am. bitruuH iT-Tayydara min'il-kuwdyt is sda9a ithnd9shar u rub9. idhan booSil is-sda9a thintdyn taqriib . . . inshdallah Maa bykuuh fii ta'xiir. - inshdallah,- zayn, ana bashuufik is-sda9a thintdyn filmaTdar. - shloon? jdasim maa biyd! - 9dfwan, 'nisdyi aguul lik inn jdasim mdfiiD shway . . . rt9aj min ish-shughul ta9bdan ams,'u gaal UH id-ddxtar'yitimm yoomdyn fil-bayt layn'yishfi . . . mub shay xaTiir wila shay, bas yibghi lih shway rdaHa . . . ana bayiikfilmaTdar. * - hdadha min Tiibik! 9dsa jdasim yishfi bi sdr9a. - wila yihimmik! Idakin chayf ba9drfik fil-maTdar? sh-bitilbas! - bdlbas bddta- Sdfra u qamiiS dzrag. - zayn! nshuufik is-sda9a thintdyn, inshdallah. - inshdallah. fi amdan illdh. - fi amdan il-kariim, u ila l-liqdal

VOCABULARY SUMMARY |i*'i "

bdnid 'bonnet (car)' binalyibni 'to build' blaag(aat) 'sparking plug' ddraslyddris 'to study' biDH-DHabT 'exactly' DHannl 'to think' yiDHunn faadlyifiid 'to be of use' fdarsi 'Persian' fdhamlyifham 'to understand' hammlyihimm 'to concern, be important (to someone)'

'wila yihimmikl 'Don't worry 'about it!' HdaDir 'at your service' Hdchil 'talk, gossip' Hachdawi Hdzza* 'moment, time 9ala Hsdab + 'on pron. (someone's) account' 'so, therefore' idhan iji (or iyi) 'approximately jilta*(aat) '56 lb basket of dates'

karbrdytir kuura* kuurat ilqddam kuura Tda'ira laazim

'carburettor* 'ball' 'football'

'volley-ball' 'incumbent, necessary' libasltilbas' 'to dress, wear' 'see yoh soon!' ila l-liqda 'bride price' mahar mustdwa(yaat) 'level, standard' ndaSi 'low' nifadlyinfad 'to run out' plaatiin 'breaker points > (car)' rikablydrkub 'to get on, in (vehicle)' saagtyisuug 'to drive' sdbablasbdab 'reason, caus^' 'to live (in a sikanlydskin p\ace)' Sanduug 'boot (car)'

shifalyishfi ta'xiir tanDHiif tdla 'TariiglTurug Tiib xatdaS xaTiir zaalfyizdal maa zaal 9dsa + noun! pron 9aSiir 9unwdanl 9anaawlin 9dla killin

'to recover (from illness)' 'delay' 'cleaning' 'marbles (game)' 'road' -goodness' 'finished, over' 'grave, dangerous' 'to cease' 'to still be. . .' 'hopefully.'. .' 'pressed fruitjuice' 'address' 'anyway, however that may be,'

i \

$: J&£ '•5*T'mm k fc"3 f. 1 f> . 5" J

T

UNIT

12

12,1 VERB STRINGS

>

tA

verb string is two or more verbs which follow each other without intervening particle such as 'inn 'that'. For^example.'an English •expression like 'he wants to go' is translated into Arabic by a verb string which rneans literally 'he'wants ticgpe^'; 'he couldn't do it' „is literally 'he couldn't he does it*.. The first verb in such strings is usually called-an-auxiliary'verb. In/this unit we wiiriook at some of the more^ important verbal strjngs involving the imperfect tense. I v bdgha + verb: 'to want 16 do something' tan

UNIT 12 147 maa baghdaha, tit9ab .. , 1 J 'He didn't'want hereto geyifed' * bdgha is also used in an idiornatic .sense with following U + pronoun + noun to mean 'to need': iz-zawdaj ydbghi lih fluus 'Marriage requires^ money' (lit. 'The marriage wants for itself money;) < has-sayydara tdbbi liha tanDHiif 'This car needs' pleaning' (lit. 'wants for itself'. .".')" hal-wdsix ydbghi lih shayaldan 'This dirt needs' removing'

s

Exercise 12.1

bdgha may.be in the past or imperfect tense, but the verb following *in the verb string is imperfect.

Translate:

>J

dHmad ydbbi yishuufik Bdachir 'Ahmad wants to see you tomorrow' f " maa'dbghi a9Tiik hal-gadd fluus ' ' 'I don't want to give you that mu&i money' baghdyt amurr 9aldyk il-bdarHa, Idakin mad gidqrt 'I wanted to call in on you yesterday, but I couldn't'

He wantedarrie to go home; I want you(m.) to tell me something; She1 wants him to wash the car; We want you(pl.) to eat this food-with us; Do you(f.) want me to tell you the truth?; They panted to study in Cairo; Youff.) wanted to buy those shoes, didn't you? This room needs cleaning; That doors needs repairing; She needs money.

(f

With a suffixed pronoun, bdgha + verb is used to mean 'to want someone to do something'. In this case, the pronoun and the following verb must agree with each other (i.e. the sentence immediately below means literally 'You want me I come with you?') t tabghiini ayd wiyydak! t t__r 'Do you want me to come with you?' abbdchtiguuliin liyyi bi Sardaha. . . t I 'I want you to tell me frankly. . .'

T

gidar + verb: 'to be able to do something' The construction is similar to that of bdgha + verb. Examples: maa dgdar aguul lik cham ydbbi 'I can't tell you how much he,wants' maa g(dar yishiil il-janaTdat ith-ihagiila 'He couldn't lift'the heavy cases' tigdar tdrkuD dsra9 min hal-wdlad! 'Can you run faster than this boy?' maa gidraw yiHilluun il-mushkila They couldn't solve the problem'

ii

148 UNIT 12

UNIT 12 149

gaam + verb: 'to begin to do something'

maa zaal + verb: 'to still do something'

gaam has the literal meaning 'to get up, stand upVWhen used as the first element in a verb string it means 'to begin to do something' - similar to the English expression 'to up and do something':

The verb zaal is not much used in its positive form (meaning 'to come to an end'), but with maa it is commonly used in the sense of 'not cease to do/be something', 'to still do/be something*, when followed by an imperfect verb, zaal is a hollow verb conjugated like gaal.

layn sima9 il-xdbar, gaam yibchi 'When he heard the news, he began to weep' gumt a9(dd il-asdami fis-sijill 'I began to count the names on the register' gaam + verb can also denote the beginning*of a habitual action: Ik 'III

!;,. H :

layn wuSlat tdndan, gdamattilbasazyda gharbiyya 'As soon as she got to London, she started wearing western fashions' bd9ad maa hadd shughlahfish-shdrika,gaam yiSiid sdmach kill yoom 'After he gave up his work at the company, he took to going fishing every day'

maa zilt aHibb dhiich il-bint T still love that girl' (lit. 'I have not ceased I love that girl') ydddad wdayid 96oda, Idakin maa zdalat tddhkir U-qlSaS maal awwal 'My grandmother is very old, but she still remembers stories from the old days'

or.

Like tamm, maa zaal can also be used with a following adjective or noun, as well as an imperfect verb, e.g.

r

maa zilt Tdalib 'I'm still a student' maa zdalaw za9laan(in 'They're still upset'

l

t v \\\

DHallltamm + verb: 'to keep on doing something' •Both the verbs DHalt and tamm mean 't,o stay, continue' and can be used as verbs on their own:

Exercise 12.2 Translate:

DHalldytfil-jayshsanatdyn 'I stayed in the army for two years' il-hdwa tamm rdTib 'The weather continued humid* When followed by an imperfect verb, they mean 'to continue doing something' or 'to do something constantly': fishlaw fil-imtiHdan, Idakin DHdllaw ydirsdun fi maa bd9ad 'They failed in the exam, but they kept on studying afterwards' DHdllat tdbghi tztiur fardnsa 'She continued to want to visit France' tdmmaw yaakluun athnda I-muHdaDra 'They continued eating during the lecture' tamm yiguul lihum 'la' min Tilbaw minnah shay 'He kept on saying no when(ever) they asked him for anything'

\

I couldn't close the door; They can't reach here before nine o'clock; Were you able to read his writing? When he saw the mistake, he began to laugh; When I was twenty I started to smoke; After an hour, the aeroplane began to descend; I continued to live in Riyaad for two more years; She kept on walking for three hours; They continued to telephone me every day; You still live near the post-office, don't you? He still drives a Ford; I still remember that day.

