Welcome ! أهلاً وسهلاً
What is Modern Standard Arabic?
Arabic, with 300 million speakers, 250 million of them native speakers, is the fifth most spoken language in the world today. It is the formal language of 26 countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Arabic is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asianic language family, in many ways similar to Amharic, Aramaic and Hebrew, and is the most widespread of them all. Modern Standard Arabic, though widely spread and known by many speakers of Arabic, is not a spoken language. It is the language of literature and mass media and is used for communication throughout the Arab World. It is taught in schools and used immensely, yet no child learns Modern Standard Arabic as their mother language. MSA is NOT a sociolect! Speakers of different dialect of Arabic may find it impossible to understand each other; in case dialects are not mutually intelligible, speakers would either have to use MSA or, often, the Egyptian dialect which is considered highly prestigious.
Arabic shares many structures common to Semitic languages which may take some adjusting to do for English speakers. Verbs and nouns in Arabic are structured by a combination of triliteral root (there are a few quadriliteral roots also) and a form. The root indicates a certain semantic field, and the form does everything else. For example, the root k-t-b (which has to do with writing) is used on different forms to create different verbs and nouns: "kataba" – he wrote; kātaba – "corresponded; "aktaba" – signed or donated; "istaktaba" – asked someone to write; "kātib" – writer, author or secretary; "Kitāb" – a book; "Kitāba" – "writing" (verbal noun as in "writing a book is difficult"); "mukātib" – "journalist"; "maktab" – office; "maktaba" – library; "maktub" – a letter.
Don't worry though, it is not as complicated as it seems! Some forms always mean the same thing and have the same infliction on the root. Some you just have to learn, as you learn vocabulary of any other languages – it can only help you understand things because even if you have never seen that word, but you do know what the root means, it will be easier for you to figure it out on yourself! Some bilingual Arabic dictionaries are organized not by letter order, but rather by roots (as the very good dictionary of Hans Wehr, edited and translated into English by J. Milton Cowan). They can be difficult to use for beginners though – however once you feel like you're ready to use such a dictionary, you could find that using it is a very effective way to learn.
Arabic is written from right to left! We'll explain all about writing and reading in Arabic in lesson number 2.
Also, Arabic sentences don't always have a verb. This may be weird for English speakers. There is no "to be" auxiliary verb in Arabic! A sentence like "the girl pretty" in Arabic is completely okay.
(pretty) (the girl)
ألبنت جميلة
Al-bint Jamilah.
Also, Arabic has no Infinitive (as in English "to go", "to do").
Everyone has their own disclaimers, I should have mine. I've never done this before, and I'm trying the best I can to teach this comprehensively and accurately. As of yet, I'm about to start my second year of studying Arabic Language and Literature in university, after studying this language for quite a few years. However, I have no experience in teaching; also, English is my second language and Arabic is my third. I'm aware that this could cause a problem of comprehension. Don't be shy! If something isn't clear, if you catch me making mistakes either in Arabic or in English, which is more than probable, please let me know so that everything would be clear!
On-line dictionaries, lexicons and other helpful material:
Dictionary 1
Dictionary 2
Dictionary 3
Recorded Guide to Pronunciation
DursulQuran – this site teaches how to read and write the Arabic script, along with recordings for correct pronunciation.
Simple and comprehensive guide to writing in Arabic
Arabic Lessons
Another site with Arabic lessons
Another lessons site (a little more advanced…)
The wonderful Arabic-English lexicon by Edward Willian Lane is the most detailed Arabic-English dictionary that I know of, and probably the best you'd ever find (advanced)
(Note: Unfortunately Lane has passed away before completing his work on this dictionary. It was completed by one of his family members, yet not as well as Lane's own work. It is generally recommended to use it searching for roots of which the first radical comes before ق, which is most roots anyway.)
A Grammar of the Arabic Language by W. Wright (translated from a German book by Caspari and August Mueller of similar title)
Current Lesson Plan:
1. Introduction to Modern Standard Arabic and Sources
2. Phonology and script
3. Basic phrases and vocabulary
4. The Accent
5. The Pronouns
6. The nominal sentence
7. The first form of the triliteral verb of Indicative Past Tense
8. The Definite Article
9. The Cases
10. Construct State and more forms of Noun Definiteness
