Learn Arabic in 25 Years

Langblr, studyblr, all my notes to self here. I write a zine about Arabic IRL, and I'm the author of All Strangers Are Kin: Adventures in Arabic and the Arab World.

[learnarabicin25years]

Digital Arabic Library

Digital Arabic Library

OK yes Amazon sucks, but it’s still good to see free Arabic ebooks and audiobooks – get a matching set, and you can read as you listen.

Learned about this from 1) my brother, not an Arabist at all, being served an ad while watching Prime, simply because both of us were on the same wifi network for once (in exchange, I got an ad for a turkey deep-fryer), and 2) the always excellent and diligent Arabic for Nerds, which has a short article with some recommendations for where to start, and some details about how it works with different countries’ storefronts.

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Gaza vocab 5

مجاعة

maja3a

Famine

[learnarabicin25years]

Cute older Mobinil ad that shows off a bunch of distinctive Egyptian hand gestures. I don't know what the guy at the gas station means with the V sign? Or the joke in the license plate on the bike? (I guess it's a joke, judging from the voiceover?)

[learnarabicin25years]

The Arabic Pages

Learning Arabic, one page at a time

New (to me) blog alert! (H/t as usual to Arabic for Nerds, who recently interviewed the blog's owner, Mennan Salih.)

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Gaza / Egypt Vocab 4

مجزرة -- majzara, though I've heard it pronounced majazara (and maybe spelled مجازرة) -- massacre, slaughter (from the same root as the word for butcher, jazzar)

مشاغب -- mushaghib -- troublemaker (this is the one from Egypt, on the anniversary of Jan 25, 2011)

[learnarabicin25years]

I looked up the Arabic for this to see which word was used for audacity -- it's وقاحة:

يسرقون رغيفك .. ثم يعطونك منه كِسرة .. ثم يأمرونك أن تشكرهم على كرمهم .. يا لوقاحتهم

[learnarabicin25years]

Gaza vocab 3

رثا / يرثي -- ratha / yarthi -- to mourn, elegize (root of رثاء, ritha', elegy)

شلو / اشلاء -- shilw / ashla' -- corpse (esp. decaying) or fragment of a body

[learnarabicin25years]

Gaza vocab 2

وقاحة -- waqa7a -- audacity, nerve

بجاحة -- baja7a -- flaunting/boasting (maybe gloating?)

جثّة (s.) / جثث (pl.) -- juththa / juthath -- corpse(s)

عرقل -- 'arqala -- obstruct or seize

راضع (adj. s.) / رضّع (adj pl) -- raDi3 / ruDDa3 -- nursing, suckling, infant

تنفيس -- tanfees -- catharsis

هدنة -- hudna -- truce, pause

نازح -- nazih -- displaced

[learnarabicin25years]

Gaza vocab

Notes on Arabic words I have had to (re)learn since October 7.

دبابة -- dababa -- tank

قنّاص -- qannaS -- sniper (root means to hunt/shoot, but made into a form of expertise via the same noun form as used for trades, such as barber, حلّاق, or butcher, جزّار)

قهر -- qahr -- overwhelming grief

مشمّر -- mushammir -- up to your elbows in, super-dedicated (from the root that means to roll up your sleeves)

ثكلى (n.) or ثكلان (adj.) -- thakla, thaklan -- mother who has lost a child, or, as an adjective, bereaved (specifically of a parent who has lost a child)

الكيان الصهيوني -- al-kiyan al-Sihyuni -- the Zionist entity -- very standard media-Arabic euphemism for Israel, used for decades, but which I've inexplicably seen shared as "Iranian propaganda"

أسير (s.) / أسراء (pl.) -- aseer / usara' -- prisoner(s). From the same root that gives the word أسرة, usra, family. Mentally file with other contradictory ("contradictory") roots like طلق / taluqa, to jump for joy and to get a divorce.

إبادة -- ibada -- annihilation, genocide

انقاض -- anqaD -- rubble (pl of نقض, nuqD)

[learnarabicin25years]

drama!

بدها تنكد عليك

bedha tnaked 3aleik

My friend translated this roughly as "She wants to do some drama on you." I'd say "she wants to pick a fight with you."

(Trusty Hans says nakada means to torment or pester.)

Also: shu bet7eb el nakad = she loves drama

[learnarabicin25years]

Inside vs outside

Mn bra halla halla o' mn jwa y3lam allah

Something like: from the outside, everything's great; on the inside, God only knows!

Naturally it rhymes. This was used in the context of aging -- like, she looks amazing, but she could be 70 for all we know!

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y2bosh

This verb means "to integrate," and according to my Syrian friend, it's used for flirting too. Hey babe, wanna integrate?

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The drowning person clings to a toothpick

الغريق بيتعلق بقشة

algharee2 byittali2 bi2ashsha

قشة originally meant straw, fwiw.

[learnarabicin25years]

He ate her for lunch before she ate him for dinner

اتغدى فيها قبل ما تتعشى فيه

atghadda feeha 2abal ma tata3asha feeh

Used when someone thought they were getting the upper hand, but it turned out the other person was really in control.

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What Are The Best Dictionaries For Arabic Dialects? | Arabic For Nerds

Dictionaries for Arabic Dialects are rare. Here is a list of tools for Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, Tunisian, and Moroccan Arabic.

Another banger from Arabic for Nerds -- great resource list.

Especially intrigued by the Tunisian site Derja Ninja because it has audio clips as well.

[learnarabicin25years]

Follow the liar to his doorstep

لحاق الكذاب لورا الباب

lha2 alkazzab li-wara albab

Sort of like saying "he'll get his comeuppance" -- like, we can all see this guy is a liar, but we're not going to confront him now -- but it's inevitable he'll get caught out.

[learnarabicin25years]

Touch typing: Tybaa

Years ago (before I started this blog), I was looking for ways to train myself in Arabic typing, and I think I did find Tybaa, or something very like it.

Anyway, it just came through to me again via the Arabic for Nerds newsletter (yes, this is an AfN fan account basically), and this article.