Saa9id + verb: 'to be in the process of doing something' 8aa9id (fem. gda9da, pi. gaa9diin) is the present participle of the verb gd9ad 'to sit', but is used with a following imperfect verb to

J 'i •a

UNIT 12 151

'150 UNIT/12 laazim maa yitimm fi hash-sf\ughul 'He mustn't continue,in this job''

describe actions which are, going-on continuously at the time of speaking. It has, when used in this way, no overtones of the original meaning 'sitting'; ' t " * X, -- wayn jdasim! % ^ .* * - gda9id yi!9ab bdrra.wiyya l-awldad., •• r( - t h e r e ' s Jaasim?' - 'He's outside playing with the bd^s.' , yoom yiit, kinna„gaa9diin nitbaxnl-ghddd > 'When you came, we.were>in the middle of cooking dinner'

'laazim +'verb: 'to have t'o^do,something'

laazim rdaHat 'She must have gone' > l&azim nisdytah fil-fiinduq 'You must have left it in the hotel'

*

yiimkin + verb: 'to be possible *to do something!that something happens' f |

pel f

yumkin means literally 'it is possible, it may be', and.is used with a following imperfect to, denote a" possible future happening: ydmkin daxidh mdw9id'wiyydah, 'Maybe Pll make" an appointment with him' ydmkin ya9Tuunkum iyydaha ba\dash 'Perhaps they'll give you it* free of charge'*

,\ '*

Sentences containing tdazim used like this can be negated in two ways, which carry different -meanings. If tdazim itself is negated (using muu or mw6),*the sentence expresses lack of obligation: "mub laazim truuH il-mustdshfa 'You don't.havejo go to the hospital' mub tdazim tishrab had-ddwa •'She's not obliged to take this medicine' or 'It's not necessary for her to take this medicine' But if the verb following laazim is negated (using maa), the sentence denotes negative obligation] tdazim maa truuH il-mustdshfa 'You .mustn't go to the hospital'

In contrast to the above usage of laazim with the^imperfect.verbj it is worth noting that when used with "a following past tense, it means 'must have', e.g.

n

Like gda9id, laazim is a present participle,,but, unlike it,.it does not agree in gender/number with the" imperfect yerb which follows it. It signifies obligation to do something: tdazim truuH il-mustdshfa 'You must go to the hospital' laazim yitimm fi hash-shughul *'He"has to continue fh this job' laazim tishrab had-ddwa 'She must take this medicine'

laazim mda tishrab had-ddwa J( 'She mustn't take this medicine' , t

yumkin kitab hdadha, maa~dri wdllah 'Maybe'he wrote this, I don't knqw'

Exercise 12.3 Translate: I'm in the middle of writing a letter; Amina's in the middle °f reading a*magazine; She's just this1 minute sweeping the floor; You mustn't read this rubbish; He doesn't have to return tomorrow, does he? You mustn't be afraid of that m an; You don't have to go immediately, Maybe he wants to go; Maybe they can't read;_ Maybe he'll be happy when n e sees it, I don't know.

t '(. I

i.,.

152 UNIT 12

UNIT 12 153

gaal + verb: 'to tell someone to do something' We saw in Unit 7 that gaal + 'inn means 'to say that. . . .' When gaal is used without 'inn, and with a following imperfect verb, the sense is 'to tell someone to do something': gaal Uhum iyiibiiun U-mUaffdat t I 'He told them to bring the files' gilt liha tdrgid Hdalan t j 'I told her to go bed immediately/

Drills Below are a number of drills aimed at giving you practice in manipulating the verb strings introduced in this Unit.

t * ,

gdalaw liyyi a9T(ihum il-ftuus x i 'They told me to give them the money' Note (as indicated by the arrows) that the dependent pronoun and the following verb agree: it is as if one says 'He said to-them they bring the files', 'I said to her she. . .' etc. raaH + verb: 'to go and do something' Examples: muu tdazim yiruuH yishuufha 'He doesn't have to go and see her' riHt dsbaH fil-bdHar ' ' 'I went for a swim in the sea' (lit. 'I went I swim in the sea') jaa + verb: 'to come and do something!come doing something' There are two types of sentence in which an imperfect verb is used with jaa. The first specifies the rnode of coming, e.g. jdana ylrkuD 'He came running to us' yaw yimshuun (or yaw mdshi) 'They came on foot' (lit. 'they came walking") The second usage is similar to raaH + verb:

kill sdna iyuuh il-yihdal yiTilbiiun baxshiish Hagg il-9iid 'Every year the children come and ask for a gratuity for the Eid' y«f tis'dlni 9an il-mashrdf49 il-jadlid, muu chidhii? 'You've come to ask me about the new plan, haven't you?'

Exercise 12.4 Look a't the following dialogue: - yoom hu 9umrah sittd9shar sdna, kaan yil9ab kuura. - Sidj, u maa zaal y(l9ab\ - 'When he was sixteen, he used to play football* - "That's true, and he still doesV Using this dialogue as a model, make appropriate substitutions in those parts of the translated dialogue which are italicised: 1 he 2 3 4 5 she 6 7 8

age 10 \5 20 21 ' 12 19 6 14

activity play volley-ball love that girl go to the cinema twice a day drive a Cadillac cook well wear western fashions read for two hours every day write stories

Exercise 12.5 Make appropriate substitutions in the following dialogue as indicated:

i •$ i

154 UNIT 12 -

shyiguul il-mudtir^ yabghiik trduH mdktab il-bariid. 'What does the boss say?' 'He wants .you to go to the post-office.

1 bring him a coffee 2 wash his car 3 go tq the market 4 remove the rubbish from this room 5 coirie tomorrow at 4.00 p.m. Now substitute in the drill mudiira (female boss, *, headmistress) and use the feminine singular form of 'you': 1 play with her children 2 bring her a glass of water 3 telephone, the police 4 shut the outside door 5 call in at the bank and give a letter to the manager "

UNIT 12 155 - ldazim"tiTla9jl-Hiin\ "" - la, mub Iddzlm il-Hiin. .*. ndTla9

i

'article(newsSootlaSwgat ' .*voffle, noise' paper)' sh'dxallyishxal ' 'trAieve* marrlyimurritrf calMtfion, ^ shdyaldart ^ "'removal' . 9ala tdcsi(yaat). .&xi' •someone'' mashruu9! * TqafiyiTiuif • / & " go round 'plan, project' mashaar(i9 * "?/*, Something' pxinTaqa*! *» '''area'"" " TibaxlyiTbax^ Cfio cook' mandaTiq s, • ' , r • TiHiin ft 'flour' muHdhDrd* (aat) 'lecture' xaarlyixuur $J n t o stir' mujdlla*(aat) 'magazine' xdffaDlyixdffiD^ 'to decrease, tmustdshfa(yaat) , Ipwer niDhajl *to.ripen, be ,t ^something' ^yfnDHaj ready' xdllalyixdlli 'to'let, allow' qiSSd*lqiSaS "story' ' xaTT „$'hand writing' rdTib 'humid' yibaslyiybas 'to become '•f, rikaDlydrkuD ''to run' i dry* h * * sibaHiyisbaH 'to swim' 'maybe' yumkin sichchiin) '\rihV **'* 'majriage' zawddjsacha'dchiin 'fashion' zayylazyda sijill(aat) * 'register1' z(9ailyiz9al 'to get'ripset' sikatlydskit 'to be quiet' 9dali * J "high, loud' SabbtyiSdbb 'to pour 9dddiyi9tddi 'td "count; ' % t (intraris.)' enumerate' SibaghlyiSbagh '»to paint' 9azdm!yi9dzim to invite' Sidq 'truth'

