Among other Writings ly tJie same Author are: —
i.
THE TEXT OF THE IGUVINE INSCRIPTIONS,
with Interlinear Latin Translation and Notes. 8vo. sewed, price 2*.
II.
THE ILIAD OF HOMER. Faithfully translated
into Unrhymed English Metre. Crown 8vo. cloth, price 6*. 6d.
III.
mHE ODES OF HORACE. Translated into Special
_4_ Unrhymed Metres, with Introductions and Notes, Historical uml
Explanatory. Crown 8vo. cloth, price 5s.
IV.
HOMERIC TRANSLATION: A Reply to Pro-
fessor Arnold. Crown 8vo. cloth, price 2*. 6rf.
A
HANDBOOK
MODERN ARABIC:
CONSISTING OF A
PRACTICAL GRAMMAR,
WITH
NUMEROUS EXAMPLES, DIALOGUES,
AND
NEWSPAPER EXTRACTS ;
IN A EUROPEAN TYPE.
BY
FRANCIS Wi NEWMAN,
EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF UNIVERSITY COLLKOE, LONDON ; FORMERLY FELLOW OF
BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD.
LONDON:
TRUBNER AND CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1866.
\ All rights reserved.^
HERTFORD
FEINTED BY STEPHEN
PREFACE.
ARABIC is talked differently in Algiers, in Malta, in
Egypt, in Syria, in Bagdad, and among the Arabs of
ethe des*rt. Nowhere1 is the Arabic of the Koran and
of poetry spoken. The difference of the old and new
is similar in many respects to that between the Greek
of Homer and the Greek dialects at the time of
Xenophon. No modern can without pedantry and
absurdity speak in the older dialect. "When he com-
poses poetry, he may write as Hariri, if he can ; just
as an Athenian or Alexandrian, if he chose to adopt
dactylic hexameters, might use the dialect of Homer.
When tho Arab now writes pross, he < •! Yo chasm
which separates his dialect from t1 , by omitting
tho . which, usocl to : ' . cases of
d While learned
; to forbid tli \T Arabic, and
will have it that the languago has not changed (as if
change were not a necessity of nature and a condition
» See P.S.
VI PREFACE.
of growth), they yet distinctly confess that these final
vowels are not and may not be sounded. But their
omission so mutilates the old grammar, as in itself to
constitute a new dialect. Moreover the words in use
have largely changed, especially those in most frequent
recurrence. A huge mass of meanings have become
obsolete. The dictionaries mischievously heap together,
without distinction, the senses which belong to different
ages or places, and call that " Arabic." Even con-
cerning the Thousand and One Nights, which is more
recent than the age esteemed classical, the learned Mr.
Lane confesses that it is often impossible, " out of
twenty or more significations which are borne by one
Arabic word/' to be sure which was intended by the
author. He declares that the style of that book is
neither classical, nor is it that of familiar conversation,
but is almost as different from the one as from the other.
I hope that I need no further defence for insisting that
to learn the Modern Arabic is not to learn the Ancient,
and to learn the Ancient is not to learn the Modern.
Although the local dialects differ considerably, the
difference is superficial, as in other cases of provin-
cialism. When Arabs write a very unpretending letter,
they lay aside a part of their local peculiarity. Mer-
cantile letters from Syria to Bagdad, or Bussora, or
Tunis, are a rough representation of "Modern" Arabic,
as distinct on the one hand from the purely local
dialects, on the other from the classical language.
PREFACE. Vll
Catafago's English- Arabic Dictionary evidently aims
at this mark. A fuller and far richer exhibition of the
same is in the Arab newspapers ; which, whether pub-
lished in Algiers or at Beirout, are in a dialect and
style closely alike. To this may be added numerous
publications of recent years, which exhibit the Arabs
struggling to put off provincialism, and assume a
common medium of thought. Such is what I under-
stand by Modern Arabic, only its want of vowel-points
leaves many minor problems unsolved. If any one has
urgent need to understand Lancashire talk, he must go
into Lancashire to learn it : so he must go to Algiers,
or to Aleppo, to learn, the local dialect. But if he
wish to learn English, he will do best to learn first,
neither the jargon of our peasants, nor the poetry of
Spencer1 or Chaucer. Such easy prose or familiar lan-
guage as educated Englishmen use, must be his begin-
ning. He will afterwards go with advantage into
any special field of English. The same applies to
Arabic.
A peculiarity of the present Hand-book is its sys-
tematic preference of a European type, and its effort to
put that type on a basis which should remove all objec-
tion to its permanent use. This has been a favourite
object with the writer for more than the third part of a
century, after his early experience of the great and
needless difficulties which the current imperfect mode
of writing Arabic involves. He did not then know
Vlll PREFACE.
that Yolney had long since promulgated the same doc-
trine : but the moment that a European understands
the nature of the case, it needs not even experience to
show the hardship now gratuitously inflicted on the
learner. What would be thought of an English
teacher's common sense, if, when a Frenchman desired
to learn English, he should insist on teaching it him by
a form of writing which omitted short vowels ? Nay,
if a Frenchman, ignorant of English, desired to read
English short-hand, we should regard it as an insanity
in him to refuse to learn our language and our long-
hand first. If any one deny this, further argument is
useless. The sole real question is that of fact : does
the current literature omit vowels ? It does, except for
poetry ; and the vowels of poetry do not show the
actual pronunciation of prose and of cultivated speech.
At present a learner is thrown on the dictionary, to fix
many of the vowels: and since in lcr.ii. ing languages
we must forget much, and we ^nly by
frequent n, he may Lavo tc (• in Ms
dicti pronounce one
wor.1 • Tien,
alas! ti or) io
geld-.. am now
;xn to pi- to the words
whi -y. "YV Lcn the gram-
1 Only Frcroh-.' ro.bic : one c- • \\l an .Arabic word in it ; nor
indeed in Calafago, with his alphabetic -arrangement.
PREFACE. IX
matical analysis of a word is already known, gram-
matical rules will often settle the short Towels ; but
how to analyze the word, is perhaps the very problem
to be solved ; or whether the word is to be active or
passive, is doubted. Moreover, so few of the people are
educated, that their enunciation is very obscure. To
learn the true vowels by the ear, is to the foreigner all
but impossible. When the books and even the dic-
tionaries alike evade to inform him, whence is he to
learn ? Grant that every one will wish ultimately to
read the native short-hand ; still, the speediest way to
attain the power, is, by first learning the language in
long-hand, exactly as if we were dealing with English.
Some years back I printed a handrbill on this subject,
exhibiting a system of European transliteration, and
closing with the following passage : —
"IV. ADVANTAGES OF A EUROPEAN TYPE. — 1. It will split
the difficulties to Europeans learning Arabic, and to Arabs
learning a European tongue. We shall be able to grapple,
first with the language, and afterwards with the Arab type,
and the Arab conversely. 2. What in contemplating new
literature is of high importance, — it will lessen the expense
of printing. 3. It will give to the Arabs capital letters,
Roman letters and Italics ; for many reasons valuable, espe-
cially in facilitating reference by a mere glance of the eye,
and in preventing proper names from being mistaken for un-
known common words. 4. By a more perfect punctuation ,
and by quotation marks, our type has advantage over even
the most carefully pointed Arab text, in ease and quickness
of reading. Much greater is its advantage in ease and cer-
X PREFACE.
tainty over an unpointed text. 5. It will aid foreigners and
natives to enlarge their vocabulary. At present, with an un-
pointed text, even the native is apt to make ridiculous or
disgusting blunders, if he dare to put vowels at random to a
word previously unknown. 6. It will enable Arabs to write
foreign names unchanged, or nearly unchanged ; as Europeans
do. Now, their attempts at foreign names are ludicrous, and
involve enormous error. 7. Small Arab types strain the eyes
of readers painfully ; an important topic to Bagdad, Syria,
and Egypt, where weak eyes and blindness are so terrible a
scourge. 8. Few of even professed scholars ever gain the
same intimate familiarity with an alphabet totally foreign, as
with their own. If the Arabs need European instructors, —
if they need Europeans to co-operate in producing for them
a new literature, (without which they can have no national re-
surrection,)— they must be willing to accept our alphabet.
By it they will multiply a hundredfold their aid from Europe,
and will facilitate their own access to European literature.
9. By duly writing the double system of vowels, the imagina-
tion of Arab readers will be set more upon them, to the
certain softening of Arab elocution, and a great lessening of
its fatigue. At present, from the habit of writing conso-
nants only, the intense effort to distinguish them leads to a
spasmodic and hideous harshness, quite needless when the
distinctive vowel sounds are duly heard. 10. So also the
foreigner, who often proves permanently unable to execute
some of the consonants correctly, will yet, — by cultivating
the vowel sounds carefully, in which he is more apt, — attain
a pronunciation always intelligible, never ridiculous, and at a
short distance will seem to speak correctly. For vowels are
heard further and clearer than consonants. 11. Whatever
develops intellect, excites zeal for research into antiquity. A
really new Literature, in European type, under European
influence, will not make the students of the old literature
PREFACE. XI
fewer; but will enable them to pursue it more fruitfully, with
minds more powerful to select and to fuse."
I distributed this hand-bill in many quarters, and re-
ceived several letters. One learned gentleman briefly
replied, that he " could not see any use in my proposed
change," — entirely ignoring the eleven uses which I
had enumerated. Similar rebuffs came from other
quarters. I suppose, therefore, I must count on nothing
but opposition from the learned, who seem to me dis-
posed much to underrate the difficulties which they have
surmounted, or indisposed to smooth the way of learners-
When the field of learning is infinite, it is with me a
crime to increase difficulty. I do not write for the
learned, but to aid the unlearned : hence I appeal to
the latter alone ; — to those who have good sense, but no
acquaintance with this particular language.
I have been a learner of languages for more than
fifty years past, and have learned much of a few lan-
guages, a little of many. I know what makes them
easy, and what hard : and I positively attest that this
Arabic type is an enormous and gratuitous increase of
difficulty; pre-eminently as to words in which the
vocalization is really uncertain, — in which case one is
ever learning and unlearning, and wrongly (perhaps)
blaming one's memory. It is astonishing that either
protest or reasoning should be needed on a matter so
plain. Suppose us not to be learners, but already
learned. We take up a book, — say, a newspaper, and
Xll PREFACE.
try to read it. To put the right vowels is impossible,
until the eye has glanced forward in the sentence ; for
it may contain half a dozen words with doubtful vowels,
which can only be adjusted by studying the whole. If
the three words A, B, C be doubtful, each depends on
the other two, as well as on the words which have no
doubt. For instance,1 In ceteb, means, If he shall have
written ; Enna ceteb, That he has written ; In cotib, If
it shall have been written; Enna cotib, That it was
written ; Enna cotob, That books — ; and Inna cotob,
Verily books — or — As for books — : and which of these
is correct, depends on what is coming. The text writes
all six perfectly alike. Thus every time one refers to a
sentence, it has to be studied anew. The paper generally
blots, if one try to insert vowel points in ink : hence I
find it takes less time to write out in full, with my own
pen, a work which I want to study, than refer to the
unpointed Arabic text. Why natives make light of
this, it is not my part to explain : but, whatever facility
they have, it is none the easier to foreigners. If, then,
we (or illiterate natives) desire to become expert in the
short-hand, it is wise first to learn the language
thoroughly in long-hand.. At present it is difficult or
impossible to get prose works that have the vowel
points marked. The deficiency of stops, the absence
of parentheses, and the mingling of words, aggravate
other difficulties.
1 It may also be read, Enn, ceteb, He groaned, he wrote.
PREFACE. Kill
The task which I have taken on myself cannot be
done perfectly by me. If a learned Arab could have
enthusiasm for it, and had (as perhaps some may have)
as keen an ear for the English, French, and Italian
sounds as I have; and had been educated in European
grammar as I have ; and knew as well as I, where
Europeans are apt to go wrong, and what they
need ; — he would execute this task better than I. No
foreigner can know, in delicate cases, what vocalization
is, on the whole, best — neither pedantic nor vulgar. I
can but collate the pronunciations sanctioned by Faris,
by C. de Perceval, by Cherbonneau, by De Braine,
by Le*on and Helot, side by side with my own re-
miniscences and my own MSS. written in Syria and
Bagdad, making allowance for a French ear, and the
peculiar deficiency of certain simple short vowels in
French. After all, the delicate cases are few and
exceptional. I am obliged to give directions for pro-
nunciation, and my directions have no pretence to be
perfect. But if they could be perfect, they would still
be insufficient. No Englishman can learn from a book
to pronounce French correctly, and the same is true of
Arabic, whether a native write it, or a foreigner.
The educated natives themselves vary among them-
selves, especially concerning the fine and coarse Towels ;
a distinction which exists, but is not acknowledged in
writing, even when vowel points are added. Between
a and e there is often much uncertainty ; as, whether
XIV PREFACE.
1 adied,1 f. Jadieda (new"), or Jedied, f. Jediede :
but it is no more important than the question whether
command, basket, should be pronounced with the broad
Italian a of Middlesex, or with narrow a, as in midland
and northern counties. In some of these details I
perhaps have not attained consistency of spelling.
Nevertheless, not only is our vowel system immeasur-
ably superior to theirs, but as regards types for con-
sonants, our resources are really great. Greek gives
us three letters, ©AT, identical with C-> ^ £. Hebrew
(a square type, easily harmonized with the Roman,)
gives four letters, BVnV, identical with ^ -\J* r %•
English, in C Q X, has three superfluous letters ; we
may add long Z of old English. It only remains to
use such resources judiciously.
In India European types are extensively used to
write the native languages. Our missionaries employ
them in Africa, in the Pacific, and everywhere else,
with more or less skill. The objections urged by some
of the learned are astonishingly superficial, such as,
that it is " against the genius of a language to bring
in a foreign alphabet." They might seem to think
that the Arabic alphabet had grown out of the soil
with the language. Notoriously, it was adapted from
the Cufic, by the very clumsy method of points, such
as we often employ upon Roman letters. The single
Phoenician alphabet has been modified into Greek,
1 In Aleppo I always heard Jedied, in Bagdad (I think) Jadied.
PREFACE. XV
Coptic, Gheez, Amharic, Etruscan, and Roman ; also
into Estrangelo- Syrian, Cufic, Syriac, Samaritan,
Hebrew, and Arabic. Very few languages indeed
have had an alphabet made for their express use ; and
if there were more such, they would only vex us the
more.
Volney suggested the right thing, but his characters
did not at all harmonize with Roman type. The letters
ought to adapt themselves also to Italics, and be easy
for joining hand, if possible. To dots there are grave
objections. A single dot cannot be large enough to
strike the eye, without being ugly : the printer there-
fore is sure in the long run to make it hurtfully small.
Also in MS. it easily looks like a blot, and mistakes
arise as to which letter it is meant to affect ; hence it
impedes quick writing. A zero is better than a dot ;
yet this blots in writing, and is not so good as a con-
tinuous train of the pen. Besides, as I now know,
unless a printer cut new types, the zero pushes the
letters apart. Accents, and the apostrophe, are wanted
for their own purposes, and in maps all such things
are mischievous. If new types must be cut, it is well
to make the forms as perfect as may be.
The objects to be gained by a system of European
transliteration are so great, that the eleven arguments
quoted above rather allude to than develop them.
Something more must be here added. A sound know-
ledge of geography lies at the basis of modern culture,
XVI PREFACE.
and for it MAPS are necessary. "Without this know-
ledge the Orientals must remain as children, with weak,
empty, and delusive ideas concerning other nations;
incapable of receiving instruction by books or news-
papers. But who will engrave maps for Turks, Arabs,
and Persians in the type of their native MSS? what
publisher in Paternoster Row or New York will under-
take the speculation ? And if such maps existed, what
native seeking information would be able to read them,
traversed by dots innumerable in irregular direc-
tions? An Arab may afford to turn into embroidery
sacred texts with which he is familiar : but if one inter-
lace in a map foreign names unknown to him, they
must be unintelligible in such a character. Only maps
with a very few names, such as are in our children's
schools, could be legible. The Arab vowel points,
utterly insufficient as they are to express foreign names,
would entangle the problem worse than ever ; for, the
objections to using them and to dispensing with them
are alike powerful. But we may further ask, Is INDIA
never to receive modern cultivation ? or is any one
insane enough to suggest that the English Government
will go to the expense of maps in the Devanagari and
Tamil character? — a character far less embarrassing
than that of Arabia. It will be replied, — " Of course
all Indians who desire western cultivation must learn
to read the names on European maps." By the same
reason we are claiming nothing great, in expecting
PREFACE. XV11
Arabs to make themselves masters of two kinds of
type, and learning to transliterate. Most evident is
it, that the world cannot afford to indulge in separate
atlases for Arabia, for Bengal, for the South of India,
for Burma, for China. For all these peoples a pre-
requisite of cultivation is, to learn the characters and
use the maps of Europe. Not indeed our languages ;
that would be a condition too hard to fulfil, a condition
which no despot could enforce. But if a beneficent
Sultan were to establish schools for Arabs, and were to
teach Arabic in them through a European type solely,
this could not be felt as a hardship, in a country where
so very small a fraction of the natives can put right
vowels to the simplest native text.
And this seduces me into a political remark. England
at vast expense sustains an embassy at Constantinople,
and a fleet in the Mediterranean, for the sake (it is
said) of English interests in the East. "When we in-
quire what interests are intended, nothing else is dis-
coverable but that we desire to maintain in Turkey
" good will to our commerce, our religion, and' GUI' com-
munications with India." Men not the Ica^t acute in
tho English .nt have avowed lliclr belief that
our diploir.acy an:l our fleets havo no tendency to pro-
mote this " good will," but rather tho coi trary. Wiih-
out venturing on so largo a question, oao may bo
permitted to assert, that if half the expenso of our
Mediterranean fleet were retrenched, and tho money
XV111 PREFACE.
spent under the direction of our CONSULS in free schools
for the native population of Turkey,— to instruct them
in Geography and the -elementary knowledge to which
it is the key, by the intervention of the European
character and European maps ; — it would do more in
fifteen years to promote the intelligence and prosperity
of Turkey, and with it all the solid and legitimate
interests of England, than ambassadors and fleets can
do in five hundred years.
P.S. — Since the above was in the printer's hands, I
have seen the remarkable statements of Mr. Palgrave,
that in the N. E. of Arabia, which he has opened to our
knowledge, the people preserve in daily talk the final
vowels of classical Arabic. Since no discussion of such
a topic can here find place, it must suffice to remark,
that if the people of that region talk the language
current 1300 years ago in Mecca, it is now a strictly
local peculiarity. In no case can the population, spread
over the vast surface hitherto known, adopt the ancient
dialect, as to its final vowels, or as to words and their
current senses.
CONTENTS.
PAET I.— ON PRONUNCIATION AND WRITING.
BKCT. PAOX
1. Vowel Sounds 1
2. Consonant Sounds 5
3. Relations of Vowels to Consonants 11
4. Process of Transliteration 16
PART II.— ON GRAMMAR.
1. Nouns and Adjectives 19
2. Composite State of Nouns 33
3. Demonstratives and Emphatic Pronouns 39
4. Interrogatives 46
5. Prepositions 48
6. Suffix Pronouns 54
7. Auxiliary Nouns or Quasi Pronouns 60
8. Numerals 64
9. Plurals of Nouns and Adjectives 68
10. Comparatives 73
11. Relative Pronouns ... 75
12. Elements of the Verb 80
13. Types of the Noun 86
14. Auxiliary Verbs 89
15. Classes of the Verb.... , 93
XX CONTENTS.
SECT. PAGE
16. Degenerate Verbs 99
17. Adverbs and Conjunctions 104
18. Ancient Cases of the Noun... .... 109
PART IIL-PRAXIS.
1. Tables of Plurals 114
2. Exercises on " of 118
3. Small Talk without Verbs 120
4. At the Close of a Journey 122
5. At the Caravanserai 124
6. On Dessert 127
7. Talk with a Cook on Catering 130
8. With Muleteers on a Journey 133
9. Coptic Feast 142
10. Two Tradesmen 148
11. Clothier and his Customer 152
12. With a Tailor 155
13. A Stationer with a Paper Merchant 158
14. Specimen of Prose with few Verbs 161
15. Newspaper Extracts 162
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC,
PART I.— PRONUNCIATION AND WRITING.
§ 1. VOWEL SOUNDS.
1. Pronounce a ordinarily as in mutable, coachman, or nearly
as u in mud. Thus, Bann, coffee-bean ; Madd, he stretched ;
Rabb, lord ; are sounded as English bun, mud, rub.
Yet with strong h (K) and Ain (f) the a is sharpened
into French a of salon ; which happens in some other words
not easy to enumerate, as Ana, I ; Aahr, back (sound it,
An-a). Perhaps h in iahr, affects the a.
2. Short e is for the most part sounded nearly as in m8n,
bttl, only not quite so clear. (Whether indistinctness is
here any virtue, may be judged differently in different pro-
vinces.) Thus, Jeb-al, a mountain ; Bel-ad, a district; Med-
iena, a city ; Ceb-ier, great. . [The Englishman must not
pronounce Je-bal, Belad, nor Midiena, Cibier.] Thus also,
El, the ; Tell, hill ; Ente, thou ; Emte, when ? Bel, but.
Nevertheless, e, like a, in many words takes a second sound,
viz., that of English a in man, which is a sound not normal
1
A HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
in French and Italian. This sharpened sound of e may be
heard especially, (1) in connection with c or h; as in Ecbar,
greater ; EcOer, more ; Lee, to thee : where Lee is to be
sounded as English lack, and Bee (in thee) like English lack.
(2) In certain contrasts, such as Nefes, breath, Nefs, self;
Bered, hail, Bard, cold; the second e of the dissyllable is
sharpened so that an Englishman might write Kef- as, Ber-ad.
Indeed in 6?asel, honey, I always heard the e as our sharp a.
3. If certainty could be attained, it might be well to write
a e for the sharper sounds of short a and e ; thus we should
have Ana, I ; Aahr, back ; Ente, thou ; Berad or Bered, hail ;
Bee, in (or with) thee. I awhile attempted this, but found
too many doubtful cases, and too much uncertainty whether
I was pursuing laws of the language or provincial accent.
On the whole I think that *, h, and c tend to modify e into
sharp English a, as f tends to sharpen a : thus *Em, or ;
*Emma, but; *Emr, affair. There are not less than four
different sounds of these two short vowels, which the Arabs
either omit, or express by the single mark which they call
FatEa.
4. Long a (a) is at least as broad as in father, mask, of the
South of England. Indeed with Q the a is apt to take the
deep sound of our au aw in haul, lawl. So too in the word
Allah, God, which an Englishman would be apt to write
Ul-lauh.
5. Long e (e) is as the vowel in dare, bear, hair, their,
there. It is probably old Greek rj, nearly French e, or e.
Many English families or even counties so mince the a in
gra*j), laxkct, castle, command, as to yield the sound of this e ;
but in the South of England it is only heard before r.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 3
6. Short t is as with us in little pin. This sound being
unknown to the French (who are prone to say leetle peen),
one is apt to be misled by French notation which aims to
transcribe Arabic. In Min, from ; Li, to ; Tilf, waste ; Mel-ic,
king ; Sinn, a tooth ; Ma Crib, sunset ; Menzil, lodging ; the
short i is as clear as in English. [In many words the vulgar
are quite indistinct, merging it in o, u, or e. Thus I always
heard Bcla, without ; which Faris writes Bila for the English
learner. The word is a modern formation ; but analogy re-
quires Bila, so I follow Faris. And in some other words, in
spite of provincialism, I cling to the classical Jcisra, where
we have classical guidance.] Observe, — never to pronounce
final short e as i.
7. Long * is as in English machine. It may be written z
to save space; but to economize the circumflex, I write ie
for it, as in our field. Thus Tien, figs; Mediena, city;
Fetiele, wick [not F/tieh', rather Fet-iel^].
8. Short o is ordinarily as our oo in good. Yet when
accented in a closed syllable it is rather the French o, as
Octob, write thou ; Kobz, bread.
9. Our long o in stone, according to Catafago, is not Arabic
at all. Yet the Christians and Jews in Aleppo pretty clearly
say Yoam, a day (with the vowel sound of English boat) ; so
Loan, a colour, etc. In strictness this is a Diphthong.
English oa is only an approximation to it, yet it is an ap-
proximation which will never be misunderstood. In fact,
there are here two sounds, which I write eu, au. Of these
eu approaches to oa, o in boat, bone, and au to ou in our, sound.
The Arabic utterance is here less pure and single than the
English ; two vowels are heard in imperfect combination
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
Thus Yeum, day (nearly Toam), Dau, buttermilk (nearly
Dow). In fact Dawa, medicine, is sounded exactly as Eng-
lish Dow-a [compare dower], and might in Arabic be written
Daua without impropriety.
10. Short u is intended for French u in bureau. In Syria
both o and i often degenerate into u ; especially when o is
repeated. Thus they say Cutob for Cotob, books ; Jubon for
Jobon, cheese ; Fulfol for Folfol, pepper ; Muxmox for Mox-
mox, apricots.
11. Dotted o represents the German sound, nearly French
eu in heureux, jeune. In Syria u is often corruptly sounded
6, as Fo'Sia, for FuSia, silver; Eo'San, for Eu'San, horse.
12. By ui I represent the long French u in lune, perhaps
old Greek vi.
13. The diphthong ou is to be sounded as in French, or in
English you. This might be written u to save space; but
the fewer circumflexes the better.
14. The diphthong ou is a very obscure sound, but perhaps
is that of French oeu in soeur, sister. Compare old Ionic cov.
15. The diphthong at is very near to English * in fire, tile ;
as Kair, good ; Kail, horses ; Fair, other. No one can be
misunderstood, or can seem absurd, who exactly utters here
the English vowel. Yet the Mohammedan Arabs give some-
where more of the double sound.
16. The same remark applies to the diphthong ei. Never-
theless it is all but identical with English ei, ey, in veil, grey,
which is the same sound as in maid, pale. Thus Leil, night,
would be written Lale, or Lail, or Leyl by an Englishman.
The combinations ie, ui ; ei, ai ; ou, ou ; eu, au ; might
with equal grammatical propriety be written iy, uy ; ey,
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 5
ay ; ow, ow ; ew, aw. But such notation would probably be
less acceptable to Western readers.
§ 2. CONSONANT SOUNDS.
17. There are twenty-eight consonants. I call seven mas-
culine or coarse ; seven feminine or fine ; fourteen neuter or
medial. The neuters are — six liquids, 1, m, n, r, w, y ; three
aspirates, 9, k, f ; also the five letters f, b, d, j, x.
18. The liquids are sounded exactly as in English, if you
carefully retain everywhere for r its full vibration (as in the
Irish mouth), even before a consonant, or at the end of a
word : as in Barr, terra firma ; Bard, cold, subst. [for which
an Englishman is prone to write Burrad, as though it were a
dissyllable].
19. Of the aspirates, 6 is as in Greek, or English th in
thin, breath. K, F are commonly written Kh, Gh ; the
former being German ch in auch, or rougher still, as in Swit-
zerland, r is to K exactly as B to P, D to T. Arabic
Ghain (T) is fundamentally the modern Greek T or Dutch
gh, only exaggerated. It is our Northumberland "burr,"
the consonant heard in gargling. Many Frenchmen and
Germans lisp R into F ; hence Hanoteau (in Zouave) treats
the Ghain as a modified R : but this obscures its relation to
the aspirated K. In fact, R, K, F, are all alike vibratory,
and F has no more of R than this common property. The
Arabs say Tefarfor (TEFARFOR) for gargling the throat;
a word suggested by the sound.
In MS. I am accustomed to write G g for Arabic £ and
K k for ~ ; which involves no inconvenience while we deal
6 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
with Arabic alone. But for certain languages into which
Arabic enters, — as Zouave, Persian, Turkish, — this is ob-
jectionable; since G is there wanted for its English sound;
and it seems a pity to waste Greek F, when we have it to
our hand. Even in Arabic, English G is often useful for
writing proper names ; as in Giana (Guiana), Gienia ( Guinea],
Ingliez (English), Ingilterra (England). Indeed in a few
Arab nouns the English hard g is heard : thus Nargiel for
Narjiel, cocoanut ; Dongola, a heron. It is regarded as a
peculiarity of the Egyptian dialect always to harden the
Jiem (,— ) into Giem, which is an approach to Hebrew. But
no further notice will be here taken of this.
20. E, b, d, j, are sounded as in English : only perhaps
the d is slightly dental, as with Erench and Italians. Eor j
the Erench write dj, the Germans dsch, which are too clumsy
for transliteration, and grammatically objectionable, especially
when the letter has to be doubled. Finally, x here repre-
sents English sli, as in Portuguese, not without historical
excuse ; for x of Latin stood for Greek £, and the represen-
tive of this in Phenician and Egyptian seems to have de-
generated into the sk and sh. But convenience is here the
chief argument. We cannot afford to waste the x.
21. P and Y are found only in foreign words, as Vapour, a
steamboat, which will probably prove an inevitable noun.
Marceb-a-nar, (fireship) suggests a different thing. In such
names as Petersburgh, Paris, Vienna, Valparaiso, we need
P and V. [Also in Persian, Turkish, Zouave, the sounds of
English tch and Erench j are found, as well as the hard
English g. These three are all marked in Turkish type by a
triple dot (*) which in MS. is habitually imitated by the
HANDBOOK OF MODERX ARABIC. 7
circumflex (*). A triple dot has none of the disadvantages
in printing which a single dot involves. It is not mistaken
for a blot on the MS. ; and it is legible without being so
large as to appear an ugly spot in the types. Hence I think
that c, j, g surmounted by a triple dot will not ill represent
^ , J', <JT, if occasion require, in Indian or African languages.
Nevertheless, if F f be adopted for c , our simple G g suffices
for Persian Gaf.]
22. The seven feminine or fine consonants are s, z, t, A,
c, h, *. S never has the sound of z, but is everywhere sharp.
T is slightly dental, and in Algiers tends to degenerate into
ts, as with the Kabails or Algerine Berbers. A A is as in
modern Greek, or our flat th in the, this. C is nearly our k,
but forwarder in the mouth, and more mincing ; as is the
the case with s, z, t also. The Turks interpose short i after
c, saying nearly (in English orthography) kiean or kyean for
cen. But the Bedouins sound c as our ch in chill, chant,
latch; and the learner who has no opportunity of hearing
the true sound of Q, will do best to give to C its Bedouin
pronunciation ; otherwise he will almost inevitably confound it
with Q. Even at Bagdad the Bedouin sound prevails, at least
before e and i, and it is in perfect analogy with the soft sound
ofy, which is almost universal beyond Egypt. H is perhaps
identical with English h. Pinally * (which is called Hamze)
is a mere hiatw. We are made aware of it even in English,
when we distinguish " an *ice pudding" from "a nice
pudding;" but an Arab would wish to write Anti^ochus,
Italia, where it seems to us absurd to reckon the hiatus as
a consonant. In such a word as Yes*el (he asks), the con-
sonantal power of the hiatus is less obscure.
8 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
23. Between d or e and a the Hamze in modern pro-
nunciation generally becomes y ; thus Mirse^a (anchor) is
Mirse'ya. Even Ma* (water) is pronounced May ; and so we
may write it, the radical letters being mwy. The Moham-
medans make Hamze audible in Xai* (thing). Sometimes
the Hamze between vowels changes to w (and is so written
by the Arabs), especially when the preceding vowel is o or
ou ; as Mowellif (a composer) for Mo^ellif.
24. The seven masculine or coarse consonants correspond
with the feminine, each to each. They are $. 5, t, J, q, E, f ;
5, 5, % A, Q, E, $. The two first are a pouting s and 2.
The lips are protruded, and (natives say) the tongue must be
put between the teeth, with much danger of biting it. The
form of *$ is borrowed from Hebrew ¥• The coarse t (t) is
familiar to us in Irish brogue, when water is pronounced.
The upper gums (or even the palate) must be touched by a
broad mass of the tongue, and the lips opened ; while in the
fine t the root of the tooth is touched by the mere point of the
tongue, and the lips drawn closer. The S is nearly dth of
Englishmen, yet it is not a double sound, but a coarse A
formed by a thick tongue on the gum ; while in fine A the
tongue delicately touches the edge of the fore tooth. Q, is
far deeper in the throat than our k (as c is forwarder in the
mouth than Tc\ and is very soft, — wholly free from vibration.
The foreigner finds his throat soon to become sore at the root
of the tongue from a frequent utterance of Q. It is thought
to be heard from the rooks when they say caw; hence Q,aq
(pronounced Qawq) is Arabic for the crow, generically. Strong
h (E) is often heard from Irishmen. It is wheezing and
guttural, with something of a w in it at the beginning of a
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
word, as in our rare name Whewell. The force of air in the
throat is considerable, and is strangely prolonged when it
ends a word, as MelieK (good), RaE (he went). The letter
Ain (f ) is not merely a hiatus, like Hamze, but a muscular
upward jerk of the chest and stomach, accompanied with an
elevation of musical note to the vowel. It may be called a
spasmodic emphasis, such as a stuttering man executes, when
at last his vowel struggles out; as ^arab (Arabs), Mafz
(goats), Rob? (quarter). A foreigner at first believes it is a
vowel : and it is as much a semivowel as «, st, h, which we
seem able to sound by themselves. Grammatically it is
treated as a pure consonant.
25. In a few words either there is confusion between 5 and
i, or 5 has changed its sound. Aahr (the back), Aohr (noon),
iolme (darkness), NaSuif (clean), (Jaim (bone) ; and in
Syria Eafai (he preserved) ; — are pronounced with J, though
written (in Arab character) with 5 (1?). But Salim (tyranni-
cal), 5 aim ( tyranny), are sounded with 5, as though it were
a different root from Aolme (darkness). [In classical dic-
tionaries KaSuif is dirty, and Naguif, clean /]
26. The terminations -ieq, -iek, -ief, are uttered as if a
short a were interposed before the final consonant. [This is
PatEa furtive of Hebrew.] It is peculiarly important in ex-
pressing -ieq, as 5?atieq (^atie-aq), old; since it at once
discriminates Q from C. Possibly -ieE, -oufi equally have
the furtive a. The learner must most carefully learn to dis-
tinguish the terminations -ief, -icE, -ieh, as in Xanief,
shameful; MelieE, good; Cerieh, unpleasant. In -ief the
muscles of utterance jerk upwards. MelieE must be con-
ceived of by the Englishman as Melie-ahhh, with long con-
10 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
tinued wheezing; and Cerieh as Ceriehi, with final t pro-
nounced very rapidly.
27. The true sound of 0 and A, as explained above, is
retained at Bagdad in familiar talk; also by the Bedouins,
and in reading the Koran or poetry. No one can be mis-
understood when he adheres to the correct sounds ; and they
are so easy to an Englishman, that he ought from the be-
ginning to be punctiliously accurate. To corrupt 0 into s
or t, A into z or d, confuses words essentially different, and
is a really mischievous depravation of the language, though
systematically practised by many even of the learned. To
merge English thin into tin or sin, breathe into breeze or breed,
is just the corruption here deprecated.
28. Double consonants followed by a vowel must be dwelt
on, as in Italian terra, lella. An Englishman is apt to neg-
lect, and indeed not to understand this. Yet we have it in
meanness, soulless, which we should never pronounce meaness,
souless ; nor do we confound nice size with nice eyes, but we
sound double s in the middle of the former. Only at the
end of a word a double consonant cannot be uttered. It
remains double for mere grammatical reasons ; as Modd
(extend).
29. The combination nb is properly sounded mb, as in
Zenbiel (basket), pronounced Zembiel. Its plural is Zenabiel,
where n reappears. [In Syria I used to hear Jan'b, Jen'bi,
as if with a short vowel elided, instead of Jambi (at my side).
This is perhaps comparable to provincial English umbzrella,
musharoom.]
30. The combinations dt, At, it, 0t, Tt, are all sounded as
tt : but for grammatical reasons they are not so written.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
3. RELATION OF VOWELS TO CONSONANTS.
11
31. Vowels arc of three classes, which (imitating native
grammars) I call Fathites, Kisrites, Dhammites. They are
thus arranged :
Short.
Long.
Fathites
Fine
Coarse
e
a
e=e*
a=a*
Kisrites
Fine
Coarse
i
u
ic = iy
ui=uy
Dhammites
Fine
Coarse
o
0
ou=ow
ou=ow
SPECIAL DIPHTHONGS.
Fine
Coarse
ei = ey
ai=ay
eu=ew
au=aw
There is no grammatical difference between a fine and its
corresponding coarse vowel or diphthong. The choice be-
tween the two ia determined by the nature of the contiguous
consonants. Hence even in pointed Arabic they are not dis-
tinguislied. [Short e or a is called FatEa, short t or u Kisra,
short o or 6 iamma.] One general rule must guide us.
There is a close affinity between the coarse consonants and the
coarse vowel-sounds. Even so, the rule holds but imperfectly
of Q, which only with Fathites and diphthongs takes the
coarse sounds.
12 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC.
Learned grammars do not always lay stress on the double
sound of the vowels, if they name it. Oberleitner, indeed,
says (§ 4, 3) : "The vowels have a double sound, emphatic
with the emphatic consonants, soft with the other letters.
This double sound in practical utterance needs peculiar care,
lest words unlike in sense be confounded" Caussin de Perceval,
in his short but valuable modern grammar, lays chief stress
on the difference of a, d from e, £. Of the rest he says
merely, "The guttural and emphatic letters give to the
vowels a vague sound which we cannot express by our
vowels."
32. To a foreigner the Arab consonants are so difficult, that
unless he anxiously attends to the accompanying vowels he has
a poor chance of avoiding ridiculous ambiguities. Towels* are
more easily heard than consonants ; and if we sound them
rightly our errors in the consonants will often escape the ear.
