Table Of ContentArabic
This new edition of Arabic: An Essential Grammar is an up-to-date and
practical reference guide to the most important aspects of the language.
Suitable for beginners, as well as intermediate students, the book offers
a strong foundation for learning the fundamental grammar and structure
of Arabic. The complexities of the language are set out in short, readable
sections, while exercises and examples are provided throughout.
Features of this new edition include:
(cid:129) coverage of the Arabic script and alphabet
(cid:129) a chapter on Arabic handwriting
(cid:129) a guide to pronunciation
(cid:129) full examples throughout.
Ideal for independent learners and for classroom study, Arabic: An Essential
Grammar is the complete reference guide to the most important aspects of
modern literary Arabic.
Faruk Abu-Chacra is Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Arabic at the University
of Helsinki, Finland.
Routledge Essential Grammars
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Arabic
An Essential Grammar
2nd edition
Faruk Abu-Chacra
Second edition 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 Faruk Abu-Chacra
The right of Faruk Abu-Chacra to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted by him 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 identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Hodder Education 2005
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
Names: Abu-Chacra, Faruk, author.
Title: Arabic : an essential grammar / Faruk Abu-Chacra.
Description: Second edition. | Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ;
New York : Routledge, 2018. | Series: Routledge essential grammars |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016015431 | ISBN 9781138659582 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781138659605 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315620091 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Arabic language—Grammar. | Arabic language—Textbooks
for foreign speakers—English.
Classifi cation: LCC PJ6307 .A356 2016 | DDC 492.7/82421—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016015431
ISBN: 978-1-138-65958-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-65960-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-62009-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Visit the eResource: www.routledge.com/9781138659605
Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgements ix
Important notes x
List of abbreviations xi
Chapter 1 Arabic script, transliteration and
alphabet table 1
Chapter 2 Pronunciation of consonants 6
Chapter 3 Punctuation and handwriting 12
Chapter 4 Vowels 17
Chapter 5 Suku¯n, šaddah, noun cases and nunation
as the indefi nite form 23
Chapter 6 Long vowels, ʾalif maqs.u¯rah, dagger or
miniature ʾalif, word stress and syllable
structure 28
Chapter 7 Hamzah (hamzatu l-qat.ʿi) and the
maddah sign 34
ـﻟْ ﺃَ
Chapter 8 Definite article .. ᵓal.., nominal
sentences, verbal sentences, word order
and adjectives 39
Chapter 9 Sun letters, moon letters, and hamzatu
l-wasli (waslah) 49
. .
v
Chapter 10 Gender 58
Contents Chapter 11 Conjunctions, prepositions and the
particle ﻰﺘﱠ ﺣَ h.atta¯ 66
Chapter 12 ʾ Ida¯fah construction (genitive attribute)
.
and the fi ve nouns 80
Chapter 13 Numbers: dual and plural 93
Chapter 14 Perfect tense verbs, root and radicals,
triliteral verbs and word order 106
Chapter 15 Separate personal pronouns and suffi x
pronouns 118
Chapter 16 Demonstrative, reflexive and reciprocal
pronouns (ﺾٌ ﻌْ ﺑَ baҁd.un) 135
Chapter 17 Imperfect tense verbs in the indicative
and word order 146
Chapter 18 Derived verb forms, roots (stems)
and radicals, transitive and intransitive
verbs 157
Chapter 19 Passive verbs 174
Chapter 20 Rules for writing the hamzah
(hamzatu l-qat.ʿi) 182
Chapter 21 Broken (internal) plurals and
collective nouns 195
Chapter 22 Triptotes and diptotes 205
Chapter 23 Participles, verbal nouns (masdar),
.
nouns of place, time and instrument 217
Chapter 24 Interrogative particles, pronouns
and vocative particles 229
Chapter 25 Adjectival patterns, relative adjectives
vi (nisbah), comparatives, superlatives and
diminutives 247
Chapter 26 ᵓInna ﻥﱠ ﺇِ , ka¯na ﻥَ ﺎـﻛَ and their Contents
sister-words 264
Chapter 27 Relative pronouns and relative clauses 275
Chapter 28 Moods: subjunctive, jussive
and imperative 286
Chapter 29 Doubled verbs (mediae geminatae)
and quadriliteral verbs 298
Chapter 30 Verbs with hamzah 306
Chapter 31 Verbs with a weak initial radical 315
Chapter 32 Verbs with a weak middle radical 323
Chapter 33 V erbs with a weak fi nal radical, doubly
weak verbs and weak verbs with hamzah 335
Chapter 34 Cardinal numbers 348
Chapter 35 Ordinal numbers, fractions, expressions
of time and calendars 367
Chapter 36 Exception 386
Chapter 37 E xpressions of wonder, the copula ﺲَ ـﻴْ ــﻟَ
laysa, and special usages of the
ـﺑِ
preposition bi.. 396
Chapter 38 Adverbs, absolute or inner object, h.a¯l
-
(circumstantial clause) and tamyız
(accusative of specifi cation) 411
Chapter 39 Conditional sentences 425
Appendix 1 Tables of the ten verb forms 439
Appendix 2 Verb conjugation paradigms 448
vii
Index 471
Preface
This book describes the fundamental grammar and structure of modern
literary Arabic. It is complete with exercises and offers a strong foundation
for reading and writing the Arabic of newspapers, books, broadcasts, and
formal speech, as well as providing the student with a course for self-study.
The exercises and examples contain modern vocabulary and expressions
taken from everyday use.
I am confi dent that this book will prove to be of great help to those who
have begun or will begin the study of Arabic, and that teachers will fi nd it
to be a useful aid.
viii
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to my former colleagues of the Uni-
versity of Helsinki Department of World Cultures (Middle East Studies),
especially Professor Tapani Harviainen and Dr Bertil Tikkanen, as well as
Professor Daniel Newman of the University of Durham (England) – they
made numerous valuable comments and suggestions for this book’s
improvement – and fi nally, Geoffrey White for his editing of the English. In
addition, I should also like to thank the anonymous reviewers appointed by
Routledge for their constructive criticism and advice. I also acknowledge
the generous fi nancial support by the Suomen tietokirjailijat ry (The Finn-
ish Association of Non-Fiction Writers).
Faruk Abu-Chacra
Helsinki, Finland, 2017
Faruk Abu-Chacra was born in Lebanon. He held the position of Senior
Lecturer in Arabic at the University of Helsinki (Finland) from 1972 to
2001.
ix
