Lesson 23: Arabic Greeting Rituals

In America, greeting rituals can vary by region.  I live in the South, where the typical greeting ritual goes like this:

Southerner1:  Hey!
Southerner2:  Hey!
S1:  How are you?
S2:  Just fine!  How are you?
S1:  Just fine, thanks!  So how are you?
S2:  Well, you know, Dad's in the hospital again...
S1:  Aww, no!
etc.

The first greeting is usually "Hey" which calls attention.  "Hello" is usually used for the telephone, or for greeting strangers.

S1:  Hello, may I have a few minutes of your time?

This is more polite than a stranger saying:

S1:  Hey, can I have a few minutes of your time?  (this would seem incredibly intrusive.)

The first "how are you?" is a source of great confusion for foreigners, who often reserve that question for when they really have time to answer.  Sometimes we ask this first "how are you?" without even wanting to know anything real.  When I teach foreigners English, I teach them that the answer to the first "How are you" is "fine" and the answer to the second "So, how are you?" is a real answer.

In the same way, Arabs have their own, somewhat confusing greeting rituals, often with 3 layers, just as this American Southern greeting is, although sometimes with 4 or even 5 layers.

Layer 1:
Among Muslims
Like it or not, the Muslim faith is integrally tied into the Arab language.  Non-Muslim Arabs, such as Coptic Christians in Egypt or Druze or Meronite Christians in Syria, resent that Islam is taught alongside the Arabic language.  However, these groups represent a small minority of Arabic speakers.  The reality is, Islam dominates the culture and language of Arabs.

Among Muslims, the first greeting between yourself and someone you know, is usually a formal, very ritualized greeting.  The most common greeting among all Muslims, no matter what language they speak (Urdu, Farsi, Bengali, French, English...) is

as-salaamu 3aleykum  "Peace (be) upon you."
The proper answer is:
wa 3aleykum (as)-salaam.  "And upon you, peace."

However, in a less formal setting, the first layer may be the non-religious:
SabaaH al-Xeyr.  Morning (of) Goodness.
to which the proper answer is:
SabaaH an-nuur.   Morning (of) Light.

Or, if it is not morning, but afternoon/evening, the first greeting may be:
masaa' al-Xeyr.   Evening (of) Goodness.
to which the proper answer is:
masaa' an-nuur.  Evening (of) Light.

However, these can vary colloquially or regionally:
In Syria:
SbaaH el-Xeyr.  Morning (of) Goodness.  (="Good morning")
answer:
SbaaH el-Xeyraat.    "SabaaH al-Xeyr"s!  (= "Three "Good morning"s!)

And among non-Muslims, and in situations where you are unsure of someone's religion, such as on an airplane:
marhaba!  A Greeting! (="Hello!")
answer:
marhabteyn!  Two Greetings!  (="Two 'Hellos')!"

Layer 1 greetings are sufficient for interactions between yourself and a police officer, between an airline stewardess and a passenger on a plane, or when asking for directions from a stranger.  However, before moving into a friendly conversation, another layer (or two) must be crossed, also in a ritualized way.

Layer 2
Layer 2 greetings are usually non-religious, and usually have the word "Welcome" in them, which sounds strange to English speakers.

ahlaan!  Welcome!
The word "ahlaan" is used to welcome you into the presence of the person saying it.  This is usually a signal of friendship, somewhat like "Make yourself at home" sounds in English when a guest enters your house.  This signals the person being "welcomed" that they can relax, since they are among friends.
Another variant of it is:
ahlaan wa sahlaan!  Welcome and Hello!

The proper answer to this verbal friendly "touch" is:
ahlaan biik! (said to a man)
ahlaan biiki! (said to a woman)
ahlaan bikum!  (said to a group)

This means literally "Welcomed by you!".

The word "ahlaan" comes from the root a-h-l meaning "extended family" or "kin."

In a business, professional, or religious setting, do not expect to be greeted with "ahlaan/ ahlaan wa sahlaan," since it is a symbol of intimacy.

Layer 3
The third layer of the greeting is where the person who is sitting or greeting you at their door will invite you to sit down with them or come inside their house.  This is done with the phrase
tfaDDal (said to a man)
tfaDDalii  (said to a woman)
tfaDDaluu  (said to a group)

tfaDDal means something like "help yourself," and is used when offering an empty seat, inviting you inside, inviting you to eat sweets they have spread out on their table in their reception room, or handing you a gift.


Now let's go through several different greeting rituals, with different levels of formality, along with the question "How are you?" and its proper answer in each situation.

Greeting Ritual Example 1:
Two Muslim men meet, who do not know each other well.
M1:  as-salaamu 3aleykum.  Peace be upon you.
M2:  wa3aleykum salaam.   And upon you, peace.
M1:  keyf al-Haal?  How is the health?
M2:  al-Hamdu lillaa.  w-inta? Praise be to God.  And you?
M1:  al-Hamdu lillaa.  Praise be to God.

Greeting Ritual Example 2:
Two Muslim men meet in a coffee house. They are close friends.
muhammad: SabaaH al-Xeyr, ya saamir!  Good morning, Saamir!
saamir: SabaaH an-nuur, ya muhammad!  Good morning, Muhammad!
muhammad:  ahlaan wa sahlaan!  "Feel at rest!"
saamir:  ahlaan bik, keyf al Hal?  "I'm welcome with you! How is health?"
muhammad:  al-Hamdu lillaa, ana bi-xeyr.  w-inta, keyf Hal-ak?  Praise be to God, I am with health.  And you, how is health-your?
saamir:  hamdi-llaa.  Praise God.
muhammad:  tfaDDal, ya saamir, tfaDDal, tfaDDal!  Sit down, Saamir, sit down, have a seat!

As you can see, the proper answer to "how are you?" is never "I'm sick" or "I have a toothache" but "Praise be to God."  This is part of the Muslim mindset of submission to God in all circumstances.  "al-hamdu li-llaa" "The praise to-God" is said so often that the phrase is often shortened to an ungrammatical form "al-hamdillaa" or simply "hamdillaa".

Among Arab men who are close friends, it is not uncommon for them to hold hands while walking down the street, engaged in intimate conversation about deep matters of the heart.  However, homosexuality is practically non-existent in the Middle East.  If an Arab man takes your hand, it in no way implies homosexual feelings, which are taboo, and a sin in Islam!

However, between men and women, Muslim men and women rarely touch each other.  Cheek kissing is absolutely out of the question, as is hugging a woman who is not family.  Shaking hands is pushing it, and many women would feel uncomfortable if you offered your hand to them.  Many men put their hand over their heart and lower their eyes when introduced to a woman.  However, this might be the last interaction between the a stranger and that woman, especially if her husband is with her.  It is considered a sign of respect for a man not to look at or acknowledge another man's wife when talking with him, even if she is standing right beside him!

Between women:
In most Muslim countries, women are expected to cover their hair in public.  Depending on the country, this may be more or less followed.  In urban Morocco, which is heavily westernized, it is common to see women dressed like Westerners mixed in with women wearing the full burka which covers their whole body.  However, in Saudi Arabia, in some cities women may not show their faces or any part of their body other than their eyes in public.