Hence to write this distinction of vowels, and let it impress
imagination and memory, is to us of first importance. Even
before the same consonant n the Arabs say Ana (I), Ente
(thou), though they write the first vowel of each word alike.
Every European writes A in the former word, E in the latter.
Also Man? (who?) is sounded with the vowel of our bun,
none, run. In regard to the neutral consonants there is great
uncertainty whether the coarse or the fine vowels are to be
used. Even concerning Q, before the Kisrites I have more
than once changed my opinion. I have asked a person to
pronounce to me the word ^ju^-i (Sun), and have been quite
unable to ascertain whether Xams or Xems better denoted his
utterance; for he appeared to go backward and forward be-
tween the two, or to express something intermediate. So,
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 13
whether GalaGa or OeleGe be better, may be differently decided
at Bagdad and at Beirout.
33. The fine or feminine consonants have a decided pre-
ference for the fine vowel sounds; but they are sometimes
overpowered by the proximity of a coarse consonant. It is
laid down that in WasaT (middle), SatE (flat roof), the t not
merely imposes a (instead of e) on each word, but changes the
sound of * (or allows it to be changed) into 3 ; so that WaSat,
SatE are a legitimate pronunciation. [So the Latin sounded
scriptus for scribtus, optineo for obtineo.] Sometimes it
affects orthography, Suqfa for Siqf a, hailstone. In a doubt-
ful choice, as, between Bait and Beit (dwelling, lodging) the
soft t seems a reason for preferring Beit, as in Syria. [Faris
directs us to say Bait ; but he also bid us say Al, Anta, Jabal,
Tall, Malic, Madiena ; which every European hears as El,
Ente, Jebal, Tell, Melic, Mediena.]
34. Immense ambiguities result from negligence of pro-
nunciation as to coarse and fine sounds. Contrast —
Fitna, sedition; Futna, prudence.
Ser, he proceeded ; 5ar, he has become.
Tebaf , he followed ; ^aba? , he printed.
Seif, a sword ; Saif, summer.
Scut, a whip ; Saut, a voice.
SilaE, arms; SulaE, pacification.
Semm, poison ; Samm, was deaf.
Teb, repented ; ^ab, was nice.
Terec, he left ; ^araq, he knocked.
Cel, he measured ; Qal, he said.
Ces, cup ; Qas, he measured.
Sehil, easy ; SeEul, seacoast.
14 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
Ficr, thought; Faqr, poverty.
Hedd, he demolished ; Eadd, a limit.
Herab, he fled ; Earb, war.
Cewi, he branded ; Qawi, strong.
*emal, he hoped ; Carnal, he worked.
So as to difference of mere vowel :
Dohn, grease; Dahin, greasy.
Xoub, dilute; Xaub, sultriness.
Nour, lustre ; Naur, a blossom.
Dain, a debt ; Dien, (the) faith.
Earr, heat ; Eb'rr, free, well-born,
^ufl, a young child ; ^afal, potter's clay,
^ajal, haste ; 5>ajil, urgent ; ®ujl, calf.
Dibb, creep ; Dobb, a bear.
If the Arabs ever have new intercourse with the foreigner,
with renewed cultivation and increased refinement, it is pro-
bable that their harsh consonants will be greatly softened. A
day may come when the words ^Tuin (clay), Tien (figs), will be
distinguished by the vowels alone, as Loam and Loom in
English. It is truly strange that a system of writing, which
(at its best) makes no effort to distinguish such vowel differ-
ences, should be imagined perfect.
35. Hebrew is believed by Gesenius to have had funda-
mentally the same triple distinction of vowels as Arabic ; but
when the Masoretes analyzed the pronunciation more care-
fully, they greatly increased the number of vowel marks.
In English some consonants change the sound of vowels.
\V alters the sound of a to 0 in wasp, what, watch, warp,
wander, etc. R after e, i, u, ai, ea, a, often changes their
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 15
sounds. 0 between w and r takes the same sound as e, i, u.
Such phenomena may aid an Englishman to understand how
Arab consonants may modify the vowels.
36. Of the neutral consonants d has a special affinity for
a rather than e : the same is sometimes visible of n, b, j.
Thus we have (with sound as in English Dumb) Dam* (blood)
not Dem; Bann (coffee bean) not Benn; Dabbe (beast)* not
Debbe; Jabb (an open well) not Jebb; Janb (a side) not
Jenb. When natives write these distinctions of vowels they
may elicit some general laws at present unknown. Yet it
may be safely laid down that E, K, F, in common with Q,
have an affinity for the coarse Fathites (#, d} and for the
coarse Diphthongs (ai, au}. With these exceptions, the
neutral consonants incline to the fine vowel sounds; and
none of them ever assume d, ou, ui. We might add u, but
for the Syrian pronunciation Cutob, Fulfol, etc., mentioned
above in J^ri. 10. I also used to hear Jufn (eyelid); for
which Freytag has Jefn, Jifn, Jofn, as if labouring in vain to
express the sound.
37. W, y, *, are called weak consonants, and the other
twenty-five, strong. When a weak consonant closes a syllable,
it is sometimes dropped, and may be denoted by the apostrophe,
as Rama' (he threw) for Ramay. [Catafago usefully intro-
duced this apostrophe."] But generally the weak consonant
coalesces with the vowel ! thus 0% e* become d, £, and t*
(which is rare) is sounded ie. Thus Mi'ya (a hundred) =
Mieya = Miyya. But aw, ew, ay, ey, are identical with the
diphthongs au, ei, at, ei.
* The a is shortened into a before the double consonant. This is a
general rule. It is written «, not a, for grammatical reasons.
16 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
§ 4. THE PROCESS OF TRANSLITERATION.
38. Rules for transliteration are here given; yet their
application should be judiciously postponed, until some
familiarity with words has been gained. Those words and
combinations with which the pupil is already well acquainted
should alone be written in Arabic character.
The European text has first to be prepared by the following
modifications. Since the Arabs do not write the distinction
of fine and coarse vowels, we must throw that distinction
away. Hence —
(1) Change au, eu to aw ; on, 6u to ow ;
ai} ei to ay ; ie, ui to iy ;
also #' e' to ay ; id, ud to iyd ;
final i to iy ; iey to iyy ; ia to iya.
(2) Final a, e, which is a feminine termination, may be
dotted to represent s (dotted h).
Observe that a, i, o (the only short vowels then remain-
ing), are to be expressed by a vowel point (FatEa, Kisra,
Aamma) attached to the preceding letter. If no letter pre-
cede (i.e. if the a, i, o begin the word), Elif must be written,
to carry the vowel point. FatEa is over the letter, Kisra under
it, but of the same form ; as ^ na ; ^ ni. Aamma (o) is a
comma over the letter; as ^ no. Circumflexed d, £, in
general are denoted by Elif \ with FatEa over the preceding
letter ; but at the beginning of a word the Elif receives in-
stead a circumflex to lengthen it, I .
After adding Elif thus to all words that need it, incorporate
the particles Wa, Fa, La, E, the article El, and the preposi-
tions Bi, Ce, Li, with the word following ; every European
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. IT
consonant being expressed (from the Table in the Frontispiece)
by the corresponding Arabic consonant. The learner will
perhaps at first make errors about Elif, which alone is
anomalous.
The particles Ma, Ae (of He AC) have Elif (\) for a
final letter. In a few words (as Allah, God; Lecin, but;
HeAe, this ; 6ele0, three), the Elif for d, 3, is irregularly
omitted in Arabic text. Final h dotted (*) is written for
feminine -a, -e, or -at, -et, final. But to every plural verb of
3rd pers. ending in ou, Elif is arbitrarily added.
Lastly, the adverbial termination -an, -en, is not to be de-
noted by ^ in the text, but by f with double FatEa.
39. For the actual junction of the Arabic letters, a few
details will be useful. The order of the letters in a word is
the reverse of English; viz., from right to left. The
letters J, ^i j> j> )t »i are never joined to one following,
hence they remain nearly unchanged (except when X4 are
sometimes combined). Elif is joined at the bottom to a letter
before it, as b Id; and Lam-Elif (Id) has the form i or *$.
Most of the consonants end with a flourish, which has to
be cut off in junction: thus — . becomes s>-. Initial h is
written Jb, but h joined at each side is $. M in the middle
of a word is a loop falling below the line. ® (Ain) joined
on both sides is x; joined on one side, it is c. when initial
and £. when final. The letters _, _, £, require that a
letter preceding shall mount above them; hence it becomes
sometimes uncertain to which a dot belongs. When / is
followed by m, the loop of m is generally thrown out to the
right, as X (lm). A double consonant is not written twice in
2
18 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEADIC.
the text, but receives a mark like w over it, called textied.
The same mark is placed over I of the article El, when it is
assimilated to the consonant following. Thus Ommi is .<"\,
S 9 O / *f * ^7
Omem is ~*\, El xams is ^MfcWi.
It is a good rule, extensively used, to retain the two dots
under ^j (y) at the end of a word, when the y is sounded,
and omit the dots when the y is mute ; which is here written
a\ e\
It remains at option to omit all the vowel points.
Expertness in any new type can only be earned by practice.
The learner may get partial help from the words in a later
section, written in alternate type.
19
PART IL— ON GRAMMAR.
§ 1. NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES.
1. GENDEB OF Nouxs. — Arabic Nouns axe masculine or
feminine, often arbitrarily, a. Names of things female are
naturally feminine, b. So are names of countries, towns,
and villages, c. So are the names of the double members of
the body, as Ted, hand; Bijl, foot. d. So are the collective
nouns technically called broken plurals, e. So are most
nouns ending in d, e, a', e\ a, e: as, ®a$a, a staff; Cise,
garment ; Marse', harbour ; Milhe', musical instrument ;
Mediena, city; Melice, queen.
Feminines in a, e, have lost t from the end. Those in
a', e\ have generally lost y, and those in d, $, sometimes wy
sometimes *. In certain inflexions they regain their lost
consonant.
2. The feminine of a noun is sometimes formed from the
masculine by adding a or e ; as Celb, a dog ; /. Celbe, Celba :
5*amm, father's brother, f^amma, father's sister ; Kal, mother's
brother, Kala, mother's sister; Jadd, grandfather, Jaddn,
grandmother. But for the commonest relations and nobler
animals the feminine has an independent name; as Ru'.xfm,
horse, Faras, mare; *Esed, lion, Lebou'a, lioness. [The
20 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
female horse being commoner than the male, the Arabs say
" mare" when the sex is not thought of: as, "Have you no
mare to ride?" "We similarly say cows, sheep; not bulls,
rams. To define the feminine idea Mare, if error be feared,
the diminutive Foraise (filly), says Kazimirski, is used for
Mare.]
3. The ADJECTIVE follows its noun, and agrees with it in
gender. Its feminine is ordinarily formed by adding a, e.
Rajol qawi, a strong man.
Mar*a jamieb, a beautiful woman.
Sabi semien, a fat boy.
Darb wesik(«), a dirty road.
Melic jaliel, a majestic king.
Eint Safiertf, a little girl.
Jariya naEuil^, a slender damsel.
Dar fasieK0, a spacious house.
Celb mouAi, a troublesome dog.
Melice jalieb, a majestic queen.
[Mara, woman, is classical, and is the only word that I
heard from the people. (Do not confound it with Marra, " a
single time," une fois.} In modern prose, the learned appear
always to write Imra'a, a woman.]
Some adjectives end in t (unaccented) which is shortened
from iey, as Qawi, strong, for Qawiey ; Ingliezi, English, for
Inglieziey. In the feminine the accent falls on this syllable,
and the y comes back ; as Qawieya, Ingliezieya.
Adjectives of the type labour (patient) do not form any
special feminine, nor do those which naturally have no
masculine ; as liamil, Eabil, pregnant.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
21
Some verbal adjectives in dn change the termination into a'
for the feminine ; as Secran, drunken, /. Secra'.
Adjectives of the type Akras, Axheb, will be mentioned in
Art. 12 ; and Comparatives in 95-97.
4. For convenience of reference two lists of Nouns are here
given, the gender of which could not be guessed by their sense
or type.
The following are feminine : —
Age, sinn*
Axe, fa*s
Barley, xafuir
(Broad) Beans, foul
Bow, qaus
Bucket of leather, dalou
Buttock, ist
Cup, ce*s
Cuirass, dirt
Earth, *eri
Finger, uSba?
Fire, nar
Fox, 0eflab
Gold, Aeheb
Hare, arnab
Hell, jaEuim
jehennam
House, dar
Hyena, iabf
Left-hand, ximal
cirx
Liver, cibad
Machine, manjanieq
Oath, yemien
Park, firdaus
Paunch,
Lobe,
Ventricle,
Razor, mous
Scorpion, ? aqrab
Salt, milK
Self, Soul, nefs
T' i -w
Horseshoe, ;
Spider, fancebout
Sun, xams
Trowser, xarwal
War, Barb
Well, bi*r
Wind, rieK
Wine, kamr.
• Sinn, properly means Tooth.
22
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
The following are of either gender : —
Arms, silaE
Authority, soltan
Cutlas, kanjar
(FuU) Day, ioEa'
Heaven, sema*
Knife, siccien
Musk, misc
Nape, qifa
Neck, fonq
Peace, selm
SolE
Road, darb
Soil, Mould, eera'
State, Eal
Stewpot, qidr
Tongue, lisen
"Way, Tarieq
Womb, raEum.
Path, sebiel
5. DUAL OF NOUNS. — All nouns form a regular dual. [In
Barbary only names of things naturally double. This is as
Hebrew.] The classical dual has two cases — absolute case
in dn, en; oblique case in ain, ein; but in conversation the
absolute is never heard. Feminines that have lost t, w, y,
resume it in the dual. Indeed, those in a\ e\ are treated as
if they had always lost y, and those in dt e, as if they had
lost w. Thus :
Rajol-ein, two men
Mar*at-ein, two women
Melic-ein, two kings
Melic't-ein,* two queens
Fetey-ein, two lads, two
young men
5*aSaw-ain, two staffs
Marsey-ein, two harbours
Jebal-ein, two mountains
Medienat-ein, two cities
Yed-ain, two hands
Rijl-ein, two feet
Milhey-ein, two musical in-
struments
Ridaw-ain, two mantles
Cisew-ein, two garments.
6. The PLURALS of Nouns and Adjectives are generally
Imperfect and irregular : as Xai% a thing, pi. Axya*, things ;
* Or Mel'cetein.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 23
Insen, a human being, pi. Nes, men, Nise or Niswan, women ;
Celb, a dog; Cilab, dogs. !Most of what are called plurals
are collective nouns feminine ; as, in English, from a Steed
comes a Stud, from Cord, Cordage.
One form of Imperfect plural looks like a classical dual,
but has a vowel change in the penultima; as Nar, fire;
Nieran, fires. I propose to call this the False Dual. The
topic of the imperfect plurals must be postponed.
7. PERFECT PLURALS. — Most feminine nouns in a\ e\ d, €,
make a real or perfect plural in dt, et ; so do many feminines
in a, e; especially when formed from a masculine. Thus
from Melic, /. Melice, queen, pi. Melicet, queens; from
Bafl, /. Bafala, pi. Bafalat, female mules. Almo'st the only
masculine nouns which make a perfect plural are those which
denote tradesmen. These are of the form Kabbaz, baker ;
Baqqal, greengrocer. The nominative ought to be in oun ;
but popularly ien serves for all cases ; as Kabbazien, bakers.
8. ARTICLE. — El, the, is indeclinable', and precedes its noun.
Before fourteen consonants, fancifully termed Lunar, El re-
tains its full pronunciation. But before x, s, z, 3, 5, r, t, 9,
d, i, T, A, n (which, with 1, are called Solar), 1 by an un-
fortunate slovenly pronunciation takes the sound of the con-
sonant following, and is popularly lost to the ear. Thus,
El dien, the faith, is sounded Ed dien. I put a zero under I
to mark this change. [The printer is forced at present to use
a dot for a zero.'] Thus :
El xams, the sun \ But El qamar, the moon
El dar, the house
El ra's, the head
EJ darb, the road
El beit, the dwelling
El melic, the king
El celb, the dog.
21 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
The obliteration of the sound of I, which has invaded half of
the Arabic, is universal in Hebrew. [Whether the likeness
of El to Latin Ille be accidental, is curious matter for inquiry.
Compare Ola, these, Ae-l-ic, that yonder ; Art. 28 below.]
El in some combinations means this ; as Elyeum, to-day ;
EPen, (at) this season, now ; ElseTa, this instant. In such
words I write it as in composition.
Our indefinite article A, An, is understood without expres-
sion.
9. The article El must be added to the adjective as well
as to the noun ; as, El rajol el Tawiel, the tall man. Before
the adjective it then differs little from a relative pronoun ;
" the man who (is) tall." Eeminine a of the noun regains its
/ before EL
El nehr el a'Sfar, the yellow river.
El jariyat el jamiele, the beautiful damsel.
El jebal el xamik, the lofty mountain.
El doroub el wesika, the dirty roads.
El Tafam el Taiyib, the nice food.
El celb el xaris, the illnatured dog.
El dar el cebiera, the great house.
El cilab el mouAiya, the mischievous dogs.
Occasionally a foreign adjective precedes its noun. Thus
(Bagdad) Jceux beit, a good house. Especially in Turkish
titles, as, El lax qawwas, the chief bowman. Then El is
not repeated.
A small number of substantives are current in the sense of
adjectives, and these always precede the noun. The most
important to be here named, are, Coll, Jamief , all ; Cile,
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 25
both; Sou*, ill, evil; Pair, other. Thus, Sou* kabar, ill
news, bad news ; Sou* bakt, ill luck ; Fair xai*, another thing,
i.e., quite a different affair. The opposite phrase is, Farad
xai*, one thing, a single thing, i.e., it is all one, it conies to
the same, it does not matter. [In Bagdad they say, Farad
bafl, "a mule." But this is degenerate style.]
10. There is a type called the NOTJN OF UNITY, which is
often derived from a noun expressing a material, fruit, or small
animals collectively. The type is simply that of a feminine
in -a, -e. Thus :
Kobz, bread ; Kobze, a bit of bread.
LaKm, meat ; LaEma, a piece of meat.
Semn, butter ; Semne, a piece of butter.
Zebieb, raisins ; Zebiebe, a raisin.
5>unab, grapes ; ^unaba, a grape.
Xajar, trees ; Xajara, a tree.
Naml, ants ; Namle, an ant.
^6'ub, brick ; Touba, a brick.
Mafz, goats ; Ma<rze, a goat.
Arabic has many collective nouns, as Kail, horses; Ibl,
camels; Matz, goats; Baqar, oxen; ian, sheep; Mehe, deer;
'fair, birds. But they do not always yield a noun of unity.
Dictionaries tell us that Baqara is noun of unity, and means
an ox as well as a cow ; but the people seem to use Baqara
solely for a cow, which has no other specific name. N.B. —
Since we can say El kobze, the piece of bread, the noun of
unity only suggests A, An accidentally, but does not ex-
press it.
11. If the article is expressed before the substantive, but
26
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
omitted before the adjective, the adjective becomes a predicate,
ami /.s1 or are is understood. (Mixed examples :)
El Earr el xadied,
the intense heat.
El jebal xamik,
the mountain is lofty.
El xajarat el xamiqa,
the lofty tree.
El ce*s faSua,
the cup (glass) is empty.
El soccer taiyib,
the sugar is nice.
El leil el barid,
the cold night.
El bab meftouE,
the door is open.
El xehr el qabil,
the approaching month.
El leil mo Slim,
the night is dark.
El *emr el mohimm,
the important affair.
El xai* mofimm,
the thing is vexatious.
Axya; Eaqiera,
petty matters.
a difficult (grievous) affair.
El *emr el Safb,
the grievous affair.
El zeman tawiel,
the time is long.
El rajol najjar,
the man is a carpenter.
El aulad mouAia,
the children are mischievous.
El hewa barid,
the air is cold.
El qadaK el farif,
the empty goblet.
El kadim EaSur,
the servant is ready.
El darb Tawiel(e),
the road is long.
El tarieq el famma,
the public way.
El belad ha? uid,
the district is distant.
El cilab wesika,
the dogs are dirty.
El Eait el semiec,
the thick wall.
El xabbec moseccer,
the window is shut.
El rieE xadieda,
the wind is intense.
Jihed fasuim,
a mighty enterprize.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN A.EABIC.
27
12. The following list of adjectives may be convenient : —
Great, cebier
Small, Safier
'Mighty, f
Petty, Eaqier
Much, ceOier (Many)
Little, qaliel (Few)
Long, tawiel (Tall)
Short, qa'Suir
High, fali
Low, watu
Broad, farieS
Narrow, iaiyiq
Wide, wesief
Deep, famieq
Shallow, xayif (Catafago)
Thick, sendee
Thin, raqieq
Fat, semien
Lean, naEuif
Heavy, Geqiel
Light, kafief
Strong, qawiey
Weak, Safuif
Intense, xadied
Gentle, laTuif
Hard, (stiff, cruel) qasi
Soft, laiyin
Sharp, Eadd
Blunt, ceU
Quick, aerie?
Slow, ba'tu
Hot, sokn, Earr
Cold, barid (bardan)
• Warm, dafi (dafyan)
Tepid, fetir
Wet, mabloul
Moist, raTub
Dry, yabis
naxif
Clean, naiuif (]o).
Dirty, wesik
Mce, taiyib
Nasty, cerieh
Salt, maliE
Bitter, morr
Sweet, (dulcis) Eolou
(suavis) faAib
Sour, Eamui
Acid, Eamiz
Full, meFan
Empty, farif
Dear, fCili
Cheap, rakie*S
Valuable, nefies
Worthless, f afax (rubbish)
Good, melieE
Bad, radiey
Better, aEsen
28
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Excellent, jaiyid
Vile, raAiel
Useful, nafuf
Useless, batul
Noble, najieb
Yulgar, hemjiey
Superior (in quality),
rafief
Inferior, daniey
"Wise, faqil
Stupid, belied
Learned, ? alim
Ignorant, jehil
Skilful, mehir
Clumsy, faxiem
Happy, set uid
Wretched, mescien
Hale, f afi
Sick, mariei
Rich, faniey
Poor, faqier
Near, qarieb
Distant, bafuid
Ancient, qadiem
Old (thing), fatieq
New, jadied
Difficult, painful, Safb
Easy, sehil
Arduous, Easier
Slight, heiyin.
To these we must add a few remarkable adjectives of the
type Axheb, which express the primary colours or bodily
defects.
Red, aEmar
Green, akiar
Yellow, a$far
Brown, esmar
Blind, afma'
One-eyed, afwar.
Deaf, atrax
Dumb, akras
Blue, ezraq
Grey, axheb
White, abyai
Black, eswad.
Left-handed, axwal
Born lame, a'rraj
Bald, a^Slaf
Leprous, abraS.
They are declined as AEmar, red ; /. Ramra ; pi. Eomr ;
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 29
only that the plural of AbyaX, white, is BuiJ, by a law of
euphony, for Boyi.
The substantives expressing colour, derived from the above,
are Eomra, KoSra, Sofra, Somra, Zorqa, Xohba, BiyaJ,
Sewad(a). Examples :
El semawat Eamra,
the heavens (are) red.
El foyoum seuda,
the clouds (are) black.
El donya zerqa,
the world (sky) is blue.
El kail zorq,
the horses (are) blue (i.e. grey ! )
El qamar abyaX,
the moon (is) white.
El Ingliez buii,
the English (are) white.
El raml esmar,
the sand (is) brown.
El bifal somr,
the mules (are) brown.
13. It is impossible to examine these lists of adjectives
without being struck by their forms. Such as Cebier, CeGier,
Xadied, differ in the three consonants only, but have the same
vowels. In these we regard the root (or characteristic part)
to be Cbr, C0r, Xdd ; and in fact, most words of the language
are thus referable to three radical letters. But it is well here
to enumerate the chief types of adjectives :
1. The type Sehil, level; Semij, gross, rank; Nehim, raven-
ous; Eamiz, acid.
2. Band, cold; Eamui, sour; Eamiz, acid; Fali(y), dear;
Fetir, lukewarm. (This is an active participle or par-
ticipial adjective.)
3. 5?anied, obstinate ; MelieE, fair, fine, good ; *Enieq, agree-
able ; Xarier, evil. This is on the whole the commonest
type. (Only when vo or y is the second radical, to is
assimilated to yt and transposition takes place ; as Taiyib,
30 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC.
nice ; Laiyin, soft for Tayieb, Layien ; Heiyin, slight,
easy, for Hewien.)
4. Hasoud, envious ; 5?amoul, active ; KaEoum, merciful.
(This type denotes fulness, as our termination -ful and
Latin -osus.)
5. Xaffal, busy, devoted to business ; Heccer, swindler. (This
type denotes halit, and is very common to express
tradesmen; as Najjar, carpenter.)
6. AEmaq, fatuous ; Esmar, black ; Akras, dumb ; were
treated in Art. 12.
7. Xirrier, villainous; Siccier, very drunken. (This ex-
presses energy. In the classical language there are
several other types for energy.)
8. Bardan, sensible of cold ; Jaufan, hungry ; ^atxan, thirsty;
Tefban, weary; HePen, full; Dafyan, sensible of warmth.
9. Adjectives of relation end in -iey ; as Hemjiey, vulgar,
from Hemj, populace.
10. Yarious participles are formed by initial M, which must
be afterwards classified.
Of these the two most important have the types :
a. Mafloum, known ; Max foul, busied, busy ; MeACour,
aforenamed ; Mak'Sou'S, peculiar, proper.
1. Motfub, tiresome ; MouAi(y), mischievous ; MoGmin,
costly ; MoGmir, fruitful : in which head we include Mofimm,
vexatious (for Hofmim); Mohieb, frightful (for Mohyib).
5af b, difficult ; Wa^r, rugged ; exhibit the first type in a
ruder state, in which (as in English) participle aud gerund
are confounded. (For there is no commoner type of the
of the gerund, i.e. of the verbal noun of action.) In fact,
the language exhibits Sehil or Sehl, level, easy ; Wafur or
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 31
Wat r, rugged ; 5?aAib or ^a^b, sweet (water) without dis-
crimination.
Ols. 1. — The adjective of relation has no fixed type, only a
fixed termination: for it adds -iey to a noun of any type
whatever. Thus, from Melc, a king, pi. Molouc, we have
both Helciey and Molouciey, royal, regal.
Obs. 2. — The "Western learner needs peculiar vigilance in
regard to the sense of Arabic adjectives. Our adjectives
habitually take two senses active and passive (sometimes
more), even in the flattest prose, without our being aware
of anything figurative. Thus we say, a wise man, a wise
law j he was doubtful ; a doubtful question ; but the Arabs >
saying Rajol faqil, a wise man ; would on no account make
faqil the epithet of a law; but MaTqoul, (made wisely?)
will do. So a man who is doubtful, i.e. who doubts, is Xecic ;
but a doubtful question is Maxcouc. In these examples the
Arabs in fact use active and passive participles.
14. An adjective may be followed by a COMPLEMENTARY
NOUN, which is adverbial in use. The noun is either pre-
ceded by El, or takes -an, -en, (the Adverbial Case, Art. 158)
as its inflection. This is similar to the idiom familiar in
Greek and Latin (as, Os humerosquc Deo similis), where we
supply as to, or some equivalent preposition, in, of. In
classical Arab style this idiom abounds to satiety.
Cebier el f omr,
great of age.
Easen c\ Soura,
handsome of figure.
Eadd e\ taraf,
sharp at the end.
Tawiel el ajnilla,
long in the wings.
€*a5uim qowwaten,
mighty in strength.
5>adiem ej raEma,
void of mercy.
32 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
Ei *esed ! ^asuim el kalqa, mohieb el Soura, mokawwif el
fayila.
What a lion ! mighty of build, frightful of figure, formidable
of onset.
15. An adverb should properly follow the adjective which
it modifies, or the adjective with its complement ; as,
Asfar jiddan,
yellow very.
Cebier el ?6mr jiddan,
old very.
'Tawiel ceOieran,
long in excess, too tall.
Semiec xai^en,
somewhat thick.
Many adverbs (derived from noun or adjective) end in -an
or -ten ; but in vulgar Arabic this termination is often dropped,
and the adverb precedes the adjective. Thus at Aleppo,
Qawi melieE (fort bon), "very good," for MelieK jiddan.
Ana xowaiya mariei, "I am a wee-bit ill," for Ana mariei
xai*en, I am somewhat ill. But this may be called slang.
Peculiar attention is in this stage due to Jiddan, very;
Xai*en, somewhat ; CeGieran, much, too much ; Qalielan,
scantily, but little, a little ; Faqat, only (for which vulgarly
Bes in Syria) ; and Pair, not (before an adjective) ; as Fair
melieE, not good; Fair raSu, displeased; Fair taiyib,
unpleasant.
Kobz faqaT,
bread only.
Kobz qaliel faqat,
a little bread only.
El mecen fair qarieb,
the place is not near.
El darb fair tawiele,
the road is not long.
El *emr Saf b xai*en,
the affair is somewhat difficult
El *omour fair Safba,
the affairs are not difficult.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKA^IC.
§ 2. COMPOSITE STATE OF NOUNS.
16. (Status constructus}. The English combine two nouns,
as Sea-side, Gold- watch, so as to make the former a virtual
adjective. The Arabs do the same thing in principle : only,
as their adjective follows its noun, it is the latter of the two
which they make adjectival. Thus from Kaziena, treasury,
and Auraq, leaves, papers, they make Auraq-kaziena, treasury-
scrip.
The order being the reverse to that of English, we imagine
the word of between the two nouns, as Scrip (of) treasury.
The particle of is wanting to the Arabs; yet they have
several modes of supplying it, which will be afterwards stated.
17. "When either noun is left indefinite, one may generally
hear between them the vowel a or e; as Auraq-a-kaziena.
So : Kaix-a-xafr, cloth (of) hair, i.e. sackcloth ; Tekt-e-melic,
throne (of a) king; Jild-a-jamous, leather (of) buffalo. In
fact, it is often hard to utter the words without some vowel
of union. Nor only so, but a vowel (whether a, i, or 0) is
here strictly classical; though i is objectionable to the vulgar
as seeming to mean my, and o as seeming to mean his. To
write a or e here seems irreprovable ; but that it is necessary
cannot be pretended. This intermediate vowel, if we write
it, will be comparable to t in French A-t-il, which has come
out of the Latin Habet ille.
If we desire to mark strongly that the second noun is in-
definite, we may insert before it, WaEud, a certain ; as Citeb
waEud qasies, a book of a certain priest. KB. — AViiFmd
after its noun, is the emphatic numeral, One, unus, a single ;
as Qasies waKud, one priest. Before the noun, it is less
emphatic and answers to quidam, a certain.
3
34
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
18. Much oftener, the nouns are both defined; then El
joins them, and applies to both ; as, Jild-el-jamous, the hide
(of) the buffalo. Here El seems to mean Of, nearly as in
Art. 14, where it was joined to a complementary noun.
Some compounds have become fixed, as though single
words : thus Ra*s-e-mal, capital (in trade) ; or Resmal :
literally caput ret, head (of) property: also Qillet-el-bakt,
deficiency of luck, i.e. ill luck. Compare such fixed phrases
as Man-of-war ; Aid-de-camp, in Western tongues.
19. More examples :
Sebab el mo'Suiba,
the cause of the disaster.
Wofour el aflal,
the abundance of the crops.
Auraq el kaziena,
the scrip of the treasury.
^Omour el memlece,
the affairs of the kingdom.
Awamir el melic,
the commands of the king.
Makzen tejir,
a warehouse of a merchant.
Makzen el tejir,
the warehouse of the merchant.
Joloud woEo'ux,
skins of wild animals.
Auraq el xajara,
the leaves of the tree.
Dar el jinan (Paradise),
the house of the gardens.
Serier el soltan,
the throne of the sultan.
*Emier elai ( Colonel),
prince of a regiment.
Bad el qasies,
the mule of the priest.
Bad waEud qasies,
a mule of a certain priest.
QiSa'S el jinaya,
the punishment of the offence,
el malia,
the overseer of finance.
20. If the former of two nouns in composition be a femi-
nine in -a, -e, it resumes (or may resume) its lost t in com-
position; as, Eixaqa, agility; but, Bixaqat el fasecir, the
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 35
agility of the soldiery. This is undoubtedly the classical and
the very ancient method; in fact it is Hebrew, where the
feminine in -ah, changes into -at in like case. The Arabs
also surmount their h (*) with the two dots of their t; which
proves the idiom to be older than the present orthography ;
for if those who fixed it had sounded the t in all relations
of the noun, they would have represented it by an ordinary t.
Thus the t should not be always sounded, — perhaps only
before the article El, or before another noun in composition. On
the other hand, I found instructors in Aleppo to differ much,
whether t should be sounded even in the latter case ; and
Cherbonneau, Leon, and Helot are very inconsistent in the
matter in their transliterations. But I believe the t should
always be sounded in these two connections.
Turkish words in a (as Baxa, A fa) and a few Arabic words
in a, change -a into -at in composition; as, Baxat Haleb,
Pasha of Aleppo. (Especially Donya, world, sky, weather ;
Jouwa, within ; Barra, without, — popular words.)
21. If the second noun in composition be adjectival, ob-
scurity may result; thus, Ibn faqier suggests A poor son;
not, A son of a poor (man). To express the latter, we may
prefix Rajol (man) or WaEud (one) to Faqier; as Ibn-a-
rajol-faqier. Only in this position, if the nouns admit an
adjective of the same gender and number, it is uncertain to
which the adjective belongs. Thus GoSoun el xajarat el
Tawiele, is either, The boughs of the tull tree, or, The long
boughs of the tree; since the imperfect plural is treated
grammatically as a feminine. But :
Kail(-a)-f ascer el kafiefa, the light horse of the army.
Reja el nes ej 0ebit, the firm hope of the men.
36 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Kazienat el melic el <fa5uim, the treasury of tlie mighty king.
Majlis el ten5uimat el f ali, the high Board of Arrangements.
Wocela el seltanat el fikam, the august ministers of the empire.
Kazienat el melic el faSua, the empty treasury of the king.
22. When the former noun is a dual, its n is elided ; thus,
Yedain, two hands, Yedai'-fars, the (two) forefeet of a mare ;
Yedai' el melic, the (two) hands of the king. Jariyatei' el
melice, the two damsels of the queen.
23. If an adjectival word can fitly precede its noun (as a
superlative may), it equally well precedes a compound : thus,
since Awwal yeum (the first day) is correct, so is Awwal
yeum-el-sene (the first day-of-the year) ; though it is equally
good to say, Yeum-el-sene el .awwal. [On the same prin-
ciple we read in Loqman's Fables, heAih jorzet el Eatab,
this bundle of wood ; although jorzet el Eatab heAih, appears
to be normal, Art. 33.]
24. Three and even more nouns may be strung together in
composition; but only the last can take the article (or a
possessive pronoun), and this makes them all definite. The
first of three is sometimes the numeral One, used pronomi-
nally; E'Ead, fern. TJEda' ; as:
E*Ead afia el majlis, one of the members of the Board.
TJEda' medayin* el melic, one of the cities of the king.
Also an adjective which agrees with the former noun is often
evaded by paraphrase. Thus, for, The kind exertions of the
Pasha, they say, The kindwm of the exertions of the Pasha ;
making a triple compound, Eo'sn mesef ui el Baxa. The kind
* Or, modon.
HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 3«
attention of the Eight Hon. Fouad Pasha, Eosn iltifat Fouad
Baxa el mo'ia^am ; lit. the kindness of the attention, etc.
Serier melic Italia, the throne of the King of Italy.
Hohoub riyaK el ximal, the blowing of the winds of the North.
The newspapers cany this concatenation of nouns to an
offensive extreme ; as, Tef alloq e*mal fomoum eheli f a3umat
el bilad, The dependence of the hopes of the university of the
population of the capital of the country ; for, The dependence
of the hopes of the whole metropolitan population.
25. CONNECTIVE AND DISJUNCTIVE PAETICLES.
W& (wig. Ou), and.
Fa, and next ; and then ; then.
Lecin, Walecin, Lecinna (with pronouns), but, but yet.
^mma, "Wa^emma, Fa*emma, but, however (caeterum?).
Bel, nay but even : Lat. at, or Germ, sondern.
Au, or.
Imma — au, either— or.
Imma — *em, whether — or.
Incen — em — au, whether — or — or,
Imma — wa^illa, either (whether) — or else.
[Catafago has Ya — ya, either — or. I find no other autho-
rity, and never heard it. Ya, or, is Persian.]
26, Aeheb wa fuiia, gold and silver.
Bajol tawiel wa qawi, a man tall and strong.
Imma cebier au Safier, either great or little.
Elwan biei wa soud wa liomr wa koir, colours whito
and black and red and green.
Here the connective particle is repeated oftcner than with us,
and this is popular. But in careful style they are often fond
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AE1BIC.
of mere apposition, as the Latins, disregarding particles of
connection. Thus :
Beit Easen, mecien, mottaqin el hina,
A house handsome, substantial, perfect of building.
Fa has idiomatic uses in which it seems to be redundant,
like the English interjection Well ! thrown in to gain time
for the speaker. It often occurs at the apodosis or response,
and may be rendered Then.
27. Two nouns united by Wa (and) may form the second
part of a compound, as :
Eosn el Kb'qoul wa el fiyaS,
the beauty of the fields and woods.
Ewani el Aeheb wa el fuXia,
vessels of gold and silver.
But to make such a union the former part of a compound
(as, Tors wa seif el mediena, the shield and sword of the
city) is not approved. The standard order is : The shield of
the city, and its sword, Tors el mediena wa seifohe. (Of the
pronoun we shall presently speak.) The necessity of this
formula is an unpleasant constraint.
