An Arabic-English vocabulary for the use of English students of modern Egyptian Arabic

1892·17.8 MB·English

by  Cameron, Donald Andreas, 1856-

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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