M Iprcsentc^ to of tbe \nnt\>er0it^ of iloronto bs Hugh S* Robertson Esq* % AN ARABIC-ENGLISH VOCABULARY. AN ARABIC-ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOJ^ THE USE OF ENGLISH STUDENTS OF MODERN EGYPTIAN ARABIC COMPILED BT D. A. CAMEROiN' ONE OF THE ENGLISH JUDGES OF THE NATIVE EGYPTIAN COURT OF APPEAL, CAIRO; FORMERLY STUDENT INTERPRETER, AND ONE OF HER MAJESTY'S CONSULS IN EGYPT AND IN TRIPOLI. LONDON BEEKARD QUAEITCII, 15 PICCADILLY 1892 LONDON! PRINTED BY GILBERT AND.JIIVINGTON, LD., ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLKRKENWELL ROAD, B.C. i — PREFACE. This Vocabulary was originally compiled for my private use in order to retain a grasp on what, after ten years' practical experience, I con- sidered to be the most necessary words of the Arabic language. It is now published, after two years^ careful revision. The following plan has been adopted in its compilation : 1st. Taking Freytag's "Arabic-Latin Lexicon " as a guide, I went through the volume, selected what I wanted, and drew up a skeleton list ofthe most important verbal roots and their derivatives. 2nd. I then read carefully through the Arabic text of the Egyptian codes of law, line by line, adding words with their modern meanings to the skeleton list. This task supplied me with hundreds of terms relating not merely to law, but also to public and social life, government, commerce, crime, &c. ; moreover, it showed how the best Egyptian authorities translate good French into good modern Arabic. The phraseology of a code forms a high standard of the common language of educated natives; it is unpedantic, simple, accurate and concise. 3rd. I collected numerous words by a systematic course of reading of oflBcial MSS., decrees, circulai's, annual budgets, reports and journals. I also added some colloquialisms, and a few military and scientific terms. The entire draft was then revised with the aid of native clerks. I would read out an Arabic word, and ask them to explain it ; I would then translate my own explanation, and thus verify or correct it. The MS. was then submitted to the scrutiny of my native colleagues of the Court ofAppeal, and it is to their never-failing kindness and assistance that I am most deeply indebted for all that is of value in this book. While, therefore, I alone am responsible for any defects or shortcomings, the student may feel confident that this is a serious ; Yl PREFACE. professional attempt to furnish him with a concise ahridgment, a coherent synopsis, of the vocabulary which is daily used by native officials ofthe Egyptian Government. I would advise him to master this book almost in its entirety to read carefully' two or more pages up to ten or twenty a day, according to the time at his disposal; to select and note down in a blank book two or three words from every page; and to try to he accurate in his Arabic spelling. If he will take the trouble to go through this Vocabulary in the manner suggested, I am confident that in the course of a few months he will have gained a sound knowledge of modern Egyptian Arabic. His notes will have formed a short vocabulary of his own selection, and in addition to what he may remember, he will be better able to guess the root of a derived form, and to find it in this or any larger dictionary. The cross-references should also be examined for synonyms, or for contrasts in meaning or in spelling. For example, i_J(!j talifa, it perished,^^ [see i-LAlij>]. Reference to cLJIa halaJca, gives us one or two more useful words for "ruin/' " danger ;" and halaha and talifa should be connoted in the student's memory. Again, jA^ tarnr, means ' a dry date,^^ but j*^ tamar, means " fruit.'^ As a specimen lesson in the use of this book, let the student take the three roots i—i^c 'arafa "he knew," As. 'alima, "he knew," and ^^Ai- Ixhahar "news." They unite in the main idea of " knowledge," but each differs from the others in its derived forms. This connotation of allied roots, by contrast and comparison, is the best way to attain accuracy in Arabic. If he will then look for 'arafa and 'alima in a large dictionary such as Kazimirski or Steingass, he will see how this vocabulary has been abridged for practical purposes. One great obstacle to our progress in good colloquial Arabic is undoubtedly our helplessness in the hands of Berberine servants. These Berberines are foreigners, whose native Nubian dialect {rotn, or non-Arab) is very limited and barbarous. Yet for our daily purposes we are obliged, not only to learn their pronunciation, but also their grossly inaccurate patois, which some of us innocently suppose is good modern Arabic. The Berberine despises every word