A compDsite noun may become the complement to an
adjective, with the syntax of Art. 14. Thus Paris (Nat.
Hist.) has " El jibal el ceGiera(t) xajar-el-5anauber, the
mountains which are plentiful in pine trees;" just as we may
say, Ce9ier el xajar, plentiful in trees. But obscurity of
syntax accumulates through the barbarous deficiency of the
language in this and other small matters.
HANDBOOK OF MODZEN AKABIC. 39
§ 3. DEMONSTRATIVES AND EMPHATIC PRONOUNS.
28. The demonstratives are three, as Hie, Iste, Ille, in
Latin ; and originally referred to the three persons, meaning
This of mine (or, this here\ That of thine, and That of his
(or, that yonder}. But the second class naturally abounding
most in dialogue has nearly exterminated the third in the
spoken language.
The two first classes, except in Africa, are generally com-
pounded with the particle He, Lo ! behold !
m. Ae, HCAC, this; Aec, HCACC, that; Aelic, that.
/ Aie, Tie, HSAih ; Aiec, Tiec, Hetiec ; Tile.
pi. (Ola), He*ola, these ; Ola'ic, He*olaic, those ; (Olalic) those.
rtcfr.Hona, Hehona, here; Hbnec, there; Honalic, there yonder.
CCA£, HeccAe", so; CeAelic, thus, likewise.
Also, pronouns of 3rd person ;
Hou, Houa, he Horn (Homma), they (m.)
Hie, Hiya, she (Hon) Honna, they (/.)
29. One may conjecture that Ola is really the plural of
El, which originally may have meant He (ille) ; but Ola and
Olalic seem to be entirely obsolete. Wright, in his grammar
of ancient Arabic, says that Olalic is extremely rare, being
supplanted by Ola*ic. Even Aelic and Tile are called " high
style" by Caussin De Perceval; nevertheless they may be
heard when strong emphasis is needed. The classical dual
m. HeAein, /. Hetein (those two) is understood, but little
used. The same is true of the dual Homa (they two, them
two). Besides, there are many variations of local dialect,
40 HANDBOOK OP MODES* ARABIC.
with which it may be unwise in this stage to burden a
learner. They will be easily picked up on occasion. Those
that are here written down cannot be misunderstood, and are
classical.
30. Closely akin to the demonstratives is Het (hither!
bring thou !) which is inflected like an imperative : m.s. Het;
fa. Heti; pi. Hetou. Faris gives the word in popular con-
versation, so we may presume that it is popularly understood.
Ordinarily one hears Jieb, Jiebi, Jiebou (bring) which is a
verb purely modern.
31. Another remarkable demonstrative is Aou, /. Aet;
vl. Aewien, /. pi. Aewat. Among the Tay Arabs it is said
to serve as the relative Qui. In classical use it is like the
Greek article in certain connections with a genitive; as
Aewie-hi, row avTov, those who are his. But in general,
prefixed to a noun, it means endoived with ; thus, from 5*aql,
intellect, Aou faql, intelligent. This is at once classsical
and popular. The n of Aewien naturally vanishes in the
composite state; thus, Kes Aewie' faql, intelligent men.
From Jemal, beauty, Mar*a Aet jemal, a beautiful woman.
When Fair (Art. 15) is used to express negation before such
a compound, it changes Aou to Aie, as Fair Aie faql, not
intelligent. See 157 below.
Yery numerous compound adjectives in English are para-
phrased in Arabic by help of Aou. Thus, The sharp-headed
whale, el fatous AOU el ra*s el Eadd ; The golden-eyed duck,
el baTt AOU el fain el Aehebieya. So too our adjectives
formed in -ed from a noun; as, The crested duck, el batt
AOU el To'rra.
The words Sahub (companion) and *Ehl (folk) are astonish-
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 41
used to replace AOU in this idiom. This appears every
way in bad taste and undesirable ; yet it exists as a fact.
Ae, Aou, must have a real, though distant, relation to
English The, which may be traced through Indo- Germanic
md HebraBo- African tongues.
32. "With a proper name, the demonstrative needs to be
thrown behind; as, Istenboul heAe, this (city) Constantinople.
Observe, — that He AC rajol means, this (is) a man. To
express This man, we must insert the article between, as in
prose Greek ; HCAC el rajol. [In Syria and Barbary HCAC el
is vulgarly shortened into Hel indeclinable ; which confounds
it with the interrogative particle (Art. 42). For farther
emphasis they say Hel rajol heAe, this very man.]
33. If This, That, is to be joined to the second of two
composite nouns, nothing new arises. They say, *Ism heAe
el xai*, the name (of) this thing; Sebab he AC el xofl, the
cause (of) this business, exactly as Awamir el melic el kaiyir,
the commands (of) the benign king. Nay, even if This or
That be isolated, we can say, Sebab he AC, the cause (of)
this ; Li^ejl Aelic (on account (of) that.
But if This, That, have to be joined to the former noun,
it is better to throw the demonstrative to the end, as, This
son (of) the king, Ibn el melic heAe ; where Hede agrees
with Ibn, not with Melic. [In 23 it has been noted that
Loqman in a certain phrase violates this rule.]
It is also popular to adopt Turkish idiom so far as to say,
"This king, his son," for "The son of this king;" thus
leaving king without any regimen at all. It is a liberty
which adds one more element of vagueness to a syntax already
vexatiously vague.
42 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
34. "We proceed to speak on the substitutes for our COPULA
VEHB ; is, are ; is not, are not. It has appeared that is, are,
are very often understood. Yet we cannot say, HCAG el
tattar, for, This (is) the druggist ; for the words will mean,
This druggist. In such cases we must use Hou (he) or Hie
(she) for is, and Horn, /. Honna (they), for are. In fact,
Hou also stands for am, art, which strikingly testifies to the
loss of its original sense. The learner must habituate himself
to these uses of Hou, Hie, Horn, Honna. Houa, Hiya,
Homma, are more emphatic than Hou, Hie, Horn, and seem
to be a modern improvement. (C. de Perceval remarks on
Honna as used for the masculine ; but this is clearly in-
admissible.)
35. Examples:
Hehona may faAib, here (is) sweet water.
HCAC el may hou barid jiddan, this water is very cold.
Hona el kobz hou taiyib, here the bread is good.
Honec el may morr, there the water (is) bitter.
Honelic el kamr leAieA, yonder the wine (is) delicious.
HeAe el nebieA Eolou ceGieran, this toddy (is) too sweet.
Aelic En's an jaiyid, yonder one (is) an excellent horse.
Aelic el Eu'San hou jaiyid, yonder horse is excellent.
Tile el dar hie Easena jiddan, yonder house is very handsome.
Tile el kail kafiefe, yonder horses (are) light (swift).
Aelic el bad el aEmar melieE, yonder red mule (is) good.
HeAec bafl melieE, that (here is) a fine mule.
Heola horn nes milaE, these are good men.
Collo xai* hona cowaiyis, everything here is pretty.
HCAC hou mi01 heAec, this is like that.
HeAe el semn maliE ceGieran, this butter is too salt.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC. 43
KB. — MelieE in old style is fair, ica\6<; : but, like each of
those words, has changed its sense to Good in general. East
of Syria for Good they seem to prefer Zeiyin, Zein, which
means Adorned, Fine. For May (water) at Aleppo they use
M'wai, i.e. the diminutive Mowaiy. See Art. 84 below.
36. To omit is often leaves the syntax obscure : to omit
there is is worse. For the latter the best direct substitute is,
Youjad, literally, it is found (= it exists, it can be had) or
the participle Maujoud, found ; as, El f 6'fr youjad (or mau-
joud) honec, the (red) stag is found there. For is we may
sometimes say, 5ar, is become. In classical style, not quite
obsolete, we have also the following substitute :
Inni, I am ; Innec (m.) thou art; Inneho, he is.
Innena, we are ; Innecom, ye are ; Innehom, they are.
(See 55 below.)
Qolt, enna heAih el sefara inneJie menKouse, I said, that
this voyage is verily unlucky.
[In Barbary the imperative Ra, see ! is used to the same
effect: Rani (see me! i.e.} I am; Rec, thou art; Reh, he
is, etc. In the Bagdad pashalic, they say ecou for There is ;
which perhaps means He-corn, " lo for you!" In Aleppo
(what is worst of all) they say, Fiehi, in it, to mean There
is, II y a. All these methods, being purely local, are dis-
pleasing to the learned, and to all who aspire at a universal
Arabic.]
37. "Is not, Are not," are, Leis, /. Leiset, pi. Leisou.
These are classical, and still in use. More popular are : Ma
hou, /. Ma hie, is not ; pi. Ma horn, are not. Ma is the
modern particle of negation, La generally that of prohibition ;
44 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
but it is highly inconvenient that Ma is also interrogative
and relative. Nevertheless, even in ancient Arabic, Ma ana
hou, means !Non ego sum, I am not. [Ma hou is contacted
to M'ou in Syria ; and Ma hou xai* (is not a thing, i.e. is not
a whit, is not at all) into M' oux\~]
38. HeAih el mediena leiset qadiema jiddan, this city is
not very ancient.
Hona ma* youjad kobz tari, here is not found fresh bread.
Heola el nes leisou mokturien, these men are not danger-
ous (pi.}.
Leis hehona katar qat, there is not here danger at all.
Ma hou xai* honec, there is nothing there.
Kobz Tari leis mo'SuEE, fresh bread is not wholesome.
Hou fair moSuEE, is unwholesome.
The predicate in classical style has a strange tendency to
take the preposition Bi (in, with) after it ; as, Leis bi kayin,
he is not a traitor. This redundant li is neither necessary
nor popular.
39. The emphatic pronouns of 1st and 2nd person are :
Ana, I. Ent, thou (m. Ente, / Enti).
NaEn, NaEna, we (Barb.
Entom, ye (/. Entonna).
AKna).
And a classical dual, Entoma, ye two.
Classical and also current are :
Lest, I am not.
Lest, /. Lesti, thou art not.
Lesna, we are not.
Lestom, ye are not.
* Unless we discriminate mu from ma, this sentence may mean : "Here
what is found is fresh bread."
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
45
40. Examples :
Ana bardan* jiddan,
I (am) very cold.
$ase ente jaufan,
perhaps thou (art) hungry.
Ana lest fatxan,
I am not thirsty.
Ente AOU f aql,
thou art intelligent.
Lesna Aewie' mal,
we are not wealthy.
Ana hou el melic,
I am the king.
Lest ana kiidim,
I am not a servant.
Ente hou el mof allim,
thou art the teacher.
NaEna horn foqara,
we are poor.
Lestom afniya,
ye are not rich.
Ma ana hou AOU mal,
I am not wealthy.
Robbama ente kayif,
possibly thou (art) afraid.
Ana ma kayif qat,
I am not afraid at all.
Ente jesour ceOieran,
thou art too daring.
ft>ase ente fair jesour,
perhaps thou art not daring.
41. The word such is associated by us with the demon-
stratives ; so also is same. Such is compounded of so-like in
English (solche, swilke, swa-leiks), and the Arabs also ex-
press it thus at large by miGl he AC, or, miGliheAe, which
virtually becomes a single word, and might be so written.
If a noun follows, El must come between, as MiGliheAO el
rajol, such a man. How same is to be expressed will pre-
sently appear.
* A person who feels cold or warm is bardan, dafyun ; but a thing that
imparts cold or warmth is barid, dafi ; as, may barid, cold water ; ridu
dan, a warm mantle.
46 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEA.BIC.
$ 4. INTERROGATIVES.
42. The Interrogative Particles may first be attended to.
In English we put the nominative after the verb (as, Is it ?
Has he ?) and thus dispense with a particle. The Latins use
An, -ne, Utrum, Num; and especially in writing, these are
needed for perspicuity. In Arab talk, the tone of voice
suffices to denote that a question is asked ; yet Fans and
Kayat (two extremes) agree in exhibiting the interrogative
particles E ? Hel ? in a context emphatically modern. Thus :
Hou faSuiE,
he is eloquent.
E hou faSuiE ?
is he ^loquent?
Hel ente elf attar?
art thou the druggist ?
He AC leis SaEuiE,
this is not true.
E fa leis heAe SaEuiE ?
is not then this true ?
Hel el Sabi ? an ?
is the boy hale and well ?
43. If an alternative is put (as in Latin Utrum-an] the word
Or, which introduces the second member, is expressed by
Em ; as :
E hou akiar ? em ezraq ?
is it green ? or blue ?
The particle Fa (then) often follows the interrogative E;
thus with negatives we have E-la — ? E-fa-la — ? E-ma — ?
E-fa-leis — ? is it not ? is it not then ? But for the past
time Lem replaces La ; as Au-e-lem — ? or was it not ?
44. Interrogative Substantive Man, who ? Ma ? Ma AC ?
what ? Adjective : m. Ei, Eiyo ; /. Ei, Eiya ; which ? what ?
as: Ei rajol, what man? which man? Eiya rnar*a, what
woman ?
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 47
Adverls: Em, where?
Ila*ein, whither?
Min*ein, whence ?
Gem, how much? how many ?
Ceif, how?
Em'te, when?
45. Em'te is compounded of E mete. The classical Mete
is either interrogative or relative. In modern use Mete is
relative, and even so, it is rarer than Lemma, when ; and
Em'te expresses "when?" interrogatively.
Ei (what ? which ?) is of both numbers as well as genders.
In Syria they use Eina, like quisnam. MaAe, what ? well
supersedes Ma, which has too many senses. Vulgarly also
Eix (i.e. Ei xai*, what thing ?) is prevalent ; but this ought
not to be followed by a noun, since it has the noun xai*
within it.
46. Man, following a noun, may mean " of whom;" as,
Beit man heAe ? house (of) whom (is) this ? but it is surely
better to say, Li man he AC el bait? to whom (belongs) this
house ?
Manou? Man hou? are often heard, especially when the
word stands alone : indeed classically, Manou ? is nominative,
and Mana ? accusative. The latter is obsolete.
Ma, adverbially, may qualify an adjective, with the sense
How ! in admiration : as, Ma ana mescien ! how wretched
I (am) !
47. The words Man, Ma, Gem, admit of becoming " in-
definite" instead of interrogative; i.e. mean some, any, a
certain quantity. To suggest the right sense, I find it useful
to copy Greek accentuation ; and write Man, Ma, Gem, when
they are interrogative ; and Man, Ma, Gem, when they are
indefinite. In fact, it is natural to elevate the musical tone
when words are interrogative.
48 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
Man, Ma, Eit Ein, Ceif, admit also of becoming Relatives,
as will afterwards be noted.
48. Man hou honec ? who is there ?
Ei Eaiwun hou he AC ? what animal is this ?
Ei mar*a ? Eina mar*a ? Eiyat imra^a ? what woman ?
E la e*Ead hona ? is not any one here ?
Ei hou (Eina hou) el bafl el qawi? which is the
strong mule ?
Ein el Sabi el Safier? where is the little boy?
Hel youjad laEm honelic ? is meat (to be) found
yonder ?
E fa la ente bardan ? art not thou then cold ?
Eiyat hie el Eor'mat el moEsine ? which is the bene-
ficent lady ?
§ 5. PREPOSITIONS.
49. The primary prepositions should all be learned at once.
They are :
Bi, in, with, by.
Ce, according to, like.
Tie, in, into.
Ila', to (with motion).
Li, to, for.
Min, from, of.
Mat (together), with.
6?ala', upon, against.
5>and, with, at, long.
(French chez, apud.)
, off from, away from,
concerning.
Of these, Ce is the least popular. It is superseded by Mi01,
like. It enters into CCAC, like this, so ; HeceAe, thus, so
(vulg. Heic) ; CeAelic, like that, so forth, likewise : and in
Syria (from the classical Ce-ma, selon que, according as) has
<
\
HANDBOOK OF MODEBX ARABIC.
49
come Ceman, "likewise, again." It is right also to say,
Ce mi01, ad instar, after the fashion of. CCAC is used for
such, as, Li ceAe rajol, to such a man. See Art. 41, above.
The article El coalesces with some of the above, making Bil,
Cel, Fil, Ila'l, Lil, $ala'l. [The vulgar say Fid, but Fil is
classical.] Ila' and ^ala' have lost y which they sometimes
resume.
50. Of the other prepositions, some are of less immediate
importance to the learner, yet it may be convenient to have a
list here.
About (of quantity), naKou.
Above, fauq, feuq.
According to, tebaf .
After (of time), bafd.
Against, ludd.
Agreeably 'to, Tubq.
Among, min jomlet ; bain.
Around, Haul.
Before, qabl.
Behind, wara, kalf.
Below, Beneath, Under, teEt.
Beside (at side of), lada,
ladon, janb.
Besides, ma tada.
Between, bain, fie ma
bain.
Concerning, min naEou.
Contrary to, kilaf.
During, dawam, toul.
Except, fair, kala, fada,
sewa.
In exchange for, bidal.
In front of, qoddam, qoba-
In presence of, ^emarn.
In proportion to, Easeb.
Instead of, mecen, fawaS,
fuwaSan fan.
Like, mi6l, ce miOl.
Opposite, tojah, tilqa.
Over against (face to face
with — vis-a-vis) Eude, ize.
Provided not, Eaxa.
Since (of time), monA,
Together with, 3oEbat.
Towards, naEou.
Until, Till, Eatte', li Eadd.
4
50 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Within, dakil ; vulg. jou-
wa(t).
Without, \ karij,
Outside of, ) vulg. barra(t).
Without (Lat. sine), bilii,
bi fair, min fair, fair ;
bi doun, min doun.
51. MiGli (for Ce-mi01i, after the likeness) is very popular
in place of Ce. For like are also said Na5uir, Xibh. Fair,
before an adjective, was explained Not; its sense Without
displays analogy to German and Greek in forming a negative
adjective from Ohne, avev, without. But Pair means differ-
ence, diverse fram. NaEou, towards, about, is used to modify
a substantive, as the Latins use quasi, " as it were;" in
popular English, "a sort of." Thus, Haul el wejh naEou
cenar eswad, around the face (is), as it were, a black border —
a sort of black border. A preposition will then, if needed
by the noun, precede NaEou. Thus, Fie naEou Sorra, in
a sort of bundle. The word NaEou simply adds vagueness,
and may influence several nouns coupled by Wa, and. foul
el joGGa naEou 0ele0 aqdam, the length of the body is about
three feet ; but it may equally be rendered, " is towards three
feet." Thus the word vacillates between preposition and
adverb.
In some connections fan seems to mean without: thus,
Ente fani f annoh ; Enti fanieya f'annoh, thou art rich with-
out it, i.e. thou canst dispense with it.
Ma-f ada and Sewa have the vexatious ambiguity of Prater
and Beside(s), meaning either " except" or "in addition to."
Sewa as a popular adverb means, " side by side, abreast."
Ma-fada strictly means *' what passes."
Lada, Ladon, may be called high style. They are used
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABA.BIC. 51
especially (like old Greek irapa) in such connections as, At
the side of the king ; so, Min lada el melic, from the side of
the king.
52. Uses of Min. In locomotion it is contrasted to Ila;
as, "from Eome to London;" which needs no farther re-
mark: its use for "of," is less regular. The deficiency of
"of" in Arabic is supplied, partly by composition of nouns,
partly by Min and Li, partly by special evasion or provincial
methods. Min differs from 5>an nearly as Latin db or ex
from de. 5?an, like de, may mean " concerning." Min ex-
presses the partitive idea of ex ; also the material of a thing.
It likewise enables us to put El (the) to either of two related
nouns. Examples :
LauE min Eajar, a slab of stone.
Bab min kaxab, a door of timber.
CeGier min el maracib, many of the ships.
Cem min el maracib ? how many of the ships ?
Sebf a min el Yahoud, seven of the Jews.
Qatuif min el mafz, a flock of goats.
El maria' min el foqara, the sick (ones of the) poor.
Elf tabaq min el waraq, a thousand layers of paper.
Miqdar wafir min *ewani, a copious quantity of vessels.
Jamafa fasuima min el nes, a vast company of men.
El himma min el eheli, the earnestness of the population.
Mablaf min el noqoud, an amount (sum) of cash.
Ce*m min el mosefirien ? how many of the travellers ?
El kobz radi, mePen min el raml, the bread (is) bad
(and) full of sand.
Kams firaq min el jonoud, five companies of troops.
52 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKABIC.
He AC hou wahmieya min el iabaTuiya, tliis is a fantasy
of the police.
El foSoim el tawiele min el xajara, the long boughs of
the tree.
Wabil min el iarb, a shower of beating.
El qaET min el akbar, the dearth of news.
El set at el Geniya min el SabaE, the second hour of the
morning.
E} taraf el ximali min el jeziera, the north side of the
island.
Fir? min silc el telefraf, a branch of the wire (of) the
telegraph.
Wezier min daulat Ameriece, a minister of the govern-
ment (of) America.
Jonaineti min ward, my garden of roses.
53. For, What sort of— they say, Eix' min—? as, Eix'
min tair? what sort of bird? (Comp. Germ. Was fur ein — .)
With the partitive Of, the Arabs often repeat a noun, in-
stead of using E*Ead (one) pronominally ; thus, for One of
the king's cities, they say, not only, UEda' min modon el
melic, but also, Mediena min modon el melic ; and stiff as
the latter appears, it is popular, as well as classical. So for
Fie Aet leil, on a certain night, they also say, In a night of
the nights, fie leila min el leyeli. Min is also used like
French du, dela, to mean Some, A portion of ; as, Min soccer,
some sugar ; especially in repetition, Minhom — minhom, some
of them — and others of them.
54. In ambitious prose, Min is used to satiety in the pre-
dicate of a proposition, to make it indefinite. Thus instead
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 53
of HeAe mosteEuil, this is absurd ; they say, HeAe min el
mosteEuil, c'(est) (une chose) <f absurde. Thus we are more
than ever kept in suspense where the predicate will be found.
The formula Minma, from what, i.e. "from that which," is
similarly abused : as, He AC minma yoKayyir el bal, this (is)
(a thing) of the things which perplex the mind ; where, if
minna were simply left out, the sense would be correct enough
and the grammar perfect. When a copula-verb (as Cen, was)
is expressed, all is clear, though E*Ead (one) be omitted be-
fore Min : as, Cen min el *omara, he was (one) of the princes,
erat e principibus.
Min (like our /row) often means " because of." Likewise,
after a passive verb, it takes the sense of our by.
55. Uses of Li. In general Li, meaning to or for, needs
no further particular remark. But, like the Latin dative, it
may be used in the predicate, where popular English uses the
nominative. Thus: "It is a marvel to me," may become,
" It is to me for a marvel." The Arabs even say, Ente
innec li jahfl, thou verily art for a fool, i.e. thou art foolish.
He AC fandi li mofjize, this (is) with me for a miracle.
Again, as in Latin, either dative or genitive with Est (is)
denotes possession, so Li (to) may supply this sense ; especially
if of two related nouns the governing is indefinite and the
governed definite ; as, A top of the mountain, A son of the
king; we may then use Li for English Of, saying Ra*s lil
jebal, Ibn lil melic.
Li (for) means also on account of; especially with pronouns.
Thus, LiheAe, on this account; LiAelic, on that account;
Li maAe? wherefore? L'eix' ? why? (=Li ei xai*?) But
with nouns we have generally a paraphrase, as in English.
54 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Li*cjl, Min cjl, for the sake of.
Li sebab,
Bi sebab,
because of.
Li xan (Min xan, xulg. Alep.),
on account of ; from Xan,
state.
Min jara', in consequence of.
56. Uses of Bi. It especially expresses the instrument,
or mode, or price; as, To buy a thing, "bi Geman qaliel," at
or for a scanty price; to slay a man, "bil self," with or by
the sword. As expressing the mode, it forms a paraphrase
for adverbs and prepositions. Thus :
Bil collieya, in entirety, i.e. entirely.
Bil ziyada, in surplus, superfluously.
Bil faya, in the extreme, extremely.
Bil rafm fan, in spite of.
Bi moujib, in virtue of.
Bi wasiTat, by means of.
Bi xiddat, by dint of.
Bi fair, Bi doun, without.
With verbs of motion, Bi must be rendered with, though it
still is not identical with Ma? (together with) ; but "come
with" a thing, is said for " bring" it : "to go off with" it, is
to carry it off. Many other verbs take Bi after them, just as
in Latin and Greek many verbs govern a particular case, for
which no reason appears. The idiomatic uses of Bi are very .
numerous, and are a main difficulty.
§ 6. SUFFIX PRONOUNS.
57. The personal pronouns, attached to prepositions or to
nouns, take abridged forms in which the originals are quite
disguised.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
55
-ie, -i, -ya,
me, my.
m. -ec, -c,
/. -ic, -ci,
thee, thy.
-ho ? -oh, -hi,
him, his.
-he,
her.
-na,
us, our.
tn. -com,
/. -con,
you, your.
tn. horn ; /. hon,
them, their.
N.B. — After a verb, " me" is expressed by -ni. The rest
are the same after a verb as after a preposition.
In the spoken language, -com and -horn are freely used of
both genders, and the duals -coma (you two), -homa (them
two), are not heard. To express "it," the feminine -he is
often used. It is inconvenient, that, in speaking of things,
he in classical style constantly means them.
The suffix, like a Greek enclitic, often changes the accent of
the preceding word, and sometimes hereby lengthens a vowel ;
thus, Melice, queen, Melieceti, my queen. At other times it
cuts out a vowel ; as, Seltana, empire; Seltan'ti, my empire.
Thee, Thy, after a long vowel, is -c for the masculine, -ci
for the feminine. [But at Bagdad it is always -ci ; in Algiers,
it seems, m. and/, are the same.]
58. System to exhibit all the forms.
Bie, Biya
Lie, Liya
Ileiya
Minni
Bee
Lee
Ileic
Minnec, Mine
Bici (/.)
Lici
Ileici
Minnie (Alep.)
Bihi, Boh
Liho, Loh
Delhi
Minnoh, Minho
Bihe
Lihe,
Ileihe
Minhe
Bina
etc.
Ileina,
Minna
Bicom, -n.
etc.
Mincom,
Bihom, -n.
etc.
HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC.
^andi
Baini
Qabli
Citebi
^andac
Bainec
Qablac
Citebec
handle
Bainic
Qablic
Citebic
•^andoh
Bainoh
Qabloh
Citeboh
^andahe
Bainahe
Qablahe
Cithebahe
Bandana,
Bainana,
Uablana,
Citebana
etc.
etc.
etc.
etc.
59. Him, his, is ordinarily pronounced -6, as in Hebrew,
no h being heard; but after a long vowel, all authorities
bid us pronounce only -h. An Englishman who tries to
sound -h, is apt to turn it into E. I think by pronouncing
-hi with as short an i as he can manage, he will come nearest
to the sound ; and hi, after all, is classical. [Classical rules
bid us say -hi, -him, -hinna, -hima, when a vowel of the
t class precedes. The learner may at his pleasure so modify
the o of these words. I observe that Paris, as also Leon and
Helot in Loqman's Fables, equally with Catafago, give Fie
waqtoA, Ila daro^, etc., and do not struggle for Fie waqU'A?',
Ila dan'At, etc, Cherbonneau vacillates.]
60. Examples :
Ommi marieSa jiddan, my mother is very ill.
Aboui (Abi) wa ommi maria', my father and my mother are ill.
Hel abouc taiyib ? is thy father alive and well ?
Zeujati hie taiyiba, my wife is alive and well.
Ommec ?ase Taiyiba ? thy mother perhaps is alive and well ?
Ceif Ralec ? how is thy state (thy health) ?
Eix' bee ? MaAe bee ? what ails thee ?
Leis xai* biya, nothing ails me.
Hel he AC lee ? is this thine ?
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 57
Ma hou liya, it is not mine.
Het ma f andec ! bring what thou hast.
Leis fandi xai', I have nothing.
MaAe fie balec ? what is in thy mind ?
Ma hou xai* fie bali, there is nothing in my mind.
^alaiya f aila, on me (rests) a family.
Liho aulad Sugar, he has little children.
Lee baqara melieEa, thou hast a fine cow.
Line qoroun Tawiele, she has long horns.
Ommi hie maf oktec, my mother is with thy sister.
Hehona hie ommec, here is thy mother.
Ein aboui (abi) ePen?* where (is) my father now ?
Abouc fil belda, thy father (is) in town.
Akouc leis fie biladina, thy brother is not in our country.
bandana abouc hehona, thy father is with us here.
^alaiya moradec el f aziez, on me (rests) thy esteemed wish
(i.e. I will try to perform it).
Akouh rajol melieE, his brother is a good man.
Collohom nes milaK, all of them are good men.
Collocom Aewie' himma, all of you are endowed with earnest-
ness, i.e. are earnest, energetic.
Hel okti f andacom el*en ? is my sister with you now ?
Hona aki maf oktec, here is my brother with your sister.
Leis mafui kobz tari, I have no fresh bread with me.
Mafac fasef folous, you have perhaps small cash with you.
• Father, Brother, have radicals *bw, *kw, yet are absolutely ex-
pressed by Ab, Ak, but irf composition the w reappears regularly in
popular style ; as, Aboui, my father ; Akoui, my brother ; though Aki is
also heard. Aboui is not classical, though Abou followed by a noun is.
f tase, perhaps, is said of hope or fear ; and serves to ask a question.
58 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Eiyoma fandec, hetoh ileiya, whatever thou hast, bring it
to me.
CoHoma mafac, hetoh ila hona, all that is with you, bring it
hither.
Aelic el EuSan, e la houa lee ? yonder horse, is he not thine ?
Man hou mafac fil dar ? who is with thee in the house ?
Ma fandi cotob, I have no books.
Leiset fandana aqlam, we have no pens.
Cen liya *ak, I had a brother.
The particle Ce is never prefixed to a suffix pronoun. We
must enlarge it into Ce-mi01i or MiOli : thus, He is not like
me, Ma hou miGliey(a) ; He is like you, Houa miGlec (or
mielic).
61. (fan, like Min, popularly doubles its n before some of
the suffixes. Li, according to classical rule, becomes Le or
La with suffixes. The sole trace of this seems to be in Loh
or Leho (never Lilw) for to him (Le means verily}. Catafago
writes Lici, Line, Lina, Lihom. C. de Perceval and De
Braine are silent as to Laho, L0na, etc., which my ear cer-
tainly never caught. Lie, Lee, are to be divided L-ie, L-ec
(sounded as English lacfy. Liya, Biya are perhaps more
emphatic than Lie, Bie. In Aleppo Boh prevails over Bihi,
yet Bihi is thought better. Cherbonneau writes B'ho even
in poetry.
62. ^and is written with kisra (i.e. as 5?und) by modern
literati ; yet C. de Perceval, in doing this, defines the sound
by French and. I never heard in this word any vowel but
a clear French a. Dictionaries exhibit ^and, "3?und, ^ond
as on a par ; hence we have no motive to struggle against the
popular practice.
HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 59
63. Several particles assume pronouns suffix. Inna (verily)
was named above ; Enna (that) does the same ; also Lecinna,
nevertheless : thus, Lecinni, yet I ; Lecinnec, yet thou ;
Lecinnoh, yet he; Lecinnena, yet we, etc. The vowel of
union which appears in ^andahe, Bain^na, Citeb<raa, etc.,
must be looked on, in the present stage of the language, as
purely euphonic. All prepositions ending in two consonants
are apt to need this vowel of union. The learner must not
be seduced by the aspect of Qabl-na to pronounce it Qabalna.
64. Lehe fainain* jamieletein, she has beautiful eyes.
Leho zeuja jamiele, he has a beautiful wife.
^andoh *ehl ce9ier, chez lid is a numerous household.
Leho faila wafira, he has an abundant (numerous) family.
Auladec mafui fij rief, thy children are with me in the
country (ruri).
HCAC hou falaihi, this is his duty.
MaAe liya f alaic (fandec) ? what art thou to pay me ?
Qadd eix' bi weddec ? how much dost thou want ?
Leis xai* falaiya lee, I owe thee nothing.
Leis xai* liya, ilia farxain, I have nothing, but two piastres.
Darec fasieEa, zeiyine, thy house is spacious (and) fine.
Dari miGli darec, my house is like thine.
Cilahomaf sewa sewa, both of the two are on a par.
65. As the examples just given may suggest, 5?and, Li,
Mat, ^ala are in great use, to supply the verbs Have, Owe,
Ought 5)andi, I have in my house, or in my possession;
Liya, I have in ownership; Mafui, I have with me, about
* More classical Tainan— t6n.
f Perhaps Ciluhoma is too high style. Cila(n), both, is dual ; oblique
case, Cilei'. It is too good a word to lose.
60 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC.
me. Thus, Mafac siccieneti? (have you) my knife with
you? 5?andi Eu'San, ma hou liya, I have a horse, (but) he
does not belong to me.
Debt or Duty is said to rest upon or against the debtor :
hence ^alaiya, I owe; (Jalaiya folous lee, I owe thee small
cash.
66. The suffix (possessive) must be repeated with each
noun which we desire it to affect. Thus, "His will and
pleasure," becomes, "His will and 1m pleasure," Iradetoh
wa katuroh.
67. For emphasis they say, Liya ana, to me myself; Minnec
ente, from thee thyself, etc. Also Eiya, as a fulcrum, enables
a pronoun in the oblique case to be isolated : thus, 5anant-ec
eiyac, " I thought thee (to be) thyself." Eiyac nafbod, wa
eiyac nestefuin, "thee we adore, and thee we call to aid."
When a verb takes two pronouns after it, one of them must
be thus isolated in the modern dialect.
68. If a demonstrative and a suffix belong to one noun, the
demonstrative must follow: as BaCli heAe, this my mule.
Similarly with an adjective, as, BaCli el melieK, my excellent
mule. N.B. — The suffix is understood to make the noun
definite.
§ 7. AUXILIARY NOUNS, OR QUASI-PRONOUNS.
69. In English the nouns Self, Sake, Behalf, and others,
have lost much of their substantive nature : Self, in par-
ticular, has almost degenerated into a pronoun. The same is
the case with many Arab nouns. Peculiarly, Nefs (soul), pi.
Nofous or generally Anfos, does duty for Self; as do Aet,
HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 61
essence, personality ; Eal, state ; RouE, spirit, pi. ArwaE ;
and even 5*ain, eye. We may add Mai, property; Eaqq,
right; which, though abused provincially, seem to have a
legitimate use in harmony with good grammar. Aet, pL
Aewat, has too many senses. Besides being an adjective
pronoun, as explained in Art. 31 (as, Eoqoul Aet Eosn, fields
endowed with beauty), and (what is perhaps quite old fash-
ioned) Fie Aet yeum, on a certain day ; it is also much used
politically, as, El Aet el soltanieya, the imperial self (person) ;
El Aewat el ciram, the noble personages. Catafago says
absolutely, Aet, a lady.
70. Examples:
Sabi rama' nefsoh fil nehr, a boy threw himself into the river.
El 5?arab enfoshom, the Arabs themselves.
ArouE ana bi Aeti, I will go in my person (myself).
Qatel Eal-oh, or rouE-oh, he slew himself.
Qal fie nefsoh, or li Ealoh, he said in his soul (to himself).
Yaxcor rouEoh, YamdaE nefsoh, he thanks (he praises) him-
self.
El EuSan maloh, the horse his property, i.e. his own horse.
El Eaql Eaqqi, the field my right, i.e. my own field.
El emier fainoh, the prince himself.
But 5?ain peculiarly is used to supply the word Same ; as,
Fil yeum fainoh, (or fainihi), in that day itself, in that same
day. Mete?, a piece of property (an article, as we say), pi.
Emtif a, is said to serve, especially in Africa, as Mai, to ex-
press what is one's own. Mai, Mete?, and Eaqq may some-
times conduce to emphasis and clearness, in connections where
at first sight they are vulgar superfluity. Thus, EJ. darahim,
62 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Eaqq el jouk, means, "the money due for the woollen cloth,"
literally, "the money, the right of the cloth."
71. But at Moosul or Bagdad I wrote down from the
mouths of the people the following redundancies ; suggesting
that Mai has become a mere preposition, Of.
Dibs mal Ealeb,
treacle of Aleppo.
Dibs mal zebieb,
treacle of raisins.
Zebieb mal dibs,
raisins of treacle.
LaEm mal kinzier,
meat of hog.
El Sandouq mal el jemal,
the box of the camel.
El Kalieb mal el SobE,
the milk of the morning, i.e. fresh.
No such phraseology would be admitted in literature.
Whether Mali, Malec, in the predicate for Mine,
Thine, would pass, is also questionable. At Bag-
dad instead of the classical "HeAi citebi wa heAec citebec,"
this is my book, and this is thy book (which seems to an
Englishman so very flat), they say, HCAC citebi wa heAec
mdlec. Though Mine, Thine .... are expressible simply
by Liya, Lee .... (as, Ma hou liya, it is not mine) never-
theless, HCAC citebi wa heAec lee, would be wanting in
contrast and point.
72. It may seem that they can evade the double genitive
(24) by Mal or Metef; as, Celb, mete? el melic, a hound,
the property of the king. Both C. de Perceval and de Braine
lay down that in such connection the former noun must be
preceded by El ; which of course is the case when nothing is
meant but "tJte hound of the king." But perhaps in the
opposite case they would prefix WaEud to Celb, for fear of
being thought to omit El by accident.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
63
73. We might enumerate as auxiliary adjectives or parti-
ciples, not only E*Ead, WaEud, but also HakSou'S (belong-
ing, peculiar, proper), MCACOUT (afore-named). Thus, Ibni
el makSo'u'S, my proper son, my own son; El Sabi el meA-
cour, the aforesaid boy. Indeed MCACOUT seems to have none
of the stiffness which we feel in aforesaid, aforenamed, but
has wide currency. Like to it are the formulas, El moxar
ileihi, the alluded-to; El mouma' ileihi, the hinted-at, the
pointed-at.