However, in their homes, with family, women remove the cumbersome burka and wear fashionable clothes.  They wear jeans, stylish scarves, blouses, and look nice for each other.  The rule is, when a strange man who is not family enters the house, all adult women must cover their hair.  So if you are a man, and you are invited to a man's house, don't be surprised to see the women scurrying to find scarves to cover their hair when you walk through the door, as they hastily greet you.

There are certain rules about which men women must cover their hair with.  I believe women may have their hair uncovered in the home with their fathers, their husbands, and their sons, but not their nephews or uncles.

Nadya visits her friend 3eysha's home while their husbands are away at work.  3eysha opens the door and sees Nadya standing there.
Nadya: Marhaba, ya 3eysha!  Hey, 3eysha!
3eysha:  Marhaba, ya Nadya!  Salaamu 3aleykum!  Hey, Nadya!  Peace be with you!
Nadya: wa3leykum salaam!  Peace be with you!
3eysha:  ahlaan, ahlaan wa sahlaan, tfaDDalii! keyf Hal-ik? "Welcome, be welcomed, please come in! How is your health?"
Nadya (entering the house and taking off her hair covering):  hamdillaa, hamdillaa, wa inti ya 3eysha, keyf-ik?  Praise God, Praise God. And you, 3eysha, how-you?
3eysha:  bi-Xeyr, al-hamdu-lillaa, ahlaan, tfaDDalii! (pointing to a chair)  I am with-health, praise be to God, welcome, please have a seat!
Nadya:  shukran.  Thank you.  

Lesson 22: The Importance of Consonants in Arabic

By now you will probably realized that "everything in Arabic is all about the consonants."  This is a very new concept for speakers of Indo-european languages such as English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Farsi, etc, where vowels and consonants have equal importance.

English:
big:  large
bog: a swamp
bug:  an insect
bag:  a sack

keep:  to hold onto
cap:   a hat
Kip:  a name
cope:  to deal with
cop:  a police officer


However, in Arabic, vowels are not as important, since the meaning is contained in the consonants:


Saghiir and iSghéér are the same word.
kabiir and kibaar both mean "big" but one is singular and one is plural.
yaktub vs. yaktob vs.  yektob (no difference- one is formal, two are colloquial)
mu3allima vs.  m3allma vs.  m3éllme (same word- one is formal, two are colloquial)
tlaat  vs.  telaatii vs.  thalaatha  (same word pronounced differently by region)

If you get the important consonants in a row, but can't remember the right vowels, chances are people will still understand you as long as you conjugate the verbs correctly (ya vs. ta vs.  a etc).  Sometimes, it does make a difference in meaning, as we will see later.  However, vowels in Arabic are usually so unimportant that they are not even written in books, magazines, and newspapers!

The important point of this lesson is that the consonants are everything in Arabic.  

Lesson 21: Funny Arabic Stems

There are several kinds of Arabic Roots which don't obey the rules as they should.  Three of these are:

1.  Stems with aa, ii,  and uu as one of the "consonants" (these verbs tend to use all three, depending on the tense):
q-aa-l  to say
"na-quul"  we say

2.  Stems with ' (glottal stop) as one of the consonants (sometimes the ' glottal stop gets deleted or changed to something else):
q-r-'  to read

3.  Stems with two of the same letters in a row (sometimes the two "same" letters are squished together and the vowels are put in a funny place):
t-m-m  to complete, "perfection"

Learning the ways to conjugate these verbs takes practice, and we will study verbs like this slowly over time.

Lesson 21: Colloquial Verbs

This is an Egyptian/Levantine version of the Present Tense of verbs.  I have deleted the ya-ktub-iina "memory aid" conjugation from here on, since it does not exist in Arabic.

ana   b-a-ktub  I am writing
inta  b-ta-ktub  You(m) are writing
inti   b-ta-ktub-ii (na)  You(f) are writing
howa b-ya-ktub   He is writing
hiya  b-ta-ktub   She is writing

(n)aHna m-naktub  We are writing
intuu b-taktub-uu (na)  You all(m/f) are writing
hum b-yaktub-uu (na)  They(m/f) are writing

Let's try another one.

ana   b-adrus  I am studying
inta  b-tadrus  You(m) are studying
inti   b-tadrus-ii   You(f) are studying
howa b-yadrus     He is studying
hiya  b-tadrus      She is studying

aHna m-nadrus  We are studying
intuu b-tadrus-uu  You all(m/f) are studying
hum  b-yadrus-uu   They(m/f) are studying.

Colloquial Arabic just has one plural "you" form and one plural "they" form:  intuu and hum.

Lesson 20- Altering the Verb Stem

In English, we use prefixes and suffixes to adjust the concept.

-scribe ("write")

sub- "under"

a- "to"

de- "from"

sub-scribe (under-write-  to receive writings sent down to you from a publisher)

a-scribe  (to-write-  to add characteristics to someone's reputation, metaphorically "by writing them")

de-scribe (from-write-  to write down characteristics of a person from your knowledge of them)

In Arabic, however, prefixes and suffixes are not used.  Instead, the Root Verb Stem is altered in very regular, predictable ways.

For example,

I.     k-t-b means "writing" but 

II.   k-t-t-b means "causing someone to write" "dictate"

III.  k-aa-t-b means "writing with someone" "corresponding"

IV.  [...]

V.  ta-k-t-t-b means "causing each other to write" or "being caused to write"

VI.   ta-k-aa-t-b means "causing each other to write to each other" "writing back and forth"

there are 10 different "patterns" of verbs, and we will eventually learn them all.

For now, let's review the stem "ta-k-l-l-m", which is Root alteration V.  This means "(words) are being caused to be said" = "speaking."

One important way to think about forms II and V is that they both have the middle consonant DOUBLED.  Doubling the middle root letter in Arabic is often called the "intensive" because it often implies doing something intensely.

I.  q-t-l   killing, to kill

II.  q-t-t-l  to massacre, to slaughter

V.   ta-q-t-t-l  being massacred, being slaughtered/massacring each other, slaughtering each other  

However, a doubled middle root letter just as often has a "Causitive" meaning such as "causing someone to kill" "having someone killed" or "having something written."

Remember to add two ta-'s with the "anta/anti (inta/inti)" and "hiya" form when working with verbs in alteration V.

ana a-takallam
anta ta-takallam
anti ta-takallam-iina
huwa ya-takallam
hiya  ta-takallam  (yatakallamiina)

Lesson 19- Non-Standard Pronunciations

Every dialect region has its own pronunciation of the Standard Language, because letters not found in the local languages spoken at home are hard to learn in school.  These different accents give a color and a flavor to speaking fus-Ha among educated Arabs, as well as Muslims whose first language is not a dialect of Arabic, but Urdu, Persian, Indonesian, or an African language.  Here are some example of non-standard pronunciations of certain letters.

th  as in "think"
Many colloquial dialects do not have this sound, and students who are unable to master it in school continue to pronounce it as either t, s, or z depending on how the word is pronounced in their dialect.

For example thalaatha three is very often pronounced telaata by Levantine speakers, and ithneyn two is pronounced itneyn.

