Mastering Arabic Vocabulary Mastering Arabic Vocabulary provides a structured vocabulary course for under- graduate and advanced students of Arabic. Arranged thematically, and by root, the course presents the key vocabulary that a well-informed Arabic speaker should have at their disposal when discussing diverse topics from business and politics to culture, society, science and technol- ogy. The course includes a wealth of exercises throughout to support learners from passive recognition to an increase in their active vocabulary. Mastering Arabic Vocabulary is the ideal reference source for students of Arabic to build and expand their vocabulary. Nadia R. Sirhan has a PhD in Arabic Linguistics from SOAS, University of London. Mastering Arabic Vocabulary For Intermediate to Advanced Learners of Modern Standard Arabic Nadia R. Sirhan First published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 Nadia R. Sirhan The right of Nadia R. Sirhan to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-94280-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-94281-3 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-67292-2 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC Introduction 1 Arabic-derived verb forms 3 The participles 5 Notes on the text 7 1 Politics ِﺔَﺳﺎﯿّﺴﻟا ُﻢﻠِﻋ 9 Government and politics 9 Political parties and ideologies 34 Security measures 38 War and peace 50 Civil (dis)obedience 73 Elections and voting 75 Displacement and aid 77 Exercises 84 2 Law and order ُمﺎﻈّﻨﻟاو ُنﻮﻧﺎﻘﻟا 88 The legal process 88 Treaties and contracts 106 Crimes 108 Under arrest 118 Verdicts and convictions 122 Prison 128 Evidence and proof 130 Appeals and settlements 132 Exercises 134 3 Work, business and economics ُدﺎﺼِﺘﻗِﻻاو ُةرﺎﺠّﺘﻟاو ُﻞﻤَﻌﻟا 138 Work and employment 138 Business, trade and commerce 149 Economics and finance 164 Exercises 184 ِ ِ Contents vi Contents 4 Education ُﻢﯿﻠﻌﱠﺘﻟا 188 School 188 Education 192 Performance levels 200 University 203 Subjects 222 Other subjects 223 Extra-curricular and recreational activities 223 Exercises 237 5 Media ِمﻼﻋﻹا ُﻞﺋﺎﺳَو 241 Journalism and news 241 Publishing 250 Commentary 254 Censorship 266 Exercises 268 6 Culture, religion and society ُﻊَﻤَﺘﺠُﻤﻟاو ُﺔﻓﺎﻘﱠﺜﻟاو ُﻦﯾّﺪﻟا 272 Religion 272 Culture and society 298 Exercises 315 7 Family and feelings ُﻒِطاﻮَﻌﻟاو ُﺔﻠِﺋﺎﻌﻟا 319 Family relations 319 Emotions and feelings 327 Exercises 348 8 Health ُﺔﺤّﺼﻟا 352 The body 352 The senses 367 Sex and reproduction 369 The mind 375 Ailments, illnesses and disabilities 377 Treatments, cures and death 396 Exercises 407 9 Earth, nature and the environment ُﺔَﺌﯿﺒﻟاو ُﺔَﻌﯿﺒﱠﻄﻟاو ُضرَﻷا 410 Animals 410 Weather and climate 423 Natural disasters 431 Natural resources and energy 433 The world and beyond 441 Exercises 453 ِ Contents vii 10 Information technology ِتﺎﻣﻮﻠﻌَﻤﻟا ُﺔﱠﯿِﻨﻘِﺗ 457 Useful terms 478 Exercises 479 Answer key 482 Index 506 Introduction Arabic, a Semitic language, is based on a consonantal root system whereby almost every word in the language is derived from a root. Although there are exceptions, most Arabic words have a triliteral root (made up of three consonants or radicals), and