colloquial arabic (levantine) the complete course for beginners

[...]... done in only one way in colloquial Arabic: the word maa is placed immediately before all forms of the verb (classical Arabic has one form for past (maa) and another for nonpast (laa), a distinction more or less suppressed in colloquial Arabic) – The interrogative form is nearly always achieved by simply changing the intonation of the affirmative form – Derived forms in colloquial Arabic are nine only,... 9arafaat HOW TO USE THE BOOK Without a teacher There are scores of possible ways of using a combination of the Arabic text, the translation or key and the sound recording of the Arabic, but among the possibilities are the following four step-bystep procedures for exercises and dialogues: 1 Read the English; say the Arabic; hear the Arabic recording; repeat the Arabic 2 As 1 and then: play your own... XV – For the ‘simple’ verb there are forty-four patterns possible for the verbal noun Now the good news – Colloquial Arabic has no dual form in verb conjugation – The distinction between plural masculine and feminine is neutralized: i.e there is only one form for each of we, you and they (dual masculine and feminine; plural masculine and feminine) – Arabic has only two tenses: past and non-past – The. .. Egyptian multi-purpose use of the word for yes!) 8 Stress patterns The place of the stress—or prominence—in a word is almost completely determined by fixed rules In broad terms the stress falls on the first syllable except when the word has a long syllable Then the stress falls on the nearest long syllable to the end of the word.* 9 Formality Colloquial Arabic has many ritual or formal phrases in greeting,... play the Arabic; correct where necessary 3 Hear the Arabic recording (at any point, i.e in random fashion); write the translation; check and correct where necessary 4 Use the recordings for memorizing vocabulary; test yourself by covering up the Arabic version and saying the Arabic; check from the recording All sections of text which are on the cassette are marked ᭿ in the margin With a teacher The. .. verb 1 The present tenses of to be and to have are not in the form of conjugated verbs in Arabic (see Lesson two for to have) In fact there is no need normally to say is/are 2 The negative is formed by using one word (mush) systematically for nouns, adjectives and adverbs 3 The interrogative is formed by simply changing the intonation of the voice Compare English: They are not here, Aren’t they here?... ’il-lubnaanee-een THE IDAFA OR CONSTRUCT This feature of Arabic has no equivalent in English, but the rules can be learned from simple, well-known examples The Arabic name Dar es Salaam means the abode of peace’ Notice that the first definite article is not used Rule 1 in the structure the of the the first definite article is not found: the book of the boy—kitaab ’il-walad Rule 2 the construct, if... foreigner—’ajnabee (pl ’ajaanib) LESSON ONE ᭿ 17 EXERCISE Translate: 1 ’il-walad ’ingleezee 2 ’il-bint faransiyya 3 ’il-kitaab kitaab 9arabee 4 kitaab il-bint hawn 5 bint ’il-mu9allim hawn 6 The boy’s teacher is a foreigner 7 The foreigner’s sons are here 8 The American boy is the son of the teacher 9 We are the sons of the English teacher 10 The Syrian girl is the daughter of the ambassador Make the. .. practice The teacher may use the Arabic of the dialogues or the exercises for rapid-fire testing of 12 INTRODUCTION comprehension (in random order, preferably) or for eliciting the correct response 3 Action and movement The teacher may have the student(s) act out the dialogues with appropriate exits and entrances when necessary 4 Recapitulation The student(s) may be asked to re-tell the story of the dialogues... feminine NUMBER 1 Arabic has a form for dual (two of anything) formed by adding -ayn (as in Bahrain, Alamain etc,): The two boys are here—’il-waiadayn hawn The two girls are here—’il-bintayn hawn 2 The most common plural formula (the ‘sound’ one) is that composed of the adjective/noun plus -een: a Syrian—sooree (NB no indefinite article in Arabic) the Syrians—’is-sooree-een (Plurals formed otherwise—see . alt="" COLLOQUIAL ARABIC (LEVANTINE) The Colloquial Series Series adviser: Gary King The following languages are available in the Colloquial series: Albanian Korean Amharic Latvian Arabic (Levantine). syllable except when the word has a long syllable. Then the stress falls on the nearest long syllable to the end of the word.* 9 Formality Colloquial Arabic has many ritual or formal phrases in greeting,. possibilities are the following four step-by- step procedures for exercises and dialogues: 1 Read the English; say the Arabic; hear the Arabic recording; repeat the Arabic. 2 As 1 and then: play your