ð  as in "the" or "that"

Most colloquial dialects do not have this sound.  It is extremely common to hear even educated speakers pronounce this letter as d or z. 
haaða  this in most dialects is some form of "haada," or simply "da," as in Egyptian.  Also haaza.
ðaalika  that becomes zaalika in the speech of many Arabs.

j

As mentioned before, j is pronounced as g in all instances in Egypt.  Even our word "camel" comes from the Egyptian pronunciation of the word "jamal."
However, this letter varies by region from the hard j in English "junk" to the soft, smooth French j in Bonjour.


Z  This letter is techincally pronounced Ð, a "dark" emphatic version of the letter ð.  However, this letter is difficult to learn, even for Arabs, and most Arabs shortcut and pronounce it as emphatic Z.  Some books even teach this letter as Z since the pronunciation is so common.

q
This is certainly the letter with the most variation.  It is always pronounced in the classical fashion when saying the name of Cairo, al-qaahira.  However, elsewhere, it seems like this letter is a free-for-all, being pronounced as g, ', k, or q in different places even by the same speaker.  Certain dialects favor ' (the glottal stop) such as Egyptian and Levantine, while the Gulf favors g or k.  I am certain someone much more educated than me could explain to me how to pronounce this letter, but for now I usually pronounce it as ' since I think it is the ugliest letter in the language and the harshest on the ears.

daqiiqa  minute
da'ii'a  minute (Egyptian/Levantine pronunciation)

r
When reciting the Qur'an, it is considered unbecoming to pronounce this letter as a trill, for reasons unbeknownst to me.  Therefore, when listening to the Qur'an, or singers from minarets, one will usually hear the letter r pronounced in the French way, the same as gh.

3
The letter 3 is more prominent in the speech of men, and is considered a masculine sound.  In women's speech, it is significantly less noticeable.

'
The glottal stop is sometimes cut out, with the vowels on either side pushed together, as in English.

aL-mar'a
aL-mara

Lesson 18- Do you speak Arabic?

New verb

k-l-m  words

Derived present stem: takallam to speak

ana   a-takallam                                I speak

inta   ta-takallam                              you(m) speak

inti    ta-takallam-iina                       you(f) speak

huwa ya-takallam                              he speaks

hiya   ya-takallam-iina ta-takallam  she speaks

naHnu     na-takallam            we speak

intuu       ta-takallam-uuna   you guys speak

antunna  ta-takallam-na       you ladies speak

hum        ya-takallam-uuna   they(m) speak

hunna     ya-takallam-na       they(f)  speak

Vocabulary:

kaalima  word (pl.  kaalimaat)

Conversation between two men:

ar-rajul 1.     Lew samáHt, ínta ta-takállam 3árabi?  

ar-rajul 2.     na3am, ana min aL-maghrib.  min eyna anta?

ar-rajul 1.     ána min lubnáan.  min fáDlak, wayn aL-hammáam?

ar-rajul 2.    aL-hammáam fii tílka L-banáaya hunaak.  

ar-rajul 1.   shúkran jizíilan.  

ar-rajul 2.  3áfwan.  

Man 1:    Please (excuse me), do you speak Arabic?

Man 2:  Yes, I am from Morocco.  From where you?

Man 1:  I am from Lebanon.  If you please ("From your grace"), where is the bathroom?

Man 2:  The bathroom is in that the-building there.  

Man 1:  Thanks greatly.

Man 2:  You're welcome.  ("Excuse me.")

Lesson 17- Prepositions

Here are some common prepositions in Arabic.

3aley  upon
min     from
ma3   with
fii       in


washinTon fii amriika.  Washinton is in America.
nyuu yurk fii amriika eyDan.  New York is in America, too.

al-qaahira fii miSr.  Cairo is in Egypt.
al-iskanderiya fii miSr eyDan.  Alexandria is in Egypt, too.

makka fii s-sa3uudiiya.  Mecca is in Saudi Arabia.
madina fii s-sa3uudiiya eyDan.  Madina is in Saudi Arabia, too.

faas fii L-maghrib.  Fez is in Morocco.
rabaaT fii L-maghrib eyDan.  Rabat is in Morocco, too.

as-salaam 3aley-kum.  The peace upon you.
wa 3aley-kum, as-salaam.  And upon you, the peace.

ana min amriika.  I am from America.
ana min aL-urdun.  I am from Jordan.
ana min libiiya.   I am from Libya.
ana min kuweyt.  I am from Kuwait.
ana min aL-3iiraaq.  I am from Iraq.

min eyna anta?  Where are you(m) from? (from where you(m)?)
min eyna anti?   Where are you(f) from?  (from where you(f))?
inta min wayn?   Where are you(m) from?  (you(m) from where?)
inti min wayn?   Where are you(f) from?
note:  inta/inti is the colloquial pronunciation of anta/anti

ma3-ii fuluus.   I have money.  (With me is money/I've got money with me.)
ma3-ii Sadiiq.   I have a friend.  (With me is a friend/I've got a friend with me.)
ma3-ii Habiib-ii  My honey(m) is with me.  (I've got my Honey/my love(m))
ma3-ii Habibt-ii  My honey(f) is with me.  (I've got my Honey/my love(f)).

haaða min Habibt-ii  This is from my sweetheart(f).  (This is from my love(f)/girlfriend).
haaða min Habiib-ii  This is from my sweetie(m).  (This is from my love(m)/boyfriend).

Lesson 16- Corrected Verb Forms

Now we are going to correct the mistake we intentionally put in our verb tables to learn easier.  (Trust me, you will thank me later.)

The real feminine third person singular form in the Present Tense is identical with the second person "you" masculine form.

anta tadrus  You(m) study
hiya yadrusiina tadrus  she studies

One extremely politically incorrect way to remember this is to think about how Arab society seems "chauvinist" to Westerners.  Whenever you are talking about a woman, you are looking for a man to take responsibility for her actions!
If this is offensive, it will probably help you remember better, and I have done my job.

hiya tadrus  She [you(m) study]s

It is common to "drop" or leave out pronouns in Arabic.  Talking to a man and talking about his wife, who is not present, require no change in verb form.

Talking to a man:
maaða ta3mal?  What are you doing?
Talking about his wife:
maaða ta3mal?  What is she doing?

However, this verb form does not only mean that you refer to a man's wife using the "you" verb form of the man.  When talking about any woman, the correct verb form is ta-CCvC.  Women also use this verb form among themselves to talk about other women, and the verb form has no chauvinist implications among Arabs.  I simply brought that up as an offensive memory aid.  The fact is, the feminine singular form is used for all non-living plural nouns, as we will see later...So....women really are important in Arab society!  Really!

ana a-drus
inta ta-drus
inti  ta-drus-iina
huwa ya-drus
hiya ya-drus-iina ta-drus

naHnu   na-drus
intuu      ta-drus-uuna
antunna ta-drus-na
hum       ya-drus-uuna
hunna    ya-drus-na

Lesson 15- Dual Forms and Plurals

Unfortunately, the plural is one of the most complicated things to learn in Arabic.

"Numbers" of nouns in English, French, Spanish, and other Indo European languages are divided into two categories- one, and more than one ("plural").