74. ^adda, a number ; Jomla, a group ; are used like the
English several, to express an indefinite number. A short
list of the indefinite words often called pronominal may here
be convenient.
All, coll, jamie? .
Each, coll waEud.
A certain, waEud (before its
noun).
Any one (quispiam,qui8quam,
after If or a negative),
e*Ead,/ uEda'.
Any (positively), eiyoman
cen, quivis, eiyoma cen,
quodvis.
None, la e*Ead.
Not even one, wala waEud.
Several, fuddat, jomlat (a
number}.
Both (ambo), cilci (classical
nom. cile).
Some, bafi (i.e. a part}.
One — another; bafi — bafl;
man — man.
Some — others ; bafi — baf i ;
minhom — minhom; minhe
— minhe.
Some (ones), aliquot; cem
waEud.
Other, e*kar, /. *okra', pi
*ekara, *ekarien.
Other (diverse), fair — before
noun.
The Rest, e\ se*ir.
Several, \
Divers, j
Some or other, ma (after
noun).
xette'.
64 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
"Others than he," in classical style, is variously rendered
by Ma ¥ adahi (what passes him), Ma sewahi (what is on his
level), and Fairoh, his diverse (?). The roots of 5>ada and
Sewa mean Inequality and Equality.
Bafi (not repeated) is also now used for one another ; but
it seems, incorrectly.
It was stated (47) that Man, Ma, may become indefinite ;
hence the Man — man ; and Reja ma, some hope or other.
The latter phrase is found in modern literature, and is classi-
cal. Freitag renders it qualiscunque.
75. Pair is regarded as a substantive by grammarians.
Hence with a suffix, rairhom, others than they; Pairoh,
other than he; and even absolutely, El fair, some one else,
thy diverse(?), thy neighbour, in ethical relation, Sewa, Sowa',
even, like; is ridiculously explained in lexicons to mean, 1.
The same; 2. The opposite; [egal; meme chose; autre.]
Fair xai*, quite another thing, a different thing, is stronger
than Xai* e*kar, another thing, a second thing. So with the
negative, Leis ce miGliho fie fair mecen, in no other place is
anything like it. At the close of a sentence, La fair, la
fairoh, nothing else, is used dogmatically, for " so, and so
only."
$ 8. NUMERALS.
76. WaEud,/. WaEuda, means one, a single one, alone. So
we have, WaEdi, I alone; WaEdec, thou alone; WaEdoh,
he alone ; WaKdana, we alone, etc., with all the suffix pro-
nouns. Let us here repeat : "WaEud, one (emphatical),
follows its noun; as, Fie Eaql waEud, in one field. But,
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC.
65
Fie waEud Eaql, means, — in a certain field. But besides ;
E*Ead, /. TJEda', is one in a pronominal use ; which may also
be rendered any one (quisquam, quispiam) ; as, La e*Ead,
not any ; but WaEud, some one (aliquis, quidam) ; "Wala
waEud, not even one (ne unus quidem).
77. The numerals from 3 to 10 collectively take plural
nouns, and have the peculiarity that the feminine form
looks like masculine and the masculine like feminine. The
numerals from 11 to 19 are contracted in modern speech,
and have a still shorter vulgar form, which is probably
destined to become standard. Six is anomalous; analogy
requires Sidse.
1 waEud, /. waEuda.
2 iOnein, /. iOnetein.
3 0ele0e, /. 0ele0.
4 arbaf a, /. arbaf .
5 kamse, /. kams.
6 sitte,/. sitt.
7 sebf a, /. sebf .
8 Gemania, /. 0eman.
9 tisf a, /. tis?.
1 0 Taxara, /. faxar.
-i nuSf.
$ 8ol9.
.§. 0ol0ein.
-i- rob?, pi arbaf .
J- koms, pi. akmas.
11 uEdafxar (Eudafx).
12 i0nafx(ar).
13 0ele0etafx(ar).
14 arba'fta?x(ar).
15 kams'ta'?x(ar).
16 sittetafxar (sittafx).
17 sebfatafx(ar).
18 0emaniatafxar (0eman-
tafx).
19 tisfatafx(ar).
£ sods, pi. esdas.
. .1. sobt, pi. esbaf .
^ 0omn, pi. e0man.
± tost, pi. etsef .
-jig. f oxr, pi. at xar.
66 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
The final -a, -e, of the masculines from 3 to 10, becomes
-at, -et, at least before a vowel j yet I used to hear (I believe),
Sitte rijal, six men; Sittet *omara, six princes.
78. For the sake of classifying the imperfect plurals of the
language, the following table may deserve to be committed to
memory.
TYPES.
3 suns, GeleG xomous (solar plural) Doroub.
4 moons, arbafat aqmar (lunar plural) . . . Eswar.
5 men, kamse(t) rijal (manly plural) .... Cilab.
6 princes, sittet *omara (princely plural) . . . "Wozera.
7 merchants, sebfa(t) tojjar (mercantile plural). Cotteb.
8 horses, Gemaniat aK'Suna (dactylic plural) . . Emcina.
( grooms tiSfa(t) golmin j j Bddto.
I legs, tisf sieqan ( Kieran.
10 cities, faxar modon (short plural) .... Borec.
Contrary to analogy, the gender of the singular noun is
remembered in adapting the numeral to its plural.
79. The remaining cardinals are understood from :
20 fuxrien.
30 GeleOien.
40 arbafuin.
50 kamsien.
60 sittien.
70 sebfuin.
80 Gemanien.
90 tisfuin.
100 mieya.
1000 *elf
21 waEud wa fuxrien.
32 iOnein wa GeleGien.
43 GeleGe wa arba? uin.
121 mieya wa waEud wa f uxrien.
357 GeleG mieya wa sebtawa kamsien.
7465 sebf elaf wa arbaf mieya wa
kamse wa sittien.
The units always precede the tens,
and mieya remains singular, against the
general rule.
HANDBOOK OF MODERlf* AKABIC. 67
The cardinal numeral when undefined generally precedes
its noun, except wafiud: but El mifd el arbaf, the four
stomachs (Faris). "Thousands," in the plural, is also ex-
pressible by *01ouf ; but in numeral composition only E*lef
is employed.
80. The ordinals follow. Auwal (first) has fern. Oula' ;
the other feminines are regular.
2nd Geni(y).
3rd GeliG.
4th rabrt.
5th kamis.
6th sedis.
7th sebif.
8th Gemin.
9th tesif .
10th taxir.
Side by side should stand the days of the week.
Sunday, yeum el e*Ead.
Monday, el iGnein.
Tuesday, el GeleGe.
Wednesday, el arbafa.
Thursday, yeum el Icamies.
Friday, el jomfa,
Saturday, el sebet
(sabbath).
81. The ordinals from 20th to 90th (by tens) are the same
as cardinals ; so of 100th, 1000th. In composition, first is
rendered by Eadi ; thus, 21st, Eadi wa fuxrien; also llth,
Eadi faxar. So from llth to 19th faxar is added; as 12th,
m. Geni faxar, /. Geniyat f axara (KB. with double fern, in-
flexion). And a single article suffices, as EJ Geni faxar, from
llth to 19th. But above 20th two articles are used, as, El
Eadi wa el fuxrien, the 21st (C. de Perceval). [But the old
fashioned termination -oun supersedes -ten in titles.]
For ordinals the order rises from the lower to the higher,
units, tens, hundreds, etc.
82. The following is from Caussin de Perceval: — "See
here the order in which numbers above a thousand are ex-
68 HANDBOOfc OF MODEBN ABABIC.
pressed. Let us take 3452 : GeleGet e'lef wa arba? mieya,
wa iGnein wa khamsien. In this the tens are preceded by the
units. Dates of years are expressed, as with us, by cardinal
numbers ; yet in that case they take the opposite order —
units, tens, hundreds, thousands. Thus, The year 1823, is,
Sene 6ele0 wa fuxrien wa Geman mieya wa *elf. No article
is added to Sene (year), and the numerals of the units must
be put in the feminine, as agreeing with Sene. For the dates
of days they generally use cardinal numbers without the
article, since the name of the month serves for the com-
plement. Thus : Fie arba? at Eazieran waSalni mectoub,
teriekoh kams'tefxar Eiyar, on 4 of June reached me a
letter, its date 15 of May. — Here the numerals are mascu-
line, because the masculine word yeum, day, is understood."
$ 9. PLURALS OF NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES.
83. In Art. 78 eight leading types of the imperfect plural
were registered. Participles, while used strictly as such,
make a perfect plural ; masculine in ien (oun\ feminine in
in et. For the first plural type, I place this masculine per-
fect plural; for the second the perfect feminine. "When an
adjective is used as a substantive, it sometimes employs the
plural ien for persons, or et for things; thus from Kair
(Kaiyir), good, Kairat, good things. Nouns expressing
tradesmen, of the type QaSSab, butcher; make the plural
in ien (ouri). According to classical rule, final n should drop
away, if the word become the leading noun of a compound ;
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AJLA.BIC. 69
but (it seems) the modern tongue retains this n of the plural,
though it always drops n of the dual ; as, Kabbazien Bafdad,
the bakers of Bagdad ; but, Kabbazei el Saifa, the two bakers
of the village.
84. To the 2nd type of plurals, in £t, dt, belong — 1 . Many
feminines in -«, -e. 2. Gerunds of the derived forms of the
verb, to be hereafter named. 3. Numerous foreign nouns,
without regard to gender or termination. 4. Native femi-
nines in -a', d; which make plurals in ayet, awet. To the
last type conform Turkish words in d ; as Paxa, pi. Paxawet ;
ACa, pi. Afawet; Korda, small ware,^?/. Kordawet. 5. Nearly
all DIMINUTIVE NOUNS, of the form Colaib, a little dog;
Xowaiya, a little thing ; Mowaiya, a sup of water.
85. The 3rd type (Josour, Xomous) is extremely preva-
lent with nouns, but not with adjectives. The commonest
adjectival type is the 5th (Bijal, Cibar), though the 4th, 6th,
7th, and 8th are also adjectival. Plural adjectives are rarely
heard except in concord with rational agents, and especially in
high style are then appropriate ; as, El dowal el cibar, the
great Powers; El wozera el f^am, the chief viziers. But
in successive pages Faris uses, as if at pleasure, El Eaiwanet
el cibar wa el Sufar ; El Eaiwanet el cebiera wa ej. SaCiera,
the animals great and little.
86. A small number of adjectives form a peculiar plural :
Mariei, sick, pi. Maria'.
Qatiel, slain, pi. Qatla'.
JarieE, wounded, pi. JarEa.
Helic, perishing, pi. Helce'.
*Esier, captive, pi. *Esra (as
well as *0sera).
Maiyit, dead, pi. Maute'.
AEmaq, silly, pi. liamqa'.
70 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
87. The plurals of the following nouns are specially
irregular :
Father, abou, ab, pi. aba.
Son, ibn, pi. abna, benie'.
Brother, akou, ak, pi. aka,
akwa.
Mother, omm, pi. ommehet.
Daughter, Girl, bint, pi. bin£t.
Sister, okt, pi. akawet.
Water, may, pi. miyah, emwah.
88. We may treat the " short plural," or tenth type, as
regular, when it preserves the vowels of the singular, merely
transposing the second ; as, Mille, a religious sect, pi. Milel ;
Qobba, a vault, cupola, pi. Qobab. But the singular is often
of the form Qazen, LuKaf, or Mediena ; in which case the
vowels of the plural are 0, o ; as, LoKof, Modon.
89. Allowance must be made for euphony, especially with
the weak consonants *, w, y. Observe that Ce*s, a cup, pi.
Cosous ; Ka*s, pi. Ro^ous, are of the third type. Daula, pi.
Dowal, is of the tenth; Dawal being converted into Dowal
by the w.
90. We proceed to speak of the MODERN PLTJRAI,, which is
very regular and very important. It applies to all nouns
which have four or more strong consonants, except when their
plural is perfect.
Menzil, a lodging.
Bandar, a naval mart.
Kinzier, a pig.
Kandaq, a moat.
Doldol, a hedgehog.
Nomnoma, a wren.
To form the plural insert a (e) after the second consonant ;
take a (e) for your first vowel, and *', ie (u, ui) for your last,
and you have the plurals Menezil, Banadir, Kanezier, Kanadiq,
Daladil, Namanim. If the vowel of the singular preceding
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 71
the last consonant be d or ou, it becomes ie in the plural.
Thus (with accent on last syllable of the plurals) :
Miklab, a claw, pi. Makalieb.
Tennour, iron forge, pi. Tenanier.
Xaktoura, a barge, pi. Xakatuir.
Cercedan, rhinoceros, pi. Ceracedien.
QarqaSoun, polecat, pi. QaraqaSuin.
91. In a large number of nouns *, w, or y are counted as
true consonants for this process ; especially in those which end
in i (y}, as ^absify), a metal saucer, pi. cTabesi(y). So too
Zeuraq, a shallop, Taital, a great forest ; treated as Zewraq,
Taytal, make plurals Zewariq, FayaTul. YaKmour, a nyl-
ghau, *TJ'Sbat, a finger, Mad wad, a manger, similarly give
plurals YaE&mier, *ESabM>, Madawid. In Cowara, a hive or
comb, Menara, a lighthouse or spire, pi. Cowayir, Menayir,
perhaps d has been treated as #*. Many nouns of the type
Fadier, a pool, Jeziera, an island, follow this law; the ie
being identical with iy ; whence pi. Fadayir, Jezeyir, so
written in classical books, but, it seems, pronounced Tada-ier,
Jeze-ier, with accent on the last ; which indeed gives the
simplest theory, assimilating them to Kanzier, pi. Kanazier.
Perhaps Cowa-ier, Mena-ier, are also to be thus accented.
BoKaira, a lake, being a diminutive noun from BaKr, sea,
should have its plural in U ; but we meet BaEayir (or BaEa-
ier ?) as the plural.
92. There is also a large class of nouns with d (f) in
the FIRST syllable of the singular, in which we must first
interpret d into a3' ; next, after deriving hereby the modern
plural, we must euphonically change a*a or a*e into awa,
awe. Thus from Sari(y), a mast, pi. Sawari(y) ; Baqiya,
72 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
remnant, pi. Bawaqi ; and even *Eniya (*Efrniya), a vessel,
pi *Eweni.
93. It is not always possible to foretell when a noun which
has not so many as four strong consonants will form its plural
by this law; but when a feminine in -a does not form the
perfect plural, and is of one of the types Taniema, Menara,
Facihe, Kabiya, the strong presumption is that it will take
the modern plural Tanayim, Henayir, Fawecih, Kawabi.
Mediena, a city, Sefiena, a ship, beside the old plurals
Modon, Sofon, of the tenth type, have the modern plurals
Medayin, Sefayin.
In some we may be deceived by a noun of unity. Thus,
Aobaba, a fly, might suggest a plural Aobayib. But it is a
noun of unity, and Aobab means Flies collectively.
94. Some words, expressing tradesmen, take the Turkish
termination -ji; as, ^aubji, cannoneer; Bellaurji, dealer in
fine glass ; Bostenji, gardener. All such make their plurals
in -jieya. Besides, there is a third form, purely Arabic, in
-iey (properly the adjective of relation), as Fakouriey, a seller
of pottery ; Joukiey, a woollen draper ; Soyoufiey, sword
cutler. "Words of this form, whether substantive or adjective,
make their only plural in -iey a.
KB. — Many nouns take two or more plurals, sometimes
with a difference of sense ; often one is more old-fashioned or
jof higher style than the other. The English brothers and
brethren will suffice to impress this. Dictionaries give in-
discriminately BoEour, AbEar, BiEar, seas ; Toloul, Etlel,
Tilel, hills, etc. ; and it is often difficult to know which best
suits the pitch of the style. Modern use will at last fix on
one as suitable for daily life.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AJLABIC. 73
$ 10. COMPARATIVES.
95. In Arabic, as in French, the same word is Comparative
and Superlative ; in fact it has the three senses which we
express by "Greater, Greats, Very great." At other times
they evade the comparative, as, by saying "Great above me,"
for " Greater than I."
Comparatives are of the type AEsen, Ecbar, but they are
not declined like the adjectives of Colour, Art. 12. E*kir
(last) is in sense a superlative, but in form is a participle.
96. Than after the comparative is expressed by Min ; hence
after the superlative the partitive Of is generally omitted ;
as, AEsen el kail, the finest (of) the horses. The following
examples are instructive :
Lem yablof, min el fomr, ecGer min arbafuin Tainan,
He did not attain, of age, more than forty years.
MaAe faf alt, ecGer min el e*kar, min el xarr ?
What did I do, more than the other, of mischief ?
El kala/S min el Aonoub wa el jarayim hou af^am min el
kalaS min el belaya,
Deliverance from faults and offences is grander than de-
liverance/row miseries.
AqSa' *eri MuSr, Furthest (of) the land (of) Egypt.
Anfaf jemief el Eaiwanat, wa ajdarhe bil molaEa5a,
Most useful of all the animals, and most worthy of them
to be noticed.
El awwal aqwa' min e], 0eni, wa el mauloud min homa
afialhoma,
The first (is) stronger than the second, and the progeny
from the two (is) better than both. — (Faris.)
74 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
El moqatelat se-te*koA hieya a^am min el jidd wa el Eamase,
The battles will assume a grander mien of earnestness and
energy. — (Beirout Newspaper, Ead. el Ak.)
In the last, Min for Of, immediately after the comparative,
is striking. We might indeed have expected A^am hieya ;
so as to bring "hieya min" side by side. Minnoh, Minneho,
often mean, " than it (is)." Thus : Inna heAe el ieyal, leho
mixya, axbeh bil herwela, minnehe bil racS, as for this stag,
to it (is) a gait, liker (more like) to a scamper (amble), than
it is to a gallop.
97. The absolute superlative forms a rare feminine, as
Cobra', very great ; ^c^ma', very mighty. Some make a
plural in -ien, as Aqdamien, very ancient ; Afialien, very
excellent. Others make a substantival plural, of the type
Ecebir, grandees.
The superlative is generally indeclinable and may precede
its noun, as AKsen rajol, best man, very good man. But
Auwal yeum, the first day, and El yeum el auwal, are alike
good. Auwal has a feminine *0ula' (comparable to Cobra' ;
also to *0kra', other) which is used when it follows its femi-
nine noun ; as, El senet el oula', the first year ; or Auwal
sene.
In some other phrases (which apparently imitate Turkish
idiom) a common adjective precedes its noun and becomes
indeclinable. The formula, ^aziez cotobcom, your valued
letters, is often quoted. In Faris (Nat. Hist.) such phrases
as 5?a5uim kiffatoh, his immense swiftness : Ximaliey baEr
Europa, the North Sea of Europe ; are not seldom met.
"Whether this is an improvement to the language, or the very
opposite, learned natives themselves must settle. But with
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 75
the superlative the order is normal : as Bi afla' Sautihom,
with their highest voice. To the same head we must refer,
Bi e*kir nesmat Kayati, with the last breath of my life.
98. Many adjectives do not form a comparative of the
type AEsen ; and their comparative needs to he paraphrased,
nearly as in English, by Ecbar (greater), EcGar (more), or
some other familiar comparative, which becomes auxiliary.
This is ordinarily done by making a noun the complement, as
in Art. 14. Thus:
Ec0ar iktilafan (or tefayyoran), more diverse.
EcOar wojoudan, more as to existence, more numerous.
Axadd qouwaten, more intense as to strength, stronger.
Arda' faxmaraten, worse as to fierceness, fiercer.
But this adverbial case of the noun is not in popular style.
§ 11. RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
99. Relatives in most languages] are developed partly out
of the interrogatives and partly out of the demonstratives.
So in Arabic the interrogatives Man, Ma, may be used, not
only for Who? What? but also for He-who, That- which.
Nevertheless, in modern style they are limited to the indefinite
relatives Whoever, Whatever. In this use, Ma may be re-
garded as leaning on the verb, or on the substitute of the
verb ; thus, Ma-fat, what is past = the past ; Ma bain* what
is between; Ma-jara, what has happened; Ma-kala, what is
vacant ; Ma-qolt, what thou saidest. These cohere as one
word. In speech, the accent will probably distinguish this
Ma from Ma, not ; as, Ma kala, it is not vacant ; Ma qolt,
76 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
thou didst not say. But, Ma qolt? what didst thou say?
is pronounced exactly as Ma qolt. This is a grave incon-
venience, to avoid which, the moderns wisely prefer to use
MaAe (quidnam) in preference to Ma, quid ?
100. Compounding Man, Ma with Eiy, which? or Coll,
all ; we have (with verb Cen, was) :
Eiyo-man, Eiyoman cen, whatsoever (qui que ce soit).
Eiyo-ma, Eiyoma cen, whatsoever.
Por which last, more vulgarly, Eix' ma, Eix' ma cen.
Also without Ma, Eiyo becomes relative before a noun, if
cen follow ; as, Bi eiyo sifr cen, at (any) whatsoever price.
So Colloman, whosoever; Colloma, whatsoever. But Col-
lama is also adverbial, meaning " However much" (quanta,
quantum), or, in proportion as.
101. The pronoun LeAi is relative, and nothing else; but
unfortunately it must have the article El before it, and, ex-
cept when it is nominative to the verb, it needs a pronoun
suffix as complement, whence elaborate confusion. Thus, El
ICAI faraf-oh, means either, Who knew him (qui noverat eum),
or, Whom he knew (quern noverat). To get the latter sense
we have to render it, " Who, he knew him," and then imagine
Who — him incorporated into Whom. This is one of- the
grave defects of the language ; for as soon as a sentence as-
sumes even moderate complexity, the syntax is apt to be
highly uncertain. LCAI is declined thus :
El leAi, le quel.
El leti, la quelle.
El leAien, les quelles.
El lewet(i), Elleti, les quelles.
There is also a classical dual, Elleten, EUetein, abs. and obi.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 77
of both genders. Also, ElleAi may be used of both genders
and numbers, and is vulgarly shortened into Elli.
The logical complement to LeAi is sometimes placed close
to it, with much advantage to clearness, when a preposition
goes with it ; as El leAi bihi, by whom ; El ICAI f andoh, with
whom. LCAI cannot be preceded by a preposition of its own.
102. El leAi cannot be used when it limits its antecedent,
but only when the whole antecedent is affected by it : as,
The man who is present, El rajol, el ICAI Eaiur. It cannot
always be used, even when the antecedent has the English
article The; for instance, after the word All, or with a
superlative. Thus, "He gave up all the money which he
had," means, '* Whatsoever of money he had ;" and " what-
soever" cannot be rendered by El leAi. If we express it by
Ma, we must transpose, so that Ma may immediately precede
its verb: thus, " Sellem ma cen liho min el darahim."
Again : " The first man whom I saw, appears to us fully
denned ; for it means, " That individual, whom I saw first
of men," ilium quern primum vidi. Yet (say the gram-
marians) the relative clause here qualifies the antecedent,
which is true (so the Latins throw the verb into the sub-
junctive : primus homo quern videnm) : on this ground El
leAi is illegitimate. Yet the adverbial relative Enna (that)
is here admissible ; Awwal rajol enni ra*eit-oh (the) first man
(that} I saw (Fans and Eob. Cr.). So Ma is often used after
the superlative ; as, Hie afkar ma yoSnaf, these (are) the
finest that are made.
The pronominal complement to El leAi is not unfrequently
suppressed (says "Wright) when the sense is clear without it.
But his examples show great obscurity resulting.
78 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
103. El ICAI begins its own clause, and can have no noun
with it. When its antecedent is understood, a preposition
before El ICAI may belong to the antecedent, as, Li el ICAI —
to (the man) who — . We may then regard El as the pronoun
him (Li, to; El, him; LeAi, ivho, etc.). But, even when
the antecedent is expressed, and takes El, the Arabs treat it
as undefined, if the is changeable into a. Thus, "The man
who is able," may mean, " A man, Any man who is able;"
in that case they omit the word Who, or even put the de-
monstrative Hou (he) for it.
Thus, in general, pronouns of the third person serve for
relatives when the antecedent is undefined ; as, 5>andi Sabi,
leho mari, in my house is a boy, to whom (is) a disease;
5>andi Eu'San, ma hou liya, in my possession (is) a horse, who
(is) not mine; Dar, fieA<? jonaina, a house, in which (is) a
garden. The simultaneous deficiency of the verb "to be"
and of the relative is peculiarly unhappy.
104. An astonishingly barbarous syntax is the use of a
finite verb for a participle or verbal adjective, the relative
pronoun being understood before it. Thus, Rajol yobSur, is
good Arabic for " a man discerns ;" yet it is also grammati-
cally correct for "a man who discerns, i.e. a discerning man."
This is especially common with the passive verb to supply
our verbals in -lie, -ive, -ate, etc. When they are also
negative, la (not) with the verb almost makes a compound
adjective. Thus, Belaya la-yoESa', miseries innumerable (viz.
which are not counted) ; la-yoflab, invincible.
105. The adverbial relatives when, where .... must be
paraphrased, if they have some other antecedent than then,
there .... Thus, for "The country where I was residing,"
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 79
you must say, in which: that is, "The country, which (el
leti) I was residing in it" Again : for "A place where there
were stones," say, "A place, in it stones," mecen, fiehi Eujar.
106. In Ma-cen, noticed above, the verb Cen appears in-
declinable, but Ma yecoun is also common, as, Eix' ma
yecoun (Eiyoma yecoun), be it what it may. After super-
latives we may often render Ma yecoun, by the word possible ;
as, AEsen ma yecoun, the best possible.
107. Ma also becomes adverbial in the sense of WTiile, So
long as; thus, Ma damt Eaiyan, so long as I remain alive;
but Ma-dam, more distinctly expresses the sense While before
another verb. Ma is otherwise an important element of in-
declinable relatives; as in Bafdama, after (apres que), Qab-
lama (avant que, ante quam), Einama, EaiGoma, wheresoever ;
from prepositions Bafd, Qabl, and from Ein? where? EaiG,
where. [In modern literature, EaiOoma appears, contrary
to classical usage, for where, in passages which reject the
sense wherever. What is gained by this innovation, is not
clear. It seems a pity to confound EaiO and EaiGoma.] So
5*andama, Waqtima, Euinima, at the moment that, whenever,
Ceifama, however, ^oulama, as long as. Nay, verbs enter
such compounds, as, ^alama, it is long that, it is long since ;
Qallama, it is rare that ; CeG'rama, it is frequent that ; but
these (immediately before another verb) are virtually equiva-
lent to the adverbs Long ago, Seldom, Often. So with the
superlatives, Aqallama, (it is) very rare that; Ec9'rama, it
is very frequent that.
In place of Ma, sometimes En (that) is found; as, Bafd
en, after (postquam) ; Ha' en, Eatte' en, until ; EaiO en, in
case that, before verbs.
80
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
§ 12. ELEMENTS OF THE VERB.
108. "We begin with the verbs, Ijlis, sit thou : Zekrif,
decorate thou.
There are three cardinal tenses, the Imperative (mood), the
Aorist, and the Perfect. "We omit at present the Dual and
the Plurals Feminine, which are rarely used.
IMPERATIVE.
m.8. ijlis f.s. ijlisi pi. ijlisou
rn.s. zekrif f.s. zekrifi pi. zekrifou
AORIST.
jl. ajlis
( ozekrif
( 1. nejlis
( nozekrif
2. tejHs(i)
tozekrif(i)
2. tejlisou(n)
tozekrifou(n)
3 m. yejlis
yozekrif
3. yejlii
yozel
3/. tejlis
tozekrif
soun(n)
mfou(n)
PERFECT.
!1. jelest
zekraft
!1. jelesna
zekrafna
2. jelest (i)
zekraft(i)
2. jelestom(ou)
zekraftom(ou)
3 m. jeles
zekraf
3. jelesou
zekrafou
3/. jeleset
zekrafet
There is no difference in the inflections of the two verbs,
'except that Zekrif takes o for the first letter of its aorist.
The i in parenthesis for the 2nd pers. sing, denotes the femi-
nine. N.B. — In old Arabic the perfect singular had final
vowels, thus,
1. jelesto; 2 m. jeleste; 3 m. jelest.
The final vowels may be kept before a suffix ; nay, perhaps
we can thus distinguish BalaCna (we have arrived or attained)
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 81
from Balafa-na (or Bal'fa-na), it has reached us. Paris occa-
sionally writes the 2nd m. as Jeleste, even without a suffix.
To retain this final vowel discriminates 2nd person from 1 st,
and involves no countervailing evil.
To distinguish the person of Jelest we may add Ana (I) or
Ente (thou) ; but it is often done more delicately by a suffix,
if Enna or Lecinna precedes ; as, Enn^ jelest, that thou hast
sat ; Lecinm jelest, yet I have sat.
Knowing the imperative (as Ijlis, Zekrif) we can inflect
the three tenses as above; observing, as to the vowels, only
these simple rules :
(a.) The vowels of the perfect in the spoken language are
always "Fathite," as in the Table, in verbs of such type.
(5.) The last vowel of the aorist is always that of the im-
perative; the other vowels as in the Table. The last vowel
may be «, t, o, in a triradical verb, but invariable in the
quadriradical.
(c.) If the vowel be a, i, the first vowel of the imperative
is i; but if o then o: as, Ijlis, sit thou; Iqtaf, cut thou;
Okroj, go out ; OrboT, tie, bind.
The ancient verb distinguished in the aorist two moods by a
different vowel o a added to the end. But this is totally lost
and irrecoverable.
109. The classical dual in 2nd and 3rd person is sometimes
used. Final d, 3, is its mark.
IMPER. — 2. ijlise.
AOR.— 2. tejlise(n), 3 m. yejlise(n), 3/ tejlise'(n), as 2nd pers.
PERF. — 2. jelestoma, 3 m. jelese, 3/. jeleste.
The plurals feminine with the old vowels involve much
82 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
confusion. "When now used, it is with a slight change,
apparently as follows (-on, for hon, honna, is the element) :
IMPER. — 2/. pi. ijlisn or ijlison.
AOR. — 2/. pi. tejlisn, tejlison; 3f. pi. yejlisu, yejlison.
PERF. — 2f. pi. jeleston, 3/. pi. jeleson.
110. A verb like Mrr (Imperative Morr), with second and
third radical the same, is called SURD. It has a slight
irregularity in the modern perfect.
PERFECT.
( marart
( marrait
marart(i) \
marraiti )
r
( mararna
( marraina
marartom \
marraitom )
marr, 3 m.
marrat, 3/.
marrou
The forms Marrait, Marraina, etc., hurtfully confound the
root Mrr with Mry. They will perhaps be driven out by
cultivation of the language.
111. When the second radical is w or y, the verb is called
Concave or HOLLOW, as in the Types Qoum, Sier. The aorist
and imperative have then no irregularity. But in the per-
fect the long vowels ou, ie, are shortened in o, i, before two
consonants in 1st and 2nd person ; making Qomt, Qomti,
Qomna, Qomtom; Sirt, Sirti, Sirna, Sirtom. Also in the
3rd person singular and plural the long vowel of both be-
comes d, e ; Qam, Qamat, Qamou ; Ser, Serat, Serou. The
popular imperatives Qoum, Sier, most legitimately supersede
Qom, Sir, which rest on an exploded law of euphony.
The two hollow verbs Coun (be), Suir (become), deserve
chief attention,
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
83
Be thou, Coun, /. Couni, pi. Counou.
( 1. Ecoun, 2. Tecoun(i), 3. Yecoun, tecoun. (*.)
( 1. Necoun, 2. Tecounou(n), 3. Yecounou(n). (p.)
j 1. Cont, 2. Cont(i), 3. Cen, cenet. (a.)
' ( 2. Conna, 2. Contom, 3. Cenou. (p.)
Become thou, Suir, /. Suiri, pi. Suirou.
Shall f 1. A^uir, 2. Ta^5uir(i), 3. Ya^uir, ta^uir. (a.)
become, ( 1. Na^uir, 2. Ta^5uirou(n), 3. Ya'Suirou(n). (p.)
Have t 1. Surt, 2. Surt(i), 3. Sar/Sarat.
become, ( 1. Surna, 2. Surtom, 3. Sarou.
Some hollow verbs have a in the aorist ; as,
GERUND.
IMPER.
AOR.
PERFECT.
Sleep
Kaum
Nam
Enam
Nimt, Nam
Fear
Kauf
Kaf
Akaf
Kift, Kaf
Dread
Heiba
Heb
Eheb
Hibt, Heb
112. The Perfect Tense is (on the whole) best rendered by
the English "Compound past" or "Present past," as, Jelest,
I have sat ; but we need to render it " I sat," if the context
shows historical time to be intended. Also, after In or IAC,
If, it means future perfect ; nearly as in English we say,
"When you have done, After you have done, for, When you
shall have done, etc. In this case the verb of response (classi-
cally) is also in the Perfect, though we render it as Present
Time. The moderns prefer to say Incen, «/, and then adopt
our idiom as to tenses.
113. The Aorist has immense latitude. First and chiefly,
it supplies the whole subjunctive mood;", but in this sense
the final n is always dropped from 2nd or 3rd plural. The
84
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
particle Li (for) prefixed to the aorist, in good style, suffices
to make it Hortative, as, Li ejlis ! let me sit ! Li yejlis ! let
him sit ; and supplies this deficiency of the imperative. On
the contrary, La (not) with 2nd or 3rd plural in the spoken
tongue uniformly expresses Prohibition, like Latin Ke with
subjunctive ; as, La tejlis ! do not sit ! La yesier ! let him
not proceed! La, Ma, cannot be joined with the imperative.
114. The aorist is also indicative. After Lem (not) it
expresses past time ; as, Lem ejlis, I did not sit, I have not
sat ; which is apt to be very perplexing. It may in general
express Present, Past, or Future, nearly as the Latin present
tense in poetry, or in vivid narrative and prophecy, the con-
text alone suggesting the time intended. It is often simply
Present, as, Oried, I will, I wish; La oried, Ma oried, I do
not choose. Lem, La, Len, in classical rule, make the
aorist Past, Present, Future ; but La yejlis, sitteth not ; Len
yejlis, will not sit, shall not sit, appear to be "high style."
115. To define Future time sharply the simplest method is
that of prefixing Se to the aorist, which modern literature
decidedly adopts: as, Se -yejlis, he will sit; Se-yemorr, he
will pass. This too is perhaps high style. On Auxiliaries we
shall speak below. Futurity is often denoted beyond question
by the context; as, "I go to-morrow," i.e. "I shall go
to-morrow."
But again, In lem ejlis, if I shall not have sat, recovers
for us futurity, as with, In jelest, if I shall have sat.
116. The participles have little irregularity. They make
fern. sing, in -a, -e ; m. pi. in -ien, -uin (-oun) ; /. pi. in -et,
-at. The active participle of the types Ijlis, Ixrab (drink),
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 85
Xien (sully), Loum (blame), is, Jelis, Xarib, Xayin, Layim ;
the radical w being merged in y in the last.
The passive of the same types (when the sense admits a
passive) is Maxroub, drunk up ; Maxien, sullied ; Maloum
(for Maxyoun, Malwoum), blamed. The surd verb is regular
in the passive participle, as, Mesdoud ; but the active par-
ticiple is generally contracted ; as, Marr for Marir ; Eadd for
Eadid. The quadriradical verb has participles, act. Hozekrif ;
pass. Mozekraf.
117. An active participle, with am, art, is, are, understood,
supplies the present indicative of the verb. But if the
nominative be then a pronoun, it must be expressed: as,
Ana ralu, I am well satisfied; Houa rayili, he (is) going.
Also in this use, the plural of the participle is legitimately
in -oun, rather than -ten ; and even in speech one hears -oun.
Thus, Hel entom reciboun ? are you riding ?
118. If the word while is added to a participle in English,
the Arabs express it by wa hou (and he), or tea horn, wa ana,
etc. ; in which case also the plural in -oun is preferable.
Thus, He sleeps while walking, Yenem wa hou maxi. They
sleep while walking, Yenemou(n) wa horn maxiyo?<«.
119. But if wa hou, wa ana, etc., is not inserted, and the
active participle singular is in apposition to the nominative of
the verb, it assumes the adverbial state, by adding -an, -en ;
as, He came riding, Ja reciban ; or, if the participle be plural,
it will take the form -ten, not -oun ; as, Ja*ou recibien, they
came riding.
120. In fact, tea hou, wa ana, etc., with the participle,
express our while with the verb, even when the preceding
verb has a different nominative : as, Dakal beiti, wa ana
86 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
nayim, he entered my house, while I (was] sleeping ; or with
the plural, Dakal beitna, wa naEne nayimoun, while ive
(were) sleeping.
121. The Arab gerund often (like our own) does duty for
an infinitive; but in the spoken language it is generally
evaded, as by the modern Greeks, who have replaced it by
the subjunctive. Thus, for, Dost thou wish to drink water ?
a Latin might say, Yisne bibas aquam ? instead of, Yisne
lilere aquam? and an Arab says, Hel toried (en) texrab
may? No word must interpose between En (that) and its
verb ; hence when En is dropped, the verb (texrab) leads the
clause. Dost thou wish the boy to go ? is : Hel toried
yarouK el Sabi ? not, El Sabi yarouE.
"When the student has reached this point in the grammar,
he is at a stage in which a large mass of the language may
be picked up. He is recommended to proceed at once to the
Third Part (Praxis], and turn back only when occasion sug-
gests, to that which we have to add concerning Grammar.
In fact, every learner of any language will be wise to do as
children do. Let him, with the smallest grammatical appa-
ratus, accumulate the largest possible acquaintance with
popular words. Let him combine them as often as possible
in the simplest ways ; and postpone all intricacies of syntax,
and all delicate inquiries, until he is very familiar with the
material.
§ 13. TYPES OF THE NOUN.
