Mastering Arabic Vocabulary

517 Pages·2017·1.94 MB·English

by  Nadia R. Sirhan

Mastering Arabic Vocabulary
Mastering Arabic Vocabulary provides a structured vocabulary course for under-
graduate and advanced students of Arabic.
Arranged thematically, and by root, the course presents the key vocabulary that
a well-informed Arabic speaker should have at their disposal when discussing
diverse topics from business and politics to culture, society, science and technol-
ogy. The course includes a wealth of exercises throughout to support learners from
passive recognition to an increase in their active vocabulary.
Mastering Arabic Vocabulary is the ideal reference source for students of Arabic
to build and expand their vocabulary.
Nadia R. S irhan has a PhD in Arabic Linguistics from SOAS, University of
London.

Mastering Arabic Vocabulary
For Intermediate to Advanced Learners
of Modern Standard Arabic
Nadia R. Sirhan
First 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 Nadia R. Sirhan
The right of Nadia R. Sirhan to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her 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 identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
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
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-94280-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-94281-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-67292-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Introduction 1
Arabic-derived verb forms 3
The participles 5
Notes on the text 7
1 Politics ﺔِ ﺳَ ﺎﯿﺴّ ﻟا ﻢُ ﻠﻋِ 9
Government and politics 9
Political parties and ideologies 34
Security measures 38
War and peace 50
Civil (dis)obedience 73
Elections and voting 75
Displacement and aid 77
Exercises 84
2 Law and order ُمﺎﻈّﻨِﻟاو نُ ﻮﻧﺎﻘﻟا 88
The legal process 88
Treaties and contracts 106
Crimes 108
Under arrest 118
Verdicts and convictions 122
Prison 128
Evidence and proof 130
Appeals and settlements 132
Exercises 134
3 Work, business and economics دُ ﺎﺼِﺘﻗﻻِ او ُةرﺎﺠّﺘِﻟاو ﻞُ ﻤﻌَ ﻟا 138
Work and employment 138
Business, trade and commerce 149
Economics and finance 164
Exercises 184
vi Contents
4 Education ﻢُ ﯿﻠﻌﱠﺘﻟا 188
School 188
Education 192
Performance levels 200
University 203
Subjects 222
Other subjects 223
Extra-curricular and recreational activities 223
Exercises 237
5 Media مِﻼﻋﻹا ﻞُ ﺋﺎﺳوَ 241
Journalism and news 241
Publishing 250
Commentary 254
Censorship 266
Exercises 268
6 Culture, religion and society ﻊُ ﻤَ َﺘﺠﻤُ ﻟاو ُﺔﻓﺎﻘﱠﺜﻟاو ﻦُ ﯾﺪّ ﻟا 272
Religion 272
Culture and society 298
Exercises 315
7 Family and feelings ﻒُ طِ اﻮﻌَ ﻟاو ُﺔﻠِﺋﺎﻌﻟا 319
Family relations 319
Emotions and feelings 327
Exercises 348
8 Health ُﺔﺤﺼِّ ﻟا 352
The body 352
The senses 367
Sex and reproduction 369
The mind 375
Ailments, illnesses and disabilities 377
Treatments, cures and death 396
Exercises 407
9 Earth, nature and the environment ُﺔَﺌﯿﺒﻟاو ُﺔﻌَ ﯿﺒﱠﻄﻟاو ضُ رَﻷا 410
Animals 410
Weather and climate 423
Natural disasters 431
Natural resources and energy 433
The world and beyond 441
Exercises 453
Contents vii
10 Information technology ِتﺎﻣﻮﻠﻌﻤَ ﻟا ُﺔﱠﯿِﻨﻘِﺗ 457
Useful terms 478
Exercises 479
Answer key 482
Index 506

Introduction
Arabic, a Semitic language, is based on a consonantal root system whereby almost
every word in the language is derived from a root. Although there are exceptions,
most Arabic words have a triliteral root (made up of three consonants or radicals),
and it is this root that defines the underlying meaning of the word. Thus, words
which are derived from the same root will frequently have a shared basic meaning.
We can see how the consonantal root system works using the root ب ت ك (k t b)
where words derived from this root have a meaning linked to ‘writing’:
ﺐَ َﺘﻛَ (kataba) he wrote
ﺐٌ َﺘﻜْ ﻣَ (maktabun) an office or desk
ٌﺔَﺒَﺘﻜﻣَ (maktabatun) a library or bookshop
ﺐٌ ِﺗﺎﻛ (kātibun) an author
As can be seen, the different but related words are formed by adding vowels and
affixes to the root following specific patterns or forms which give predictable
meanings. In other words, by adding certain vowels and affixes to the root, par-
ticular noun or verb patterns are reproduced, which may lead to a vast number of
words which are predictable in both form and meaning. When you come across a
new word, assuming you recognise the root, you can approximate the basic mean-
ing of the word. It is easy to see how knowing the root and understanding the root
patterns enables the learner to understand and access a plethora of words.
There are instances, however, where one root can have two different meanings
(which might have originally been linked) and either each Form applies to both
meanings or each Form produces a different meaning. The root س و س (s w s), for
example, carries both the meaning ‘to govern or dominate’ and ‘to rot or decay’.
From an etymological perspective it would be interesting to know whether these
two meanings were once semantically linked: a comment on the inherent corrup-
tion of government, perhaps? Other interesting, thought-provoking examples are
ﻰﱠﻔﺸَ َﺗ (tashaffa), which means both ‘to heal’ and ‘to take revenge’; and the root
و ن م (m n w), which gives both the wordsٌ ﺔّﯿﻨﻣأ (umniyatun) ‘a wish or desire’ and
ﻰً ﻨﻣِ (minan) ‘sperm’.