However, in Arabic, numbers of nouns are divided into three categories:
one
two
more than two ("plural")

"Two" of a noun is not considered the plural, but the "dual."  This is a pain to learn.  There are actually dual pronouns (you two, they two) but they are not used except in religious speech and poetry so we will not learn them now.  Apart from learning separate pronouns, the dual is fairly regular and easy to learn.
The dual ending in colloquial speech is -eyn.

beyt  a house
beyt-eyn  two houses

walad  a boy
walad-eyn  two boys

musaafir  a traveller
musaafir-eyn  two travellers

Feminine nouns turn the "ah" at the end into a "t" sound before adding the dual ending.

sayaara  a car
sayaart-eyn  two cars

marhaba  a hello ("a greeting")  ("Hello!")
marhabteyn  two hellos  ("Well, hello hello!"  "Hello back to you!")

The Plural
The Plural (more than two) in Arabic is not so easy.  We will be learning a simplified version here which is used in Spoken Standard Arabic.

There are 4 different kinds of plural forms in Arabic.
1.  Masculine nouns ending in -iin  (called Sound Masculine Plurals)
2.  Feminine nouns ending in -aat  (called Sound Feminine Plurals)
3.  Masculine nouns where the consonants are "broken apart" with new vowels, prefixes and suffixes (called Broken Plurals, clearly the most irritating thing about learning Arabic)
kitaab a book
kutub  books

baab a door
abwaab  doors

ustaað  professor
asaatiða  professors

4.  In many cases, the singular form is used, such as when the word is following words like "some" or certain numbers.

Sound Plurals
With Masculine nouns, it is impossible to know whether a certain noun uses a Broken Form or a Sound Form.  Luckily, in Colloquial languages, the broken plurals are seldom used, except for a few words, and substituting the sound plural ending will usually communicate your meaning.  However, this shortcut will not enable you to learn how to read or write, since in written Arabic Broken Plural forms are always used when they are called for.

suurii  Syrian
suuriiyiin  Syrians

urdunii  Jordanian
urduniiyiin  Jordanians

almaanii  German
almaaniiyiin  Germans

Feminine plurals are much easier, and usually take the ending -aat.
sayaara  a car
sayaaraat  cars

mushkila  a problem
mushkilaat  problems

madrasa  a grade-school
madrasaat  grade-schools

maktaba  a library/bookstore
maktabaat  libraries/bookstores

Broken Plurals
Unfortunately for the learner, the majority of Masculine nouns have Broken Plural forms.  There are very many different patterns- so many that it is not worth trying to memorize the patterns all.
Some common ones are
aCaaCiCa
CawaaCiCa
CuuCuuC
CuCaaC

You are going to just have to learn masculine plurals with the singular form- otherwise you won't be able to read or write.

beyt  a house
buyuut  houses

bank  a bank
bunuuk  banks

raakib  a passenger
rukkaab  passengers


Even adjectives sometimes have Broken forms which are used with masculine plural forms.
kabiir  big
kibaar  big (plural masculine form)

3arabii  Arabic
3arab  Arabs

inkliisii  English
inkliiz  English (plural)

amrikii/amayrkii  American (form used depends on region)
amayrkaan  Americans

Singular form
One important use of the singular form for Plurals is when asking "How much?" of something.  The word "how much?" is the word kam in Arabic, and is used with the singular form of the noun.

kam kitaab?  How many books?

kam waqt?  How much time?

kam beyt?  How many houses?

Lesson 14- Arabic Dialect Regions

The Arabic Language is not really a language but a collection of languages.  The Arab world is tightly knit together by the Muslim religion, which reads the Qur'an as its holy book.  The language of the Qur'an forms the basis of the Arabic which is used as a Lingua Franca among all Arabs to communicate.  This Lingua Franca is the language taught in schools and is the language of writing.  It is called fus-Ha in Arabic.

Most books, magazines, newspapers, and websites are written in fus-Ha.  However, some books and magazines may be written in a local dialect, called a lahja in Arabic.  While Arabs tend to think of these dialects as 3amiiya or "slang" forms of the original Qur'anic Arabic, which they consider to be the True Arabic Language, Western linguists (who are usually Christian or agnostic) consider them to be separate languages just as French, Spanish, and Portuguese are different from Latin.

The Arabic mindset is full of such socio-political factors and the entire language and culture is heavily influenced by Islam.  When studying a culture as foreign as that of the Arab peoples, it should be kept in mind that Westerners have similar socio-political influences in our own lives, which are usually hidden from our own perception.

The Arabic dialects/languages are vastly different from the Lingua Franca fus-Ha and mutual intelligibility is low in some countries.  These dialects/languages are divided into regions where the dialects are similar to each other, share vocabulary and pronunciation, and also have similar cultural outlooks.

In this post, we will examine the major spoken Arabic regions of the Arab world.

Starting in the far Eastern side of the Arab world,
Region I:  The Maghreb
The maghreb-i Arabic region consists of Moroccan, Algierian, Tunisian, and, tentatively, Libyan Arabic.  Moroccan and Algerian are mutually intelligible, as both have been heavily influenced by the non-Semitic Berber languages.  However, Moroccan has been more influence by Berber languages than Algerian.  Berber languages have entire sentences devoid of any vowels, instead using sonorous letters such as "m", "n", "r" "sh" and "l" as vowels.  Moroccan Arabic speech is vowel-scarce, and can be intimidating to Westerners to learn.
Moroccan:  mtshrféen- nice to meet you
Algerian:  mitshirféén- nice to meet you

A true Present tense is marked in Moroccan Arabic by the prefix kan- attached to the Non-Past form.
nti kantktub-ii  you(f) are writing.
nta kantktub  you(m) are writing

Libyan Arabic is heavily influenced by the vowel-rich Egyptian dialect region, which has rules to add vowels when too many consonants are found in a row.

Speakers of Libyan Arabic and Moroccan Arabic have trouble understanding each other, but Algerians understand both Moroccans and Libyans.

The Maghreb is also heavily influenced by French as the three nations Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria used to be French colonies.  Maghrebi Arabic is marked by thousands of imported French words in every day use, and widespread bilingualism between French and Arabic among the educated, with educated young people code'switching, alternating French and Arabic sentences in the streets of major cities. Maghrebi Arabic is also the Arabic most spoken in France, as most of France's Arab immigrants are of Maghrebi origin.

Region II: Egyptian Arabic Region
This region comprises Egypt, which is the center of the Arab movie and music industry, and also tentatively includes Libya and Northern Sudan.  Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world, with over 80 million people, and over 20 million living in the metro area of the capital city, al-qaahira (Cairo).
Egyptian Arabic is easily distinguished because the letter j is pronounced as English g, leading to pronunciations of words like rajul as ragul and jamiil as gameel.  Other notable features of Egyptian are the definite article il instead of Standard aL and doubling of k and g.
ir-ragul ik-kabiir  the big man (the great man)
This substitution of "i" for "a" pervades the language.

inta instead of anta
inti instead of anti
intu instead of antum/antunna

The true Present Tense in Egyptian is marked with the prefix b- attached to the Non-Past.
ana badrus I am studying
inti btadrosii  You(f) are studying.
inta btadros  You(m) are studying
(n)aHna mnadros  We are studying.

The sound q is pronounced as ' by Egyptians.  naquul we say becomes na'uul.
Most Arabs have a working understanding of Egyptian, even if they can't speak it, since most movies, music, and television shows are produced in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic.    "What" in Egyptian Arabic is "ey" and "yes" is a dark aa sound as opposed to na3am which is used for responding to one's name.  "No" is chopped "La' " with a noticeable glottal stop at the end.