122. Many nouns are derived from verbs, some verbs from
nouns. We have already observed — 1. A noun of unity,
ending in -a, -e; and 2. a diminutive of the types Colaib
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 87
(little dog), BoEaira (little sea, lake). 3. A noun of place
or time has the type of Ma Crab or Ma Crib, the west, place
or time of sunset : so Mat laf, hayrack ; MaqSab, canebrake ;
or with feminine ending, MabTaka, a melon bed ; Mesbaf a, a
place of wild beasts ; from Batuik, melon ; Sebof , wild beast.
4. The noun of instrument differs from the last in having
t for its first vowel; it also sometimes elongates its second
vowel into d. Thus, Minfak, bellows; Mijmara, brazier;
MifteE, key ; Miqlaya, frying pan. Many of these, numbered
3 and 4, are verbal nouns.
Abstract nouns may sometimes be regarded either as gerunds
of verbs, or as related to an adjective ; in some cases the two
are distinguished by a vowel. 5. The active gerund has
very often the type Katf, carrying off; Kalq, creating; Aarb,
a beating. 6. A noun of unity from this has the type iarba,
a single blow.
7. So Sefar, travelling; FaraE, rejoicing, gladness. 8.
Hence the noun of unity, Sefara, a voyage.
9. The abstract nouns, Cibr, greatness; Cobr, grandeur;
Sufr, smallness; 56 Cr, contemning, contempt (if indeed this
vocalization be right), are related to the adjectives Cebier,
SaCier ; so HckS, cheapness, to RakieS ; Somn, fatness, to
Semien. Also in the feminine form, Sort a, quickness, with
Serief ; Botda, distance, farness, with Bafuid. 10. CiGra,
plenty, is the abstract to CeGier, much ; but this type is
commonest when the root is surd. Thus, Qilla, deficiency,
with Qaliel ; Riqqa, thinness, with Raqieq ; Xidda, intensity,
with Xadied; LiAAe, deliciousness, with LeAieA. 11. From
hollow verbs come such as ^oul, length, with ^awiel ; and
in feminine, Jouda, goodness.
88
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
12. "With neuter verbs, Jolous (sitting), is a common
gerundial type. 13. Not less common is the type Sohoula,
ease, both for abstract nouns and for the gerund of neuter
verbs. 14. Citeba, writing, is again gerundial. 15. Nearly*
the same is the type Najaba, nobleness, extremely common
for abstract nouns. 16. RaAiele, vileness, is a somewhat
rarer type. In El kaziena, the treasury; El Kaliefa, the
Caliph, it is concrete.
123. In a tabular view they stand thus :
TYPES OF NOUNS.
1. kobz-e
5. Zarb
11. toul, tuib
2. colaib
6. iarba
jouda
boKaira
7. sefar
3. ma Crab
8. sefara
12. jolous
mab'Taka
9. cibr
13. sohoula
4. minfak
cobr
14. citeba
miklab
sorfa
mijmara
10. ciGra
15. najaba
miqlaya
qilla
16. raAiele
The commonest gerunds (of the primary "triliteral" verb)
are of the types NaSr, Jolous, ParaE, Citeba, Sohoule. Of
these the two last are like our nouns in -tion, and make the
plural in -et. Of the rest, NaSr is the commonest type for
active verbs, Jolous and FaraE for neuter verbs.
124. Special list of abstract nouns of 15th type, related to
adjectives.
HANDBOOK OP MODEEN AEABIC. 89
NaEafa, leanness.
Latafa, gentleness.
Seqafa, sickliness.
Radawa, badness.
"Weseka, dirtiness.
MelaEa, comeliness.
Sarafa, elegance.
uncouthness.
Najaba, nobleness.
Belada, stupidity.
Fabawa, doltishness.
Jehela, ignorance.
Salaba, solidity.
mightiness.
Sef ada, happiness.
Mehera, skilfulness.
Ealawa, sweetness.
Marara, bitterness.
Frequently there are two forms; as, Lotf and Latafa,
Sefada and Sofouda, etc. ; the same thing happens in most
languages. The Dictionary, and not the Grammar, must
inform a learner what form of gerund, or of abstract noun,
is practically current under each root.
§ 14. AUXILIARY VERBS.
125. LET is expressed by 'Daf (more classical) or Kalli
(more popular), prefixed to 1st or 3rd person of the aorist;
as, 'Daf-ni axrab, let me drink (in Latin, sine me bibam);
Kallieni axouf, let me see ; Kalliena nexouf, let us see. Xouf
is a popular verb : more classical is, 'Daf-ni ara', let me
see. But in good style the mere particle Li suffices to ex-
press our Let; as, Li yefout, let him pass in. In Syria,
they use Te as a hortative particle (Latin age], instead of Li ;
as, Te yarouE, let him go. [I think that Te means come,
being the imperative of the verb *Ete*, he came. But De
Perceval interprets it as a contraction of Eatte, until.]
126. GOING is popularly rendered by RayiE, exactly like
English; but in Barbary they say Muxi, walking. Thus
90 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Paris has, Hcl hou rayiE en yojaddid el jidal? Is he going
to renew the dispute ? (Lit. en yojaddid, ut renovet, that he
should renew.) But this use of RayiE is no more in high
style than is Going in English.
127. WILL, expressing purpose, has many substitutes, all
of them followed by the aorist, with En (that) often under-
stood. Chiefly ; Oried, I wish, I will, I choose ; Moradi en,
(it is) my wish that ; QaSdi en, (it is) my design that ; or,
Ana qaSid, I am designing ; Ana fazim, I am resolving ;
Ana nawi, I am intending ; Ehomm, I meditate.
Paris has, Mwi temTor, (it is) intending to rain, for, it is
going to rain.
In Aleppo, Bedd (contracted, it seems, from Bi wedd) is in
general use. Prom "Wedd, wish, choice, will ; comes Bi
weddi, (it is) in my will ; Bi weddec, (it is) in thy will, etc.
Hence they make,
Beddi arouE, I will go ; Beddec terouE, thou wilt go, etc.
This is perhaps confined to Syria. If Bi wedd be pronounced
in full, it must probably be admissible any where ; but the
Aleppines use it to express Puturity as well as "Will or Wish.
128. Por mere PTTTFEITT, nothing is better than the classi-
cal particle Se- prefixed to the aorist ; which is still living in
literature. Thus, Se-yarouE, he will go ; Se-narouE, we
shall go ; Se-tera', thou shalt see.
At Bagdad, Yecoun (it will be) gives a future notion to
the verb ; as, Yecoun yarouE, he will go ; Yecoun rafi, he
will have gone. YaSuir, it will be, may be in like manner
employed ; as, Ya'Suir temtor, it will rain.
The verb Ezmaf, he hastened, or rather the participle,
MozmrT, hastening, is also current, as follows: Hou mozmif
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 91
yabief, he is hastening to sell, i.e. he is on the point of
selling.
129. CAN, expressing ability, is rendered by Aqdir, I am
able ; or Ana qadir ; or Liya qodra en, to me (is) power
that. Or again, they say, Ana qabil, I am capable ; Liya
qabilieya en, to me (is) capacity that.. At Bagdad they say,
Otuiq, or Otuiq fala en, I have force for ; or, Liya taqa en.
(More ordinarily, with a negative, Ma oTuiq, or La taqa liya
bi*en, means, I have no resisting power ; I cannot withstand
a disease; I cannot afford an expense.} Literati are fond of
the strangely obscure word, EsteTurT, I am able. Worst of
all by far is the idiom of Aleppo, which pronounces AEsen,
I am able ; apparently meaning OKsin (ivth form), I succeed.
Thus, I do not succeed to do a thing, means, I cannot.
For CAN, meaning possibility, you may say Yomcin, it is
possible ; or participle Momcin ; and Emcen, it was possible.
Negatively, La yomcin, Ma momcin, it is not possible ; Lem
yomcin, it was not possible ; Ma teheyya liya, it was not at
hand (in promptu] for me ; or again, MoEal, MosteEuil, im-
possible, absurd. Also, La yaSuEE, it is not sound, virtually
means, It cannot be.
It is also in Arabic idiom to say, La telEaq yedi fala en —
My hand does not reach so far that — . More shortly, Leis
fie yedi, it is not in my hand, i.e. I am not able. In Syria
this is cut down into Fieya, it is in me; Ma fiec, it is not
in thee, i.e. I can, thou canst not.
130. For MAY (of permission) we can use Yejouz, it passes,
it is permitted ; Ya3uEE, it is sound ; YobaE, it is open and
free. Also the participles Jayiz, MobaE. Or Yesouf liya, it
is allowed me.
92 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Paris exhibits the singular ellipsis, Hel liya en — ? is it
for me that — ? i.e. is it permitted to me that — . So even
in English, It is not for me to do so and so — (Non meum est
ut — ). But the omission of the verb " to be," as well as the
predicate, makes the Arabic ellipsis very harsh.
131. OUGHT admits a like elliptical phrase, ^alaiya en,
(it rests) on me that. Besides, we can say, Yenbafi, it befits ;
Yelieq, it beseems; Yejib, it behoves; or Wajib falaiya, (it
is) a duty on me. Again, YaEaqq f alaiya, it is right for me ;
YaSuEE liya, it is proper for me ; Yajmol, it is comely, or
becoming; YaqtaSu, it is required. The most popular of
these is "Wajib falaiya. Besides we can use Yelzem, Lezim
en, though this rather means Need, necessity.
132. For MUST, two formulas are highly popular. La bodd
en, no escape that — ; La bodd (en) terouE, thou must neces-
sarily go. Next, Lezim, which originally meant, sticking
close, has somewhat degenerated ; so that they now say,
Lezimni, it is necessary for me, i.e. I must, or, I want, I
need. This word is greatly overworked by the vulgar.
133. The verb Cen (it was) is also auxiliary in Arabic;
not only to make a passive verb, as in English, but to form
tenses by its peculiar force of time ; since Yecoun is essentially
future* and Cen is historical time, i.e. it was, not, it has
been. Hence we obtain :
RoEt, I went or have gone.
Cen rofit, I had gone.
Yecoun roEt, I shall have
gone.
ArouE, I go.
Cen arouE. \ T
I went.
Cont arouE, )
Yecoun arouE, I shall go, I
I am to go.
So De Perceval positively asserts j and it seems, with great reason.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 93
1335. We can hardly class as auxiliary the verbs which
express to begin, before another verb. These are Ebdi, I
open ; E*koA, I take ; Ajfal, I set, set to ; Axraf, I insti-
tute ; ATfoq, I establish ; ASuir, I become. All drop a
part of their sense to assume the meaning of Begin : the
commonest is Ebtedi (in vinth form, see 136), whence Ibteda,
Mobteda, a beginning. These verbs are followed by Enna
(that, quod, on) with the aorist Indicative of the other verb ;
not by En (ut, iva) with subjunctive; apparently because an
attained result, not a mere intention, is expressed. Thus,
The sailors began to howl, Jafalou el mellaEoun yowelwiloww ;
Ibtedou or Sarou yaSrokoww, they began to shout. It is here
seen that the particle Enna (that) is readily dropped from the
Cen roEt or Cont roEt, also supplies, I should have gone ;
and Cen arouE (Cont arouE), I should go; under a non-
existing hypothesis. The double compounds, Cen yecoun
arouE, I was to go, and Cen yecoun roEt, I was to have gone,
are perhaps peculiar to Bagdad; as, Beddi arouE, I am to
go ; Cen beddi arouE, or rather Cont beddi arouE, I was to
go ; are Syrian.
$ 15. CLASSES OF THE VERB.
134. Quadriradical verbs, such as Zekrif, have their vowels
all fixed, and in the modem language scarcely go beyond
the two following Forms, typified by the Imperatives zekrif,
tezckraf.
94
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
FORM.
i.
ii.
Imperative
zekrif
tezekraf
Aorist 1 p. s.
ozekrif
etezekraf
Perfect 3 p. s.
zekraf
tezekraf
Gerund
zikraf
tezekrof
Participle act.
mozekrif
motezekrif
Participle pass.
mozekraf
[motezekraf ] ?
The learner must use this and such like tables for reference,
when he meets with a verb of such a class. Until the case
occurs, he will not be able to use the table to advantage.
The two "forms" are often comparable to what we call
Voices in Latin and Greek. In fact the nnd is ordinarily
either like a Passive or a Keflective ("middle") voice to the
Ist- In that case there cannot be any passive participle to
the nnd form. But the nnd form may be an independent
verb. Older Arabic admits of a mrd form izkawrif, and a
ivth izkarfif.
135. Triradical verbs have more numerous forms. Even
in the spoken language ten must be counted, though no one
verbal root possesses them all. To exhibit the types, it is
expedient to form all from a single root, as if they all ex-
isted. Tfye root Edl, imperative Ibdil (exchange) may repre-
sent all the types. In the classical tongue every form except
the ixth has its passive distinct from its active ; but we
confine ourselves to the passive of the first form. The active
first form alone has the vowel of the aorist doubtful, as also
the form of the gerund doubtful, as stated in 1085, 122. Its
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
active participle is also peculiar, not being formed by initial
m. Any of the forms may have a passive participle, even
in the spoken language, if tbe sense of the form itself be
that of an active verb. Only the ixth form is always a neuter
verb, and can have no passive.
When there is a passive participle, it is formed from the
active participle (in all forms but the Ist) exactly as in the
quadriradicals, by changing * of the last syllable into a.
(This i might be u, if a coarse consonant were in juxta-
position.)
136. Scheme of the Ten Forms of the Triradical Yerb :
IMPEBAT.
AOR. 1 p. 8.
PERF. 3p.s.
GERUND.
PARTICIPLE.
I.
ibdil
abdil
badal
(badal)
badU
Pass.
obdal
bodil
mabdoul
("'
baddil
obaddil
baddal
tebdiel(a)
mobaddil
|,,
badil
obadil
badal
( bidal |
\ mobadala J
mobadil
IT.
abdil
obdil
abdal
ibdal
mobdil
P'
tebaddal
etebaddal
tebaddal
tcbaddol
motebaddil
U
tebadal
etebadal
tebadal
tebadol
motebadil
VII.
inbadil
anbadil
inbadal
inbidal
monbudil
VIII.
ibtedil
abtedll
ibtedal
ibtidal
mobtcdil
IX.
ibdall
abdall
ibdall
ibdilal
mobdill
X.
istebdil
cstebdil
istebdal
istibdal
mostebdil
96 HANDBOOK OP MODEEN AEABIC.
The t due to the viiith form becomes d after d or z, A
after A, t after T, S, S, 5. Also if *, w, or y, be the first
radical it becomes t before t in the vmth- Thus the root
Wcl makes Ittecil (for Iwtecil) in vin.
137. All the gerunds of the derived forms make plural in
-et. The gerund of n. might be tebdiela or tebdila, instead
of tebdiel, which is standard. In HI. mobadala is a com-
moner form than bidal ; but both often co-exist.
It will be seen that HI. is formed from n., and vi. from v.
(except in the gerund) by the same simple law. After duly
understanding this we might drop in. and vi. from the Table.
Forms vn. and YIII. are likewise formed by a common law ;
so that either will suffice as a type.
Form x. is remarkable, ist being prefixed to the root. This
is explained completely from Coptic, from Zouave, from
Assyrian, and from certain traces in Chaldee or Hebrew.
A form is in fact lost, whose Imperative was Sebdil ; and
from this Istebdil was formed, nearly as YIII. from i. The
form Sebdil was a Causative verb, but it is superseded by iv.
The tenses are inflected according to the laws explained in
108. Carefully note the initial o in the aorist of 11., HI., iv.
Observe also that the last vowel is i in the imperative (and
aorist) of n., in., iv., vn., vin., x., but is a in v., YI., ix.
Yet in the participle active of all the forms it is i.
138. Any two forms, as Ibdil and Badil, are strictly in-
dependent verbs, as in Latin fugio and fugo, or sedeo, sido,
sedo. In fact sometimes they are as unlike in sense as fero
and ferio, condo and condio. Such phenomena are very de-
ceptive. It is always safest for the learner to learn nearly
every form for itself, as if it were a new verb.
HANDBOOK OF MODEKN AKABIC. 97
Nevertheless, the nnd or IIIrd being given active verbs, we
can positively infer the existence and meaning of the vth or
vith ; for the vth always is to the nnd and the VIth to the mrd
its reflective, neuter, or passive. The viith, when it exists,
is passive to the Ist, if the Ist be active ; or else to the ivth.
The ivth is properly causative to the Ist. Hence if the Ist
be neuter the rvth is its active. If the Ist be active the ivth
has two accusatives.
The vmth is comparable to the Greek middle voice, in
relation to the Ist, and often supersedes the Ist arbitrarily.
In other instances it serves as a true passive to the Ist.
The nnd is (perhaps most properly) frequentative or in-
tensive of the T8t ; as, Iqtaf, cut ; Qattuf, cut in pieces, chop
up ; Icsir, break ; Cessir, break in pieces. But it is often
causative to the Ist, and the modern tendency is to work it
entirely in this direction, and nearly supersede the rvth;
apparently because vowels are obscurely and corruptly
sounded. Yet even when n. and IT. are both causative, the
sense sometimes differs, because n. is still frequentative and
imperfect. Thus from the root TPflam, know thou, comes
n. ^allim, teach thou (as a teacher who repeats or causes to
repeat) ; but iv. Aflim, inform, advertize, viz., by a complete
single act.
The mrd is often related to the primitive, as a Latin verb
compounded with Con. It almost always governs an accusa-
tive, and the syntax differs from that of the Ist. Something
mutual is ordinarily suggested, often rivalry. Thus, Ectob
lee, I write to thee, Ocetib-ec, I be-write thee ; Aqfod, I sit,
Oqatud-ec, I sit- with thee; but Oqfud-ec, OqaTfud-ec, I
seat thee.
7
98 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC.
The ixth is comparable to a Latin inceptive verb in -esco,
and is especially used for verbs of Colour, as erubesco,
nigresco.
The xth often expresses Desire (like a verb in -urio). It
also expresses a Judgment; as, I judge a thing small, or
great. But sometimes it is a mere neuter verb, — it may be,
with a very obscure relation of sense to the primitive : as,
Istemarr, he persevered; Istetaf, he was able (from root
^w?) ; Isteqall, he was plenipotentiary, unrestricted, in-
dependent.
The vith often expresses Pretension or Affectation: as,
Tebaha, he made display of finery ; Tefakar, he played the
self-glorifier.
The relation of the vth and vith to the nnd and mrd is ob-
viously the same as that of the nnd to the Ist of Quadri-
radicals. Also the mrd and rvth of Quadriradicals are
analogous to the vnth and ixth of Triradicals.
139. By means of these derived forms, the language is at
no loss to express the Passive idea. It is not wonderful
then, that the vocalized Passives have almost vanished out
of the spoken language. None of them had any Imperative
or any Gerund. The Aorist was formed by vowels o, a ; the
Perfect by vowels o, i. The vocalized Passive of i. is heard
popularly in a few words ; indeed, is used freely by the
newspapers in very unpretending and business-like relations ;
hence it may be inferred that it will be quite recovered with
the progress of literary cultivation. Thus from Octob, write ;
Oqtol, kill ; come passives Cotib, Qotil ; Yocteb, Yoqtel.
AVI i en the vmth is active, it sometimes takes a vocalized
passive : thus from Intekib, elect thou ; Ontokib, he was
HANDBOOK OF MODEHN AEABIC.
99
elected; Ontekab, I am elected (eligor). Here the Perfect
takes ot 0, i; the Aorist 0, £, a.
The Passive of in. changes d of the Perfect active into on.
§ 16. DEGENERATE VERBS.
HO. Triradical verbs degenerate when the second and third
radical are the same, or when one or more radical is weak ;
that is, when it is *, w, or y.
We have seen that the participle of the Surd verb under-
goes contraction ; as Marr for Marir, Xadd for Xadid. A
similar contraction occurs in the mrd and vith forms, but not
in the Imperative. Nor indeed can such contraction apply
in the Gerund xiddd of m. The forms n. and v. follow the
standard of Ibdil perfectly; so do the imperatives of all
forms but i. and x. But it is worth while to present a
nearly full table. The words in Italics follow the law of
Ibdil. No Surd verb has a ixth form.
IMPER.
AORIST.
PERFECT.
GERUND.
PARTICIPLE.
I.
xodd
axodd
xadd
(xadd)
xadd
m.
xbdid
oxadd
xfi-ld
f xidud }
( moxada /
moxudd
IV.
axdid
oxidd
axadd
ixcttd
moxidd
VI.
tcxadad
etexadd
texadd
texadd
motexddd
VII.
inxudid
anxadd
inxadd
inxidad
mouxadd
VIII.
ixtedid
axtedd
ixtcdd
ixtidud
moxtcdd
X.
istexidd
cstcxidd
istexadd
istixdud
mostcxidd
100
HANDBOOK OF MODEBN ABABIC.
The only Passive Participles are the types Maxdoud of i.
and Mostexadd of x.
141. Hollow verbs are quite regular in n., in., v., vi., ix.
(There is one such verb in ix. from the root Eswadd, black ;
hence Moswidd, nigrescens.) Some are regular in iv. as
YoEwij, he necessitates. We saw in the Participle of i. the
verb "hollow by w" assume y instead; the same takes place
in the Passive of i. except the participle, and in iv., vn.,
vm., x. Thus when a verb in one of these forms is given,
we cannot tell by its aspect whether the root has w or y.
The types stand thus : from root Qwl.
IMPER.
AORIST 1.
PERF. 3.
GERUND.
PARTIC.
i. Pass.
oqal
qiel
maqoul
IV.
aqiel
oqiel
aqal
iqala
moqiel
VII.
inqal
anqal
inqal
inqiyal
monqal
VIII.
iqtel
aqtel
iqtel
iqtiyal
moqtel
X.
isteqiel
esteqiel
isteqal
istiqala
mosteqiel
The feminine form of the Gerund in iv. and x. deserves
remark.
142. "When the 1st radical is w or y, the verbs are called
Assimilated. If the verb be y, the verb in modern use is all
but regular; only after o the y becomes u. If the first
radical be w, this letter is dropped in the Aorist, according
to the best style ; as, "Wejed, he found ; Ejid, I find. But
Surd verbs of this class treat w as a strong radical, as Awodd,
I love. "We have also said that in viu. the wt becomes it.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
101
143. When the 3rd radical is w or y, the verbs are called
Defective. They are of four classes, as follows : .
1 Aor.
3 Perf.
1. afzou
faze
2. anni
rama'
3. anse'
nesi
4. ar-ra'
rafa'
maraud
throw •
forget
feed cattle
of which the 1st is defective in w, the rest in y.
In the 2nd and 3rd pi. of Aorist, and pi. of Imperative, w
or y is clipped out : though in Barbary they say, Termiyou,
Yermiyou, for the normal Termou, Yermou.
The perfects are slightly irregular.
1. 2.
Fazeut
Ramait
Nesiet
Rafait,
3.
Faze, -et
Rama, -met
Nesi,- siyet
etc.
Ljft
Fazeuna
Ramaina
Kesiena
as Rama
2.
Fazeutom
Ramaitom
Nesietom
3.
Fazeu
Ramau
Nesou
The Active participle is in all of the type Fazi(y).
The Passive Participle is MaCzouw, for 1, and Mermiey
for 2, 3, 4.
Verbs defective in w are few ; and in modern use they all
tend to supersede w by y. In all the derived forms this is
done. Otherwise, these forms have no irregularity, but that
y falls away after a, and o becomes t before y. Thus in the
Gerund of v., Terammi(y) for Terammoy. Also, as usual,
-dya replaces -d'a in feminine participles passive.
A suffix, by changing the accent, introduces dt £, for a, e,
in 3rd person masculine singular of the perfect.
102 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
144. Of verbs "Hamzated" in 1st radical, *ekaA (take) is
the type. In Imperative of i., initial i or o is dropped
(with *) ; as KOA, take thou ; Mor, command ; Col, eat thou.
After o the * becomes w, as, TowakiA, for To*akiA (reprove) ;
hence, vulgarly, in the whole form the * is apt to become iv.
Surd verbs of this class take w for * in their aorist ; as,
*Enn, he groaned ; Aor. Awinn. Indeed in modern use w has
displaced * in the whole root *Ejj (catch fire, flame out) ; as,
"Wejj, Aor. Yawijj ; and Wejja, a blaze.
145. "When Hamze is 2nd radical, as in Is*el (ask), the
participle is Heswoul for Hes*oul, a microscopic difference.
The only derived form of this whole class (says C. de Per-
ceval) is seyal of m.
146. "WTien Hamze is 3rd radical, the only irregularities
are such as obvious euphony suggests. But in popular use
these verbs merge their * in y,
147. Yerbs doubly defective are chiefly the following:
a. Ja, he came ; Eji, I come (Tefal, come thou !). — Perf.
Jiet, I came ; Jat, she came ; Ja*ou, they came ; Jayi,
coming ; Mejie, arrival. — Pass, jie, ventum est.
b. *Ete, he came ; *Etet, she came ; Eteit, I came ; Eton,
they came ; Eti, I come ; Yetou, they come ; Eti,
coming; Itiyan, arrival. vith form, Terete. Impera-
tive Te* (come).
c. Xa*, he wished j Xat, she wished ; Xiet, I wished ; Xa'ou,
they wished ; Yexa, he wishes.
d. Sa1", he misbehaved; 1. 2. p. Sout. In rr. Esa, he mis-
managed; Aor. Osie.
e. *Aba% he refused; Hke *Ete*.
/. *Eyes, he despaired ; Aor. E*wies ?
HANDBOOK OF MODEBX ARABIC. 103
g. Ra*a, he saw ; Ra*et, she saw ; Ra^eit, I saw ; Ra*ou,
they saw. Ara', I see ; Arou, they see. Ra, see thou.
Passive, Ro*i, it was seen ; Aor. Yora, it seems, is seen,
iv. One, I show ; Arie, show thou (yulg. Arwi, Rawwi).
v. Tera'a liya, it appeared to me, but more popularly,
Terawa. in. Raya, he played the hypocrite (made a
show).
*Ete* and Ra*a are both popular words, but not in the
physical sense, in which Ja and Xaf supersede them. *Ete*
means, to come as an event; part. El *eti, the future, ven-
turus. Ra*a means, he saw with the mind, he judged (Ray,
opinion), he saw a vision (Rouya, vision). Thus, In ra^eit,
if you shall have seen (it good).
148. The inability to compound verbs with prepositions is
a grave defect in Arabic. In part they supply it by tne
creation of new roots, in part by detached prepositions (which
nevertheless cannot enter derivatives), and in part by a rather
arbitrary use of the derived forms. We have seen that the
IIIrd is often like a Latin compound of Con ; this is but a hint
at the practice. The viitb is sometimes like a Latin compound
of Re ; and so of others.
Let an Englishman reflect on some of our own verbs, as,
Bring up ; which, for secondary meanings, has Rear or Edu-
cate, Vomit, and (popularly) Pull up, Rein up suddenly,
Bring to a sudden stop. If we met some Arabic root in-
terpreted in a dictionary, 1. Educate, 2. Vomit, 3. Check a
horse, we might think it a monstrosity. This will suffice to
104 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
indicate how an injudicious lexicographer increases difficulty.
In fact, the pupil should, if possible, confine himself for a
while to the primary cardinal senses.
149. "We are accustomed to form a Passive Participle even
from a verb which has a detached preposition ; as, from " I
allude to a thing," "the thing alluded to." The Arabs seem
to aim at, but miss, this idiom. They cannot bear the pre-
position isolated ; hence they attach to it a superfluous pro-
noun suffix, in defiance (it might seem) of logic. Thus, from
Oumi ileihi, I hint at it (nod to it) ; they get, El xai* el
mouma ileihi, the thing hinted at. This pervades the language.
We may partially explain it by the analogy of the Latin
impersonal use of the Passive verb ; especially since the par-
ticiple in this idiom has no concord with the preceding noun.
Thus, " The slaves above mentioned," " The slaves spoken
of," El babied el maqowZ f anhom ; not, maqouloun or maqoula,
though babied is plural. The concord to Babied is found in
the plural horn ; and Maqoul is impersonal, like Latin Dictum
(est) for Diximus. Thus a rude translation might be, Ol
servi ol — dicebatur de iis; i.e. Ol servi, de quibus dicebatur.
And in this idiom the second El is often said to be put for
ElleAi, who. In fact, the vocalized passive is occasionally
used like the Latin impersonal verb.
§ 17. ADVERBS AND CONJUNCTIONS.
150. Adverbs of Time :
Afterwards, bafdan ; pop.
bafdoh.
Again, aiSan (see also 153).
Already, qad (with Perfect
only).
Always, dayiman.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKA.BIC.
105
Before (adv.) qablan
Beforehand, min qabl.
Daily, yeum bi yeum; yeu-
man fa yeuman.
Early, beccier.
Earlier and later, sebiqan
wa laEuqan.
Ever (with negative), *eba-
dan.
For ever, ila el *ebad.
Formerly, sebiqan.
Henceforward, min bafdoh;
min el* an wa Safudan.
Hereafter, seuf.
Hitherto, ila ePen.
Instantly, Ealan, fil Eal, fil
sefa, lil waqt, fil Euin.
Lately, fan qarieb[also Soon].
Long ago, talama (it is long
ago that).
No longer (see 153).
Meanwhile, fil e0na.
Now, ePen ; heAe el waqt ;
heAe el sefa.
Now and then (at times ;
occasionally), aEyanan ;
Euin fa Euin.
Just now, tewa (a little while
ago, Alep.) ; bi he AC el
qorb.
Often, ararar ceGiera; coll
qaliel; ceG'rama (it is
often that).
Very often, ecOarma.
How often ? cem marra ?
Once, marraten ; marraten
ma ; marra waEuda.
Presently, in a minute, mar-
rat *okra'.
Rarely, nadiran ; zehiedan ?
Quickly, fajilan; seriefan.
Seldom, qallama (it is seldom
that).
Sometimes, aEyanan; auqat
auqat; bafi auqat.
Sometimes — Sometimes ;
marraten — marraten ;
teraten — teraten.
Soon, fan qarieb [also,
Lately]; lafiuqan,Kaz.(?).
Still, bafdoh (vulg.?); HI
sefa (see also 153).
Then (at that time), IAACC;
*iAin ; Euina*iAin,
To-day, elyeum,
To-morrow, fadan.
Yesterday, *ems.
Not yet, li| sefa ma— lij
sefa la—.
106
HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC.
151. Adverbs of Quantity :
Almost, ilia qaliel, ced (see
153).
Barely, (bi) mojarrad.
Enough, cefaya(ten).
Entirely, bil collieya.
Few, qaliel(oun).
Gradually, tedriejan, tuba-
qan fan tubaq.
Little, qaliel.
A little, xowaiya.
Little by little, xai^an fa
Less, aqall.
In the least, adna' xai* (the
slightest thing).
152. Conjunctions governing
According as, | cema,
As, ) miGlima.
As if, ce*enna.
Although, | waHn, walau,
Though, ) maf en.
Because, li^enna; bi sebab
enna ; li*ejl enna.
Before (antequam), qablama.
Not but that, nafam enna.
Not but that, ilia inna (also,
Nevertheless ; in Faris). ,
Many, ceOier(oun).
Much, ceGier.
How much ? )
cem?
Eow many r ;
How much ? qadd eix' ?
More, ecGar.
Nearly, teqrieban.
Only, faqat (vulg. bes).
Scantily, Sanien? (Bocthor;
guere).
Scarcely, ceudan ? bil jehd ;
bilceid? (See 153).
Somewhat, xai*en.
Somewhere about, qadar.
Totally, qaTuba(ten).
Verbs :
In case,* bi Kai0(en). [Bi
Eai6 ceAe, in such a case
as this.]
On condition that, fala en,
bi xart en.
Except that,
Only that,
Forasmuch as, Eai6 inna ;
IA enna (iA inna?) Rob.
Cr. 244.
Inasmuch as, bi ma inna.
j fair enna.
* Kazimirski says, Bi Eai0 en, a tel point que.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
107
On the ground that (as
though), f ala enna.
However (quocunque modo),
ceifama.
How much soever, mehma.
How often soever, collama,
mehma.
[However, adv. = Howbeit,
be it as it may,ceifamacen.]
If, in, incen, IAC ; lau (were
it that).
If ever, iAma.
Lest, li*ella, Ifceila.
As long as, madam, Toulima,
ma.
As much as, qaddama.
Insomuch that, 'rala enna,
bi nauf Eatte, (in sort
that}.
0 that, ya kite.
In proportion as, collima,
qaddima, Easbima, qad-
rima.
In respect that, min Eai0
enna.
Seeing that, Since, na3aran
Ever since, HIOUA, UIOAA.
As soon as, fandama, auwal
ma, Ealima, waqtima,
Euinima.
That (ut, fLva\ en.
That (on, quod), enna.
So that, Eatte' *inna; fala
enna.
In that, fie *enna.
In order that, li, cei, licei,
Eatte.
That not (ut ne, iva fJLrj),
ella, ceila.
TiU, Until, Eatte, Eatte en.
Unless, ilia, iAlem.
Unless it were that, laula.
When, lemma, iA, iAe ma
(mete* ?).
"Whenever, iAma. [Be it
when it may, IA ma cen.]
Where, Eai0.
Whereas, Eal inna.
Wherever, EaiGoma, einama.
Whilst, bainama, fandama,
madam (bima),
fiema.
en, iAecen, lemmacen.
153. There is a tendency of the language (shared by
Hebrew) to express adverbs of time by verbs ; as, by saying,
" He repeated to go," instead of, " He went again." Thus :
108 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
1. Ma fad, he did not repeat, degenerated into "not again."
La tefoud tefral-he, do not do it again.
2. ''No longer" is expressed by the verb Baqi (it remained
over, continued) which changes with the person. Thus: I
no longer visit him, ma baqiet ozeyiroh; or, ma abqa fie
mozeyiratoh.
3. For Almost, it is classical to use Ced. Thus, They
almost touch one another, cedou yetemassou ; where Ced is
rendered, "he failed narrowly."
4. Paris employs this verb with the negative for Scarcely :
la yeced toujad, (the one humped camel) is scarcely found.
But Bocthor and Catafago take no notice of fed. Freytag
and Kazimirski give it just opposite senses, though both agree
that "Wala ceudan (not even scarcely) means not at all. The
language needs a word for "scarcely;" Bil jehd, ly effort, is
not always appropriate. "Whether Bocthor' s word Aanien
can be often used is not at all clear. In the "Algiers Mer-
cury" I read, "Bil ceid Eatte qataf mesefet miel wa nuSf,"
he hardly even traversed the distance of a mile and a half.
Perhaps HI ceud was intended.
5. We constantly say, "He continues to work," for, "he is
still working." So the Arabs have, Ma zel (he has not
ceased = Lem yezel) with the Adverbial participle, for Still,
or with the aorist. This is both popular and classical.
Bafdoh for "still" (as, Ra*eit el celb, bafdoh Eaiyan, Rob.
Crusoe, I saw the dog, still alive), though popular, is hard to
defend. De Perceval calls it Maronite Arabic.
6. For "he rises early," "come early to me," they may
use the verb Beccir (u.), to le early at a thing. Kazimirski
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 109
has Beccirou, for, they were too early (at the evening prayer),
which shows the verb not to be confined to the morning.
The classical language has many curious verbs that imply
time ; as, RouE, go in the evening, Isri, travel by night,
Obcor, do something early, etc. ; but the sense of these is
now modified.
§ 18. ANCIENT CASES OF THE NOUN.
154. The ancient Noun had three possible Cases, which I
venture to call the Absolute, the Postpositive, and the Ad-
verbial Cases. (To name them Nominative, Genitive, and
Accusative, suggests false ideas to a "Western learner.) Duals,
plurals in -oun, and certain adjectives, had but two cases,
which may be called Absolute and Oblique. We will speak
of these last first.
In the Dual the Absolute is in -dn, -en, the Oblique in
-ain, -em.
In the Perfect Plural, the Absolute is in -oun, -dun, the
Oblique in -ien, -uin.
In the modem language the forms in -dn, -oun, are almost
confined to the simple predicate which has no copula expressed
(see 117-120), and even there is not insisted on. The form
in -dn, -oun, is also used in careful style for a direct nomi-
native (i.e. subject of a verb), when it is not affected by any
introductory particle.
155. The three cases are marked by the inflexions -on, -in,
-en (-an), when the noun is undefined; but these are never
written in the text. Moreover, if the noun be defined the n
falls away ; leaving only -o, -i, -0 (-a). It is impossible for
110 HANDBOOK OF MODEKN ARABIC.
the modern tongue to retain these ; for the final -o at once
suggests the sense -oh (his), and final -i the sense (my), ex-
cept indeed another suffix be attached, which begins with a
consonant. Thus we can without inconvenience say, Bilado-
com, Biladi-com, Bilada-com. But this being limited to the
suffixes -he, -com, -horn, is not worth while to retain, or at
least, as a fact, has not been retained. "Whether it is worth
while to struggle for Li biladi-com, as better than Li bilad-
com, or Li bilada-com, is evidently an unsettled question
with Paris and Catafago. The learner has at present a right
to ignore the -o, -i, -a, entirely.
156. The inflexion -on also (it seems) is confined to poetry
and ancient style. The rules of grammar concerning -on and
-an are so complex and so arbitrary, that, once lost, they are
of necessity irrecoverable by a nation. As they never con-
duce to perspicuity or any imaginable good, we have a right
to rejoice that they are dead. [If they are still retained
among the Wahabees, as Mr. Palgrave seems to say, that will
not lead to their renewed use elsewhere.]
157. The Postpositive Case was assumed by a noun, chiefly,
1. After a preposition. 2. After an adjective, or pronoun
adjective, preceding its noun. 3. After another noun with
which it is in composition. In the last it is like the Latin
genitive ; in the second it is monstrously unlike. In Art. 31
it was remarked that Aou ¥ aql, intelligent, after Fair, passes
into Fair Aie faql. Here Aie is the Postpositive Case of AOU.