UISflT 13 13.1 THE PRESENT* PARTICIPLE In addition" to the past-tense yerb-whicn, we have "seen, is used to describe completed past action, and'the imperfect tense, which has a variety of'present and future uses,, Arabic'has'another tense which is roughly analogous, with the E/igljsh perfect tense. This kind of meaning-is expressed in Arabic .by what is grammatically a kind.of adjective called, the present participle. As with the English perfect tense in sentences.like.'I'.ve broken my leg', the use*of the present participle;jp Arabic often implies that the enquiry is into the matter of its.past (and temporary) disappearance; Further examples: ' il-ydahil mdakil ghaddah 'The child has eaten his lunch* (implied - he doesn't want/need the food you're offering now) minhu Idabis thiydabi! 'Who's been wearing my clothes?' (implied - they look crumpled or dirty) shinhu Tdabix lil-9dsha! 'What've you cooked for dinner?' (implied - what's ready?) In some cases, particularly* with verbs of motion arid durative verbs like 'to stand'; 'to sleep', the Arabic rjresent participle is more accurately translated into English by a present tense: wayn rdayiH! 'Where are you going?' inta jaay lil~muHdaDra'il-yoom! 'Are you coming to the lecture" today?' il-ydahil ndayim foog 'The child is sleeping (asleep) upstairs' laysh wdagif 9ind il-baab! 'Why are you standing at the door?'

From the grammatical point of view, present participles behave partly like adjectives and partly like verbs. Like adjectives, they have the -a and -iin endings when their subject is feminine and plural respectively; like adjectives, they are negated by muu or mub. However, they are like "verbs in that dependent object pronouns can be suffixed to them. The basic-form of the,present participle.in the simple strong verb-isXiaaCiiO, where the numbers represent the three consonants in the verb skeleton. The feminine form is CaaCiCa and the plural CaaCiCiin (often CaaCCa and CaaCCiin through the loss of unstressed i). Sample forms: shirab 'to drink' shda'riblshdarb'alshaarbiin^ 'dkal 'to eat' mdakillmdaklalmaakliin wdgaf'Xo stand, stop' wdagif! wdagfa! waagftin HaTT 'to put' HaaTT! HdaTTalHaaTTdn gaal 'to say' gdayillgdaylalgaayltin nisa 'to forget' ndasilndasyalnaasydn

having drunk, drinking' 'having eaten, eating' 'having stood; standing' 'having put, putting' 'having said, saying' 'having forgotten, forgetting'

Note that: (i) The present participle in verbs beginning with ' (mainly 'dkal and 'dxadh) is normally mdakil, mdaxidh, etc. rather than 'dakil, 'daxidh, though the latter forms are sometimes encountered, (ii) Doubled verbs like Wa7Thave CaaCC rather than CaaCiC in the masculine form, (iii) Hollow verbs always have y as their 'missing' middle consonant. When used as an adjective, the meaning of the present participle depends on the type of verb it is used with, and the context of use. F or example,

,

'hdahil il-mdakil ghaddah Oit. 'the child the eater(of) his lunch')

/'

166 UNIT lS" m may* mean 'the'child who is eating hisiunch' or 'the-child who has ! paten-his lunch'; -it •it if-rukkdab ir-raayHdn il-kuwdyt '(lit. 'the passengers the goers(to) Kuwait') may indicate 'the'passengers who are going td'Kuwait (and'haven't yet 'left)' .-or/the passengers Jwho have set outtfor KUwait*.(and haven't yet'a'rrived)'..Only the physical context can indicate exactly What is intended'. K> t ' In other cases* with verbs describing'habits of states^Qf being, no particular time is or can be indicated. In these c^ses, the present participle functioWexactly like an adjective: % rftyydal ckdadhib (horn chldhab ho lie,,cheat'5 v 'a dishonest man' (lit. 'a*man lie-teller') > han-nisydan-iS-Saadgiin (from Sddqg '.to telf the^truth') 'these honesf women' (lit. 'these women the truth-tellers'-) % maay jdari (from jdra 'to run') ' **• 'running water' * Tabxdat bdarda (from bdrad 'to be cold') 'cold dishes! *>

i

muu sdami9 il-xdbar! 'Haven't you heard* the news?' dhayldak mub'maakliin shay 'Those people haven't eaten anything' inti mub yd'aya wiyydana! 'Aren't you(i),coming with us?'

and

NOT:-

il-ydahil it-muu mdakil ghaddah

Ddarib

+• + + +

Ddarba

+ + + +.

*'•

t

In definite noun-phrases involving a negative adjective, illi 'which' .is used'rather than il. Thus one says il-ydahil illi muu mdakil ghaddah "The child who hasn't, eaten his lunch'

The present-participle mayi like a verb, 'have dependent object pronouns suffixed directly4o it. Study the following examples, in which both vowel-initial (-ah, -ik), and-consonant-initial (-hd^-hdf pronouns are suffixed to the present participle forms- of -Darab 'to hit':

Daarbiin

The present participle is negated by muu or mub, like other adjectives:

UNIT 13 167

+. 4. + +

ah —» Ddarbah \k —> Qdarbik ha -^'.Daaribha na -* Daaribna

'having,hit; hitting hirn' "* • ti t "" you(m.)' f " her' V ' " 1 !' " us' •. him' ah —* Daarbdttah . » ' " «» you(m.)' ik —* Daarbdttik ha —» Daarbdtha -» I J) " her' ? ' " " US.'1 "( . na - t Uaarbdtna "« * him' ah —> Daarbiinah' ' *r Y " * you(mf)' ik —• Daarbiinik s ;„ *hd—* Daarblihha . 11 " her' 'na —» Daarbiinna 1 " " us'

3" K

The feminine form Ddarba contains, the 'hidden' final't which .we have noted in other feminine adjective, and nourriorms, and which only appears on suffixation. However, it, is a characteristic feature of Gulf Arabic that when a vowel-initial pronoun such as -ah or ik is suffixed to feminine forms such as Ddarba, the 'hidden' t is doubled. It is worth mentioning'also that in some parts of the Gulf region (notably, the villages of Bahrain, parts of the UAE and* Oman) alternative forms' for the suffixed masculine and feminine present participle formg.are^ound. These alternatives involve the, insertion of an -in-or -inn- element between trie participle and the suffixed pronouri. Thus instead'of

Ddarbah Daarbdttah Daaribha Daarbdtha

one" hears*

Daarbinhah Daarbatinnah Daarbinha Daarbatinha

Such forms are widely regarded as 'uneducated', though extensively used none the less. It is as well to be able to recognise them (though not imitate them).

1 i

T 168 UNIT 13

UNIT 13 169

Two common constructions in which thef present participle is often used'involve the use'qf bd9ad + "pronoun and taw(w) -H pronoun. bd9ad + pron. is^used with a following negative verb (very often the present*participle) to signify 'not to have done something' or 'to still not have done something': bd9adni-muu rdayiH landan T haven't/been to London yet' bd9adhum muu naajHiin 'They haven't 'succeeded yet' bd9adha mub gaarydttah 'She hasn't read it yet'

r

».

<

The same meaning can be rendered by* using the independent prohouns=,and placing bd9dd at the end of the sentence, i.e.

i»"

dna muu rdayiH landan bd9ad hum,muu naajHtin bd9aU hiya mub gaarydttah bd9ad

c x

>

However, the first type of sentence with bd9ad + dependent pronoun is Very typical of Gulf speech. tawfwfon the other hand, can only be used with suffixed pronouns. It means 'to have just done something': tdwni yaay il-xaliij 'I've just (recently) come to the,Gulf il-yihdal tdwhum naaymiin 'The kids have just gone to bed' tdwwah rdasim Har-rdsim 'He's just drawn this picture' taw is often used by itself in answer to questions: - (nta gda9id ihni mudda Tawiila, muu chidhii! - la, tdwni. 'You've been sitting here a long time, haven't you?' 'No, I've.just arrived.'