Region III:  The Levant
Levantine Arabic is spoken in Israel, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, a region called "The Levant" by Middle-Eastern political scientists.  All of these dialects share features with each other, but Israeli and Palestinian Arabic are heavily influenced by both Egyptian and Hebrew.  Levantine Arabic is the standard dialect stratum for teaching Colloquial Arabic to diplomats and students in universities.  In common with Egyptian is the Present Tense marked by b-.  We will be using this prefix in this course to make Present Tense sentences.  One notable difference from Egyptian among all Levantine dialects is the normal pronunciation of j as j or even as zh as in English pleasure or measure.  Feminine and final -a(h) often become -e(h), such as in madrese for madrasa, Tebbuule (English "tabbouli") for Tabbuula, ente for anta and m3alme for mu3allimah teacher. Also, inta is in someplaces replaced by int, and naHnu is replaced by iHna.  There are significant cultural and vocabulary differences from Egypt, especially the farther from Egypt you get, such as into Syria or Jordan.  "What" in Levantine Arabic is shuu and "yes" is a long "éé" sound.  "No" is drawn out, Light colored laaa or a "tsk" sound with an upward flick of the eyes.

Region IV: The Gulf
Gulf Arabic is spoken in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emrates, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, and Oman, with significant differences between the Iraqi dialect and the Omani dialect.  The heart of the Gulf region is Saudi Arabia, home to Mecca makka and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam.  (The third holiest city in Islam is al-quds Jerusalem).  Lying at the heart of the Arabic world, Saudi Arabic is the closest to fus-Ha,with many forms resembling the Standard Language, and the highest level of mutual intelligibility between dialect and Standard Book Language.  Gulf Arabic is marked by pronunciation of q and often k as English g, and the standard forms ana, anta, anti, howa, hiya, antu, hum being augmented by aHna for "we."  (need to double check the aHna).

Region V:  Muslim Sub-Saharan Africa
The fringe of the Arab world is found in the nations of South Sudan, Western Sahara, and Mauritania, where tribal languages compete with Arabic for the language of daily life.  Educated Muslims can speak fus-Ha somewhat fluently, but are often trilingual or polyglots, speaking four or five languages to communicate with other tribes.  The level of Arabic proficiency in these regions is generally divided by race, with ethnic Arabs speaking fluent colloquial Arab dialects such as Juba Arabic in Sudan, which is more of a creole of Arabic and local tribal languages than a dialect of Arabic per se.  Literate Muslims of all races can read, write and speak Standard Arabic according to their educational success.  In the case of Somalia, a completely different language called Somali is the language of daily life, which is written in a modified version of the Roman alphabet.

Speakers of fus-Ha will favor slang and pronunciation drawn from their native colloquial dialect.  Since no one is "born" a native speaker of Standard Arabic, the differences between regions are not considered "more" or "less" correct, but are modified from conversation to conversation so that communication between speakers from different regions becomes possible.  

Lesson 13- Hidden vowels on the ends of nouns

In Lesson 12, we saw ar-rajul uL-kabiir.    Where did this "u" come from?

In English, there are three cases:
Subject:  I he she we they
Object:  me  him  her  us  them
Possessive:   my  his  her  our  their

Arabic has these same three cases.  In the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, all the case endings are written on the end of every noun, and they are always pronounced.  However, in normal speech, the case endings are dropped.  The only evidence of them is when they show up as "ghosts" in "helper vowel" situations with the definite article, as in ar-rajul uL-kabiir.

The fact is, you don't need to memorize and use these case endings correctly to speak Modern Spoken Standard Arabic, since they are not used.  However, it is good to glance over them a few times so that you can understand what they are and why the definite article sometimes looks/sounds different.

Here are the three cases:
Subject:  -u
Object:   -a
Possessive:  -i   (also called "Genitive")

These vowels are often combined with the usually unpronounced indefinite article -n.

Indefinite case endings:
Subject case:  -un
Object case:   -an
Genitive case:  -in

These attached to nouns in the following ways.

Masculine nouns:  The indefinite case endings are attached directly to masculine nouns.

rajul-un  A man (subject)
beyt-un  A house (subject)
dars-un  A lesson (subject)

rajul-an A man (object)  [as in, "I hit a man"]
beyt-an  A house  (object)  [as in, "I entered a house"]
dars-an  A lesson (object) [as in, "I studied a lesson"]

rajul-in  of a man  (genitive)  [as in, "The strength of a man"]
beyt-in  of a house (genitive)  [as in, "The size of a house"]
dars-in  of a lesson (genitive)  [as in, "The subject of a lesson"]

The regular case endings are used when the Definite Article is attached to the front of the noun.

ar- rajul-u  The man (subject)
aL-beyt-u  The house (subject)
ad-dars-u  The lesson (subject)

ar-rajul-a The man (object)  [as in, "I hit the man"]
aL-beyt-a  The house  (object)  [as in, "I entered the house"]
ad-dars-a  The lesson (object) [as in, "I studied the lesson"]

ar-rajul-i  of the man  (genitive)  [as in, "The strength of the man"]
al-beyt-i  of the house (genitive)  [as in, "The size of the house"]
ad-dars-i  of the lesson (genitive)  [as in, "The subject of the lesson"]

The feminine forms of the case endings are almost never heard in Standard Spoken Arabic, since they change the silent "h" at the end of feminine words to a "t" before being added.

madrasa-t-un  a grade school  (subject)
imra'a-t-un      a woman (subject)
sayaara-t-un   a car (subject)

madrasa-t-an  a grade school  (object) [as in "I entered a school"]
imra'a-t-an      a woman (object)  [as in "I love a woman"]
sayaara-t-an   a car (object)  [as in "I crashed a car"]

madrasa-t-in  of a grade school  (genitive)  [as in, "a student of a school"]
imra'a-t-in      of a woman (genitive) [as in, "the scent of a woman"]
sayaara-t-in   of a car (genitive)  [as in, "the sound of a car"]

With the definite article, the -n is removed.

aL-madrasa-t-u  the grade school  (subject)
aL-mar'a-t-u      the woman (subject)
as-sayaara-t-u   the car (subject)

aL-madrasa-t-a  the grade school  (object) [as in "I entered the school"]
aL-mar'a-t-a      the woman (object)  [as in "I love the woman"]
as-sayaara-t-a   the car (object)  [as in "I crashed the car"]

aL-madrasa-t-i  of the grade school  (genitive)  [as in, "a student of the school"]
aL-mar'a-t-i      of the woman (genitive) [as in, "the scent of the woman"]
as-sayaara-t-i   of the car (genitive)  [as in, "the sound of the car"]


Speaking like this makes you sound like a schoolteacher or someone reciting Bible verses all the time from the King James version.
Oba 1:2  Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
Oba 1:3  The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
However, Sheikhs and Imams in Mosques do talk like this in their sermons, especially when reciting the Qur'an or the Hadiith (the sayings of Muhammad).