it is this root that defines the underlying meaning of the word. Thus, words which are derived from the same root will frequently have a shared basic meaning. We can see how the consonantal root system works using the root ب ت ك (k t b) where words derived from this root have a meaning linked to ‘writing’: َﺐَﺘَﻛ (kataba) he wrote ٌﺐَﺘْﻜَﻣ (maktabun) an office or desk ٌﺔَﺒَﺘﻜَﻣ (maktabatun) a library or bookshop ٌﺐِﺗﺎﻛ (kātibun) an author As can be seen, the different but related words are formed by adding vowels and affixes to the root following specific patterns or forms which give predictable meanings. In other words, by adding certain vowels and affixes to the root, par- ticular noun or verb patterns are reproduced, which may lead to a vast number of words which are predictable in both form and meaning. When you come across a new word, assuming you recognise the root, you can approximate the basic mean- ing of the word. It is easy to see how knowing the root and understanding the root patterns enables the learner to understand and access a plethora of words. There are instances, however, where one root can have two different meanings (which might have originally been linked) and either each Form applies to both meanings or each Form produces a different meaning. The root س و س (s w s), for example, carries both the meaning ‘to govern or dominate’ and ‘to rot or decay’. From an etymological perspective it would be interesting to know whether these two meanings were once semantically linked: a comment on the inherent corrup- tion of government, perhaps? Other interesting, thought-provoking examples are ﻰﱠﻔَﺸَﺗ (tashaffa), which means both ‘to heal’ and ‘to take revenge’; and the root و ن م (m n w), which gives both the wordsٌ ﺔّﯿﻨﻣأ (umniyatun) ‘a wish or desire’ and ًﻰﻨِﻣ (minan) ‘sperm’. 2 Introduction Another difficulty arises from homonymous roots: words which share the same root letters but are considered to be different roots with different meanings. They are listed both here and in dictionaries as separate roots. An example of a hom- onymous root is ن ي د (d y n), which as one root means ‘to borrow or loan’ and as the other root means ‘to profess or affirm one’s religion’. Unlike most other languages, the Arabic language resists, where possible, the acceptance of loanwords – words borrowed as is from other languages, with little to no change. The main reason for this is that, being the language of Quranic rev- elation, Arabic is seen as the language of Allah. This reluctance to adopt foreign words has necessitated the practice of modernisation to prevent changes from creeping into the language. Modernisation involves the controlled creation of new terms to fill semantic gaps and includes the following linguistic processes: extension, calques and Arabisation. Extension is when the meaning of a word is extended to include a new term. One such example is the root ن و د (d w n), which gives the Form II pattern ُنِّوَﺪُﯾ – َنﱠوَد (dawwana – yudawwinu) ‘to record or write down’; its meaning has been extended to include the meaning ‘to blog’. Calques are essentially the literal translations of words from foreign