Exercise 13.1 Translate the following dialogues intq English: 12~ 3-

wayn iD-DdabiT il-kdatib hat-taqriir!. mda~dri, muu shdayfah il-yoom.^ inta rdayiH miSir!. la, bd9adni. baruuH is-sdna I-jaayq inshdallah. ( igra dwwal fdqara fiS-SdjHa l-xdamsa min FdDlik. ismdH lii, ustaadh',;'rifiiji l-ghdayib rridaxidh kitdab i\ t ^ 4 - dur bdalik minnah, hdadha rayydal chdadhib lin, nihdayal - muu bos chdadhib,«bdayig ba9ad! miHfdDHti baayighal 5 - la tiz9al yaa HqbtibV. ~ shloon maa dz9al? Daarbdnni, bi*9dSa dhayldak illoofariyal

Exercise 13.2 Translate the following dialogyes into Arabic: 1 2345-

Where have you put my notebook? I can't find it. In the right-hand drawer bf the desk. Where's your new suit? I haven't picked it up from the tailor's yet. Give them a glass of tea! No, they don't want any. They've Already drunk two* cups each. Where has that man come from? I bumped into him in the. street. How come you haven't taken away that table? I can't lift it, it's too heavy.

6* .0

mm 170

UNIT 13

UNfT 13 171 Make similar appropriate responses to each cue, and then translate:

Exercise 13.3 Look at the following dialogue:

i(

*

•» shdayif il-filim il-jadiid Id b&9ad! - la, muu shdayfah bd9ad. "'Have you seen the new film yet or not?* 'No, I haven't'seen-it*yet.'

'

Make similar answers, arid translate the,dialogues^

M

1 - 9abdali shirdyt hal~bddld min zamdan. i"",", "," 2 - 9abdati rij9at arftiina min suuriya dwwal ams. i,,,,i i v 3 - 9abdali ddshshawT-Hljra gdbil thaldath sqa9dat.

1 - mdaxidh ish-shahdada th-thaanawiyya to bd9ad!

4 - 9abdali raaH id-ddxtar g"dbil yoomdyn.

2 - fdahim it-ldgha l-9arab(yya lo bd9ad!

5 - 9abda!i shift il-ghdlaT gdbli.

3 - mdaxidh ir-rayuug lo bd9ad!

6 - 9abdali hishraw l-kitdab is-sdna 1-mdaDya.

4 - gdari il-fdqara dhdth" lo bd9ad!

7 - 9abdali 'akdltaw l-9dsha bd9ad Yujuu9kum bi shway. 8 - 9abdali ghislat H-mawaa9iin gdbil la Ttl9dt.

5 - wdaSil nihdayat U-qiSSa lo bd9ad! "6 J- laagydn il-fiuus illi faqadtdoh lo bd9ad! 7 - Saaytd(in it-bdayig'lo bd9ad! 8 - jaaybdn iT-Ta9dam illLTilabtdoh lo bd9ad! 9 - raaj9iin min ir-riHla.lo bft9ad! 10 - raayHiin il-mdsyid lo bd9qd!

13.2 THE PASSIVE PARTICIPLE The Arabic passive participle corresporids roughly in meaning,to the English past participle, e.g. 'broken', 'chosen', 'beaten', 'eaten', et c In Arabic the passive participle mainly functions as an adjectlv e, and when it does "so it agrees with the noun to'which it refers ln accordance with the principles described earlier. The passive participle is of the basic form hiaCCuuC, feminine maCCuuCa, P'ural maCCuuCiin. It only occurs in transitive verbs. Examples:

Exercise 13.4

Equational sentences

Look at the dialogue below:

d-baab maftduH Jhe door is open(ed)' rf-dardsha maskuuka The window is closed' 'r-rayaayiil mashghuuliin The mdn are" busy'

- 9abdali yiit il-baHrdyn gdbil xams sanawdat. - la, la, tdwni yaayl 'I thought you came to Bahrain five years ago. 'No, no, I've only just come!'

(from fitaH 'to open') (from sakk 'to close') (from shdghal 'to busy, occupy')

J

UNIT 13 173

172 UNIT 13 Noun-adjective phrases

but a pronoun referring back to it, agreeing with it in gender and number, is suffixed, to the prepositional part of the verb:

,

il-ydahil il-mad9uum 'The knocked-down child' il-ghdrsha l-matruusa 'The full(filled) bottle'' ill-ashyda l-mabyuuga 'The stolen things' iD-DubbdaT il-majruuHiin 'The wounded officers'

from dd9am 'to knock down (car)') (from ttras 'to fill') (from baag 'to steal') (from jdrqH |to wound')

A summary of forms for the different verb types encountered so far is given below: tiros 'to fill* matruus/matruusalmatruusiin wdjad 'to find' mawjuudlmawjuudalmawjuudtin 'dkal 'to eat' ma'kduUma'kuuiaima'kuuitin gaTT 'to throw away' magTuuTlmag TuuTalmagTuuTiin shaal 'to remove, lift' mashyuullmashyiiula/mashyuultin nisa 'to forget* mdnsilmansiyaJmansiytin

'filled' 'found, existent' 'eaten' 'thrown away* 'removed, lifted' 'forgotten'

Som.e Arabic, verbs like stmaH li 'to excuse (someone)', Hdkant 9dla 'to sentence (someone to a punishment)' gpvern their object by means of a preposition, e.g. the sentences slmaH lil-bint trduH il-bayt 'He allowed the girl to go home' (lit. 'He allowed to the girl she goes home*) Htkmaw 9dla r-rayaayiil bi sanatdyn sijin 'They sentenced the men to" two years jail' (lit. 'They sentenced on the men with two years jail') When the objects in such sentences are made into passivized subjects ('the girl allowed to go home', 'the men sentenced to two years jail'), the passive participle does not agree with its referent.

il-bint il-masmuuH liha . . . t — t 'The girl allowed to. . .' ir-rayaayiit il-maHkuum 9aldyhum. . . 1 ^ ^ : 'The men sentenced to. . .' Whenever complex verb-phrases like slmaH li + noun, Hdkam 9dla + noun are passivized, the passive participle remains in the simple (masculine singular) form, whatever the gender/number of the referent. Further examples: il-mujrimtin H-mdgDi 9dldyhum bit-moot t ! r 'The criminals sentenced to death' < gdDaw 9dla l-mujrim(in bil-moot il-mashdakil il-mddri biha t J 'The kndwn problems' < ddraw bil-mashdakil The passive participle may refer not only to an action which has already affected its referent, but to an action which may potentially affect it. In trie phrases ktitub manshuura fi urubba 'books published in Europe' H-9aaddat il-majyuuba min il-xdarij 'customs imported from outside' the passive participles refer to books which may not yet have been Published, and customs which may not yet have been actually imported, as is clear from the sentences Vindi mashruu9 ayiib ktitub manshuurafi urubba ' r have a plan to bring in books published in Europe'

& #

a

T J-74 UNMM3,

»

UNIT 13 175

gdalaw innahum mda byigbaluun ii-9aaddat il-majyuuba min I il-xdarij \ ' ,,. ' ' ^ „. ^ ; ''They said that^hey won t accept customs imported -from •outside' The passive participle is neyer used in Gulf Arabic with an agent. To translate 'agentless' sentences like 'The«bag" was stolen'phe may say iUjdnTa mabydugq

,

•* .

-> s

"*"*

or one may turn''the sentence into "an active brie witha*B ifnspecified subject: 'They stole the' bag': t, tfr bdagaty 1-jdnTa or

*•

.