Lesson 12- More adjective agreement

Adjectives also have to agree in definiteness or indefiniteness with the nouns they describe when there is no "is" between them.

aL-mar'a      L-jamiila  The beautiful woman
the-woman   the-beautiful

rajul      kabiir  a big man
a-man   a-big

(a)r-rajul-(u)   L-kabiir  The big man
the-man           the-big

(a)s-sayaara L-jamiila  The beautiful car
the-car          the-beautiful

madrasa jayyida  a good school
a-school  a-good

aL-madrasa L-jayyida  the good school
the-school     the-good

ad-dars-(u)    S-Sa3b  the difficult lesson
the-lesson  the-difficult

aL-lugha        L-3arabiiya  the Arabic language
the-language  the-Arabic

aL-lugha        L-inklisiiya   the English language
the-language   the-English

Lesson 11- More Verbs

d-r-s  studying

present stem drus

ana     a-drus   I am studying.

anta    ta-drus   You(m) are studying.

anti     ta-drus-iina    You(f) are studying.

huwa   ya-drus     He is studying.

hiya    ya-drus-iina   She is studying.

naHnu  na-drus          We are studying.

antum   ta-drus-uuna   You guys are studying.

antunna  ta-drus-na      You ladies are studying.

hum       ya-drus-uuna   They(m) are studying

hunna    ya-drus-na      They(f) are studying.

Vocabulary:

dars  -a lesson (masculine noun)

ma-dras-ah-  a grade school  (feminine noun)

mudarris-  a grade school teacher/schoolteacher (masculine noun)

3-m-l  laboring, doing

present stem 3mal

ana a-3mal             I am doing/working.

anta ta-3mal           You(m) are doing/working.

anti  ta-3mal-iina   You(f) are doing/working.

huwa ya-3mal         He is doing/working.

hiya  ya-3mal-iina   She is doing/working.

naHnu  na-3mal             We are doing/working.

antum   ta-3mal-uuna      You guys are doing/working.

antunna ta-3mal-na          You ladies are doing/working.

hum       ya-3mal-uuna     They(m) are doing/working.

hunna    ya-3mal-na          They(f) are doing/working.

Vocabulary:

(a)L-3amal - work  (as in, "at work")  masculine noun

3aamil- worker, one who works   (masculine noun)

Lesson 10- Practice with Question Words

First, here are some important words:


haaðaa  this (m)
haðihi this (f)


maa haaðaa?  What is this?

haaðaa beyt.  This is a house.

aL-beyt kabiir?   Is the house big?
na3am, aL-beyt kabiir.  Yes, the house is big.





maa haaðaa?

haðihi sayaarah.  This is a car.

aL-sayaara jamiila? Is the car beautiful?
na3am, aL-sayaara jamiila.  Yes, the car is beautiful.




maaða ta-3mal (inta)?  What are you(m) laboring (doing)?

ana a-drus.  I am studying.

maaða ta-drus?  What are you(m) studying?
ana a-drus (u)L-qanuun.  I am studying law.
Lew samaHt. ana mashghuul.   Excuse me. I am busy.





maaða (inti) ta-3mal-iina?  What are you(f) doing?

ana a-TbuX.  I am cooking.

inti min wayn?  Where are you(f) from?

ana min miSr.  I am from Egypt.

Lesson 9- Equational Sentences

The simplicity of equational sentences in Arabic combined with the lack of the words "is" "am" or "are" makes equational sentences a challenge even for experienced Arabic students.  Long sentences can sometimes be impenetrable for non-native speakers who are unable to find out where the word "is" should go.  The key is to know the vowels of the words which are not normally written in Arabic.  However, we are using the English alphabet and do not have this problem.

Equational sentences using two nouns

The verb "to be" should be inserted in the English translation between two nouns or noun phrases that have the opposite kind of definiteness from each other (definite "the" verses indefinite "a").

Let's review definite and indefinite nouns:
kitaab  a book  (indefinite)
L-kitaab  the book  (definite)

rajul  a man          (indefinite)
r-rajul  the man     (definite)

shams  a sun           (indefinite)
sh-shams  the sun    (definite)

The basic structure goes like this:

[Definite]  is  [indefinite].
[The (subject)] is [a ______. ]

In an equational sentence, the subject is almost always definite and the "predicate," called "xabar" or "news" in Arabic, is almost always indefinite.


The man is a sun.
[(a)r-rajul] [shams.]
[The man] is [a sun]

The sun is a book.
(a)sh-shams     kitaab.
the-sun           a book


The woman is a sun.
(a)L-mar'a       shams.
the-woman      a sun

The man is here.
(a)r-rajul         huna.
the-man           here

Lesson 8- The verb "to be" and adjective agreement

There is no word for "is," "am," or "are" in Arabic.  (The words "was" and "were," however, do exist.)  "Equational" sentences in Arabic do not need the word "to be" in the present tense because it is implied automatically by context.

Adjectives have to agree with nouns in Arabic, just like in Spanish.  Masculine nouns take masculine adjectives, feminine nouns take feminine adjectives.


jamiil beautiful (masculine form)

The feminine form in Arabic works exactly like Spanish.  The letters -ah are added to the masculine form, but the h is not pronounced.  Since the h is never pronounced, it will be left out in many examples to help with pronunciation.

jamiil-ah  beautiful (feminine form)  

hiya jamiila.  She is beautiful.

As you can see, the word "is" is not used in Arabic.  "She beautiful" in English means "She is beautiful" in English.  This operates similarly to African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and to Russian.  However, unlike Russian, no "--" sign is needed in writing.


huwa jamiil.  He is beautiful.
hiya jamiila.   She is beautiful.


kabiir  big (m)  
kabiirah  big (f)

hiya kabiira.  She is big.
huwa kabiir.    He is big.


Saghiir  small (m)
Saghiirah  small (f)

hiya Saghiira.  She is small.
huwa Saghiir.    He is small.

Tawiil  long, tall


huwa Tawiil.  He is tall.
hiya Tawiila.  She is tall.


qaSiir  short

anta qaSiir.  You(m) are short.
anti qaSiira.  You(f) are short.

Notice that the masculine pronoun "anta" ends in -a but is masculine.  This is a source of confusion at first.

Lesson 7- Question Words

Questions words vary by country.  I don't know all the question words from every country, but I will list some of the ones I know here.  You may need to learn different question words when going to a certain country.

Standard fus-Ha Arabic Question Words  (Learn only these for now.)

man  ("muhn")-     who
weyn                   where     (more formal:  eyna)
maaðaa                 what  (object of a verb or preposition:  What are you eating?)
maa                     what  (subject of a sentence with "is":  What is that?)
mata                    when
keyf-(a)               how

"Why" is "to what (purpose)" or Li-maaða using the preposition "Lii" meaning "to" and maaða.
"From where" is min wayn or min eyna using the preposition "min" meaning "from."

Egyptian dialect:
miin                     who
eyn                      where
eysh                    what (object of a verb or preposition:  What are you eating?)
ey                        what  (subject of a sentence with "is":  What is that?)
kiif                       how


"Why" is "to what (purpose)" or Leysh using the preposition "Lii" meaning "to" and eysh.

Syrian dialect:
shuu                  what
weyn                 where
kééf                   how

"From where" is mnéén, a combination of the preposition mn meaning "from" and eyn meaning "where."

