Tag: Arabic Word of the Week
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The Arabic Word of the Week #11 السمحاء
July 25, 2011عليكم and welcome to this latest edition of the Arabic Word. Today’s word is السمحاء/Aasamha or Tolerant. First, we should remember that short vowels are never written in Arabic and that Arabic is written from right to left.
The first letter is ا which is pronounced as A. ا can be remembered as looking similar to 1 and if we remember that A is the first letter of the alphabet, it becomes easy to remember. The next letter ل is pronounced as L. ل can be remembered as looking like a backwards L.
س is pronounced as S and can be remembered by thinking of the two hoops in S as being similar to س. The next letter is an م in its middle form and is pronounced as M. م can be remembered by thinking of it as a mouse with a tail in its isolated form. ح is in its middle form and is pronounced as H.
The next letter is another ا in its end form. Finally, ء is used as a grammatical article and has no sound. Now, you’re left with ا ل س م ح ا ء or A L S M H A. However, because of something called the Sun and Moon letters the ال is not pronounced as AL, but Aa. Just remember to add the invisible A between S and M and you’re left with Assamha or السمحاء.
Congratulations, you have all you need to read and write السمحاء or Tolerant! See you next time for another edition of the Arabic Word.
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The Arabic Word of the Week #10 ايار
June 5, 2011سلام and welcome to the latest edition of The Arabic Word of the Week! This week’s word is part of a set of monthly words which will teach you all of the months in the year
انشاء الله(God Willing). We were gone for a while so we missed last month’s monthly word.
As said in previous monthly words we will not be teaching the Romanticized Arabic equivalents which are pronounced the same way as the English versions, rather we will be learning the traditional Arabic months. Before we begin, remember to always read and write Arabic from right to left. In Arabic short vowels are also never written.
This week’s word is ايار(ayaar) which means the month of May. The first letter is ا which is pronounced as an A. ا cannot connect to its left. The memorization tool for this letter is that A is the first letter in the English alphabet and ا = 1.
The next letter ي is pronounced as Ya, ee or ii. ي can connect to the right or the left, provided the other letter can as well. The memorization tool for this letter is to think of the two dots on bottom of ي to represent the two i’s, e’s or the two points at the top of Y.
The next letter is ا which is the same as the first. The final letter is ر which is pronounced as a rolled R. ر can connect to its right, but never its left. The memorization tool for this letter is that ر looks like a upside down, flip flopped r.
So, you’re finally left with ا ي ا ر . Remember that ي can connect to any letter provided the other letter can and ا can connect to its right. When you’re done connecting those two letters you’ll get ايار .
Now that you have learnt this new month you’re one step closer to successfully reading the Arabic months! سلام عليكم (peace to you) and we will انشاء الله teach you more words in the weeks to come.
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The Arabic Word of the Week #9 زكاة
June 1, 2011سلام(hello) and after a long vacation, The Arabic Word of the Week is finally back! This week’s word is something that is intertwined in Islam and most world religions. زكاة or Zakat which means charity. Before we begin its important to remember that in Arabic short vowels aren’t written and Arabic is always read and written from right to left.
The first letter ز is pronounced as Z. ز can be remembered by thinking of it as a zipper. ك which is the next letter in its isolated form is pronounced as K. The third letter ا is pronounced as A and can be remembered by thinking of A as being the first or ا letter in the English alphabet.
Finally we’re left with ة which is a feminine grammatical article which makes this word end in T. So we’re left with ز ك ا and ة (or Z K A T) which when combined looks like زكاة. Remember that because Arabic doesn’t write the short vowels, the first A or ا is non-existent.
Congratulations! You have all of the knowledge you need to read and write زكاة or charity in Arabic! We will be back next week to teach you yet another word of Arabic انشاء الله (God willing).