A

,

*<

\

il-jdnTa Saagoohd

f

, 1t ,

3

*

But if orfd wishes to say/The.bag.was stolen J^that rnan\ only the sentence types with active verbs aref permissible: ir-rayydal dhaak baag il-j$nT$

• -

"or il-jdnTa bd'agha dhaak ir-rayydal

,0

* *

The passive participle may also, by extension, function as a noun. For example, from the verbs: %» sd'al kitab fdham HdSal nddab •ii

1 hdadhi bint ma9ruufa fil-firiij- kill wdaHid yixdaf minha U'dnnahq_ majnuunq% if< 2 muu mdaxdjiqijt-(annuura min il-xayydaT li'dnn ilHdashya maqiqtha mashguuga. * 3 il-mdghsala'dhiimatruusa bi mqay li'dnn il-buuri mdalha masduudr bi qwsdax. ( ^ .(• 4 sjidayif hal-achyqas il-hlqastiik U-magTuuTaf9qla ssd'aHil? idazim^fishtliha l-Hukuuma.> • 5 baghdyt dHchi wiyydak ams>bit-tilifuun,>.ldakinjlxaTTkaanklllah mashghuul: 6 ligdyt il-fluus il-mafquuda? la, mub laaguha bd9ad. 1 shtdbbi tdakil?tdbbt wdllah bayD mdghli wiyya nitfat IdHam mdshwi\ 8 minhu mas'uul 9an h'at'-xdrBuTaVd'ddhi?,mub (Hha, yaa ustdadU, a%aylhak hum-il-mas'uulun\ 9 yoom kinrfq. Sighdar, l(9bat it-tiila xwdayid maHbuuba 9indana. 10 sdami9 il-xdbar? waziir id-difda.9 magtuul\ 11 il-marHuum ish-shayx salmdan k'Aart Hdqkim, mashhuur. 12 il-bulddp.nil-9arabiyytq maftquHaJi kiU^wdaHid - kill in-naas masmuuH lihum id-duxuul.

'to ask'

-r* mas'uui C3 - y) behave" exactly like simple weak verbs (c.f. nisdyt, ligdyt, etc.) (ii) In the irhpetfect, the Stem vowel pattern is. -CaCCiG-. The vowel'bf the prefix is always' 1. (iii) Wheriever-arifendingbeginning with a vowel is suffixed to the stem (e.g. -iin, -uun, or -i, -u, in the imperative) the / of the stem is dropped-and the doubled" consonant is made single (except in weak verbs): '•.yixalSdun yixdlliS + uun 'they finish* 'he finishes' 'pi.' • " tixalSiin tixdlUS + iin" 'you(f) finish' 'you finish' '%' » xdlSi xdlliS +i 'finish(f.)!s' 'finish!' 'V The same process of i-dropping and consonant reduction occurs when object; pronbuns winch begin with a vowel are suffixed-to'the stem: yixdlSah + ah yixdlliS *'he finishes it' 'if 'he finishes' Weak CaCCac verbs behaye, in this context, just like simple weafc verbs, lengthening their final vowel whether the suffix begins with a vowel or not: nisawwiih + dh nisdwwit 'we do if 'it' 'we do' yighanntiha + ha yighdnni 'he sings if 'if 'he sings' The imperative of CaCCaC verbs is typically: pjural fern. masc. bdTlu\ bdTTill bdTlil

'Open'

Weak verbs: sawwl

'Do!'

sdwwi\'

sdwwul

!n the negative imperative, the masculine of weak verbs exceptional 'y preserves the final -i of the imperfect: masc. fern. plural la tisdwwi] la tisdwwil la tisdwwu\ 'Don't do!'

«

180 UNIT 14 »;

CaCCaC vetbs in general often have a. causative or, factitive meaning, i.e. they denote making someone or something be or do something. For example, the simple verb 9dlam%(root 9-l-m) is one of the verbs-meaning 'to know'; 9dllam means 'to make;someone know, to teach, instruct'; the hollow simple verb Dqq9 (r.oot D-y% 9) means 'to get or be lost, go missing', while its corresponding CaCCaC verb, Ddyya9 means 'to waste,, squander': jdnTati Dda9at 'My bag's disappeared' la tiDdyyi9 fluusikl 'Don't waste your money!' The word ghayr means 'different, other than': 9aaddatkum ghayr 9aaddatna 'Your customs are different from ours' The corresponding CaCCaC verb ghdyyar means 'to alter, make different': ghayydrt il-barndamaj 'I changed the programme' ghdyyaraw afkdarhum 'They changed their minds' Not every CaCCaC verb has causative or factitive meaning, however, and some verbs which have a causative meaning are sometimes used as intransitive verbs. An exarriple of the first type is Hdwwal 'to get down, off, out of and'of the second bdnnad 'to close (something)', which can also be used like this: id-dukkdan yibdnnid is-sda9a sdb9a' 'The shop closes at seven o'clock' The extremely common CaCCaC verb xdlla 'to let, leave' is used with a suffixed pronoun and following verb to mean 'to alio* someone to do something':

UNIT 14 181 xalldani ayii mubdkkir^ ,L_J 'He allowed me to come early' maa biyxalliich taaxdhiin hal'-gadd yoom 9uTla t 1 'He won't let you(f.) take that many days' holiday' CaaCaC: verbs in which the first yowel_is lengthened to twice the length of a short vowel: root past imperfect s-9-d sda9ad yisda9id help' 'to agree on something' w-f-g wafag yiwdafig yigdabil 'to meet someone (by g-b-l gdabal appointment' yijdawib 'to answer' j-w-b jdawab yisdawim 'to bargain,..haggle'1 s-w-m sdawam yildagi 'to meet someone (by chance) l-g.y Idaga Conjugations as follows: hollow strong jaawdbt ajdawib saa9ddt asda9id jaawdbt tijdawib saa9ddt tisda9id saa9ddti tisaa9d(in jaawdbti tijaawbiin yijdawib jdawab sda9ad yisda9id jdawabat tijdawib sda9adat tisda9id saa9ddna nisda9id jaawdbna nijdawib saa9ddtaw tisaa9ddun jaawdbtaw tijaawbuun s &a9adaw yisaa9duunjdawabaw yijaawbuun Imperatives: ma sc s aa9id\ }dawib\ /a °g! 11

xalldytah yisuug sayydarti t J 'I allowed him to drive my car'

fern. sda9di\ jdawbil Idagil

pi. sda9du\ jdawbul tdagul

weak laagdyt laagdyt laagdyti Idaga Idagat laagdyna laagdytaw idagaw

aldagi tildagi dlaagiin yildagi tildagi nildagi tilaaguun yilaaguun

'Help!' 'Answer!' 'Meet!'

can be clearly seen from this that CaaCaC verbs behave in all Aspects like CaCCaC verbs (e.g. in the dropping of the i in the st em -CaaCiC- when certain suffixes are added, in the masculine "Operative of the weak verb).

UNIT 14 183

• 182 UNIT 14 CaaCaC verbs usually, denote actions taking place between two parties, often on a reciprocal basis (e.g. 'to agree on*, 'to haggle'). Sqme examples of use: ' wdafagaw 9ala daf9 iUmdblaghjl-maTldub „ "They agreed to pay the sum demanded' (lit. 'They agreed on the paying of the sum demanded'.) la tsdawim wiyydah! yiDdyyi9 wdqtik\ 'Dbn't bargain with him! He'll waste your time!' i xaabardoni bit-tilifuun inn'tk yiitl 'Triey informed -me by telephone that you had come' \ laagayndahum biS-Sudfa fis-suug 'We met them by chance in the" market'' Exercise 14.1 l

II

ill,

L1 ft

Using the CaCCaC and CaaCaC verbs introduced so far, and also' those listed below, translate"the following^ commands:

Translate into English:

J

t

11 ja rdkkab ir-fdsim d9waj Idakin 9dddalah ba9addyn. 12 la trdkkib it-tayr dhaak -fiih pdnchar. 13,ndDHDHif il-jaamdat min-fdDlik uSdlliH il-baab iTTdayiH: « 14 9dTni t-taqrtir u bafdkkir,fil-mawDuu9. 15 wadddoni l-mddrqsa yoom ana 9dm'ri xams siniin. 16 sdafaraw l-h'ind'u bugaw hindak mudda Tawiila. 17 la tiHaachiini bil-ldhja dhi! xdffiD s6oTik\ 18 layn fanhashdoh min shughlah"fish-shdrika, gaam yiSdlUH"sayyaardatxqjbdana. 19 bd9admaq rawwdytah il-hddiya~lli 9aT6oni iyydaha, DHall yifdkkir Sdamit. 20 bamurr 9aldych bdachir awdSlich bayt 9dmmicht 21 maa asim9ik! 9all Sootikl w 22 xaffdDna l-as9dar bijcams u,9ishriin bil-m(ya. 23 darrdst sanatdynfimddrasalHukuum(yya. 24 la twdddi s-saamdan minndak! wdddah minW.

l' Don't send that boy! 2 Repair the fridge! 3 Don't stop the car! 4 Take me home please! 5 Think before you do anything! 6 Put it(f.) in the post! 7 Show me your(pl.) photos! 8 Lend me 50 dinars please' 9 Don't speak to them! 10 Don't try to go! *.