Moroccan dialect:
shnuu                what
féén                   where (é is a French pure "ey" sound with no glide.)
min féén            from where

Lesson 6- The Arabic Alphabet

Now that you know a little Arabic, it's time to learn the Roman Alphabet which we will use to learn Arabic on this blog.  The letters are labelled "light" or "dark"

Consonants:

'  glottal stop (catch between "uh" and "oh" in "uh-oh")    Light
b  Light  (baa  "bad")
t   Light  (taa   "tad")
th as in "think", never as in "that" (see ð)   Light   (thaa  "thank")
j  Light  (jaa  "jag")
H  breathe out forcefully on your glasses to fog them up and clean them.  Light  (Haat rhymes with "hat")
X  Hebrew sound as in "Chunnakah" or German "ach."  also spelled Kh   Light  (xaa  "hat")

d   Light  (daa  "dad")
ð   th sound in "that" Light (ðaa  "that")
r    trilled as in Spanish  Dark (raa  rhymes with "law").  Also makes the preceding vowel Dark
z   Light  (zaa  "Zack")
s   Light  (saa  "sad")
sh  Light  (shaa  "shack")

S   "ngsa" velarized, also called "emphatic" Dark  (Saa  "ngSaw")
D   "ngda"  velarized/emphatic   Dark  (Daa  "ngDog")
T   "ngta"  velarized/emphatic  Dark  (Taa  "ngTall")
Z   "ngza"  velarized/emphatic  Dark  (Zaa  "ngZog")

3   an English "r" sound made with the back of the throat, where the throat joins with the chest, instead of with the tongue.  This is the hardest letter for English speakers but is an important sound in many words.  An unpleasant way to learn it is to swallow, and notice which muscles are used.  The tongue is perfectly still while making this sound.  Use the swallowing muscles to make an "r" sound as you say "raa" "raa" "raa" with your swallowing muscles and leaving your tongue completely unused and relaxed.  The Arabic name for this letter is 3ain and it is used in the name of the language- 3arabi  "Arabic."  It is called a "voiced pharyngeal fricative" in linguistics and is a common feature of Semitic languages, Ancient Egyptian, and some Native American languages.

gh  this is the Arabic spelling of the Parisian French "r" gargling sound.  Arabic speakers do not think of it as an "r" sound but instead as a smooth "g" sound.  This is a confusing transition for French speakers and requires a deep psychological shift when thinking about the letter "r."  One confusing thing is that Arabic has many words imported from French, but instead of using the letter "gh" and keeping the original pronunciation of French r, Arabs shifted the French gargled "r" to an Arabic flapped "r", which is more like Spanish, and sometimes shifted French letter "g" to the "gh" sound.  Thus the French name Marguerite should be pronounced maghkeghit, which would be almost exactly as it is in French, but instead is pronounced margherit by some Arabic speakers, which is unrecognizable to French ears.  English Maggie is pronounced maaghghi in Arabic and sounds almost exactly like French "Marie."   Dark  (ghaa  French "ran" sound without nasalization)
f  Light  (faa  like British "fast")

q  This is the second most difficult sound for English speakers.  It is a "clicked" letter "k" made with the little dangly thing which hangs in the back of your throat (the uvula).  One way to practice making it is to say a "k" sound, notice which part of the tongue is against the roof of the mouth, then to flatten that middle of the tongue against the bottom of the mouth and say the "k" sound again with the back of the tongue this time, where you would gag if someone touched you there with their finger.  In normal speech, this is pronounced either as a glottal stop (the first letter), or as an English normal letter g.  However, being able to pronounce it correctly is a sign of education.  Dark  (qaa  "god")

k  Light (kaa like "cap")
l  Light  (laa like British "lamb")

Ł  Dark, velarized/emphatic "ngL" sound used only in the important word aŁŁa God  (Łaa  "ngLot")
m  Light  (maa "mat")
n  Light  (naa  "nat")
h  normal English "h"  Light (haa  "hat")
w  Light  (waa  "whack")
y  Light  (yaa  "yack")


Vowels:
In Modern Schoolbook Arabic, also called Classical Arabic, Standard Arabic, Formal Arabic, or fus-Ha, there are only three vowels, with short and long versions, in both Dark and Light versions.
a  /  aa       
i   / ii
u  / uu

            Light                                             Dark

a        Australian accent "hat"        American accent "hut"
aa     American accent "half"         American accent "haul"
i         "hit"                                Darkened Slavic-sounding short "i" sound in English "it"
ii        "feet"  "meet" "keep"           "Darkness" comes trough the nose while saying "f-ngeengt" or "mngeengt"
u         "put"                                   same as Light
uu       "food"                                Darkness adds a slight English "r" sound to the end of the vowel as in English "thorn"

There is also the diphthong "ay" which is considered a combination of "a" and "y" by Arabic linguists but is really pronounced "ey" as in "Hey" in normal speech.

In spoken Arabic dialects, there are many other vowels and combinations.
e  as in Spanish e or French é
o  as in "hope"
ε as in English "met" or French è
and many other colors and flavors particular to each country or region.

Lesson 5- Practice Sentences

(a)r-rajul ya-ktub-(u) L-kitaab.  The man is writing the book.

(a)L-mar'a  ya-ktub-iina r-risaalah.  The woman is writing the letter.  
The ' is a "catch in the throat" made as in English "uh-oh!"  The "-" between "uh" and "oh" symbolizes this "catch," called a "glottal stop" in linguistics.  This sound ' after the letter r in the word mar'a woman means that there is a "catch" after the r just like the - in "uh-oh."  mar-a


anta ta-ktub-u L-kitaab.  You are writing the book. (said to a man)
anta ta-ktub kitaab.  You are writing a book.  (said to a man)

anti ta-ktub-iina L-kitaab.  You are writing the book.  (said to a woman)
anti ta-ktub-iina kitaab.  You are writing a book.  (said to a woman)

ana a-ktub-u L-kitaab.  I am writing the book.
ana a-ktub kitaab.  I am writing a book.

huwa ya-ktub-u L-kitaab.  He is writing the book.
huwa ya-ktub kitaab.     He is writing a book.  

hiya ya-ktub-iina L-kitaab.  She is writing the book.
hiya ya-ktub-iina kitaab.  She is writing a book.

Notice that there is no need for the definite article's "helping vowel" (a)- in these sentences, since the previous word supplies a vowel to the definite article.  This means that the "default suffix" is often being pronounced.  However, when it is not needed, it is usually left out.

Pronouncing the "default suffix" on verbs and other "default" suffixes on other words when they are not needed makes you sound formal, like a preacher in a Mosque on Fridays.  This is too formal for normal conversations and sounds stilted.

New verb:  s-k-n  to dwell
Non-Past stem:  skun


ana a-skun huna.  I am living here.
anta ta-skun huna.  You are living here. (said to a man)
anti ta-skun-iina huna.  You are living here.  (said to a woman)
huwa ya-skun huna.  He is living here.
hiya ya-skun-iina huna.  She is living here.  


naHnu na-skun huna.  We are living here.
antum ta-skun-uuna huna.  You guys are living here.
antunna ta-skun-na huna.  You ladies are living here.
hum ya-skun-uuna huna.  They are living here.  (said about a group of men)
hunna ya-skun-na huna.  They are living here.  (said about a group of women)

Lesson 4- The definite article, dark and light letters

The definite article "the" in Arabic is complicated and takes time to learn.  However, there are some tricks which make it easier, especially if you are a little bit familiar with linguistics.