Such an idiom is now exceptional. The only general question
in the modern dialect is, whether at all to retain -i, -in, after
a preposition. To Min biladi-com, and such like, allusion has
been made. In phrases which are equivalent to an adverb,
HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKABIC. Ill
the termination -in is not certainly quite dead. Catafago's
Dictionary (at least in the Anglo- Arabic part) may be said to
represent modern mercantile Arabic; and he has many such
phrases as the following, — the noun being undefined :
Intentionally, bi qa'Sdm.
Impetuously, bi xiddatw.
Grievously, bi colli fammm.
Incautiously, bi colli faflatw.
"When two nouns following an adverb are joined by wa, he
generally adds in to the former only :
Sluggishly, bi coll(i) ceselw wa ihmal.
Stingily, bi coll(i) tamaf un wa bokl. (Yet elsewhere, bi coll
tamaf. Also : Intently, bi coll(i) jaddw wa jehdw.
"When the noun is followed by an adjective, he generally
adds -in to the noun alone. Thus :
Signally, bi wejhw mexhour.
In a happy hour, bi sef atew rnesf oudat.
Perhaps these are mere attempts of merchants to read
Arabic like scholars. I cannot remember to have heard any-
thing of the sort in my narrow experience ; nor does C. de
Perceval mention it any more than De Braine.
168. The Adverbial Case is extremely common, 1. For
forming adverbs, whether from noun, adjective, or participle,
as, Xai*en, somewhat ; Baftaten, suddenly ; Bat uidan, afar ;
Dayiman, always. 2. "With a noun which expresses either
a point of time or duration of time ; as, Gadan, on the morrow
(from Gad, Gadwa, in nominative) ; Neheran wa leilan, by
day and by night ; Xehran cemilan, an entire month ;
^uxrien yeuman, for twenty days. 3. As said in 119, Ja
reciban, he came riding. But we must enlarge this to con-
tain every indirect Predicate; thus, I made him happy, Ana
112 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
jafaltoh sefuid0n (i.e. in a happy state]. 4. The Cognate
Accusative of our Latin and Greek grammars is rendered by
the Adverbial Case ; in fact, we generally need a preposition
in English; as, they rejoiced with mighty joy: FaraEou
faraEaw faguimaw. Akin to this is the double accusative,
Melli el ce*s nebieA^w, which we must render, "Fill the glass
with wine." Yet both these instances belong to " high style."
5. "WTien an undefined noun is complement to an adjective
(as in 14) it falls into the adverbial case, as l^uim qow-
waten. But this is perhaps more antiquated than ^aguim el
qowwa. 6. After Inna, which opens a clause, nearly like
"As regards," writers add the adverbial case; thus, Inna
kadinmw fie e*Ead el adyira, now as regards a servant in one
of the abbeys.
The misfortune of this adverbial case, is, that in unpointed
prose even the learned neglect it with feminities in at, et ; and
do so for the highly unsatisfactory reason, that in that case,
no textual "Elif" is added to guide the reader's eye! This
suggests that the idiom utterly died out and has been partially
recovered by learned effort. If it cannot be recovered for
feminines as well as masculines it does not seem worth any
pains, To limit the use strictly to adverbs seems then the
wiser course.
159. It may be well here to observe that though an un-
defined noun or adjective in the predicate remains unmodified,
if the copula verb (is, are) is understood; yet when some
yerb like Cen (was), Suir (is become), etc., is expressed, the
predicate at once falls into the adverbial case, exactly as in
Ja recibtfw. This seems at first unnatural ; but it must be
considered that Cen wezier, means, A vizier existed; there
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 113
was a vizier. Hence if we wish to say, He was a vizier, it
relieves ambiguity to express it by, Cen wezienzn. After all,
we may soften the harshness of the last to ourselves, by
regarding it as equivalent to, He was for a vizier, Erat pro
ministro regis. The adverbial case is still used in dictionaries
to express the Western accusative following an active verb,
when the noun is indefinite ; as, Ra*eit rajolrtw, I saw a man.
This certainly is not popular;' it belongs to a scientific
notation.
114
PAET III. — PRAXIS.
$ 1. TABLES OF PLUKALS.
rd
in1" type, xomous, (jw^*-2> ; molouc,
gular is very often of the type xams,
xetle, ffijj , fern.
jsr sea, boEour (or 4, 5)
Jjb potherb(s), boqoul
Sjfj cow (ox), boqour
v belly, botoun
tear, domouf
road, doroub
bough, CoSoun (or 4)
throat, Eolouq
forest, Eoroux (or 4)
field, Eoqoul
pi. sodoud kotout
^oyoun fo^ous ro*ous
kodoud
The sin-
sometimes
,_ j*i saddle, sorouj
back, Sohour
star, nojoum
jp river, nohour (or 4)
' jt>\ flower, zohour (or 4)
eagle, nosour
heart, qoloub
horn, qoroun
rock, So'kour
flesh, meat ; loEoum
soyouf boyout
omour
HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC.
115
qidra, kettle, pi.
Eu'Sn, fortress,
jild, hide, skin,
jisr, bridge,
rvth type, aqmar, j
Earx, forest, pi.
kobz, bread,
welad, child,
matar, rain,
xajara, tree,
kaxab, timber, <.
marse, cord,
jesed, body,
jism, substance, (3)
jirm, body, bulk,
qird, male ape, pi.
r, root (as turnip),
P, bole, trunk,
furq, root, vein,
aulad,
i
(3)
mauja, wave, pi.
marS, disease,
qofl, padlock,
sinn, tooth,
Eajar, stone,
qalam, reedpen,
Eabl, rope,
qixr, husk,
bab, door,
rieE, wind,
Ltl uJlil
JUil
vth type, rijal, J-j. Common with adjectives whose sin-
gular is of the form cebier,^--^.
rajol, man,
celb, dog,
bad, mule,
jebal, mountain,
pi.
belad, district,
Eajar, stone,
bint, girl,
Eait, wall,
pi.
116
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
baEr, sea, pl. jl^C kaimar, tent, pi-
siete, plate, ^'W Aieb, wolf,
ratab, fresh date, <~r>^j 0aub, garment,
SaRfa, platter, uJlsr* Giyab for Giwab.
cibar, f^am, SUAar, milaE, diyar (precincts'), nise (women.}
vith type, *omara, \j*\; folema, Uic (learned men),
wezier, vizier, pl. \jjj jehil, ignorant,
weciel, deputy, Kj sefieh, wanton,
sener, ambassador, \&* *esier, captive, \^t\
rabies, captain, chief, pl. ro*ese.
viith type, cotteb, c-jl^i ; tojjar, ^l^r; especially from a
participial adjective formed as L-^J\£ j^-^ (Mercantile or
Reduplicate Plural). Thus, /*l^>- , Jl^f, fl^> <—^^t.
vmth type, especially from singulars of the form ^IC*;
zeman, pl. ezmina (Dactylic Plural).
pl. ij^1
mecen, place, pl.
zeman, time,
jenaE, wing,
metef , piece of
property,
f amoud, pillar,
libes, trowser,
In a surd root transposition takes place ; as, from Serier,
cradle, throne, pl. Esirra, for Esrira; Hilel, crescent moon,
pl. Ehilla for Ehlila.
Sau, a light,
lisen, tongue,
Eusan, horse,
folam, groom \
(lad, young man), )
silaE, weapon,
HANDBOOK OF MODERN A.KABIC. 117
*
ixth (False Dual). 1st with three strong radicals, less
common. Tolam, lad, pi. Folman, ^UU; Bilad, country,
pi Boldan, ^jjj ; Xatba, rod, stick, pi. Xotban, J^*£ .
Niswan, women. 2nd with hollow root; Nar, fire, pi.
Nieran,
? aud, pole, stick, pi. fuidan,
seq, leg, pi. sieqan,
Bayit, Haft, waU, pi. Euitan,
kait, thread, pi. kietan (3),
xale, a shawl, ^^. yi** or JU>
xabb, young man in prime, pi. xobban,
i, boy, pi. "Sobyan,
xth (Short Plural), Borce, pool, pi. Borec ; Mediena, city,
pi. modon.
*omma, nation, pi. omam, ^\
jo00a, carcase, pi. jo0e0, c^ds>-
dobba, bear, pi. dobab,
qutta, cat, pi. qutat,
mille, sect, ^?/. milel,
qazen, cauldron, pi. qozon,
luEaf, counterpane, pi. loEof,
sefiena, ship, pi. sofon, i^
The learner may practise himself in Arabizing the nouns
which here remain in European type.
118 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC.
§ 2. EXERCISES ON OF.
It was observed above that our of is often evaded in Arabic.
In fact, we also can say, Love to one's country, A desire after
riches, A hankering for food ; which supersede of by another
preposition. This is done especially when the former of two
nouns is a verbal substantive, of which the Arabs also take
advantage. Examples :
El modafaf a fan el seltana, the defence of the empire.
El akbar fan moqabala, the news of a personal meeting.
Huseb fan aff alihom, account of their doings.
TJEtiyaj ila kidmathe, need of her service.
Lozoumoh min el mawasir, his need of the water-pipes.
El temettof bil hedou, the enjoyment of tranquillity.
Ana xahid f ala af maliho, I am witness of his works.
El cefaya fil jonoud el baErieya, the sufficiency of the marine
troops.
Bil rafm fan el amtar, in spite of the rains.
La makafa min tejdied il fetn, (there is) not fear of the re-
newal of the uproar.
qarS min mablaf darahim, a demand of a loan of a sum
of money.
Oqqat f asel, an ounce of honey.
Milf aqat maf dan, a spoon of metal.
Cies min el Earier, a pouch of silk.
SoEoun bellaur, dishes of fine glass.
UEda' tile el af dad, one of those numbers.
CeGier min af'Saniho, many of its boughs.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC. 119
Ana moxakku'S li melieceti, I am a representative of my queen.
Arba? mieya belt min xifri, four hundred stanzas of my poetry.
Hie f ala aKsen Eal min el raEa, it is in the best state of repose.
Dimaxq cenet maEaTT lil uSturab, Damascus was a focus of
commotion.
Fa*emma Sarat el*an menzilan lij selam, wa mercezen lil
hedou, yet it has become now an abode of peace, and a
centre of tranquillity.
Jebal Lobnan hou manbaf lil xiqaq wa el fetn, Mount Lebanon
is a fountain of division and sedition.
El seta Taxara min el neher, the hour ten of the day.
Raj fa qawieya min zelzelet il *eri, a strong shock of earth-
quake.
El SayiE jemie^oh min el akxab, the quarter (is) all of it of
wood (timbers).
Fie mecenain min jism el imraa, in two places of the woman's
body.
El qotb el ximalieya min el cornet el *eriuiya, the north pole
of the terrestrial globe.
Cen wabil matar tems, there was a heavy shower of rain
yesterday.
Jomhour wafir min at yan el *eheli, an abundant concourse of
the chief men of the population.
Ziyadat fayidat e\ 'SolE, the immensity of the advantage of
peace.
Sorfat qu^Sa'S jinayatoh, the swiftness of the punishment of
his offence.
Min taraf jelalet ImperaTour Numse, on the part of the
majesty of the Emperor of Austria.
120 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
$ .3. SMALL TALK, WITHOUT VERBS.
Min ein baflac heAec ? whence is that mule of thine ?
Hoiia min Ispania, he is from Spain.
Bafli aBsen min Eumarec, my mule is better than thy ass.
Wa EuSani aEsen min ha flee, and my horse is better than thy
mule.
EuSanoh cediex faqaT, his horse is a gelding (hack) only.
LiJ darb el cediex kair, for the road a hackney is good.
$ala '1 darb leis melieE el cefiail, on the road a bloodhorse is
not good.
El bad melieE lil sefar, a mule is good for travel.
El *erS taiyiba hona jiddan, the soil is very good here.
*Eri Ealeb collohe mok'Suba, the soil of Aleppo is all fertile.
Hie jaiyida, mafloum ! it is excellent, no doubt !
Collohe sehile wa wasifa hona, all of it is level and wide here.
Hona monesiba lil rocoub, here it is suited for riding.
"Walecin honelic wafura jiddan, yet yonder it is very rugged.
Ei nafam : el jibal Taliya, yes ; the mountains are high.
Pil doroub tuin ceGier, in the roads is plentiful clay (mud).
El jemal leis monesib lil Tuin, the camel is not suited to
mud.
MelieE el bafl fala'1 jebal, the mule is good on the mountain.
Fil sehl aEsen el jemal, on the plain, better is the camel.
El jemal qawi wa mecin, the camel is strong and stout,
"Walecin ajra' el flu's an, yet swifter (is) the horse.
Ma'rloum : akfaf el kail, no doubt ! horses are lighter.
El bifal fie biladi meliefia, the mules in my country are good.
Bifalecom aTIwal min bifalina, your mules are taller than ours.
Nat am ; ecbar wa aqwa', yes ; bigger and stronger.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AJLABIC. 121
Robbama el Eumar fandacom cebier, possibly the ass with
you is large.
Fie biladina el Eamier Safiera, in our country the asses are
small.
Bil Eaqq! leisou Eamier, bel jiEax, in truth! they are not
asses, but donkeys.
El jafix fanied, mot? ub jiddan, the donkey is stubborn, very
tiresome.
Sat b lil rocoub, wa batu, difficult for riding, and slow.
El bifal fandana faliya, the mules with us are dear.
El bad aCla' min el cediex, the mule is dearer than the hackney,
Bel min el Eu"San aiian, nay, even than the horse too.
La ! el ceEail el *esliey afla' bil ce0ier, no ! the genuine
bloodhorse is dearer by far.
Ein ibnec el najjar? where is thy son the carpenter?
Hou fayib fanna min xehrain, he is absent from us for two
months.
HeAih el seta houa fie Bafdad, (at) this hour (moment) he is
in Bagdad.
Hel zeujetoh mafoh honec ? is his wife with him there ?
La : bel collo failetoh hona, no, but all his family is here.
E tile el bilad aEsen min biladina ? is that country better than
our country.
Ealethe meliefia, bil Eaqq, its condition is good, in truth.
Leiset aEsen min Ealetna fie colli xai*, it is not better than
our state in everything.
Coll el matjar honelic ausef minnoh fandana, all the trade
yonder (is) wider than it (is) with us.
Tile el bilad Earra ceOieran, that country is hot excessively.
E} xams aEarr minnehe hona, the sun is hotter than she is here.
122 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
El belda mePana min el fabar, the town is full of dust.
5?and el enher el rief mo9mir, along the rivers the country is
fruitful.
El donya sokina fil Saif, the world is hot in the summer.
El Eoqoul qafiula min el Earr, the fields are parched by the
heat,
i
§ 4. AT THE CLOSE OF A JOURNEY.
El donya mofayyima, the world (sky) is cloudy.
Garat el rieE, the wind has sprung up.
Temtor, 'Jala 5anni, fil seta, it will rain, in my opinion, in a
minute.
TVaqrT matar fil bofda, rain (is) falling in the distance.
Wa iAe ! jayi f alaina, and lo ! (it is) coming on us.
SaEuiE! el matar zekak (Cazier), true! the rain is profuse
(copious).
El Eamd lillah ! ma hou "Saqief, thank God ! it is not sleet.
Biyabi mabloula, my clothes are wetted.
Lecinni lest bardan ceGieran, yet I am not extremely cold.
He AC el matar hou dafi, this rain is warm.
Kadfa' (Netedaifa5) bafdoh (bafdan), we shall get warm
afterwards..
Hel el kan baTuid min hona ? is the caravanseiy far hence ?
El mesefe moqarib mielein, the distance is about two miles.
El waEal ? amieq jiddan, the mire is deep, very.
MaTloum ! cen wabilan min matar, surely ! it was a torrent
of rain.
El*en waqifa raxxa faqat, now (is) falling a drizzle only.
E baflec tetban min el tuin, is thy mule wearied by the mud ?
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 123
Bafli ma hou Gebit jiddan, my mule is not firm, very.
Cetifoh semiece ceGieran, his shoulder is too thick.
Qawayimoh raqieqa bil faya, his legs are delicate in extreme.
Dabba mi01 he AC arda' min Eumar, a beast like this is worse
than an ass.
"Walecin iahroh fariei, yet his back is broad.
Hehona Sarat el *eri yebise, here the ground is become dry.
EJ darb ausef minnohe qablan, the road is wider than it (was)
before,
^aiyib ! el dawabb naxieta (nixat), good ! the beasts are in
spirits.
Eheh ! naSul ila'l kan fil seta, ha ! we shall reach the cara-
vansery quickly.
Qoddamana nes ceGieroun, before us are many people.
Collohom reciboun, all of them riding.
Leisou jemiefhom rijal, they are not all men.
Honelic niswan min bat uid; yonder are women afar.
E! niswan ecGar min el rijal, . . . (are) more numerous than. . .
5?ala 5anni, hie qafila, in my opinion it is a caravan (company
of travellers).
Aelic hejien abyaS, that yonder is a white dromedary.
Min jomlathom jiKax ceGiera, among them are many donkeys.
Wa honec rajolein fala jemal, and there, two men on a camel.
Selam talaicom, peace (be) to you.
"Wa Talaicom el selam, and to you (be) peace.
I3ulufna ila '1 menzil, we have reached the alighting place.
Hel men5oum el kan ? is the caravansery well arranged.
03b6r daqieqa ; fa na? rif, be patient a moment, then we
(shall) know.
124 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
§ 5. AT THE CARAVANSEKAI.
Cennis auiati, sweep my chamber.
Leis xai* hona mer^b'um, not (any) thing here is well arranged.
Cennest el *erXuiya, ya kawaja, I have swept the floor, sir.
El micnese men5oufa, the hroom (is) spoiled.
Firaxi leis naiuif, my bed is not clean.
Ente nafsen, ya aki (akoui) ! thou art sleepy, 0 my brother.
La tatfi el nar, do not put out the fire.
El nar (fern.) intafat, is put out.
Bi weddina Cada% we want dinner.
Oqfod fala'l diewan, sit on the sofa.
Ijlis janbi, sit by me.
Ijlis f and el sofra, sit at the table (tray of leather).
Jieb el fada*, bring the dinner.
E6Tt el tafam fala'l sofra, put down the food on the table.
Nawilni sicciena, hand me a knife.
Onawiloh lee, hehona, I hand it to thee, — here.
Etenawiloh rnin yedac, I receive it from thy hand.
Hel oqaddim lee laEme ? shall I present a bit of meat ?
Lazimni soteiya (siete : Alep.} , I need (opus mihi) a plate.
Ein el siyat (Alep.) ? where are the plates?
A f'andac el "So'Eoun ? are the dishes with you ?
Collohe ma^ el sececien, all of them with the knives.
Collohe cenet fie korji, all of them were in my saddle bags.
Hehona el 'Sb'Eoun Eaiura, here (are) the dishes ready.
Coll xai* qoddamacom, everything (is) before you.
'KoA laEme maf cisrat kobz, take morsel of bread.
'Col min el rozz mafan, eat (some) of the rice together.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 125
Dried semne maf el kobz, I wish a (piece of) butter with the
bread.
5>ase toried el milE, perhaps you wish the salt.
Ma e*col ceOier min el milE, I do not eat much of salt.
Atyab el zobd min el semn Tandi, nicer is fresh butter than
salt Jbutter in my opinion.
Min katuri aEsen el jobon, from my liking better (is) cheese.
Lecin ma texrab xai% but you do not drink (any) thing.
Cenet el jarra mePana, the urn was full.
RouE ! jieb el bellaura, go ! bring the decanter.
Fiehe limonada Taiyibe, in it (is) nice lemonade.
La takloT fiehi may, do not mix in it water.
Leiset Eolwa ceGieran, it is not sweet too much.
Xarab el borteqan yotjibni aEsen, orange-wine (sherbet)
pleases me better.
Melli qadaEui, fill my goblet.
Ce*s Safiera tecfieni ana, a small glass suffices me.
E Toried te*col ezyad (zed, Alg. — ceman, Syria), wishest
thou to eat more ?
AfTumi xiqqat el *okra', give me the other piece (half).
Bi weddi e*col xoqfa ceman (Alep.\ I will eat a slice more.
KalliS heAih el cisra, finish this morsel.
Hehona loqma taiyibe, here is a nice mouthful.
EstecOir bi kairac, I wish multiplication to your welfare (i.e.
I thank you).
CeOOer kairac ! (God) multiply thy welfare !
KalaSna : xiel c\ 56'Eoun, we have done : remove the dishes.
Hel toried texrab* toton (Akp.} ? wishest thou to smoko
tobacco ?
* Drink.
126 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC.
*iAnec, ana ma axrab, by thy leave, I smoke not.
Ma aESbb qalioun, I do not love a straight pipe (Alep.}.
El narjiele taqta? f aqli aEsen ; lau cen katuri, en axrab,
The cocoanut* hits my mind better ; if it were my liking that
I smoke.
El iGnain farad xai* t andi, the two (are but) one thing with me.
Eobbama teKobb qahwe au txay ? possibly thou lovest coffee
or tea ?
La : oried el raEa, I wish rest.
MelieE ! ente testerieE, good ! thou shall take rest.
!N"aEna naxrab el txay ? we will drink tea.
Hel el may sokn ? is the water hot ?
AfTuini mowaiya sokna, give me a little water hot.
Adier balec, yaCli el may, turn thy mind (that) the water boil.
He AC el finjan "SaCier, this coffee-cup (is too) small.
Jieb tase : hiya ecbar, bring a cup (flat cup) (saucer) : this
is bigger.
EoTT txay bil cefaya, put in tea in sufficiency.
If melon qawi, make it strong.
Ma axrab txay miu fair Ealieb, I do not drink tea without
milk.
Kairieya, enna fandana Ealieb, (it is) good luck that we have
milk.
Bel hona qaimaq aiSan, nay, here is clotted cream too.
Fair enna leis mat ui soccer Ingliez, only that I have not with
me English sugar.
^ase taqdir texraboh bila soccer ? perhaps thou art able to
drink it without sugar ?
* Alcp. — i.e. The pipe in which the smoke passes through water in a
cocoanut shell.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 127
Aradt exteri min soccer, fa min qillet bakt, ma
I wished (that) I buy some sugar, then, by ill luck, did not
baqiyat wala oqqa waEuda, ^and el doccen.
remain not even a single ounce at the shop.
Ma yaio'rr, it does not hurt.
Ma lazim el soccer, not needful (is) sugar.
Melli el tase, fill the cup.
Tefaiial, wa ixrab, do favour, and drink.
Axcor failec wa jamielec, I thank thy favour and thy polite-
ness.
Bila Ealieb Tari au qaxta, ma yaSuEE el txay,
"Without fresh milk or cream, is not right the tea.
Lau cont talabt qahwe minni, toujad fandi qahwe
If thou hadst demanded coffee of me, is found with me coffee
min Mauka, el qahwet el Eamra,
of Moka, the coffee the red.
Toxarrifni : lecin aEabb liya el txay,
Thou honourest me ; but more acceptable to me (is) tea.
5?ala katurac, according to thy pleasure.
E toried el taset el *okra' ? dost wish a second cup.
La : waEuda tecfieni (toceffieni), no : one suffices me.
YaSuEE, all is right.
§ 6. ON DESSERT.
Hel fandac xai* lij noql (dessert) ?
5*andi anwaf xette' min el fawacih,
I have kinds diverse of fruits.
Qoul, eix' min fawacih Eaiir AC! waqt,
Say, what sort of fruits (is) ready this moment.
128 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
Hehonii zcbieb, wa belaE, wa leuz, wa ticn, wa jeuz,
Here raisins, dates, almonds, figs, walnuts,
wa temarhindi, wa fairohe.
tamarinds, and others than these.
El zebieb *ecl Taiyib, aEsen min el funab 5>andi.
Raisins (are) goodeating, better than grapes (in my opinion) _
Emma fandi funab aiSan melieEa.
But with me grapes too (are) good.
Min ein texteri el funab ?
"Whence buyest thou grapes ?
La (Ma) axteri qat ; collohe min jonaineti.
I buy not at all ; all of them (are) from my little garden.
^ase texteri el temarhindi wa el belaE.
Perhaps thou buyest the tamarinds and dates.
Eaqq fie yedec ; jonaineti jaiyida,
(Thou art right) my garden (is) excellent,
"Walecin ma yomcin en toEsin coll el fawacih
But it is not possible that should succeed all fruits
fie mecen waEud.
in one place.
Lafall tokrij kamr min el funab.
Haply thou elicitest wine from the grapes.
La; ne*col el f unab, wa* ilia noqaddidhe li zebieb.
~No ; we eat the grapes, or else we dry them for raisins.
Jieb liy xowaiyat ej zebieb.
Give me a little raisins.
HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC. 129
E toried te*col kobze maf he ?
Wilt eat bread with it ?
Oried ; fa axrab mowaiya bafdoh.
I will, and drink water after it.
La! bi failed ente lest Moslim.
No ! by thy favour ! thou art not Mussulman.
El Itoari leisou fayifien el kamr.
Christians are not abhorrers of wine.
SaEuiE : fa minhom siccieroun.
True : then (some) of them are drunkards.
Min el fawacih el Eo'lwa taqdir tefmal ej. dibs : fa hou ce
From sweet fruits thou canst make syrup (treacle) : and it is
miGli el fasel. Min el kobz wa ej zebieb te'rmal
like honey. From bread and raisins thou makest
fatour melieE. El kamr, wa CCAC el nebieA, leis monesib
breakfast good. Wine, and so too the toddy, is not suitable
lil fat our. Wa ma? he AC, el Fransewieya fa
for breakfast. For all that, the French
yaxrabounoh bil fat our Caliban,
drink it at breakfast prevalently.
La towakiAni : celamec leis maibout : lecinnehom
Reprove me not : thy speech is not accurate : but they
yaxraboun el qahwe (coffee) Caliban.
Ah ! fie Cair emcina teteCayyar el Tiulu.
different places is di til-rent the custom.
130 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
In tefayyar Taqs el donya, fa Ealan tetefayyar el ma*ecil.
If vary the climate, then instantly the victuals vary.
Fil Ban' yofjibni el Kalieb el Eamiz, wa fil bard el qahwe
In heat pleases me milk acid, in cold
bi Ealieb sokn. ^aiyib hona Ealieb el mafz ; emma
with milk hot. Mce here (is) milk of goats ; but
atyab fandi Ealieb el baqar.
nicer with me (is) milk of cows.
Aoqt ana marra(ten) Ealieb el jamous, wa fie katuri hou
I tasted once milk of buffalo, and in my liking it is
elACA min cileihoma. Li coll waEud Aauqoh el mak'Sou'S.
nicer than both. To each one (is) his peculiar taste.
§ 7. TALK WITH A COOK ON CATERING.
A. Ya Waness, lazim-ni eiyac. W. Ya kawaja ! eix' textehi ?
John ! I want thee. Sir ! what dost thou wish ?
A. Oried, en teji maTui ila'l souq.
I will, that thou come with me to the market.
W. Bi weddac xai* fase lil Cada.
Thou wantest something perhaps for dinner.
A. Nat am : en texteri lafim fanam.
Yes : that thou buy flesh (of) sheep.
AV. La, seiyidi ; ma yaSuEE lee.
No, sir ! (my lord !) it will not be well for thee.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 131
A. Fa leix' heAe ma yaSuEE liya ?
Then why will this not be well for me ?
W. LaEm karouf aEsen : houa rakS.
Flesh of lamb is better : it is tender.
A. Lazimni aiSan lift wa jazer.
I need also turnips and carrots.
5*ase fij souq kiiar wa boqoul.
Perhaps in the market (are) greens and potherbs.
"W. Fie heAe el*en coll el koiara faliya. A. Ma yaiorr.
In the present season all greens are dear. It hurts not.
EcGar ma ya'Suir, el batn ye*koA qaliel.
"Utmost that it may be, the belly takes (but) little.
"W. 5*ala ganni, naEna fayizien ila jobon.
my notion, we (are) needing cheese.
A. Hel youjad jobon fil souq ? (is found?}
W. Youjad honec taiyib, rakie'S (cheap).
A. Ente faltan : colloma hou Taiyib, 5ar fali.
Thou (art) mistaken : whatever is good, is dear.
Hel f andana xowaiya minnoh ?
Is with us a little of it?
W. Ma yabqi xai*, ilia qaliel.
Nothing remains, except little.
Lazimni semn min xun (li*ejl) pilau.
I need butter for (Alep.) a rice-dish.
A. E toriedoh min xanec ente ?
Wishest thou it on account of thyself?
132 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
W. La, seiyidi: tefrif, fie he^e el fa$l qouti
No, my lord ! thou knowest, in this season my food
el rozz bi Kalieb faqat.
(is) rice with milk only.
A. IVemma el rozz bi semn aiian hou f aix (victual] melieE.
"W. Sadaqt. Lecin, wa*in tafami leis xai* ICAICA jiddan,
Thou art right. But even if my diet is not very nice,
fa melieE li qowweti wa moSuEE.
yet (it is) good for my strength wholesome.
Wa^emma cen celamona fie laEm HI sofratec.
But our talk was on (concerning). . . . thy table (tray).
Yomcin teEobb yaknie ?
It is possible you like a stew (ragout) ?
E la toned aTboq xouraba ?
Dost thou not choose, I cook soup ?
A. La toftuini meslouq; bel el mexwiey
Do not give me boiled (meat) ; nay, but roasted
aEsen fandi. .
(is) better with me.
W. SaEuiE, lazimec karouf. El San ma yecoun
Certainly, thou needcst lamb. The mutton will not be
taiyib, laula tesloqoh. Wa ente, leix' toned teji
nice, unless thou stew it. But why wilt thou come
mafui? AEsen, en exteri ana bifairec.
with me ? (It is) better, that I buy without thee.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 138
A. Ente waEdec ? Hel ? andec folous ?
Thou alone ? Hast thou money ?
"W. AfTuini xai* min folous: fa aEoTt
Give me somewhat of money : then I will set down
? ala waraqa, eix'ma (eiyoma) exteri.
on a paper, whatever I buy.
A. YaSuEE. 'KoA el noqoud.
It will do. Take the cash.
§ 8. WITH MULETEERS ON A JOURNEY.
A. Heya, Heya! qad talafat el xams.
Ho ! Ho ! already the sun has come out (up).
Ya baffalien, Eammilou ej. dawab(b).
0 muleteers, load (n.) the beasts.
El nehcr Tola? falaina. Qoumou ! Li ncrouE !
The day has risen upon us. Get up ! Let us go !
Ya el cesele' ! Leis licom xajafa en teqoumou ?
0 ye lazy ones ! Have ye not bravery to get up ?
Tefal, Yousef ! li noEammil ana wa ent.
Come, Joseph ! let us load (the mules), I and you.
B. IAC cen toried, ana oEammii wa ente temsic ej dubbe ;
If thou choose, I (will) load and thou hold the beast;
wa*illa, ana amsiche, wa ente toEammil.
or else, I will hold her, and thou shalt load.
134 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
A. La la ! aEaen en arbothe fil Ibziem ; 6omm inna
!N"o ! better that I fasten her in the buckle ; thereupon
noEammil iGnaina sewa sewa.
we (shall) load, we two together.
El afimal Gaqiele, wala yaqdir waEud waEdoh fala' *en
The loads are heavy, nor is able one (man) alone for that
yarfafhe. Eammil ente min janib, wa *ana oEammil
he lift them. Load thou from (one) side, and I (will) load
min el janib el *okra'. Fehemt xai5 minni ?
from the other side (f). Hast thou at all understood me ?
B. MelieE! li narfa? fala'l bafala.— Yecfi.
Good ! let us lift upon the mule. — It suffices.
A. La! irfa<? ezyad.
3To ! lift (it) more.
B. Ael waqt el rafafa bil ziyada.
This time the lifting (is) in excess.
A. Wattu, Eatte' yecoun colloh sewa'.
Lower (it), until ft shall be all of it even.
B. Orbot min janibec, wa aftuini el Eabl.
Tie from thy side, give me the rope.
A. MelieE heceAe. B. 'KoAoh!
Good in that way. Take it !
A. Osbor xowaiya ! HCAC qa'Suir. Ma yecfi.
Wait a bit. This (is) (too) short. It does not suffice.
Holl elleAi rabattoh, wa tawwiloh.
Loosen (that) which thou hast tied, and lengthen it.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 135
B. MelieE! Nawilni el taraf. Imsic!
Good ! Hand (in.) to me the end. Hold (it) !
A. Ana mesicoh. Fil se^a Eammil !
I (am) holding it. Now (this moment) load !
B. Ana moKammil. Ya, eix* heAe el mirbaTa ?
I (am) loading. 0, what (is) this fastening?
Ma ana qadir aKoll he. (Lest ana qadir fala Kallihe.)
I am not able to untie it.
A. Iqtafhe bi mousi.
Cut it with my clasp knife.
B. Lala : yecoun kisera : fa bafdoh ma
No : it would be a loss (a pity) ; then afterwards it is
yeswa' xai*. AEsen el Sabr.
worth nothing. Patience is better.
Wa Eallaitoh [Ealaltoh]. 'KoA el Eabl, wa xouf [ongor]
And I have untied it. Take the rope, and see (look)
imma heAe yecfiec. A. Yecfi. Orbot melieE,
whether this suffices thee. Tie it well
wa irmi liya taraf el Eubl min tefit batn ij dabba.
throw to me the end of the rope under belly of the beast.
B. He AC hou ej taraf. Imsicoh. A. Ana mesicoh.
This is the end. Hold it. I am holding it.
Xoddoh ecGar min jihtec. B. YaSuEE. Irceb !
Tighten it more thy side. All is right. Mount ! *
* The verb means either Mount or Ride ; so, either Get on board a
ship, or, Make a voyage.
13G HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
C. Kallieni amxi xowaiya, wa el bafla terouE qoddam.
Let me walk a bit, shall go in front.
B. La ! heAih dabbe, leis minhe xai* melieE :
(as for) this animal, there is nothing good from her :
terns wa tercoi ; wa IAC herabat, ma yomcin
she kicks and runs ; if she has fled, not is possible
ilEaqohe. Lazimec, imma terceb, au
overtaking her. You must either ride, or
temsiche dayiman bil lijam. El iktiyar faleic.
you hold her always by the bridle. The choice (is) on thee.
$ala katurec.
According to thy liking.
C. Cen liya tefab ceGier : el rocoub aEsen.
Was to me fatigue much : riding (is) better.
Se'rudni min fallec. B. B'ism Illah ! irceb !
Assist me by thy favour.
i). Tu uuu, bi vvcdui an.-.«.-u \\uliui.
As for me, (it is) in my wish to mount alone.
Imsic el dabbe, li*ella tehrib minni.
Hold the beast, lest she flee from me.
B. Ircebt* melieE : ente xatur.
Thou hast mounted well : thou (art) clever.
D. Hel ana ma cfoltoh lee ? B. Miel xowaiya fala kalf,
Did I not tell thee ? Lean a little backward,
* To mount without stirrups on to a travelling saddle is very difficult.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 137
Eatte' terceb aKsen. Souq ila qoddfim.
that thou mayest ride better. Drive forward.
Ana mosefud el *ekara', wa arja fileic bafdoh.
I (am) helping the others, I return to thee afterwards.
RouE xowaiya xowaiya, fala sohouletec. A. RouE bil
Go (rowaidan) gently, at thy ease. in
fajl: xouc, xouc! B. Collohom Eammalou, wa
haste ! prick ! All of them have laden, and (are)
homjayien warana. C. Ente tef abt ceOiera.
coming behind us. art tired (hast toiled) too much.
B. Ah ! ma hou xai* he^e el xiqa. HeAih hie Sanafatna.
is nothing this misery (toil). This is our trade (art).
A. El tefab leis fie he^ih, lecin fil moliiqayat il ^arab,
The fatigue is not in this, but in the meeting of the Arabs,
elleAien auqat auqat yof arriyounna ; wa baf i el
who times times strip us (naked) ; a part of the
Vofnrt\ yrv7o11in™n fnb.ina : he^e hon el tefa^ olleAi
road-guards oppress us which
naEn lesna motefawwidien f alaihi.
we are not accustomed to.
Wa*emma, *emr e\ tefimiel wa el Eatt fa hou sehil t alaina.
But the affair of loading and depositing is easy to us.
C. El hewa Taiyib elyeum. B. Taiyib, el Eamd lillah !
The air is nice to-day. praise to God !
A. Natmel el-yeum 0cla0ien miel.
We make to-day 30 miles.
138 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
D. Wa ceif bi weddicom tercebou toul el neher ?
how will you ride all the day ?
A. La! qabl el iohr neEoTt, Katte' netefaxxa wa
before noon we set down, until we sup and
notfum el dawabb, wa bafdoh nosefir min jadied,
feed the beasts, afterwards we travel anew,
wala neEo'Tt ilia qarieb rnin el leil.
nor set down except near (to) the night.
D. El yeum bataina: ma Eammalna ilia
To-day we have been sluggish : we did not load except
bafd Tolouf il fajr,
after coming forth of the dawn.
C. La ! el neher ma cen tala? lil sefa.
the day had net come forth yet.
A. E] Sau, elleAi qad ra^eitoh, cen iau el qamar
The light which already you perceived, moon
*emma el fajr talaf, bafdama conna Kammalna zeman.
came forth, after that we had loaded (a long) time.
C. Sadaqt. Lecin ei hie setat el neher fie Ael waqt ?
You are right. But what is the hour at this time ?
A. Bil Eaqq, yabqa ezyad (zod) ila'l iohr sefatein 0ela0e.
In truth remains (encore] to noon two hours (or) three.