Two more derived themes are formed by'prefixing ti- (or ta-) to1 CaCCaC and CaaCaC verbs. The first of these, tiCaCCaC, often indicates a reflexive or sometimes passive sense1 of the corresponding CaCCaC verb:

CaCCaC:

root CaCCaC gh-y-r ghdyyar

rdkkab 9dddal SdllaH Tdrrash sdllaf wdggaf fdkkar ddrras

'to fix, insert, attach' fdnhash 'to adjUst, put right' wdSSal *to repair' 'to send' xdffaD 'to lend* 'to stop (something)* 9dlla 'to think' wddda 'to teach* rdwwa

'to fire, sack' 'to take someone to somewhere' 'to lower, decrease' to raise, increase* 'to put, send' 'to show'

• CaaCaC: sdafar 'to travel' someone'

Hddwal 'to try'

Hdacha 'to address

b-n-d bdnnad z-w-j

zdwwaj

9-l-m 9dllam dh-k-r dhdkkar gh-d-y ghddda

tiCaCCaC' { 'to charige ' tighdyyar 'to be changed, to change (something)* (intrans.)* 'to be closed, tibdnnad 'to close close(intrans.)' (something)' 'to be closable' tizdwwaj 'to get married' 'to marry (someone to someone)* ti9dllam 'to learn' 'to teach' tidhdkkar 'to remember'* 'to remind' 'to give lunch tighddda- 'to eat lunch' (to someone)

! !

!

i

m v UNIT 14 185

184 UNIT 14 9-w-d 9dwwad

uu

'to accustom (someone to something)'

U9dwwad 'to get used to'

tiCaaCaC -verbs indicate, more, clearly than CaaCaGWerbs, the reciprocal nature of an activity, and are often equivalent to English verbs involving the use of 'each other' or 'one another': root w-f-g ••\ g-b-l

CaaCaC wdafag a gdabaiI

s-9-d sda9ad H-ch-y Hdacha

HiCaaCaC tiwdafag " 'to-agree with each •other' . 'to meet' tigdabal 'to meet one another' 'to help' tisda9ad 'to help each other' 'to address tiHdacha 'to talk to each someone' dther, converse'

.'to agree'

Examples of these verbs'arejCon jugated as below. tiCaCCaC ' strong ahd hollow H9alldmt at9dllam ti9alldmt tit9dllam H9alldmti tit9a!lamiin ti9dllam yit9dllam H9dllamat ti&dllam ti9alldmna nit9dllam ti9alldmtaw tit9allamuun ti9dllamaw yit9allamuun

weak tighadddyt atghddda tighadddyt titghddda tighadddyti titghaddiin tighddda yitghddda. t'tghdddat titghddda tighadddyna nitghddda tighadddytaw titghadddun tighdddaw yitghadduun

feminine ti9dllami\ tighdddi]

plural ti9dllamu\ tighdddul

'Learn!' 'Have lunch!

Thus the perfect stem is tiCaCCaC- and the imperfect stem-tCaCCaC (weak verbs tiCaCCa- and -tCaCC-). As previously noted for CaCCaC and CaaCaC verbs, the negative imperative of weak verbs has a final vowel in the masculine.form, which, in this case is -a, not -i: .!?

plural la tjtghdddul

'don't eat lunch!'

weak strong and hollow tiHaachdyt atHdacha atsda9ad Hsaa9ddt liHaachdyt dtHdacha titsda9ad tisaa9ddt tiHaachdyti dtHaachiin titsaa9adtin* tisaa9ddti tiHdacha" yitHdacha yitsda9ad tisda9ad •' UHdacHat titHdacha titsda9ad^ * tisda9adat tiHaachdyn'd nitHdacha nitsda9ad tisaa9ddna tiHaachdytaw titHaachuun tisaa9ddtaw titsaa9aduun tiHdachaw yitHaachuun yitsaa9aduun iisaa9adaw Imperative forms: masculine tisda9ad\

Imperative forms: masculine ti9dllam\ tighdddl

feminine masculine la titghdddal la,titghdddi\ > \ tiCaaCaC

tiHdachl

feminine tisda9adi\ ' tiHdachV.

plural tisda9adu\ dHaachu

'Help each other!' 'Talk to each other!'

Obviously, the notion of reciprocity which is contained in many tiCaaCaC verbs makes it highly unlikely that any singular imperative forms will be'encountered". The only tiCaaCaC imperative, in common use in the'singular, for example, is one which does not have a 'reciprocafmeaning: ta9dal\ 'Come!' The vowelling of the prefixes of tiCaCCaC and tiCaaCaC verbs is °ne of the many points of variability in the sub-dialects which go to make up what we have been calling 'Gulf Arabic'. Some of these sub-dialects have a ta- and some a ti- prefix in the past tense of these verbs, and some a yit- type and some a yd- type prefix in the imperfect. A certain amount of variability in these and other forms has been deliberately introduced into this book in order to accustom you to the non-standardization of Gulf speech (another example is '«' and Uyyi 'to me'). The differences are usually relatively slight, but it is as well to be aware of common variants which have the s ame meaning.

%

UNIT 14 187

186 UNIT 14

tiwdddd 'to be^seht, delivered, deposited' tirdkkab 'to be fixdd, inserted** taSdllaH"to be repaired', translate the following:

Some examples of the use x>f tiCaCCaC and'ljGaa'CaC verbs are given "below. Notice'thaf the meaning'of the imperfect of these verbs ca"n express the potentiality to do" something: yitbdTTal may mean 'omens', 'is"opened' or 'can be opened'.

6* This tyre qan't be fitted on this car. 7 The.store-roorn door won't open.*8 Letters'are always delivered by hand. 9 This market ..never closes!* 10 The broken plate can't be repaired. *

v il-kuwdyt tighdyyarat ^ v f 'Kuwait" has changed' t •< Hal-makaatiib tiTdrrashat min zamdan >. i » Those letters were sent a long time ago' tiwdafagaw 9ala (nnahumjnaa yitHaarabiiun bd9ad They agreed not to fight each other any more' hdadha mawDuu.9 taHqachdyhafiihmudda Tawiila "This is a subject we discussed for a long-time' hdadhfl S-Sqnduug maa yitbdnnad 'This box won't close' hai-guuTi maa yitbdTTal 'This can can't be opened' yitrdawa liyyi innik Jdazirn titxdllaS min dhaak ir-rayydal 'It seems to me that you ought to get'rid, of that man' laysh rr\aa titsaa9aduunr\ r 'Why don't you help each other?' kdanaw yisiknuun fi firiij il-jdami9, 9ala maa~tdhdkkar 'They used to,liveand regular principles which are outiln ed below. Ca

CCaC and CaafZaC verbs

Pf

esent participle of the form miCaCCiC and miCaaCiC

li ] 188 UNIT 14 i. lii Pi ["" 1 Pil Pi 1 11 , II %j

'Examples:

UNIT 14 189 mirdkkib mi9daqib

(weak verbs) misdmmi middari

'fixing, having fixed'* (rdkkab) 'punishing, having (9daqab) punished' 'naming ^ having (sdmma) named' 'taking care of, (adara) Having taken care of