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The Arabic Word of the Week #8 صيف
April 26, 2011سلام/hello and welcome, انشاء الله(Insha’allah or god willing.) we will teach you another word of Arabic this week. I felt it necessary this week to address the weather by introducing a seasonal word, صيف or Sayf which means summer. Before we begin, remember to read from right to left and that Arabic doesn’t write short vowels.
The first letter ص is pronounced as a deep S sound. ص can be remembered by thinking of the ص as a sword handle. ي is pronounced as either a Y, ee or ii. ي can be remembered by thinking of the two dots under ي to be the same that makes up the two ii, the two e’s or the two points on Y.
The final letter is ف which is pronounced as F. So you’re left with ص ي ف or S Y F. Now, just remember the short A between S and Y to get SAYF.
Congratulations you have all you need to read and write صيف . Come back next time to learn a new word of Arabic, but until then, Have a great صيف!!
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The Arabic Word of the Week #7 نيسان
April 21, 2011سلام/Hello and welcome to the latest edition of The Arabic Word of the Week! This week’s word is part of a long line of posts انشاء الله(Insha’allah or god willing) to help teach the viewer how to read and write the Arabic calendar. There are in fact two ways to write each Arabic month; however, the newer calendar words are pronounced the exact same way as in English. For example ابريل is in fact pronounced as April. (since Arabic has no equivalent to P, the sound is assimilated into the Arabic letter for B which is ب.)
This being said we will be learning how to read and write the latter April or نيسان which can be pronounced as either naysaan or niisaan. Before beginning it’s important to remember that in Arabic the short vowels are never written and Arabic is read from left to right. The first letter ن is pronounced as N as in nine.
The next letter ي can be pronounced as either Y, ii or ee. س is pronounced as S as in Say. ا is pronounced as A as in ant. ا can be remembered by remembering that A is the letter of the English alphabet and that 1=ا. The final letter is ن which was already mentioned.
So you’re left with ن ي س ا نor N Y S A N. All that’s left is to add an A between N and Y to get naysaan. ( you can also change the Y to an ii to get niisaan, depending on how you wish to pronounce it.)
Great job! You’re one step closer to reading an Arabic calendar! Come back and learn another word next week on The Arabic Word of the Week!
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The Arabic Word of the Week 6 صداقة
April 11, 2011سلام(salaam)/Hello and welcome to this week’s Arabic word. This week’s word is صداقة or Sadaaqa meaning friendship. صداقة is actually a derivative of the word صديق or Sadeeq meaning friend. This is similar to the same way friendship is derived from Friend in English.
Before we begin it should be remembered that short vowels are never written in Arabic. The first letter ص makes a strong or heavy S sound. The second letter د makes the sound of a D as in dad. د can be remembered by thinking of it as a D without the line in the back of the letter.
The next letter ا is pronounced as A and in apple. ا can be easily remembered by remembering that A is the first letter of the English alphabet and that ا =1. The final actual letter is ق with is pronounced as Q as in Queen. The ة which is called taa marbuta is actually a grammatical letter that has no real sound.
So you’re left with ص د ا ق or S D A Q. Now just connect the letters and remember the two short a’s between S and D and the end of the word to get SADAAQA. Congratulations, you have all the tools you need to read and write صداقة or Friendship! I hope you visit us next week, for another edition of The Arabic Word of the Week.
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Arabic Word of The Week #5الانسان
April 4, 2011Peace/سلام and welcome to another word of the week. This week the word is الانسان or alainsaan, which is the Arabic word describing all of mankind. I felt this word needed to be addressed because we’re all human and this trait connects us all.
The first word is ا which is pronounced as A. This word can be remembered by thinking of it as A being the first letter of the alphabet and that ا =1. The next groups of letters are لا which is actually a combination of the letter ل pronounced as L and ا in that order. لا by itself is pronounced as Laa and is a negation by itself. The fourth letter ن is pronounced as N.
The fifth letter س is pronounced as S and is remembered by thinking of two hoops in س as being the same as in the S. The sixth letter is another ا and the last letter is another ن. So you’re left with
لا ن س ا ن or ALANSAN. Notice the short I isn’t written, this is because as stated in other lessons short vowels are never written.