languages into Arabic. The word football, for example, is rendered as ٍمَﺪَﻗ ُةَﺮُﻛ (kuratu qadamin) ‘ball of foot’ and email has been translated as ﱞﻲِﻧوﺮﺘﻜِﻟإ ٌﺪﯾﺮَﺑ (barīdun iliktrūniyyun) ‘elec- tronic mail’. Another form of modernisation is Arabisation, which morphologi- cally and phonologically changes an adopted foreign word. Examples include the word for television ٌزﺎﻔْﻠِﺗ (tilfāzun), which has been changed to fit the Arabic morphological pattern. It has now entered into the Arabic language ز ف ل ت (t l f z) and has a productive root. Another example of Arabisation is ٌﺮﯿﻜﮭَﺗ (tahkīrun), which is the Arabised version of ‘hacking’. Calques and extensions tend to have roots (because they usually make use of words and roots that already exist in the language) while only some Arabised words have roots (Versteegh, 2014 [1997]). Until recently, modernisation has been able to slow the introduction of loan- words. However, with the rapid advances in technology, the introduction of the internet and new social media forms of communication, loanwords have become more frequent. Examples of these include the words email (ﻞﯿﻤْﯾإ – īmayl), computer (ﺮﺗﻮﯿﺒﻣﻮﻛ – kumbūtar), the internet (ﺖِﻧﺮَﺘﻧﻹا – al-internet), manoeuvre (ٌةرَوﺎﻨُﻣ – munāwaratun), video (ﻮﯾﺪﯿﻓ – fīdyu) and monologue (جﻮﻟﻮﻨﻣ – munuwluj). Most loanwords have no roots in Arabic. To find a root, we begin with the premise that most Arabic words are based on a triliteral root; in other words, we know that the root we are looking for will have three consonants. (If not, the root will most likely be quadriliteral and we know to look for a root with four consonants.) The long vowels (ي و ا), which are also letters of the alphabet, are considered weak letters, and they can be part of the root. However, if this is the case, it is worth remembering that they may not be present in every root pattern, and they are considered irregular. They will, therefore, not Introduction 3 follow the regular patterns provided below. If a word has only three letters, then the learner can assume that those letters are the root letters. Lastly, the tā marbūṭa (ة) and short vowels can never be part of the root. In learning Arabic vocabulary, understanding roots (رﺬِﺠﻟا) is essential, if only because all Arabic dictionaries use the root system. In order to look a word up in an Arabic dictionary one must know the root of the word. The roots are listed in alphabetical order, and all words derived from the root are listed under the same root. The roots of some words are inevitably harder to work out than others. However, this should not discourage the learner, because we will provide tips on how to recognise the root, and go over the root patterns so the learner can become acquainted or be reacquainted with them. This will help the learner recognise the pattern of an unknown word, and from there work out its meaning. It is believed that in order to maximise vocabulary learning and its retention, synonymous rather than antonymous words should be learned together. As such, using root patterns when learning vocabulary can greatly enhance the learning process. The root system bestows on the Arabic language – a language that is perceived by most non-speakers to be difficult, almost unfathomable – a ‘neatness’ that makes it far more accessible, at least lexically speaking, than at first glance. Arabic-derived verb forms The derived forms are forms derived using the root in combination with affixes and vowels. Each of the following derived forms is associated with a particular meaning pattern. Knowing these patterns will aid in the retention of vocabulary. It is standard practice to convey these derived forms using the root (َﻞَﻌَﻓ / ل ع ف) fa‘ala – ‘to do’ where the f represents the first radical, ‘ the second radical and l the third radical. Form Perfect Imperfect Verbal Noun 3rd person m/s Form I َﻞَﻌَﻓ fa‘ala ُﻞَﻌﻔَﯾ yaf‘alu Form II َﻞﱠﻌَﻓ fa‘‘ala ُﻞّﻌَﻔُﯾ yufa‘‘ilu ٌﻞﯿﻌْﻔَﺗ taf‘īlun ٌ ﺔَﻠِﻌْﻔَﺗ taf‘ilatun Form meaning: strengthening or intensification of meaning. Applying the act to a more general object. Causative action. Examples: َﻢﱠﻠﻋ to teach ُﻢّﻠﻌُﯾ ٌ ﺔَﻤِﻠْﻌﺗ / ٌﻢﯿْﻠﻌﺗ Form III َﻞَﻋﺎﻓ fā‘ala ُﻞِﻋﺎﻔُﯾ yufā‘ilu ٌلﺎﻌِﻓ fi‘ālun ٌ ﺔَﻠَﻋﺎﻔُﻣ mufā‘alatun ِ ِ 4 Introduction Form meaning: relation of the action to another person. Reciprocity of an action. Examples: َﺐَﺗﺎﻛ to write to ُﺐِﺗﺎﻜُﯾ ٌﺔَﺒَﺗﺎﻜُﻣ / ٌبﺎﺘِﻛ Form IV َﻞَﻌْﻓأ af‘ala ُﻞِﻌْﻔُﯾ yuf‘ilu ٌلﺎﻌْﻓإ if‘ālun Form meaning: Causative of transitive verbs. Transitive of intransitive verbs. Stative verbs from derived nouns. Examples: َﻢَﻠْﻋأ to inform ُﻢِﻠْﻌُﯾ ٌمﻼْﻋإ Form V َﻞﱠﻌﻔﺗ tafa‘‘ala ُﻞﱠﻌَﻔَﺘَﯾ yatafa‘‘alu ٌﻞﱡﻌَﻔَﺗ tafa‘‘ulun Form meaning: Reflexive of Form II. Can be intensive of Form I. Verbs are derived from nouns of quality or status. Examples: َﺮﱠﺴَﻜَﺗ to break ُﺮﱠﺴَﻜَﺘَﯾ ٌﺮﱡﺴَﻜَﺗ Form VI َﻞَﻋﺎﻔَﺗ tafā‘ala ُﻞَﻋﺎﻔَﺘَﯾ yatafā‘alu ٌﻞُﻋﺎﻔَﺗ tafā‘ulun Form meaning: the reflexive of Form III, can imply the mutual application of the action. Examples: َﺐَﺗﺎﻜَﺗ to write to each other ُﺐَﺗﺎﻜَﺘَﯾ ٌﺐُﺗﺎﻜَﺗ Form VII َﻞَﻌَﻔْﻧِا infa‘ala ُﻞِﻌَﻔْﻨَﯾ yanfa‘ilu ٌلﺎﻌِﻔْﻧِا infi‘ālun Form meaning: renders passive or reflexive meaning of Form I. Examples: َﺮَﺴَﻜْﻧِا to break/be broken ُﺮِﺴَﻜْﻨَﯾ ٌرﺎﺴِﻜْﻧِا Form VIII َﻞَﻌَﺘْﻓِا ifta‘ala ُﻞِﻌَﺘﻔَﯾ yafta‘ilu ٌلﺎﻌِﺘْﻓِا ifti‘ālun Form meaning: reflexive of Form I. Examples: َﻊَﻔَﺘْﻧِا to profit ُﻊِﻔَﺘﻨَﯾ ٌعﺎﻔِﺘْﻧِا Form IX ﱠﻞَﻌْﻓِا if‘alla ﱡﻞَﻌْﻔَﯾ yaf‘allu ٌلﻼِﻌْﻓِا if‘ilālun Form meaning: relates to colours or body defects. Examples: ﱠﺮَﻤْﺣِا to become red ﱡﺮَﻤْﺤَﯾ ٌراﺮِﻤْﺣِا Form X َﻞَﻌْﻔَﺘْﺳِا istaf‘ala ُﻞِﻌْﻔَﺘْﺴَﯾ yastaf‘ilu ٌلﺎﻌْﻔِﺘْﺳِا istif‘ālun Introduction 5 Form meaning: Thinking or attributing someone or something with the quality of the root or the Form I verb. In other words, considering someone to have the quality of the Form I verb. Examples: َﻦَﺴْﺤَﺘْﺳِا to think good thoughts ُﻦِﺴْﺤَﺘﺴَﯾ ٌنﺎﺴْﺤِﺘْﺳِا The verb patterns and conjugations of irregular verbs vary somewhat from the regular verb patterns shown above. Irregular verbs are of three types: • Verbs with doubled consonants: these are verbs where the second and third root letters/radicals are the same. For example: ﱠﻢَﺗ (tamma) ‘to end or com- plete’ or ﱠدَر (radda) ‘to reply or restore’ or ﱠلد (dalla) ‘to guide or show’. • Verbs where one of the three root