'Passivei participle pf.the form miCaCCaCandtmiCaaCaC Examples:

mirakkab' mi9daqab misdmma

ii

.miii&ard

1 "i

'fixed, having be'en fixed' 'punished, having been punished' " 'nanied, having been •* ' named' 'taken care of, having been taken care of

tiCaCCaCkind tiCaaCaC verbs

t

*

Present participle of the form fnitCaCCiC and mitCaaCiC* Examples:

mitghdyyir mitsda9id

(weak verbs) mit9dshshi mitldagi

'changing, having changed' 'helping each other, having helped each other' 'dining, having dined' 'meeting each,other, having met each other')

Xtighdyyar) (tisda9ad) (ta9dshsha) (dldaga)

Weak verbs, as-usual, have -ya and -yiin, e.g. misdmmya, misammyiin ^'naming'. However, the* feminine form of the passive participle of weak verbs is the same as the masculine form. When object pronouns'aresuffixed to the present participle'of weak verbs, the -i is lengthened and stressed, and-all feminine present participles have the 'hidden t' which shows up onrsuffixation. Thus we find the masculine form rriisdmmi 'naming' becoming -misammtih when ah% 'it' is sufficed, and the feminine form misdmmya becoming, misdmmyatah\ when the feminine pronoun -ha is suffixed, the corresponding forms, as would be expected from- our study of simple verb, participles (13.1), are misammiiha and misammydtta, the h of the -ha suffix being assimilated to the t of the participle. Some examples of participial usage: in-naas dhayldak iHria msanimiinhum 'bastakiya' h 'We call those people "Bastafeis" ' u had-diira msdmtha bdni-jdmra f 'This village is called Bani-Jamra' dna tdwni mitghdddi, maa "dBbi dakil'baVad 'I've just had lunch, I don't want to eat any more' il-qaraardat illi mitwaafgiin 9aldyha maa titghdyyar 'The decisions which have been'mutually agreed on cannot be changed'_ ir-rayydal illi'niHdachyat'ah abuuha 'The man who she's talking to is her father' ii-dghniya—lli mghanndha muB'Hdlwa*** 'The song'he's singing isn t nice' ^ * har-rusuum illi msawwydtta wdayid 9aajbdtni These designs she's done have really impressed me' Note from the above examples that the i of the mi- prefix is, as an unstressed vowel, frequently dropped, especially if mi- is preceded hy a word ending in a vowel.

Passive participles are of the form riiitCaCGaC and mitCaaCac, but occur very rarely because tiCaCCaC and tiCaaCaC are normally intransitive in meaning.

Exercise 14.3

The feminine and plural forms (used with animate nouns) are obtained in the normal way, viz. by suffixing -a and -iin respectively-

- xalldst ish-shughul H-bdarHa, muu chidhii! - la, mubsmixdlSah bd9ad\

Look at the following two-line dialogue:

UNIT 14 191

190 UNIT 14 - You finished the work yesterday, didn't you? - No, I haven't finished it yet!

f I I.

Now translate the following similar dialogues into Arabic 1 - You spoke to the boss yesterday, didn't-you? .No I haven't ^pofcen to him yet!''" 2 - You repaired the machine yesterday, didn't you? No J haven't repaired it yet! -3»- You cleaned the bedroom this* morning, didn't you? No I haven't cleaned it yet! * ' 4 - You •you? serit the letter the day before yesterday, didn't No I ii 5 - You haven't sent it yet!, No I agreed to the plan JastTmonth, didn't you? 6 - You haven't agreed to it yet! No I inspected the factory last week, didn't you? 7 - You haven't inspected it.yet! you? tested out that new restaurant,yesterday, didn't N p l haven't tested it out yet! 8 - You sacked those workers last w,eek, didn't you? No J haven't sacked them,yet! 9 - You checked the oil-level half-an-hour( ago,,didn't you? No I haven't checked.it yet! You 10 changed the tyres last week didn't you? No I haven't changed them yet! Now translate these dialogues again using first the'you(f.) form, and then the you(pl.) form (replying using 'we').

Exercise 14.4 In the last unit we met juHa. Here is another juHa joke which will give you practice with CaCCaC verbs. Try to translate it. juHa raaH ir-rdydo mdalah u shdghghalah. illi yighdnni yiguul '9aTshdan yaa HabiibU' gaam juHa u HdTTah ft

r

brlij il-maay u Tdlla9afj.>tamm yighdrtni '9aTshdan yaa, HabiibU' radd HdTTah fil-maay u Tdlla9ah. . . . il-Hiin bri byishdghlah maa ishtdghal. gaal Uh''m(ntaJl:HUn tishtdghil? yoom (nta 9aTsfidan 9aTdytik, u l-Hiin wugdft!' briij 'pot for water' ishtdghallyishtdghil 'to work' (We wjll meet this type of verb-form in Unit 16). Proverbs and sayings maa yiswa fils fi waqt il-ghila 'He isn't worth a fils (even) at a time of high prices' i.e. He is a completely worthless person tays baw\vdal 'A pissing he-goat' Said of an extremely, uncouth; man UU maa y9drf iS-Sdgar yishwiih 'He who does not know what a falcon is will roast if Said of a person who. is ignorant of the true value of what he possesses, and misuses it. VOCABULARY SUMMARY dwwal il-lay'l 'afternoon (shift)' a 9waj f. 96ja 'crooked, bent' bdddall 'to change (e.g. clothes, yibdddil tyres)' bdnnad! 'to close' yibdnnid 'programme' barndamaj! bardamij bdTTal! 'to open' yibdTTil

briijlburgdan chdyyak! yichdyyik ddaralyiddari

'water pot' 'to check'

'to take car of daf9 'payment' ddrraslyiddrris 'to> teach' Daa9!yiDdyyi9 'to waste, squander' dhdkkarl 'to remind' yidhdkkir fdkkarlyifdkkir 'to think'

UNIT 14 193

192 UNIT 14 fdnnashl yifdnnish fdttashi yifdttish gdabali yigdabil i ghdnnaJ yighdnni Hdachal yiHdachi Hdawall yiHdawil Hdwwall yiHdwwil Hukdumi ishtdghal! yishtdghil jdami9

•'to sack, fire' 'to inspect' 'to meet, be opposite to, across from' ,f 'to sing' 'to address (someone)' 'to try, attempt' 'to get down", out of 'governmental' 'to work' 'main (Friday) mosque' 'to'answer'

jdawab! yijdawib jdrrablyijdrrib 'to test out, try' Idagalyildagi 'to meet (by chance)' idhja*(aat) 'tone of voice, accent, dialect' mawDuu91 'subject, topic' mawaaDU9 mithil 'for example' mubdkkir 'early' ndDHDHaf! 'to clean* yindDHDHif ntiqTa*lnuqaT 'point at issue' pdnchar(aat) 'puncture' radd + verb 'to do something again'

rdkkabi yirdkkib' rdwwal yirdwwi sdafarlyisdafir' Sdamit sdawaml yisdqwim t sda9ad! yisda9id sdllafiyisdllif saamdan sdwwa! yisdw'wi ,s(wa!yiswa

'to attach, install'* 'to show' 'to travel' 'silent(ly)' 'to bargain' 'to help' 'to lend' 'stuff, gear' 'to make, do' 'to.be worth, equal to' 'to repair, correct' 'by chance' 'to operate (a machine, etc.) 'to fight each other' 'to talk'

SdllaHl yiSdlUH biS-SUdfa shdghghatl yishdghghii taHdarab! yitHdarab taHdchchal yitHdchcha v taxdllaSI 'to get,rid of, yitxdllaS min be free of tayr(aat) 'tyre' ta9dshshal 'to dine' yit9dshsha tibdnnad! 'to close yitbdnnad (intrans:) be closeable' tibdTTall 'to open, be yitbdTTal openable' 'to remember' tidhdkkaryitdhdkkar 'to understand tifdahaml each other' yitfdaham

tigdabal! yitgdabal tighdddal yitghddda tiHdacha! yitHdacha tirdkkab! yitrdkkab iirdyyagl yitrdyyag tisda9ad! ' yitsda9ad tiSdalaHf yitSdalaH tiTdrrashf yiTTdrrash tiwdafag! yitwdafag tizdwwajl yitzdwwaj milaml yit9dllam H9dwwad! yit9dwwad 9dla TdayiH