Now that you have the knowledge of each individual letter, it’s time to connect them. Congratulations fellow human-being! You have all you need to read and write the word that describes all cultures and peoples! Thanks for your time, and get ready next week for the newest Arabic Word of The Week!
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Arabic Word of The Week #4 تعايش
March 28, 2011Welcome to the newest edition of the Arabic Word of The Week! Today’s word is تعايش or ta’aaaayush which means coexistence. I felt that one of the most popular words for peace and understanding that we see every day on bumper stickers and t shirts should be addressed. As always you should remember that short vowels are never written.
The first letter is ت which is pronounced as T as in taxi. ت can be remembered by thinking of the two dots on top of the letter and that two starts with a T. The second letter is ع which sounds kind of like a long sounding A sound. Notice that ع dramatically changes when it is in the middle of a word and looks nothing like its isolated form. The third letter ا is pronounced as A. ا can be remembered by thinking about A as being the first letter in the English alphabet and that ا and 1 look the same.
The fourth letter is ي which can be pronounced as either Ya or an ee sound. The final letter ش is pronounced as SH as in Shoe. ش can be remembered by thinking of the three dots on top and remembering the TH in three and replacing the T with an S. So you’re left with ت ع ا ي ش or Ta’aaaayush. All of the letters connect besides the ا which never connects to the left. It should be noted that all of the letters also change slightly and this may change whether the letter is isolated or at the beginning, middle or the end of a word.
Congratulations you just learned one of the most common words of understanding and tolerance in Arabic. I hope you join us next time for another round of The Arabic Word of The Week.
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Arabic Word of The Week #3 اذار
March 21, 2011This week’s Arabic word is اذار or aadhaar which means March. I decided that every month one of the words should be the name of the current month in Arabic. Before we begin, remember to always read Arabic from right to left and also that short vowels are never written.
The first letter ا is pronounced as A as in aunt. ا can be remembered by thinking of it as the number one (ا=1) since A is the first letter in the English alphabet. The second letter ذ is pronounced as DH which is similar to the way we pronounce Th. The sound itself can sound like TH if you aren’t listening close enough.
The way to remember ذ is to think of it as a D or د with a dot to show its unique DH sound. The last letter is ر which is pronounced R as in road. ر can be remembered as being an upside down, flip flopped r.
Congratulations on taking the first step in reading an Arabic calendar! I hope to see you next time for next week’s Arabic Word of The Week!
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The Arabic Word of The Week #2 مدرسة
March 14, 2011This weeks word is مدرسة or madrasa. The word meaning school, is a common word that is often misunderstood my nonnatives. After a few comments by other Arabic learners, I felt it was very important to make this one of the words of the week.
The first letter is م which is pronounced as M as in man. This letter is easily remembered as meaning M because in its isolated form it looks like a mouse. The next letter د is pronounced as D as in dog, this letter never connect to the left. This is the same as the letter we learned in the previous lesson ا pronounced as A as in aunt, which also never connects to the left. د can be remembered by thinking of it as a D without the line.
The letter ر pronounced as R also never connects to the left just like د and ا. The letter ر can be remembered by looking at it as a curving road. The س is pronounced as S as in saying. This letter is a little tricky to remember, but it could be remembered by thinking of the two hoops in س as the same as the two hoops that are also located in S.
The final letter ة or taa marbuta, is a grammatical structure rather than a letter and doesn’t have a particular sound. As this isn’t a grammar lesson I won’t bore you with the details. So what you’re left with is م د ر س or MDRS. Remember from the previous lesson that short vowels are never written. So there is a hidden A between م and د and between ر and س.
As for the ة ignore that and assume it is another hidden A. The final word is مدرسة or Madrasa. Remember to always read Arabic from right to left.
Now you know all you need to read مدرسة. Hope to see you for another edition of “The Arabic Word of The Week”.
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