In essence, there are two definite articles in Arabic which follow a "sound-based" rule, just like the rules for "a" and "an" (the indefinite article) in English.

Rule 1:  If the first letter of the word starts with a letter where your tongue touches your teeth, then that letter is doubled.  This is the definite article.

Rule 2: If the first letter of the word starts with a letter where your tongue does not touch your teeth, then the letter "L" is added to the beginning.  This is the definite article.

Doubled first letter definite articles:

r-rajul the man    The letter "r" is pronounced as a flap like in Spanish.  The closest sound is the English "tt" in "kitty" or "betty."  Since your tongue strikes the roof of the mouth near the teeth, the definite article for the word rajul is doubling.  This "r-r" sound sounds like the long, trilled r in Spanish "carro."
sh-shams the sun  The letter "sh" has your tongue touching right near the teeth at the roof of the mouth.  So the word shams has a doubled first letter as the definite article.  This sounds like saying a long "Sh!" to hush someone before saying the word for sun.
Ț-țaalib  the student The Arabic letter ț, which is called "dark t" by some linguists, as opposed to "normal" or "light" t, is made by pressing the front of your tongue against the teeth to make a "t" sound, while the back of your tongue is trying to make a "ng" sound.  This is called "velarisation" in linguistics because the place where the tongue makes the letter "ng" is called the "velum" in linguistics.  "Dark" letters all have the tongue making a silent letter "ng" while saying the letter with the front of the tongue, and that changes the vowels which come after them to a "color" which is called "dark" by Arabic linguistics. The dark letters are:
"ngta"   T  (capital T)
"ngza"  Z  (capital Z)
"ngsa"  S  (capital S)
"ngda"  D  (capital D)

A comparison of dark and light sounds:
An English word is given with the vowel sound of the Arabic combination.  Remember to use the back of your tongue to make a silent "ng" while using the front of the tongue to make the dark letters.

Dark                           Light
Taa   "tall"                   taa    "tad"
Zaa   "zog"                  zaa    "Zack"
Saa   "saw"                 saa    "sad"
Daa  "doll"                  daa    "dad"

Since dark T has the tongue near the teeth, the definite article for the word Taalib student is doubling.  T-Taalib.  The doubled "T" will be silent and will be noticed by the space between it and the previous word, while your tongue holds the silent "T" for one beat.

THESE FOUR DARK LETTERS ALL TAKE DOUBLING as the definite article.


d-dolaar  the dollar  The word dolaar has the tongue pressed against the teeth making a "Light" "d" sound so saying "the dollar" requires doubling.
s-safiir  the ambassador  The word safiir has the tongue near the teeth making a "Light" "s" sound, so saying "the ambassador" requires doubling.

Now let's look at the "L" type definite article.

L-kitaab  the book   The letter "k" has the front of the tongue doing nothing.  It is nowhere near the teeth, so the definite article for kitaab is the letter "L".
L-mamlak  the kingdom  The letter "m" has the front of the tongue doing nothing.  The lips are used to make the "m" sound, so the definite article for the word mamlak is "L."
L-bank the bank  The letter "b," like the letter "m," uses the lips, not the tongue.  So the definite article for the word bank is "L."

Exceptional:
the letter j, even though it is made with the tongue near the teeth, does NOT take doubling and uses the letter "L" instead.  This must simply be memorized as it makes no sense.


L-jumla the sentence
L-jamiil  the beautiful (one)
L-jizaa'ir  Algeria, Algiers
L-jaziira  the island

Helping vowel:
To make the definite article, whether it is doubling or "L," easier to say, a "helping" vowel is added at the beginning of a sentence or phrase.

In Standard Schoolbook Arabic, the helping vowel is "a".  Al-Jaziira
In Egyptian Arabic, the helping vowel is "i".  Il-Jaziira
In the Israel/Palestine area, the helping vowel is "e".  El-Jaziira

Because Westerners rarely speak Arabic and don't know the difference, all three of these forms of the definite article are found in the English press, in English books and magazines, and in English daily conversation.

Here are some Arabic words in English and other languages:
(a)L-kuhul  -> alcohol
(a)s-sukkar  Spanish azucar (sugar)

and many other words starting with "al."  

Lesson 3- Verbs- Present tense introduction

There are only two tenses in Arabic: Past and Non-Past.
The Non-Past tense is sometimes inaccurately called the "present" tense by me and other people to make it easier.  However, the true meaning of "non past" vs. "past" can be summarized by comparing the words

"happening" vs. "happened"
"eating" vs. "ate"
"sitting" vs. "sat"
"learning" vs. "learned"

When we read the sentences
It was happening.  It is happening.  It will be happening. 
we see that "happening" can mean something on-going in the past, present, or future.  However, "happened" means that the action is over.
In the same way, the Arabic non-past can be used to describe on-going events in the past, present, or future.  However, it is usually used for the present tense, and can safely be thought of as a "present" tense for the time being by the beginner.

The Arabic Non-Past ("Present") Tense
My system for teaching the Non-Past Tense has worked for me and clarified the years of confusion I spent with Arabic verbs.  It contains an intentional mistake which I have found makes the conjugations much easier to remember, which will be clarified and corrected later.  

The non-past is made up of the first two consonants of the root squished together with a vowel before the last consonant.

k-t-b  writing
non-past stem:  ktub

conjugation pattern

ana     a-ktub(u)             I am writing.
anta    ta-ktub(u)           You are writing. (said to a man)
anti     ta-ktub-iina    You are writing.  (said to a woman)
huwa   ya-ktub(u)           He is writing.
hiya     ya-ktub-iina    She is writing.

naHnu    na-ktub(u)                We are writing.
antum     ta-ktub-uuna        You guys are writing.
antunna  ta-ktub-na            You ladies are writing.
hum        ya-ktub-uuna        They are writing. (said about a group of men)
hunna     ya-ktub-na            They are writing.  (said about a group of women)

As you can see, the a- prefix means first person ("I").  The na- prefix means "we." The ta- prefix means second person ("you" in English).  And the "ya-" prefix means third person ("he" "she" "they").

The -(u) suffix is the "default" suffix and is not usually pronounced, unless the next word requires a vowel at the beginning.  This will be explained later.  Here is the table again, without the default suffixes, which is how these verbs are normally pronounced in Arabic.


ana     a-ktub             I am writing.
anta    ta-ktub           You are writing. (said to a man)
anti     ta-ktub-iina    You are writing.  (said to a woman)
huwa   ya-ktub           He is writing.
hiya     ya-ktub-iina   She is writing.

naHnu    na-ktub                 We are writing.
antum     ta-ktub-uuna        You guys are writing.
antunna  ta-ktub-na            You ladies are writing.
hum        ya-ktub-uuna        They are writing. (said about a group of men)
hunna     ya-ktub-na            They are writing.  (said about a group of women)


Suffixes:
The feminine singular has the suffix "-iina."
And the feminine plural has the suffix "-na"
The masculine plural has the suffix "-uuna"