'to meet each otherA 'to have lunch* 'to converse' 'to be fixed, installed' 'to breakfast' 'to help each other' 'to make peace, call a truce' 'to be sent' 'to mutually agree' 'to get married' 'to learn' 'to get used to' 'broken, dilapidated'

Tdlla9lyiTdlU9 'to take (something) out of (something)* 'to send' Tdrfash! yiTTdrrish wdafagl 'to agree to •yiwdqfig 9dta (something)' 'to put, send' wdddal yiwdddi wdggafl 'to stop yiwdggif (something)' wdSSal'to take yiwdSSil (someone somewhere), give a lift to (someone)' 'to inform xdabarl (someone yixdabir about something)' 'broken down, xardab useless' 'to punish' 9daqab! yi9daqib 'to straighten, 9dddaU yi9dddil put right' 9dllalyi9dlli 'to raise' 9dllarnli 'to teach, yi9dllim instruct'

" UNIT

15

15.1 THE VERBAL NOUN Verbal nouns in English are formed by the addition of -ing to the verb stem, e.g. Jdoing', .'acting', 'dying*, by other types of suffix, e.g. -ion 'action', or by changes in vowelling,*e.g. 'deed', 'death'. In Gulf Arabic there are a number of fixed patterns used to form the verbal noun in simple verbs, and a single pattern, for each of the derived themes. There are five common patterns used in the simple verb, and the particular pattern which any given verb takes is more 6r lessfixed,..As with 'broken'- plurals,'it is a good idea to learn the fo^m of the verbal noun of each verb as you meet it, and frpm this point on, the verbal noun of each, new simple verb will be listed as it occurs in the vocabulary summary. By .far the commonest simple verbal noun pattern is CvCC, which becomes CooC or CayC where hollow .verbs are concerned, and CaCi for weak verbs. Examples: strong hollow wiak doubled Tabx 'cooking' gool 'saying' mdshi 'walking' Hall 'solution' dhikr 'remem- TayH 'falling' Hdchi 'talk' Hubb 'love' bering' In many'cases, it is possible to add the feminine ending -a (with 'hidden*"/) to these verbal nouns in order to form an 'instance' noun: for example, Tdbxa means 'a dish' (i.e. an instance of cooking), Ddrba means 'a blow' (cf. Darb 'beating'), Tdyha means 'a fall*. In some cases, the verbal noun with -a signifies the way of doing something, e.g. mdashi 'walking', mdshya 'gait'. The next most common pattern is CvCaaC(a): Haddag 'fishing* Tawdaf 'going round' sagday 'irrigating kitdaba 'writing' girdaya 'reading ziydara 'visit' gaTdaT 'throwing away' fardara 'fleeing'

UNIT 15 195

Other patterns are CuCuuC, which occurs only in strong and dou? bled verbs, e.g. rujuu9 'return' (fromr r(ja9) qnd murdur (from man) which literally means 'passing', but has acquired the meaning 'traffic' or 'traffic.police' (short for shdrTat il-muruur); CaCaC, which is similarly only'found in,strong and doubled verb stems (fdraH 'happiness', mdlal 'boredom'); and CiCCaan/CaCaCaan which occur mainly with weak,, and hollow verbs, (e.g. -nisydan 'forgetting' from nisa, shayaldam 'removal from shaal, xawardan 'stirring' from *aar). The verbal, nouns of the derived themes are almost wholly predictable.'CaCCaC verbs have, the verbal noun pattern taCCiiC (taCCiya for weak verbs): SdllaH xdTTaT

'to repair' 'to plan*

9dyyan rdbba

'to appoint' 'to bring up'

taSlliH taxTUT ta9yiin -i tdrbiya

'repair'1 'planning' (e.g. in mzdarat it-taxTHT) 'appointment' 'upbringing'

A very small number of weak verbs, some of them important, have the pattern tiCCaa (with 'hidden' f): sdwwa bddda Hdlla

'to do, make' 'to begin' 'to decorate'

tiswda tibd&a tiHlda

'doing, deed' 'beginning' 'decoration'

CaaCaC verbs have the verbal noun pattern. muCaaCaCa (with 'hidden* r): sda9ad Hdajaj Hdawal Idaga

'to 'to 'to 'to

help' argue' try' meet'

musda9ada muHdajaja muHdawala muldaga

'help' 'argument' 'attempt' 'meeting (by chance)

There are odd instances of an alternative form of verbal noun, CiCaaC, but this tends to occur only in set phrases, usually borrowed from Literary Arabic, e.g. sibdaq U-khayl 'horse-racing', w izdarat id-difda9 'Ministry of Defence' (from sdabaq 'to race, compete', ddafa9 'to defend').

r

196 UNIT 15

UNIT 15 197

tiCaCCaC verbs have tiCaCCuC verbal nouns:' ta9djjab

'to be surprised!

ta99djub

surprise, amazement' tax'dSSaS 'to specialise' taxdSSuS 'specialism' taHdchcha 'to talk' taHdchchi 'talk' In, some cases, like taHdchcha, the .verbal noun taHdchchi is not much used, the verbal noun of the simple verb Hdchi being used instead. Another example is taHdmmal bi 'to take care of (someone)', where the pimple verbal noun Hamdala is used rather than taHdmmul. t tiCaaCaC verbs have tiCaaCuC verbal nouns:1 tiwdafag

'to mutually tiwdafug agree'ta9dawan 'to co-operate' ta9dawun taHdacha 'toxonverse' taHdachi

'mutual agreement' 'co-operation' ^conversation"

The verbal noun has a number of'uses in Arabic, most of which are paralleled in English. Verbal nouns can denote an activity in general: il-Haddag mamndu9 Ihni 'Fishing is prohibited here' it-tilmiidh dhaak wdayid Da9(if fil-girdaya 'That pupil is very poor at reading' When used in sentences of this type, Arabic unlike English requires the definite article i7. Verbal nouns can denote the doing of something to something else, and* in such cases the verbal noun often replaces a clause. In the examples below, the pairs of sentences are parallel in meaning: Ml"

tiswdatik muu zdyna I'Your deed was not good' I I7/I sawwdytah muu zayn 'What you did was not good' wdafag 9dla daf9 il-mdblagh d-maTluub i 'He agreed payment of the sum demanded'

wdafag 9dla 'an yldfa9 il-mdblagh il-rr\aXldub 'He agreed to pay the sum demanded' ('an 'that' functions in a similar way to 'inn) dhikr maa gaal Hi yizd99Uni 'The remembrance of what he said to me upsets riie' layn ddhkur maa gaal Hi, dz9at 'When I remember what he said to me, I get upset' mujdrrad shdofatah tixdwwifni "The mere sight of him Tfrighteps me' mujdrrad ashuufah, axdaf 'I only have to'see him and I'm afraid' * taSUiH sayyaardat, hdadha shdghli 'Repairing cars, that's my job' aSdlliH sayyaardat, hdadha shdghli T repair cars,, that's my job' Verbal nouns canjn some cases denote what is (or'needs to be) done: hal-jaamdat tdbbi liha tanDHlif 'These window panes need cleaning/to be cleaned' hal-chaay ydbbi lih xawardan 'This tea needs stirring/to be stirred' Some other typical uses of the verbal noun are given below. One which strikes the English speaker as somewhat strange is the use of the Verbal* noun as a kind of 'echo' of 'the verb from which it is derived. It is", however, quite common in casual speech: firHaw li daxir fdraH 'They were really happy' (lit. 'They were happy to the last happiness') taHammdlt bih Hamdalatin zdyna I took really good care of him' (lit. 'I took care of him a good taking-care-of)' (The -in suffix on Hamdala is a' feature of relaxed or uneducated speech.) The two following examples involve the verbal nouns of intransitive Ve rbs in noun-phrases: maa ydDrub iz-zar9 min glllat il-mdTar 'The crops don't take because of the lack of rain'

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UNIT 15 199'

"198 UNIT 15 zood il-Harr mut9ibni wddyid •'The increased heat has tifed fne af lot.1 ">** « c" '{' (lit. 'The increase oflhe heat. . :') *' -J

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