letters is a weak letter (و or ي). These are known as weak verbs and they are of three types: assimilated verbs, hollow verbs and defective verbs. Assimilated verbs will have the weak letter as the first radical, hollow verbs will have the weak letter as the middle radical and defective verbs will have the weak letter as the final radical. Examples respectively include: َﻞَﺻَو (waṣala) ‘to arrive’ or ِب َمﺎَﻗ (qāma bi) ‘to stand up or rise’ and َﻲِﻘَﻟ (laqiya) ‘to encounter or meet’. • Verbs where one of the three root letters is a hamza (ء). For example, َﻒﻟأ (alafa) ‘to be acquainted or familiar with’, َلﺄﺳ (sa’ala) ‘to ask’ and أﺮﻗ (qara’a) ‘to read’. (For a more in depth exploration of the derived forms of irregular verbs, see Wightwick and Gaafar (2008) or Haywood and Nahmad (1984 [1965]). The participles All forms of the participles are prefixed with م vowelled with damma ُ . The middle radical ع (‘) is vowelled with kasra ِ for the active and fatḥa َ for the passive. Form Perfect Participles Active Passive Form I َﻞَﻌَﻓ fa‘ala ٌﻞِﻋﺎﻓ fā‘ilun ٌلْﻮﻌْﻔَﻣ maf‘ūlun Form II َﻞﱠﻌَﻓ fa‘‘ala ٌﻞّﻌَﻔُﻣ mufa‘‘ilun ٌﻞﱠﻌَﻔُﻣ mufa‘‘alun Form III َﻞَﻋﺎﻓ fā‘ala ٌﻞِﻋﺎﻔُﻣ mufā‘ilun ٌﻞَﻋﺎﻔُﻣ mufā‘alun Form IV َﻞَﻌْﻓأ af‘ala ٌﻞِﻌْﻔُﻣ muf‘ilun ٌﻞَﻌْﻔُﻣ muf‘alun Form V َﻞﱠﻌَﻔَﺗ tafa‘‘ala ٌﻞّﻌَﻔَﺘُﻣ mutafa‘‘ilun ٌﻞﱠﻌَﻔَﺘُﻣ mutafa‘‘alun Form VI َﻞَﻋﺎﻔَﺗ tafā‘ala ٌﻞِﻋﺎﻔَﺘُﻣ mutafā‘ilun ٌﻞَﻋﺎﻔَﺘُﻣ mutafā‘alun Form VII َﻞَﻌَﻔْﻧِا infa‘ala ٌﻞِﻌَﻔْﻨُﻣ munfa‘ilun ٌﻞَﻌَﻔْﻨُﻣ munfa‘alun Form VIII َﻞَﻌَﺘْﻓِا ifta‘ala ٌﻞِﻌَﺘْﻔُﻣ mufta‘ilun ٌﻞَﻌَﺘْﻔُﻣ mufta‘alun Form IX ﱠﻞَﻌْﻓِا if‘alla ﱞﻞَﻌْﻔُﻣ muf‘allun Form X َﻞَﻌْﻔَﺘْﺳِا istaf‘ala ٌﻞِﻌْﻔَﺘْﺴُﻣ mustaf‘ilun ٌﻞَﻌْﻔَﺘْﺴُﻣ mustaf‘alun ِ ِ 6 Introduction Just as there are derived verb forms in Arabic, there are also derived noun pat- terns. A pattern (نزَو) can be applied to any root. The pattern conveys a grammati- cal meaning of the root. There are seven types of derived nouns. Locative noun/noun of place and time ِفﺮﻈﻟا ُﻢْﺳا / ِنﺎﻣﺰﻟاو ِنﺎﻜَﻤﻟا ُﻢْﺳا Pattern: ٌﻞَﻌْﻔَﻣ maf‘alun Meaning: the time when or place where the root meaning is enacted. Examples: ٌﻢﻌْﻄَﻣ restaurant, ٌﺔﺳرْﺪَﻣ school, ٌﺢَﺒْﺴَﻣ swimming pool. Active participle ِﻞِﻋﺎﻔﻟا ُﻢْﺳا Pattern: ٌﻞِﻋﺎﻓ fā‘ilun Meaning: the one that enacts the base meaning of root. Examples: ٌبِرﺎﺿ the hitter/one who hits, ٌبِرﺎﺷ the drinker/one who drinks, ٌﻢِﻟﺎﻋ scholar. Hyperbolic participle (nouns of intensity) ِﺔﻐَﻟﺎﺒُﻤﻟا ُﻢْﺳا Pattern:ٌ ﺔَﻟﺎﱠﻌﻓ / ٌلﺎﱠﻌﻓ fa‘‘ālatun / fa‘‘ālun Meaning: the one that enacts the root meaning in an exaggerated way. Examples: ٌﺔَﻟﺎﱠﺣر one who travels a lot, ٌﺔَﻣﱠﻼﻋ one who knows a lot. Passive participle ِلﻮﻌْﻔَﻤﻟا ُﻢْﺳا Pattern: ٌلْﻮﻌْﻔَﻣ maf‘ūlun Meaning: the one upon whom the root meaning is enacted. Examples: ٌمْﻮﮭْﻔَﻣ understood/concept, ٌمْﻮﻠْﻌَﻣ that which is known. Resembling participle ُﺔَﮭﱠﺒَﺸُﻤﻟا ُﺔﻔِﺼﻟا Pattern: ٌﻞْﯿِﻌَﻓ fa‘īlun Meaning: the one who enacts (or upon whom is enacted) the base meaning intrinsically. Examples: ٌﻢﯿﻠَﻋ the all-knowing. Nouns of instrument ِﺔﻟﻵا ُﻢﺳا Pattern: ٌلﺎﻌْﻔِﻣ mif‘ālun Meaning: the thing/instrument used to enact the root meaning. Examples: ٌحﺎﺘْﻔِﻣ key/the thing that is used to open.