C. Lau cen sefa wafiuda, lecen aKsen el Eoloul hona ;
If it were one hour, verily were better unpacking here,
lAecen heAe el mauSuf melieE jiddan, wa fieh el 5ull
since this place in it shade
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 139
wa el may, wa el Eatab wa Kaxiex lil baheyim.
water, firewood, grass for the animals.
A. Ma yohimm : bat dob. nolaqi fair mecen aKsen
It imports not : afterwards we meet anotber place better
minnob. Xoucou, li najri fie heAe el bard. .
Prick ye ! let us run in this cold.
Bafd el Sobr textidd el sokouna. Fie waqtihi
After noon the heat grows intense. Instantly
nofettix Una maEall, nestisull wa
we search out for us a place, in which we shade and rest
narteE (vui.) fiehi seta sefatein.
ourselves an hour (or) two hours.
C. Mafqoul. ^alaic el Eocm.
A wise tbing. On tbee (rests) the decision.
A. Hehou el mauSut elleAi qolt lee falaihi.
Here is (matraE) which I told thee of.
AEsen min el auwal bi ceOier.
(It is) better tban the first by much.
Ana f arif be AC ej. tarieq melieE.
I know this way well.
Cem marra maxait fie heAib el ^aEari !
How many times (roEt wa jiet) in these plains (desarts).
Lau cen Eattait bali fala 1 Eujar,
If I had (Eata'Ct) set my mind upon the stones,
le cont at rif coll waEud bi 3ouratoh.
verily I should know each one by its figure.
140 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
C. Ain naKott ? ( Ain nenzil ?) A. Inzil hona,
Where sit we down ? (Where alight we ?) Alight here,
telit heAih el xajara. Hie m05allala, wa el raml nafum.
under this tree. It is shady, and the sand soft.
C. Wa^amma hona min ein ne*koA el Eatab lil matbak ?
But here whence take we firewood for cookeiy ?
A. Ya ente! hel tatlob lee fil SaKra coll xai*
0 thou ! dost thou require in the desart
maSbout? el tabaka besieTa hona, bila wajaq.
accurate ? the cooking is simple here, without a stove.
Ifmel 0oqba (joura) fil raml, wa^illa 'koA lee
Make a hole in the sand, or else take for thee
Kajarain 0ela0e, wa reccib falaihe el tanjara,
• two stones (or) three and mount on them the stewpot,
wa axful teKtehe min baf ar il jimal il yabis
and kindle beneath it (some) dung of camels dry,
''I; 'A! tcxoufoE qoddamec, wa fil sefa yestcvi
which (tengoroh) thou seest . . . instantly will be dressed
el Tabiek, eiyoma yecoun moradec tatbok.
the dish, whatever it may be thy will (that) thou cook.
B. $ase toried el rozz ? HCAC sehil. C. Einaf am.
Perhaps thou wishest rice ? This is easy. Yes.
La tebtui. D. El e^karien ma yatbokou xar".
Be not slow. The others do not cook (any) thing.
B. All ! man ye*col jobon, wa man ye*col buSal.
one eats cheese, another eats onions.
HA2TDBOOK OF MODEKff AEABIC. 141
A. Hehou el may faliyan. C. HoTt el rozz fil may.
Lo ! the water is boiling. Put the rice water.
NaEKu el fitaya. B. Leix' testefjil heceAe ?
Set aside the cover. Why hastest thou so ?
C. Moradi arqod qalielan, li*enna ma nimt
My wish (is that) I sleep a little, because I slept
xai* heAih el leile.
not at all this night.
B. Xouf! collohom qadd *ecelou, wa he AC ej seta hom
See ! all of them already have eaten, and at present they
raqidien. Fie waqtihom yaqoumou wa yoEammilou.
(are) sleeping. Presently they will rise and load.
C. Ente e fa ma te*col ezyad xai* ?
Dost not thou then eat something more ?
B. Yecfi : axcor failec.
It suffices : I thank thy favour.
C. Ana rayiE afsil yedaiya ; bafdoh arqod hona.
I am going to wash my two hands ; afterwards I sleep here.
B. 5?andama ente rafid, fa ana afsil e\ tanjara wa e\
While thou (art) sleeping, I wash the stewpot and the
So'Ro'un, fa aKotthe fil faiba.
dishes, then I put them into the wallet.
C. Mafloum, heAC cl mecen taiyib.
Surely, this place is good.
Xomm el hcwa wa c\ ricll « 1 l«'ti tehobb ^alaina.
Smell the air and the wind which blows upon us.
142 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
§ 9. COPTIC FEAST.
M. Xouf, ya Fanous, imma Eaiir Una el fada.
See Stephanus whether ready dinner.
F. Coll xai* EaJur.
M. Ifrax el sofra wa mandielehe, wa jieb el Taf am.
Spread out table and its cloth, bring the food.
Fa ente, e ma tafsil yedaic ?
dost not thou wash thy two hands ?
A. Ei nafam, afsilhe. (Yes, I wash them.)
M. Ya BaTras, jieb el Taxt wa el ibrieq. Dawwirhe, Eatte'
0 Peter, bring the basin jug. Carry them round until
coll man yoried yafsil yedaih, fa yafsilhe.
whoever wishes to wash his hands, may wash them.
Tefal ila hona, ya qasiesl Iqteribou, jemietcom.
Come hither, 0 priest! Approach all of you.
Wa ente, ya rahib Simfan, e fa la (ma) teteqaddam ?
monk Simeon, dost thou not advance ?
S. La ! ya seiyidna. La to^wakiAni, ana ma
our lord. Do not reprove me, I (am) not
frecil semien.
eating fat (gras].
M. Ah ! leix' ma qoltoh liya qablan ? Conna tabakna
why didst not tell it to me before ? We would have cooked
lee xai* min el semac. S. Lala! ma yaEtej.
fish. is not needed (vrn.).
5AJTDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 143
M. RouE, ya Fanous ; jieb lina fasel nafil wa zeitoun.
Go bring honey of bees olives.
MarKaba bicom, ya mofallimien. 'Colou wa ixrabou
Welcome to you, 0 doctors ! Eat ye drink ye
bi katurcom. El neher tawiel, wa (el Kamd lillah !)
at your liking. The day (is) long praise to God !
el *ecl ceGier.
the food (is) plentiful.
Hel te*col, ya qasies, min el mexwiey ?
Eatest thou, 0 priest, of the roasted ?
G. Min mexwiey mefroum, fa*inna e*col.
hashed (minced) verily I eat.
M. Cobb, ya motallim Zeitoun ! f ala hcAec el 3aEn
Overturn (pour out) Doctor Olivier, upon that dish
min qarf maKxiey, KCAC el Ealieb bil toum.
of gourd stuffed, this milk with garlic.
Z. B'ism illah ! ya seiyidi.
M. Jieb, ya Batras min ^and ej senbousqiey,
Bring from the sliop of the confectioner,
el karouf el maExiey.
lamb stuffed.
B. Fanous rafi li ye^koAoh. S. Hehou juyi bihi.
Stephanos is gone to take it (get it). coming
M. EoTtoh fil wasat. N. RayiEatoh melieEa.
Put down midst. Its odour
144 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
G. TVa el tol-ma aKsen. M. Hel ente tefrif Tofmatoh ?
the taste is better. Knowest thou its taste ?
G. La HI seta : lacin ana Eastebtoh heceAe.
Not yet : but I computed it thus.
M. 'KoA, wa Aouqoh ! G. Ah ! Eaqqaten ! heAe hou *ecl el
Take taste it. verily ! this is food
mofallimien. Ya, eix' Ealawetoh!
of doctors. what its sweetness !
M. Eix' te^col, ya mofallim Zeitoun ?
Z. Ana fa e*col yaknie, e*col waraq-a-daliya, e*col
I, why, I eat (ragout,) leaf of vine,
senbouseq, wa min jomlat kairat, elleti tot Tuihe
patties (any) among good things, which thou givest
lina bil ziyada. M. "Wa ente, ya mof allim Salieb ?
us in excess. 0 Doctor Lacroix ?
S. Ente, ya seiyidi, af^ait liya farrouja, wa ana famil
hast given me a chicken, I (am) making
texrieE <? uSamiho. M. E fa tefrif fala '1 texrieE ?
dissection of its bones. knowest about
5. TexrieE el lafim el matbouk, fa ana farifoh.
Dissection of meat cooked, why !
M. Li naxouf xaTaratec fie texrieE heAe el karouf.
Let us see thy cleverness in carving this lamb.
3. La! ente EaTTait (EaTatt) yedec falaihi (hast put).
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 145
Cemmil xoflec wa farriqoh lil Soyouf.
Complete thy work divide it to the guests.
M. La! heAe hou wasuifa lil mofallim !Na$ur.
this is • a function for Doctor Victor.
Yedaihi qawieya. (His two hands (are) strong.)
N. Bism illah ! 'koA ente ! qasemtoh talaic.
accept (this piece) ! I have apportioned it to thee.
M. Ya heAih el xoqfa! heAa faqat yecfieni (yoceffieni)
0 this slice ! suffices me
yeumain. IT. IAC lee xai* zeyid, iqsimoh mat el qasies.
two days. If thou hast superfluous, share it with
M. Matqoul ! BilEaqq hou leAieA, wa to? match melieEa.
Wise (saying). In truth its taste
Man, bafd heAe el tafam, ye*col badinjan, TamaTuin,
Who, after these viands, eats melongene, tomatoes,
funab, borteqan? G. HCAC colloh rieE wa mowaiya.
oranges ? wind and water.
M. Wa ej rozz, e ma teEobboh ? (dost thou not like it ?)
G. AEobb e\ coscosou ; amma xouraba min e\ rozz, fa ma
tofjibni qat. M. Wa ceif el rozz bi Ealieb ?
(>. Ya *akoui, jaiyid, IAB cen bi misc wa fanbar kam.
excellent, if with musk ambergris raw.
M. Xouf heAe el rahib el mescien, raiu bil Tasel wa ej zeitoun.
See this monk wretched, pleased with honey and olives.
G. Ya seiyidi, li coll xai* waqtoh (to everything its time).
10
146 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
5?andi, baf S el auqat, tecfieni qarqouxa : amina, IAG
With me, some times, dry crust (biscuit) but, if
jani xai* aEsen (estefrif lee) la armieh lil cilab.
comes to me I confess I do not cast it to the dogs.
M. Wa el ? uiam (bones), e ma termiehe ? G. El fuiam hie
qaraqiex el cilab, wa esnani ma yaqdirou falaihe.
the biscuits of dogs, my teeth are not competent
M. Hel esnanec qadirien fala'l baflawa ? G. Ma afrif min
strong (enough) for cheesecake. I know not for
zeman: fa^inna ma jarrabtohom fie heAih el Eaje.
(long) time : for I have not tried them in this affair.
M. Axouf fil sefa. Xiel (Remove}, ya Fanous, heAe colloh,
wa jieb lina el baqlawa. Eix' teqoul fie he AC ?
G. He AC, fie 5anni, aEsen min el jobon.
M. Jarriboh. (Try it.) G. Ya ya! colloh soccer wa lauz.
A. Haqqaten ! heAih el baqlawa Taiyiba.
Hel f ameltomhe fil dar ? M. Yah la ! El niswan e fa
Did ye make them ? (Would) women
yafrifou yafmilou he AC ? Tabbak el sinjaq ^amelhe.
know to make cook of the flag (regiment ?).
N. Bil Eaqq, fajieba ; jadiera bil sanajiq.
marvellous ; worthy of the flags.
Z. La bodd, yerouE ma'Srouf ceGier fie f amel mi61
No escape ! goes (vanishes) expense in making
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 147
M. Farxain GelaGe bil ecGar. 'Col minhe.
Two or three piastres at most. Eat of them.
A. Yecfieni fa Deceit ceOier. (I have eaten much.)
M. Tafsil yedaic. Batras! jieb el taxt wa el ibrieq maT
Thou shall wash bason jug
el Saboun, li nafsil yedaina. "Wa ente, Fanous! jieb
soap our hands. bring
lina el qahwe. F. Wa el mafoun, e fa la ejieboh ?
coffee. metal dish.
M. Kalli fawacih el noqla wa el molebbeset
Leave fruits dessert sugar plums (sweetmeats)
wa qarS el jobon el Afranji ; wa jieboh. Lacin la tokalli
cake cheese Yet do not leave
el barnak bila jarra, wala el qomqom bila farqiey.
filtering stand nor (retort) without arrack.
jf. Ana (aqoul lee el Eaqq) bi ciGrat ma xarabt min
I from plenty (of) what I have drunk of
el f araqiey wa xarab, baqiyat nar fie mif dati :
arrack sherbet, has remained fire stomach
fa el* an moradi en axrab mowaiya.
now my wish (is) a sup of water.
M. La ! kalli yejiebou lee qadaE min limonada wa 'koA lee
let (them) goblet take
loquaimat selaia. Ya abouna Jarjes, e ma tofanni
small mouthful salad. our father sing
lina xai* AC! waqt ? (to us something now ?)
148 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
G. Ya seiyidna, min ein toried yatlaf el seut, lerama
whence come forth sound (nomin. ) when
el batn mel*an? Tefrif enna barmiel mel*an ma
belly (is) full ? Knowest barrel full not
yaTunm xai*. M. Lala, heAe ma yemnafac qat.
tinkle hinders at all.
G. Fa li ofanni lAen ! B'ism illah !
Let me sing then !
§ 10. TWO TRADESMEN.
M. Ahah ! e ma teqoum ? eix' heAe el na^as baf d tolou'r ul
does not arise ? slumber out-coming
xams ? hel ente mar*a, (woman ? *em rajol ? or man f)
e ma texouf el xams ? qpum ! aqoul lee.
N. La towakiAni. ElbariE inni cont fand Babiebi
Excuse me ! The (day) past I was with my friend
('Saduiqi, SaEubi). Ecelna, xarabna, fariEna wa
qafadna fand el sofra (ma*ida) ila' nu^f il leil. Fa
we sat at the tray ? (table) till midnight
*ana ma jict ila hona, ilia qarieb min el me^Aena.
I not came hither, except near the calling to prayer.
M. MelieE jiddan. El bariE bataltom bi sebab el xarab,
Very good. Yesterday ye idled by cause of drink
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 149
wa el yeum tebTalou bi sebab el naum. Bainama ente
to-day ye idle sleep. While thou
heceAe baTTal, manou yafmel xoflec? manou
so an idler who does thy business ? who
yaEcom darac ? e ma lee mar* a wa aulad ? manou
governs thy house ? a woman (wife}.
yecsiehom ? manou yotf umhom ? IN". Ah ! Rabbona
clothes them ? who feeds them ? our Lord
ceriem, wa hou el modabbir. Hel yomcin yanse'
(is) generous he is the director. t can he forget
kalayiqoh? M. E fa ma qal fil citeb il f aziez :
his creatures ? Hath he not said in the book precious,
"Prine!, wa ana osefudac?" K. Mafqoul. Lecin
Act and I will aid thee ? Wisely said.
eix' afmel ? Ana toul el esbouf fil xofl, wa tefabi bil
I, length of week business, my toil (is)
ziyada. Oomm, e ma esteEuqq en e^koA liya yeum, li
in excess. do not I deserve to take for me a day,
afraK fieh wa e*col wa axrab mat el a^Eab ?
that I may rejoice in it .... companions.
M. Sadaqt: xoClec wa tefabec . ceGier.
Thou art right : thy business and toil (is) too much.
Ya mescien, ceif yomcin ta'Sbor f ala he AC colloh ? Min
0 unhappy ! how canst £hou endure against all this ? Of
el SabaE teqoum baf d tolouf e\ xams : bafd fasl
a morning thou risest after sunrise : after washing
el wejh wa el yedain, texrab el qahwe.
150 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Bafdoh, terouE lil Eanout (doccen). (to the shop.)
^Toulima teqfod honec, texouf el nas wa toSaEub
As long as thou sittest there, companiest
(maf)hom. Te*koA darahim min heAe wa min heAec.
Waqt el iohr te*col wa texrab melieE. Bafd el
?a$r tefloq wa teqfol el doccen ; wa
afternoon fastenest and padlockest the shop
lemma yexoufouc *ehl darec ^ala fatebet il bab,
when see thee thy household at threshold
yoEiur lee el ma'ida (sofra Alep.\ falaihe el 'eel,
get ready table, upon it food,
kamse sitte jonous ; te*col wa texrab ma? jemafatec *ecle
five six kinds thy company food
Taiyibe, wa bil mehl. Wa^emma he AC colloh tefab !
nice and at leisure. But all this (is) toil.
N. Ente taSEac falaiya. M. La : bel etecellem bil Eaqq.
N. Ana f arif ennec tetecellem bil XaEc. (speakest in ridicule).
Lecin af terif lee el Eaqq ; he AC el solouc elleAi ente qoltoh
I confess truth procedure
Ael waqt, inni motetawwad falaihi. "Wa^emma, bima
verily, I am used to it. But when
etelaqa ana ma? el a'SEab, fa iAAec innena ne^col, nexrab
I meet with comrades, then verily we eat, drink,
wa nenbasit bi faraE a?5am.
and relax ourselves with mighty joy.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 151
M. Eix' heAe el farafi el a^am ? qoum ! waEud yeste*nec
What is this mighty joy ? Arise ! some one awaits thee
fala'l doccen, wa moradoh(en) yaxteri minnec jouk.
at the shop, his wish (is) to buy woollen cloth.
Tefal, celimoh. Come and talk to him.
K YaSuEE. Ya walad, jieh Hya Eawayiji.*
It is right. Boy ! bring me my clothes.
P. Eix' min Eawayij ? N. Aftuini qamieja (qamieSa)
What sort of clothes ? Give me (camicia) a shirt
naqiya, wa qonbaz diemiey min dakil il 3andouq.
clean gown futaine (dimity-fustian).
Sarwali min jouk wa Sadrieyati wa barnousi hona fala'l
My trowsers my waistcoat hooded cloak
Eabl. Ein el tarbaux wa el xaxe ?
rope. Where is the red cap and muslin (turban) ?
P. Coll xai* [wajid] EaSur. Hehona el jawarieb.
Everything (ready) Here (are) stockings.
E tatlob xai* fairahe ? Dost thou demand anything else ?
N. Af Tuini el Euzem, wa el jezm el jadieda.
Give me belt boots new.
P. 'KoAhe: wa houheAC maErama. E teftej zod
Take it : lo here a kerchief. JSTeedest thou more
(ezyad ?) N. La : jieb el ma*, li afsil wejhi.
P. FiJ seta. Yestenec e\ rajol. (The man awaits thee).
* Eawayij, nectisariet, is used for one's baggage, also for clothe*.
152 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
§ 11. CLOTHIER AND HIS CUSTOMER.
"N. E ma naxrab el qahwe, ana wa ente, qablama nerouE ?
M. Ah ! daf nerouE bila xarb el qahwe. E ma naxraboh fil
doccen ? K". Yomcin. Lacin moradi naxrab hona.
M. Ajia xarabtoh min el SabaE : hel ente teEsobni Sayiman ?
X. RouE, 'koA el mifteE wa imxi qoddam, li tefteE el doccen.
P. Ana rayiE. "N. Wa naEna warac. M. Ilbis qaba-c.*
I (am) going. We behind thee. Put on thy robe.
tf. Hel ilbis elle A! bil farwa ? M. Ceif lee Eaje bH farwa ?
that which fur ? need of fur ?
El yeum, el sokouna ceOiere. 'KoA lee heAih el kafiefe.
X. Bism Illuh ! narouE. P. Selam falaic, ya sciyidi.
Q,. (Jalaic el selam. El tejir e fa marieS ? wa'illa Cayib ?
Is the merchant sick ? or absent ?
P. La! hou heAe jayi waraya.
here he is, coming behind me.
Q. Ceif jayi? Ana qa'fud hona fala el qahwe fie isti^firoh
How coming ? I (am) sitting in expectation of him
min miqdar sef tein. Hel yefteE coll yeum heceAe ?
P. La. Kasoh, heAih el leile, cen youjafoh xai*en; fala
His head, last night, pained him somewhat
xan (min xan) heAe, ma jiena fala '1 f ada. Hou heAe
jayi. Ana e fa ma qolt lee ?
* De Braine. Perhaps it is Algerine, in this sense.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 153
N. La towakiAni. Ana marie £ xar'en, wa raqadt li hede el
waqt. Q. SuEEatec! lecin yomcin etf abtec bil ziyada.
Thy health ! but possibly I tired thee
K La ! lil kildf (bel) ana hou elleAi motfub falaic, wa*emma
on the contrary, it is I that (am) tiresome to thee, but
ente istenaitni zeman.
thou hast waited for me a (long) time.
Q. Ah ! la ictira9 minnoh ; (ma obali). Ente tefrif, enna
(there is) no concern ; I do not mind, knowest, that
fuidi qarieb; wa moradi e*kod minnec jouk, bihi
my festival (birthday) I wish to take with which
at mel qaba. K AEmar? wa*illa arjawan?
I (may) make Red ? or purple.
Q. Arjawan. N. Hou f andi. Ya tali! jieb bastat jouk el
It is with me. Ali ! bring a strip of
arjawan. Eix' taqoul fie hede el jouk? E ma hou
melieE ? Lau cen dort el mediena, ma tolaqi miGliho.
If you had gone round the city, you meet not its like.
Q. Melieh! qadd eix' el Airaf ? N. Bi sitte riyalat.
how much the ell ? At six dollars.
Q. Eix' heAe el celam? tefisobni faxieman bi coll
What is this saying ? countest me simpleton
ce^inna ana fie ? omri ma xoft jouk, ilia he AC ? Wa
as if I in my life never saw cloth but this?
he1 AC el jouk bi sittet riyalat e}
154 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
N. eemenoh heceAe, ya sciyidi. IAC aradt te*koAoh, 'koAoh :
awema (or not) te*coAoh ? kalliehi. Eil Eaqq, ma tolaqi
fil mediena collihe jouk miGl heAe. Soufoh (its wool)
mi01 Karier, wa launch zehi. Ah ! ma aEsen el qaba,
like silk its hue gay. how handsome the robe
elleti tefmalhe minnoh ! (which you will make of it.)
Q. SaEuiE, el jouk melieE ; lecin el Gemen fali.
N. Coll xai*" yaEriz seumatoh. (See Bocthor, Yaloir.)
maintains ? its valuation (claims, gets its price ?)
Youjad fil bazer jouk bi riyalain, wa youjad bi sitte riyalat.
Q. Naf am : lacin Aelic aEsen min heAe. . . . (better than.)
N. Saddiqni, auta min jouki he AC.
Believe me, it is inferior to this my cloth.
Q. E toried te^koA lee kamse riyalat ? (wilt thou take — )
K La kamse : li^enni xaraitoh (ixteraitoh) bi ecGar.
Q. Ma yaEtej totf ub rouEac, wala ana rouEui. Akir
needs not, I tire thy spirit, nor I the end, last
el celam, ofTui lee kamse riyalat. IAC cont toried,
'koA el darahim. Incen ma toried, fa ofettix liya
waEud Cairac, yosfufni bi Eajeti.
some one other than thee, will aid me in my affair.
K ^ala katurac. Ya tera' tofisin *emrec !
At thy pleasure. I hope, wilt well-manage
Q. Leix' tefmel mat ya heceAe ? bil Eaqq, ente tamma? .
Why actest with me thus ? In truth covetous.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 155
N. <r)ase toned hedieya minni ; fa 'koA lee el jouk bila Gemen.
Perhaps a present tlie cloth without price.
Q. La : hi darahimi ma tof tuini ieyaho; fa keif he AC hedieya?
for my money thou givest it not ; is this a present ?
N. Bar? he AC el jouk bi kamse riyalat, e fa hou bil darahim ?
To sell this cloth for five dollars, is that for money?
(Jala dieni, ixteraitoh ana fil zeman il sebiq bi kamse
On my faith, I bought it myself in former time for five
riyalat : walacin li*enna ente zebouni, wa Sabart falaiya
dollars, but because my customer, waitedst
heceAe min bocra, 'koAoh bi kamse wa nu$f.
Q. 5"ala Aimmeti ma yeswa (is not worth) xai* ecGar min el
kamse ; wa*emma ezied lee el nu*Sf.
N. Cem toned min el eAra/f ? Q. Kamset CAra?. Qies melieE.
How many ells wishest thou ? Measure (it)
N. Xouf! inni qistohe temama; kamse. IqTaf, ya walad,
See ! I have measured it Cut, 0 boy !
hona, \va utwiehe: wa jemief el Gemen hou ^ebf a
here, fold it : the whole of the price is
wa f uxrien riyal wa nu3f riyale falaic liya, ya seiyidi.
Q. "Yaiyib ; fa 'koA el foroux. N. Katurac f alaiya.
^ 12. WITH A TAILOR.
Q. Moradi, en tofaSSul wa tokayyit liya heAih el jouka.
I wish you to cut out and sew for me this cloth.
156 HANDBOOK OP MODERN AEABIC.
Lacin lezim en teqieshe, wa tensor imma yettefiq
But you must measure it, and look whether fits
miqdarhe li qameti. B. Gem min el CArof tejieb liya?
its size to my stature. How many ells bringest ?
Q. Arbaf CArof. B. Sadaqt. *Emma ma yecfie qat.
Q,. Qadd eix' tatlob fauq min he AC ? How much. . .above this ?
B. Afouz ezyad nu$f Airaf '. (I need more than £ ell.)
Q. AVa fandi Airaf cemil. (a whole ell.) 0omm inna eix'
tekoA ente fala heAih el ciswa? (for this garment.)
B. Ma aqdir atlob aqall min kamse wa arbaf uin fuSia.
I cannot ask less than 5 and 40 silver.
Q. SaEE el *emr ; fa abf a0 lee bi yed kadimi el nu^f Airaf el
All right I send my servant
naqiS. E toried o^weddi lee aiian ciswati el fatieqa,
deficient I hand to thee my old garment
lecei fala miGlihe tef mel el jadieda ?
B. L|L yaEtej : afrif qiyasec : wa ofa^ul lee libs aEsen min
Is not needed : thy measure : cut out a dress
he AC. Lecin aqoulec : — Fie fb'mri ana ma kayyatt
But I tell thee : In my life I never sewed
arkaS minnoh. Wa el colfa,* e fa tof tuihe liya ? wa^illa
a cheaper than it. trimming (?) givest it ? or
aEotthe min f andi, wa teroddhe liya bafdoh.
shall I put it from my own, and thou repay it . . . ?
* Additional materials, — superfluity.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC. 157
Q. Wa eix' heAe el colfa zod (bij. ziyada) ?
B. E ma tefrif, ennoh minxan el sejaf la bodd min 0ele9
knowest not, that for the flounce, no escape from 3
eArof atlas, bi farxain el Airaf : horn sitte foroux : fa
ells of satin, at 2 piastres an ell : six piastres :
ej ezrar wa el qaitan farx : heAe sebfa : wa el Earier
buttons laces, (loops) seven silk
rob? farx : iAen, colloh seb'Pa foroux wa rob? . (7J.)
Q. Ma kammant qat heAe el tekmien: wa*inni Easebt, en
I never estimated estimate : but I counted to
ofTui lee, mafada el jouk, kamse wa arbafuin fuSSa,
give thee, beside the cloth, five forty
wa terodd liya el ciswe cemile mocemmale.
you give back to me the garment complete, finished.
B. La yomcin. Fauq tefabi wa ciraya, fa hel aftui lee
Above my toil wages, I give thee
aiian sebf a Gemaniya foroux ? Ente ma ta3onnoh wala
also 7 or 8 piastres ? Thou dost not think it, nor
toriedoh minni. (wish it from me.)
Q. Hel min el lezim, en teEotT e\ sejaf ? (to put the flounce.)
B. Eiwa lezim : la bodd minnoh. Wa min farwa, fa cen
Yes, necessary : no escape from it. And of fur
a0man minnoh min atlas, in 5ar melieE wa jomiel.
more costly of it than satin, if it were good
Eix' toried minni, ya seiyidi.
158 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Q. AEsen en teEo'Tt el atlas, wa ma qolt liya tewa (just
now}. Pa arodd lee el Geman. (I will repay the cost.)
B. Ana bi kidmatec (at thy service}. Wa mat el selame.
§ 13. A STATIONER WITH A PAPER MERCHANT.
A. Selam falaic, ya kawaja ! (0 sir!)
B. ®alaic e] selam, ya seiyidi el xeik ! (sheikh.}
A. ^andac xai* cefit (waraq) ? B. ^andi.
A. Qadd eix' el corras ?
How much the (quire — De Br.)
B. Ongor el cefit qabla, wa bafdoh etecellem.
Look at the paper first, and afterwards I will speak.
A. MelieE : Eull el Sorra. B. He AC hou el cegit : e ma
Good ! untie the bundle. This is the paper :
hou Easen ? A. Mafloum, jamiel : fa eix' •? ala el corras?
B. Hott liya mieya wa faxara Coroux, wa 'koA lee GelaOa
wa sittien corras. (110 piastres, 63 quires.}
A. Ma ya*SuEE heceAe : bel li neterabat awwalan ?ala coll
It is not well thus : but rather let us covenant first about each
rizma, 0omm bat doh etefeccer cem waEuda e*kod minhe.
packet, afterwards I will consider how many I take.
B. 5"ala katurac : iAen, to^tuini farxain fala' el corras : fa
tejid faxara fie colli rizma. (you will find 10 in . . .)
HANDBOOK OF MODEEX ARABIC. 159
A. Ma yaEtemil : wa hou iudd Eusebec ej sebiq, bil collieya.
It is inadmissible against thy former reckoning, entirely.
(Dala 5anni, farx waEud ecGar minma testeEuqq.
In my opinion, a single piastre (is) more than it deserves.
B. La : fa*emma ma yokallrSni : bel ras maloh ecGar min el
No : but it does not clear me cost price is more than the
farx el waEud. OEsob ente, qadd eix tocellif
single piastre. Compute thyself, how much it cost
min Bepdiqieya ila hona.
from Venice to this place.
A. Ente tafrif, fa *ente tef tebir resmalac : lecin ma falaiya,
knowest considerest : but it does not rest on me,
en etedakal fie *emarac: ana el xari. IAC aradt
that I meddle in thy affair: I (am) the buyer. Ifthouwish
tebief , fa hie? liya. IAC lem toried, fa qoul liya :
"Yonfum Allah!" Fa e*koA kamse rizem, fie coll
rizma f axara ceraries ; wa of tuic Gemanien farx.
B. Bil Eaqq, ente ma, fomrec, xoft cefit aEsen min he AC.
A. Ma ra*eit aEsen : "SaEuiE : lecin xoft ceGier miGloh. In
xa* 'llah, yeji liya ej naff elleAi ja liya min fairoh.
B. 'KoA lee aiian kamse rizem. (take 5 packets more.)
A. La: he AC yecfi liya. Bafdama estenfif minnoh, wa yeji
liya el folous, eji lee marra *okra*. Ael weqt ma baqi
? andi darahim bil cefaya. La : wa diem !
remains not . . . money ... by my faith !
160 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
B. Ma obali. (Ma falaiya. Ma fala ball.) aSbor Talaic.
I do not care. (It is not on my mind.) I wait for thee.
A. Fa cem xehr taSbor ? B. Asbor f alaic xehrain.
how many months wilt wait ? 2 months.
A. E*koA, incen taSbor sittet axhor. (if ... 6 months.)
B. Sittet axhor ! eix' min el celam hou heAe ?
A. Lecin ma okalES nefsi fie xehrain. Min ein ajieb el
But I do not clear myself in 2 months. Whence
Gemanien riyal el okra' ? El mablaf ma hou min el
the 80 other dollars ? The sum is not (a matter) to be
mostehen. Lala ! Ma yomcin ; Aqall ma yecoun,
made light of. It cannot be ; the least that. . .
aTlob 0ele0 axhor. B. Ismaf liya. Aqoul lee tarieq
e*kar, aEsen min he AC. Aqsit ma bainana, wa ente
another way, Apportion what is between us
toufieni el dain bil qosout. A. Fa ceif yaSlaK bainana ?
shall pay me instalments. shall it be settled
B. Aqoul lee. Ente SaEub doccen, wa ma yeji lee el darahim
master of a shop, comes money
daff a waEuda, bel qalielan qalielan, fala qadar el baif
single stroke, little by little, according to sale
wa el xira'. Emma, li*en noshil falaina el Tarieq,
and purchase. But, for that we may ease to us the way,
li naqsiT el Gemanien riyal, Eaqq el kamse rizem el
let us distribute the 80 dollars (due to) the 5 packets
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 161
Geniya, fala Gemaniya farx coll el jomfa: wa bafd
xehrain wa nu'Sf fa la yabqa liya fandec xai*. El
foroux el Gemanien el oula', fa tedfafhe heAih ej seta.
Eix' teqoul fie heAe ? A. MelieE.
§ 14. SPECIMEN OF PROSE WITH FEW VERBS.
TeEt jins el *ibl toujad nauf an ; cile-homa
Under the genus of Camels are found 2 kinds ; each of the two
ceriem el Tabaf, ?a3uim el naff li soccen barrieyat
generous in stamp, immense of utility, dwellers desart
Afrieqieya, wa bilad el 5?arab wa Cairahe min el bilad elleti
of Africa country Arabs others than it of districts which
teEt kaTT el Seratan. Fa e^Ead homa el Dohemij, — wa
under line Cancer. one of the two Bactrian Camel
hou AOU senamain. Fa el e*kar el Jemal, — fa hou AOU
two humps other Camel endowed with
senam waEud, wa af5am qouwaten min e\ Dohemij, wa
one hump mightier in strength than
ecGer wojoudan minnoh.
more abundant in existence than he.
Wa lil Jemal ra's *Safier bij. nesebat ila ^u^m joGGetoh,
camel has head small in proportion to great size carcass
wa OAnan qa'Suiraten, wa fo'nq tawiel, monEani. Wa
two ears short neck long flexible.
11
162 HATOBOOK OP MODERN ABABIC.
irtifafoh ila Airwat senamoh naEou sitt aqdam wa
elevation to top hump about six feet half.
Wa laun wabaroh, fie qorb min el senam, qatim ; wa fie
hue shag in neighbourhood of dull, dim ;
se*ir jismoh, launoh ce*inna Eo'mra kafiefe. Wa liho
rest body as if red light. he has
Aenab tawiel wa manasim mofartaEa monxiqqa ; walecinnehe
tail long pad-feet distended split and yet they (are)
fair monfa'Sula. "Wa fie seqoh toujad sitt foqad. Wa liho
not separated. his leg are found six knots.
mrfda kamise, fair el mi? d el arbaf , elleti hie li coll1
a stomach fifth without stomachs four which are to every
Eaiwan mojtirr. Wa hou labour fala '1 f atx wa el jouf,
animal ruminant. he is patient against thirst hunger
wa f ala raf? el afba el Oeqiele seiran seriefan fie
lifting (carrying) packages heavy a march swift in
sefarat tawiele.
journeys long.
§ 15. NEWSPAPER EXTRACTS.
1. Qad saherat Earieqa fil xehr il maXu fie
Already appeared a conflagration in the month past in
Ezmier ; wa bil rafm fan mobadarat il Eocouma li
Smyrna, and in spite of the hastening of the Government to
utfaihe, uEteraq bihe mi*ya wa kamsoun doccen wa
extinguish it, was burnt by it 100 and 50 shop and
HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 163
bafS maKallet. Wa ceAelic fil xehr il
several places (blocks of houses). And likewise in the month
maiu qad ixteddat el fawaSuf fie xoTout
past became intense the gales (storms) on the coasts of
Rodos ; fa Aehib bi *e9'rihe baf S el sefayin.
Rhodes ; vanished in their track a portion of the ships.
2. SaEuifa fie Filadelfia axherat, naqlan
A (newspaper) sheet in has published by transcript
fan moresela waradat ileihe, Euseb
from a correspondence (which) arrived to it a computation of
el Aeheb el leAi karaj min California wa Australia bi moddat
the gold which came forth from the space of
il f axar senien il *ekiera : fa cen sebaf mi*ya milyaun franc,
the ten years last and it was 7 100 million
3. El Matjar. Jamie? el aSnaf, wa el esfar
Commerce. All descriptions (of articles), and the rates
f ala Ealihe, lem tofraq xai*en fan el esbouT
according to their condition ; did not differ at all from week
ul maiu ; wa lasieyima woqouf el Earace bi sebab
past especially the stoppage of movement (is) by cause
il amtar il fazierat, el leti hebatat fie he AC el esbouf .
of the rains copious which have fallen in this week.
4. Uflan. Narjou el bat I min el moxtericien, el leAien
A notice. We entreat that part of the subscribers who
liPen lem yadfafou Gemen el jornal fan heAe el f am,
hitherto have not paid the price of the journal (/or) this year,
164 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
en yobadirou bi ui'Sal Aelic ; li*ennoh qad fat el
that they hasten to present it ; because already is passed the
waqt el mofayyan lil daft,
time appointed for paying.
5. Inna el vapour el Fransewi Seyyid-Nous, farrafnacom
As to the steamboat French we informed you
fannoh sebiqan, enna seEuboh vapour e*kar; li^enna
concerning it formerly that (is) towing it (nom.} another because
'eletoh cenet tefaTTalat. 0omma fehemna min qabiTanoh,
its engine was disabled. Next we learned from its captain
ennehom SallaEouhe, wa Sar bihi el cefaya lil
that they have mended it, is become sufficiency (ability) for
sefar. Fa sefar neher el sebet el maiu.
the voyage. it set off the day of Saturday past.
6. SeEat el Eoboub motenaxxiTa jiddan, wa qad taf'alet
Area (Market) grain(s) active (lively) very have risen
esfar el Euntat il MuSriey il tojjariey min 32 ila 33 el
the rates of wheat Egyptian mercantile from to
ceile. El Earier qaliel, lecinnoh rayij :
measure (tub). silk (is) scarce, but it (is) selling-fast
el beladiey min 170 ila 190 el oqqa. El manifatoura, lem
native ounce. manufacture did
tezel esfarhe motemessece, mat ennoh lem yezel el
not cease its rates holding fast, although ceased not the (cargo)
warid motta'Sulan.
arriving continuous (the arrival continued incessant.)
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 165
7. Marsielia fie 4 Edar. El zeit ; $ar falaihi jomlet
Marseilles on March. 4 oil a number
mabyouf at, wa lasieyima lil Saboun. El simsin motenaxxit
of purchases especially for soap. sesame lively
jiddan, wa inbaf minnoh janib ft^uim: wa qad tafalet
is sold extent (quantity) have risen
esfaroh. Pa hie bi sufr 60.
its rates. it (is) at rate
8. Janab Adabizedeh xaraf bi famel xaracet
His honour has begun to make a partnership
cerkanet fazl, moqassem resmalhe fala 500
of a factory of spinning, being divided its capital over
sehman, wa coll1 sehm 2000 farxan. Wa ibteda*
lots (shares) every lot piastres. was begun the
ictiteb el esma. Wa heAih el xarace la taqbal
enrolment of the names. this partnership does not accept
xarieq«» fair mostenTun fie Damaxq. Wa el cerkana tedour
a partner except domiciled the factory is seeking
f ala el may.
after water.
9. Jelelet melicet Ingilterra qad katabat fie Allemania
Majesty queen of England had betrothed in Germany
uHda' binathe li Dernier Hesse Darmstad ; wa el Lord
one of her daughters prince
Palmerston Eaiar li Baries, wa isteqam bihe arbaf wa
was present at Paris, (pop.} stayed there 4
i uxrien set a bi moEadaOet ce9iera.
20 hours in interviews many.
166 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AB.AB1C.
10. Veniesia wa nawaEuihe qad woSufat bil tafiSuinat
Venetia its precincts are placed fortifications
il metiene, wa*in tecon lem ta5her fala el Numse
substantial, although has not appeared to Austria
hi'yat Earb fie Italia,
a case of war against Italy.
11. Sardienia *ellafat jaixain, el waEud ittejah li
has made up two armies; the one fronts to
naEuyat el Mincio bi ri^eset el jineral Marmora, wa el Oeni li
the side (frontier) headship general the second
naEuyat el Bo bi riyeset Cialdini wa jineralain fairoh.
the Po two generals beside him.
"Wa qad *omirat kamset faxara firqa min jonoud, el mo-Eafa5at
are under command 15 detachment troops National
el *ehlieya, bil tewejjoh ila maraciz moktelifa.
Guard to front centres (sites) diverse.
12. Beirout. Mese el Mmis el maSu, qad istedta' Eairat
Evening of Thursday past invited (nomin. )
o'aEub el daula Fouad Baxa janab ma^mourie
owner ? of lordship their honours (accus.} the legation
wa qanaSul jeneralieyat el dowal il fakiema lil faxa. Wa
Consuls General of the Great Powers to supper.
cenet waliema Eafila. Qaiouhe bi coll1 sorour111.
banquet fully- attended. They ended it with all joy.
13. Wa qad fayyanat daulatoh neher el iGnain
appointed his lordship (nom.) (accus.) Monday
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 167
wa neher el kamies min coll1 esbouf li mowajahet ro*ose el
Thursday of every week to meet the chiefs of the
milel wa aSEab el maSaliE wa el daf awi. "Wa se-yetexarra-
sects men of business causes. they will be
foun ledaihi min el sef at il sedise Eatte' el sefat il
honoured (with interview) hour sixth until
tesifa : wa yadkoloun bi moujib il noumero el leti
ninth they will enter by virtue of the numero which
tofta lihom fala el bab.
will be given to them at the door.
14. Risele min Marsielia fie 28 el maSu toflin enna el
A dispatch from Marseilles of the past notifies that
ficr el famm fie Franse ittejih ila hedou min jihet
general opinion Prance turns its eye to tranquillity in respect
netiejet moqabalet Varsouvia : wa *enna heAih
to the result of the personal meeting at Warsaw
el moqabala intehet fie 26 el xehr ; wa enna el uflanat el
was ended vni. of the month the notices
siyesieya mo*umina.
political (are) confident.
15. EJ tejrieda el Franse wieya fie Coxin Suin qad
expedition French Cochin China
temellecet fie 13 Niesen fala mediena Mietou. Fa
had possession on the 13th April of the city
cenet lihe mercezen metienaw.
it (the city) was to it (the expedition) for a firm centre.
168 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
16. Qad cotib min mediena Londra, enna el Lord Jon
Had been written from city London,
Rousel, na^ur karijieyat Ingilterra, qal fie uEda' jilset
overseer of foreign affairs said in one of the sessions
majlis el fo'moum, ennoh la yara', wala
of the Assembly of Commons that he does not see not even
min jihe waKuda, kaTar<w, yakxi minnoh f ala el SolE
from any side, (any) danger from which he fears for the peace
el famm ma? Ingilterra. Fa^inna la mesiele, fanhe
general with In fact (there is) no question from which
yomcin en yenjim el katar.
it is possible that danger may arise.
17. Kisele min Corfou, uKda el jezeyir el sebf, aflanat
A dispatch one of the seven islands has notified
bi intixab qutel bain *eheli el mediena
outburst combat between the families (population) of the city
wa fasecir el mo-Eafa5at il Ingliezieya ; Aehib
and the soldiers of the guard (garrison) English ; in which
bihi fuxroun jerieKan min el farieqain. Wa Aelic fie 21 Eyar.
came off 20 wounded from the two parties. May.
18. El akbar el *ekiera. Akbar Tourien toflin, enna el
news last. News of Turin notify
jaix el Italiani woJuf fala qadam il ^olfi. Wa la raib
army is placed upon a footing of peace, no strife (doubt)
enna Aelic daliel fala nieyat jelelet il melic Yictour
is a proof for the intention of the majesty of king
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 169
fala dawam ij 361E wa el selam. "Wa li heAe
Emmanuel for continuance therefore
irteEat el efqir min jihet Earb fie Italia,
gained repose (men's) thoughts in respect to war
19. Risele min Tourin toflin, enna el Qont Cevour, nasur
karijieyat Italia, qad waqa? fie Eyar marieian. 6omm
foreign affairs fell in May sick. Next
tewaradat el akbar bi izdiyad rnarioh; Eatte'
kept arriving news (nom.) with increase of his disease until
akbarat risele fie 6 Eazieran, ennoh qad teweffa' fie
reported a letter (nom.) June departed in the
SabaE Aelic el yeum.
morning of that day.
20. Inna mausim el aflal jaiyid fie coll1 mecen.
season (crop) produce (is) excellent in every place.
Wa el ma^moul, enna esf ar el Eunta se-tecoun bi raka
the thing hoped (is) that rates of wheat will be in cheapness
fa5uim, lem tente5uroh biladona fij
vast, which has not seen? our country (nom.) in
senien il *ekiera.
the last years.
21. Ce Aelic mausim el Earier jaiyid: innama el xaraniq,
So too the season of silk only ? cocoons
esf arhe el*en bi fain ij nozoul ; wa hie min suf r 20 ila 23 el
at present crisis of decline rate
oqqa. Wa el Earier el beladiey 210.
ounce. native
170 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
22. La yokfa', enna el Qont Cevour qad teweffa' fie 6
It is no secret, that Count departed life
Eazieran bil sefat il sebifa min el SabaE fie mediena Tourin.
June hour 7 morning
Wa li heAih el moSuibat il mow^ellima qad istafraqat Italia
at this affliction painful is plunged
bi^esrihe bi aGwab el Eudad, el ICAI bihi xareche
in entirety in garments of mourning wherein shares with her
baqyat el xofoub aiSan : li^enna faqd (foqoud) he AC el
the rest of the peoples also because the loss of this great
'ra^uim qad *e00ar fie coll il qoloub ; Eatte' inna afda
(man) has made a print on all hearts ; so that verily the foes of
ittiEad Italia nefsehom a5herou el *esef, bil ixtirec
the union of Italy themselves displayed sorrow in partnership
ma? benie' watanhom, tala faqd Aelic el xehim.
with the sons of their home at the loss of this energetic (man).
EPen yafrif *ehl el (fo$r miqdar
Now knows the people (nom.) of the age the scale (accus.}
failoh wa semou himmetoh bi teqaddom
of his merit and loftiness of his purpose by the progress of
biladoh : fa*inna cenet afceroh el *ekiera (wa hou f ala
his country : and in fact were his last thoughts (while he (was)
firax il nizef ) mottejihe li SalaE biladoh wa
on the bed of agony) turned towards the good order of
ziyadat nejaEuhe.
the increase of its prosperity.
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 171
23. Majlis Vienna qad *ecced utalet t-j
Assembly of Vienna had confirmed prolongation of
SolE min jihet Italia : fa wejh afmaloh ila el uSlafiat
peace on the side of aspect of its deeds (is) to reforms
il malieya, wa uSlaE kalal bilad il Majar.
financial and the reform of disorder of the country Magyars.
24. Inna daulat Franse qadd aqarrat bi mafrifat
dynasty of France has avowed its acquaintance* with
memlecet Italia, cema axher Aelic 3aEuifat
the kingdom of Italy, as has published (ace.) newspaper
el Patrie wa el Monitour. [* i.e. has recognized.]
(nom.) of
25. El gazettet el resmieya fie Vienna axherat qarara
gazette official has published a statement
min nagur maliyat el JNimse, yof lim enna fayidat
of the overseer of finance of Austria (which) notifies interest
el qari ul *ehliey todfaf min batd Niesen bi f omla(?) fuSSuiya.
of the national debt shall be paid after April in coin silver.
26. Bina^an fala *emr Eairat SaEub e\ nasarat il jaliele,
In pursuance of the order of oversight august
qad modd firf min silc ij telefraf ila seraya el
is extended a branch wire of telegraph palace of
ma'mourieyat il mosteqilla, lieejl il mokabara mat el
the Commission plenipotentiary communication
Eocoumet il senieya fie Damaxq bil mawadd i| resmieya.
Government sublime on matters official.
172 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC.
27. E*Ead folema Prousia (Borousia) qad qaddam, bafd el
One of the savans of Prussia has presented
baEa0, ila jamfuyat el mafarif fie Berlin, fadad
research to the Association of Connaisances the number
xofoub il cornet il *eriuiya. Fa qaddam el mafdal,
of the people of the terrestrial globe. average(?)
el leAi afta-h, bi milyar wa mi^yetein wa Gemaniya wa
which he gave, 1000 million two hundred eight
Gemanien milyeunan. Gomma Easeb el anwa/f el
eighty million. Then he computed the kinds (races)
insenieya bil inqusem.
human separately.
28. Uflan. Noflin ila' el jomhour, enna el kawaja
A notice. We notify to the public the monsieur
^abd Allah Easoun el barif fie fenn il ta^wier bil
who excels in the art of delineating with
yed, wa el monfarid bil ittiqan heAih el 'Sanafa bi heAih
the hand the unique in the perfection of this profession
el bilad, — mostef udd li Carnal coll1 matloub yoqaddam
(is) ready to perform every demand (which) is presented
liho min el ta'Sawier il moktelifa. Wa ce Aelic, youjad
to him of drawings (paintings) diverse So too, is found
f andoh, teEt el talab, f udda min el taSawier il lazima lil
under demand a number of drawings necessary
ceneyis wa lil boyout. Wa hou, f ada fan ittiqan
churches houses. besides the perfection of his
HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC. 17S
'Sanafatoh, yabief bi sufr rakub'. Fa man arad bi talab
workmanship sells at a rate cheap, whoever wishes to demand
minnoh xai*en, li yafiiur ila mecteb
of him (any) thing let him present himself at the office
SaEuifatna.
of our paper.
29. Earieqat Tooley Street, el leti naxiyat fie Londra fie
The conflagration of which arose
22 Eazieran, cenet lem tezel mote wa$ala( ten) li Eadd 1
June did not cease continuing to the limit of 1st
Temouz fie ma bain arbafat eswaq, EaiGoma* cenet ibtedat.
July between four streets where it had begun.
30. Marsielia fie 6 Temouz. La axfal fala el Earier. El
Marseilles on 6 July. No dealings in silk.
qari el foOmaniey 77.
Ottoman loan
31. Inna Eairat ^SaEub-el daula Daoud Baxa, leilet el
arbafa il maSuya, ejab iltimes el kawaja Jarjis Mad war,
Wednesday accepted the entreaty of Mr. Georgius
fa xarraf menziloh lil f axa. "Wa cenat leile zehiya bil
honoured his dwelling supper. a night gay with
anwar wa elet e\ tarb : fa qaiat daulatoh
lights instruments of emotion ended (it) his lordship (now. )
* EaiOoma, wherever, is classical; but EaiO, whtre. Catafago gives
EaiGuma, where, which seems to be common, but less correct.
174 .HANDBOOK OP MODKRN AEA.BIC.
mesroura(ten) bi ma teqaddam lihe min el kadamat.
delighted with what was presented to (it) of services.
32. Inna el zienat el leti "Sarat fil Istenat el ^alieya, bi
As to adornment which was in Sublime Place, on
format el jolous el sefuid el homayouniey, cenat
occasion of the sitting (on throne) happy imperial, it was
fala faya ma yecoun min el behjat, el leti a3herathe
extremity of what may be of delight displayed
jemief el *eheli min el milel il moktelifa fie jamief xawarrf
all the families of the sects diverse in all the roads
el Istena wa maEallathe wa nawaEuihe dakilan wa karijan;
places precincts within without
Eatte' cen ranien el afraE wa el sorour yowa'Sul el *efaq
so that echo (tinkle) of joys delight reached horizon
mokbiran bi afraE el *ommat, el leti lem yecon nauf min
declaring j°ys nation, which there was no kind of
meserrat, ilia wa a5heratoh bi ibtihej fa3uim.
joyfulness but it displayed it with mighty glee.
33. Neher el e*Ead fie 7 Temouz, qad ja* Eairat ^SaEub el
The day of Sunday July came
daula Qabutan Baxa ila menzil EaSrat sefier daulat
Gate-holder Chief lodging ambassador
Ingilterra el fakiema, Sir Henry Bulwer ; (el leAi uf terah
mighty (on whom supervened
marS lezemoh el firax ;) lecei yeftaqid
illness (which) caused him to keep his bed) to inquire after
HANDBOOK OP MODERN ABABIC. 175
aEwal SuEEatoh min ladon Eairat il Act il xahenieyat il
the state health on the part of personage regal
jeliela. *Emma EaSrat el sefier fa cen mamnounan jiddan li
august. But ambassador obliged at
heAC el iltifat il f a^uim ; wa terejja EaSrat $aK ub el daulu
attention besought
QabuTan Baxa, en yoqaddim texeccoratoh wa mamnounieyatoh
present his thanks obligation
ila janib il farx il molouciey ; cema rawah morasil
to the side of throne royal as narrated it a correspondent
min el Istenat il 5?alieya ila jornal Esmier.
from Sublime Place to journal Smyrna.
34. AEwal Ameriece lem tezel bil irtibec il f a5uim
Circumstances of continued in entanglement vast
min jihet il Earb bain el janoub wa el ximal. Wa lil*en
in respect to the war south north. hitherto
lem yeterajjah e\ na^r li e*Ead, wa leis siwa' el
did not preponderate victory there is nothing but
airar el jesiema lil farieqain, el leti laEaq te*9ierohe
huge losses two parties of which has reached the impress
hi ec9ar aqsem el cor*e, li sebab taf Tuil il
to most parts of the globe by reason of the disabling of the
matejir il motefalliqa mat tile el bilad.
commerces connected with that country.
35. MaEacim Ingliezieya. Inna el Eumar, la yejib
Courts of Justice English. As for the ass, not behoves
176 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
en naGqol falaihi ecGar min el insen. Wa liAelic, teKarracet
that we load on him more than therefore was stirred
fairat el tabatuiya Clark fie e*Ead eswaq Londra,
the zeal of the policeman in one of the streets of
Eai007W0 na5ar Eumaran mescienan, yaHmil fauq
(Eai0, where} he saw an ass wretched (who) carries above his
Taqatoh Eumlan Geqielan. "Wa maf heAe, fa cen SaEuboh
strength load heavy. in spite of his owner
(el mosemma' "William Abbot) seciban fala heAe el Eaiwan
named pouring on this animal
el mescien wabilan min el iarb il xadied fala ra^soh wa
wretched a shower of beating violent on head
fuAamoh wa janboh wa jamief jawariE jesedoh ; Eatte' cen el
bones side all limbs of body until
dam* yesiel minnoh min coll1 mecen. Fa elqa' el qabi ^ala
blood streams place. he laid arrest
SaEuboh Abbot ; Gomma meGOeloh ^emarn el qaiu.
his owner ; then submitted him in presence of magistrate.
Fa se*eloh qayilan :
he asked him saying :
(Qdlu.) aLimaAe*eAAeit he AC el Eaiwan?"
Why hast thou illused this animal ?
(Abbot.) " Ceif tosemmi heAe Eaiwanan ? wa hou
How dost thou name this an animal ? and he is
Eumar ; la ec0ar.
aii ass ; no more.
HANDBOOK OF MODERX ARABIC. 177
Q. " Wa a3onn, enna el ecGar tewaEKoxan min el iOnain,
I think, that the greater in brutality of the two
leis hou el Eumar. Wa lecin li ma AC aujafteho bi he AC
is not the ass. but why hast thou pained him on this
el miqdar ? Fa hel bi heAih el wasita yamxi ecOar ? "
scale Will he by this means walk more '?
A. "La! bel bil Xudd, cen yanam. Wa lecin ana
No : on the contrary, he went to sleep. Yet I did
ma aujaftoh."
not pain him.
Q. "Ente Aarabteho fala ra*soh wa fala fuiamoh,
Thou didst beat him on his head and bones
Eatte sel el dam* min jiraEoh."
until streamed his wounds.
A. " Ah bah ! heAe leis bi xai* f ala el Eumar. Fa *inni
Ah bah ! this is nothing In fact I (am)
maujouf ec0ar minnoh; li^enna imrati waledat,
pained more than he; for my wife has given birth
wa lem tafad taqdir en taf mel f amelan, maf enni
has not been longer able to do work although I (am)
bi fayat il ufitiyaj ila kidmethe.
in extreme need of her service.
liuinaiAin teqaddam ej iabaTuiyu, \v;i ([al :
Just then came forward the policeman, and said :
" Ya moula^i? inna el Eumur, (|;ul<l;tmtoh
master, as for tho ass, I have presented him (brought
12
ITS HANDBOOK OF .MODI.I;\ ARABIC.
ila bab il maEcema. Fa *in aradt en tefEa'Soh,
him) to the door of the Court. if thou wish to examine him,
qourn bina, li nan5or bi eiy Eale hou." ~VVa lil Eal
get np with us, that we see in what state he (is). instantly
karaj el qaSu Cenouces, ma? cetim sirrihi wa coll4
went out the cadi Knox ? with his secretary
mowa53ufeihi li ziyarat il Eumar il mescien, el leAi cen
his functionaries to visit the wretched ass, who was
bil jehd yestatuif el woqouf ?ala qawayimoh. Wa Euinima
scarcely able to stand on his legs. as soon as
rajafou li mecenihom, qal el qaSu ila el moxteci
they returned to their place the (man) complained
falaihi : " Ente wafix : fa *innec bi coll1 qasewa wa
against : Thou (art) a brute thou cruelty
faiab Jarabt heAe el Eaiwan el mescien. Fa aEcom
violence didst beat I judge
faleic bil sijn xehran : wa ete^essef li ceuni
against thee with prison for a month I regret at my being
lem aqdir ejid lee qu'Sa'San a^am."
unable to find a punishment greater.
Fa karaj el maEcoum falaihi ; wa hou yaqoul
went out the (man) judged against he says
motemarmiran : " El Eumar ma hou xai* : wa ma? he AC, fa
grumbling is nothing for all that,
*inni qad Sarabt imrati ecGar ; wa lem yoEcem
I have beaten my wife no(thing) was judged
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 179
falaiya, ilia bi Gemaniyat eiyam fil sijn."
against me, except with eight days in prison.
36. Yoqal, enna el Ab el Moqaddas qad nal SuEEatoh
It is said, Father Holy has obtained his health
el temma, wa mozmif en yoEafu5 f ala siyasetho, el leti
complete he is hastening to attend to his administration
etba?he(?) li Eadd ePen.
to the limit of now.
37. Inna Eairat SaEub el sefada Borya Baxa, mote'Sarrif
his honour, lord of felicity, ruler, rector
el Qads el xarief, qad qaddam li kidmat il
oi Jerusalem the noble, has presented to the service of the
jonoud il xahenieya baflain wa jawadain ; wa
troops regal two mules two steeds (chargers)
qob(b)ilet teqaddametoh heAih bi coll1 maE50U5uiy.
was accepted his present happiness.
38. Inna Eairat SaEub et daula wali Ezmier, qad
governor of Smyrna
manat tabafat faznat Armenieya, 5aharat bil
has hindered printing poem ? (which) appeared
moddat il *ekiera bi tile el mediena, b'ism "EJ Zehra"
space of time latest in that city, with name
li^enna cenet tobrfat bi doun istie'Aen au rok^Sa min el
it was printed without asking leave or permission
Eocouma.
government.
180 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
39. Neher el e*Ead fie 11 Ab, fand el sefat il Gemina ilia
Sunday August hour 8th all but
kamse daqayiq, KadaOat fie Ezmier rajfa qawieya min
5 minutes occurred Smyrna shock strong
zelzelet il *erL
quake rarth.
40. Cotib min Eidien el celam ePeti : — Inna el eGmar
Was written discourse following fruits (crop)
el tien tesqut min el afSan dayiman : wa qad qiel, enna nu$f
figs drop boughs always it was said half
el maE'Soul qad Aehib bi heAih el wasita ; wa enna, el
crop is gone means that what
baqa, radi jiddan ; wa coll heAe, min el marS el leAi
remained, bad (is) from the disease
istaKwaz fala heAih el eGmar.
has taken possession of this crop.
41. El simsim wa el qotn bi Kale jaiyida fil waqt
sesame cotton (are) in excellent condition
il EaSur : innerna rieE el ximal, el leAi hebb bi he AC el
present only wind north has blown
esbouf, qad aSarr jiddan bil zeitoun, wa ceser ceGieran min
week has hurt olives has broken much
afSanoh. (his boughs ?)
42. El Earr xadied jiddan, Eatte' *innoh la yotaq ; wa
heat intense so that even it is intolerable
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 181
•
zelezil el *eri motewaSule. Wa qad axfaraa bi Gemaniya
quakes of earth continuous we have felt eight
rajfet bi moddat sefat qaliele.
shocks space of hours few.
43. SeEat el Eoboub motefiassenat el aEwal. El
Area (Market) of grain (is) improved
manifatoura lem tezel motenaxxuta : wa*emma mal el
manufactures lively, active goods of the
qabban, fa aqall Earace minhe.
large* scales, less movement of them. * Heavy goods.
44. Jelalet el Imperatour Napolion qad tewejjah min
Majesty has turned his face (set ojf}
Paries ila Yiexi fie Franse ; wa qabaletoh el *eheli bi
Paris Yichy confronted him the people
ibtihej fa5uim.
delight
45. Akbar ITfilia el janoubieya toTlin bi qalaqil jadieda ;
News southern inform disturbances new
wa enna el jineral Cialdieni no'Sub qayidan li jaix il
that general is appointed leader army of the
janoub : wa yete*emmeloun enna EoSouroh fie Napoli
south they consider (expect) his presence in Xaplcs
se-yohemmid el hiyaj.
will quell the uproar.
46. Lem yezel el uiturab motemercinan fie aqTar
Did not cease commotion growing strong regions
182 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
Ameriece ; wa lem tezel el Earb el *ehlieya toheddid el
of America war domestic threatens
jamie? min el farieqain.
whole two parties.
47. Inna fomdat bilad el Majar qaddamat li jelalet Im-
(Diet) of Hungary presented to Majesty
peraTour il Numse el ?arS el moteSammin tetallobat
Austria address containing demands
biladihom : wa aufadathom jelaletoh bi ufta el jawab
of their promised them to give answer
?ala* ma, bihi "SaliE el memlece wa kair el xafb el
according to the interest kingdom good plebs
fomoumiey. * According to that wherein (is) the interest, etc.
common.
48. Yoqal enna el Eocoumat el Fransewieya qad uftemadat
It is said that government has resolved
en toxayyid miena tascerieya b'ize jezierat el Diiii, — afni,
to establish a harbour military opposite island I mean
m0-bain Brest wa Xerbouj, — ma? ?amel maidan fesieE,
between besides making area spacious
yomcinoh en yese? arbafuin *elf jondiey.
which may possibly contain 40,000 soldier.
49. YelouE ennoh *Sar el uftumad ?ala na^Sb Mousiou
It is evident the resolve to appoint Monsieur
Bandieni sefieran fauq el fada, wa moftemidan mofawwaian.
ambassador beyond c^^stom trustee entrusted
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABA.H1'1. 183
li daulat Franse b'ize memlecet Italia el jadieda ; wa
to govern1 coram kingdom new
Mousiou Bicera sefieran li Italia fie Franse.
50. Inna SuEEat janab sefier daulat Ingilterra b'ize
health of the Sire Ambassador of cor am
el bab il f ali qad ittejehet lil teqaddom ; wa yoqiil,
Porte High has faced round towards* advancing
ennoh se-yeAheb li tafyier il hewii li*ejl nawal
that he will depart to change the air for the sake of attaining
SuEEatoh el temraa.
his health complete. * Has taken a turn for the better.
51. E*Ead vapourat el Messejerie el Franse wieya, el
One of steamboats Messagerie
mosemma' Prouisien [biRawiesien?] cenmonta3aranmin Souria
named Perousine ? was expected from Syria
nionA neher il iGnain el nialu. AVa mief adoh, en
ever since Monday last. its promise (of time) (was)
ycAheb 0eni yeum ila Marsielia ; wa liPen lem ya^Siil.
that it go 2nd day to hitherto it has not arrived.
Wa Aelic, li EadiGu jurat lie *eletoh, fa
that (was), for an accident (which) happi-iu-d in its cii^iiu-
*ekkaratoh fie Rodos. "Wa*emma xaEnoh, fa <[;nl j;'r bihi
retarded it at Rhodes. But its car came with it
i-l vfipour el llousi, el mosemma' Xcrsom'-.-.
the Kil-si;ill -teaiin )', JlaiiK d ('hers<>:
184 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC.
52. NawuFiu Teselia motemettrfa bil hedou
Borders (Tracts) of Thessaly (are) enjoying repose
wa el raEat el temma, bi himme wa funayat EaSrat SaEub
rest complete, care providence owner of
el daula wa el behe Tayib Baxa.
lordship brilliancy
53. Jelelet melic el Swied, baf d ziyaretoh Paries, qad zer
Majesty Sweden, after his visiting Paris had visited
mediena Londra, wa dofa' HI faxa f and SaEub el semou, el
was asked to supper highness
Lord Palmerston.
54. Xaf at el akbar fan moqabala(tin) se-taE?al
Is diffused the news of a confronting,* which shall happen
fie mabain jelelet Imperatb'ur Kapolion, wa jelelet melicet
between his Majesty the Emperor queen
Ispania. * A personal meeting.
55. Gazettet Bombay fie 27 Temouz aflanat, bi^enna el
hewa el a$far qad fetec bi maqataf at moktelife fil Hind,
air yellow (cholera) had attacked districts divers in India.
56. Yoqal enna leis ittifaq bain SabaT ul fumarat il
It is said, that is no concord officers fleet
Fransewieya wa Sabat ul fumarat il Ingliezieya ; li^enna el
Fransewieyien yoriedoun en yecounou waEdihom el MoEamien
the French wish to be alone they Protectors
fan jeziera Madaqasqar b'isrihe.
of island collectively.
HANDBOOK OF MODEBN ARABIC. 185
57. Qad EadaGat zelzele f^uima fie Antiegou fie Ameriece :
fa hodimat heAih el mediena : fa mat bihi min Aelic *elfan
was demolished this city : died from that 2000
nefsen.
58. El xiqaq lem yezel fie Ameriece ; wa lem tezel el
schism ceased not in
istifdadat el Earbieya.
preparations warlike.
59. Inna EaSrat SaEub el fa^ama wa el iqtidar, maulana
grandeur authority, our master
el soltan el al^am qad arsel ila el Sarb-a-kana miqdaran
sultan mightiest had dispatched Mint a quantity
wafiran min *ewani el Aeheb wa el fuSJa, ma? el *emr el
copious vessels gold silver order
fali bi Zarbihe fomlaten.
high to stamp them for coin.
60. Ceteb jornal Ezmier fie 9 Ab : — Qad oflin bi aSwat
Wrote journal August : was notified by cries
el silaE, neher ej 0ela0a, fie 6 Ab, fand ej sefat el
"all'arme" (alarm) full day Tuesday at hour
laxira mese, ixtifal e\ nar fie SayiE el Islam. Fa teraceS ej
10th morning, activity of fire quarter ran together
nes ; lecin bil batul cen ijtihed li u'tfaihe : li*enna
men : but in vain was the effort to extinguish it because
hoboub riyall ej ximfil ezed el lehieb, wa
blowing of the winds of the North increased the flanu-
186 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC.
esraf' bi imtitedoh : wa la sieyima li*enna el SayiE, elleAi
hastened to extend it especially quarter wherein
naxabat bihi el nar, cen jamiefoh min el ak*Sab, wa qarieba
shot (up) the fire all of it planks (wood) near
boyoutoh li bafiuhe [bafS], na5aran li Saiqat
its houses to one another in respect of the narrowness
eswaqoh wa xawiirifhe. Fa cenet el mo'Suiba fagnima, wa
of its streets and its roads. was calamity vast
el kisera fb'moumieya. Wa isteqamat ehwal el nar tisf a
loss general continued the terrors of the fire 9
sefat, doun en testatuif fala teuquifihe qouwa baxarieya,
hours without that shall avail to stop it force human
na5aran li sorfat mesierihe fala janaE ul hewii. Wa lemma jat
of its march wing air. when
el senate] sebif a min el <SabaE,tewaqqafat el nar, bafdarna cenet
daraset sebafatatxar SaEuya(ten) wa Eayan, taEtewi lala
levelled 17 township parish, (which) contain
sebaf mi*eya wa sebafuin beiten, wa GeleGa jawamiT, wa
700 70 house 3 chief mosques
arbafa mesejid, wa GeleGa medaris. Wa lau cenet laEaqat
4 mosques 3 colleges if it had reached
bi 3ayiE el Yehoud, le ma cen fair Allah ya'Tlem, ila *ein
quarter Jews, none save God knows, whither
montehehe. Wa qad auqafat heAih el mo^uibat el morieta
its end. lias thrown down this calamity awful
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 187
ecGar foqara *ehl el Islam bi Eale moEzine ; li^enna *olouf
poor people state mournful thousands
ininhom, aSbaEou bila melja*, yeste3ulloun bil kiyam, au
(who) passed morning refuge, shade themselves in tents
yafroSoun wojouhehom li Earr il xams.
expose faces heat sun.
Bijal el Eocouma qad fainalou ma yajib Talaihom. Fa
Men of the Gov* had done what was a duty
fasecir el moEafa5a wa el Taupajieya wa baEEarat el sefayin,
soldiers of garrison artillery crews of ships
homma ixtafalou bi himma, yaqSar fanhe coll0
these worked (were busy) earnestness falls short of it
medieE. Wa lasieyima el wali, ^o0man Baxa, fa ittejeh bi
eulogy (nom.) especially Governor set out by
nefsoh li mafiall il mo'Suiba, wa meceO Eatte' el SabaE.
himself place of calamity tarried until morning
"WVemma baEEarat el qabaq el Fransewi Fontounoui wa
But the crews of ship of the line Fontenoy ?
el vapour Heroun fa qad herafou f and 5ohour el Earieqa mat
steamer hurried at appearance of conflagration
ceOier min iabayuthom, wa qaddamou kadumat collieya ila
many of officers offered (gave) services entire to
el mediena, Easeb xaTurathom. \Va ce Aelic ce0icr«>iiii min
the city, (Inverness. so too many "I
188 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC.
aiyaii el tebafat el ajnabieya qad a5"herou jeserathom bi
gentry subjects foreign displayed bravery
teuqief el niir, Rill mesierhe.
stopping during its progress.
61. Qad fotiE fie 6 Xobat [1862] majlis el Parleman fie
was opened February assembly in
Londra ; wa telat jelelet melicet Ingilterra fiehi koTbathe el
London ; read majesty queen her address
senawieya, toflin bihe sorourhe wa irtiSahe min
annual in which she declares her joy satisfaction
fulaqatihe maf qouwat Europpa el ajnabieyat, el leti lem
connections powers of foreign which not
tezel moxaddada bi ribat ul Eobb. Wa Giqathe, bi fodm
ceased strung tight bond amity. her trust (is) in non-
wojoud sebab, yestatuif en yaiorr bi "SolE Europpa,
existence of cause (which) may be able to hurt peace of
Gomma tecellemat fan el teswieyat il morSuya el leti
jS"ext she spoke concerning settlement satisfactoiy which
jarat ma?' Ameriece, bi koSou'S EadiGat il sefienat
took place with in respect to the occurrence of the ship
il Ingliczieya ; wa fan ittiEad il qouwat il 0cla0 fie mesielet
[the Trent] agreement Powers Three question
il Mecsiec ; wa fan tejriedat il Suin, wa ax^al Maracix.
Mexico expedition of China affairs of Morocco.
62. Ila' EaSrat* el moxtericien. Bi coll1 sorourin
To Messieurs contributors (subscribers). With all joy
HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 1HU
noqaddim el teheni ila '1 jennet bi -dokoul heAe
we present congratulations to all on the entrance of this
el ? am el jadied, se^ilien el Maula', en yajfaloh
year new asking the Lord (Master) that he make it
faman mobaracen, maqrounan bil teufieq wa '1 nejaE.
a year blessed coupled with prosperity and success.
NVrlin ila' Eairat el moxtericien fil Iscendarieya, enna
We notify to (our subscribers) in Alexandria that
heAe el fadad faqat, elleAi hou auwal fadad h^Ae el Tarn,
this numero only, which is first numero of this year
yaSulhom min yed wecielina el kawaja Escender
will reach them from the hand of our agent Mr. Alexander
Toubeni : wa min bafdoh narjouhom, en yestelimou
henceforward we entreat them that they receive
jornalethom min wecelet el Posta; li*ennena
their journals from the agencies of the Post because we
norsiloAf li coll1 minhom rasen marraten maf el
dispatch it to all of them by the head, sometimes with the
Mescouvi, wa marraten ma? el Fransewi, *em ej Nimsewi.
Muscovite, sometimes with the French or Austrian.
63. Inna el mosehimien fil Tarieq bain Beirout wa
As regards the shareholders in (rail)way between
Damaxq, elleAien elfren lem yadfafou el qist c| 0eli9 el
Damascus, who now liave not paid instalment third
• Kairat, presence, used like Majesty, Excellency, as a title ; but alike
for the sovereign or for any respectable person.
t Jornal, masc. though as a foreign word, it has/?/, in -
190 HANDBOOK OF MODKBN ARABIC.
matloub monA xehr XobaT, norsil eshemhom ila
demanded since month February we shall dispatch shares to
Baries, lecei tobaf honec bi moujib el madda 11,
Paris, in order that may be sold there by virtue of article
el motefalliqa bi Aelic, min qawanien el Xarace ; — iAe
relating to that (topic) of the canons (rules) Association if
lem yadfafou he AC el qist min ePen li Eadd 15
they (shall) not have paid this instalment limit
Temouz el qadim.
July approaching.
Inna el mosehimien, elleAien defafou el qosout li
As for the shareholders who have paid instalments up to
Eadd el*an, yejib EoSourhom min ibtida xehr
the present time, is right their personal presence beginning
Temouz el qadim ila maEall el Xarace yeumieyan, min
July approaching, place (office) the Company daily from
el sefa 9 ila 11, li qabS el fayidat el mosteEaqqa lihom.
hour to get-in-hand interest (profit) due to them.
CORRIGENDA.
Page 26, line 7, for xamiqa read xahiqa or xamika.
„ 28, ,, 3, for f afi read f afi.
„ 34, „ 13, for DarreadV&r.
,, 48, ,, 3, for Man read Man.
,, 111, ,, 7, for an adverb, read a preposition.
„ 115, ,, 15, for p]/>-\ read /»5/5T^ •
,, 119, „ 4, /or Dimaxq, read Damaxq.
,, 136, „ 4 from bottom, for Ircebt read Racebt.
„ 137, ,, 3, for f ileic read ? aleic.
,, 140, „ 2, for sit, mzrf set. (N.B.)
,, 147, ,, 5, for shall, raz<Z shalt.
„ 148, ,, 10, for does, read dost.
„ 155, ,, 3, for keif, rare? ceif . (N.B.)
,, 156, ,, 7, o»it£ than.
,, 158, ,, 10, for qabla, ra?c? qablan.
,, 159, ,, 13, for *emarac read *emrec.
,, 159, ,, 3 from bottom, for weqt read waqt.
In many places I have failed of rightly placing the dot under I (of El) ,
which a diligent student must correct. A zero would certainly catch the
eye better. I may add that the typefounder has mounted f on a taller
stalk than I intended ; and I now wish I had taken away the stalk
entirely, and make the letter like a crescent-moon shield. Moreover, I
wish "S to be only of the same height as *, and the small A to be narrower
than it is here.
HERTFORD :
PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN.
University of Toronto
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