Peace Corps Jordanian Arabic Grammar Course
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JORDANIAN ARABIC GRAMMAR A Short Guide for Beginners Hosted for free on livelingua.com CONTENTS Introduction…………………………………………..………………………………………………………1 Section A…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2 1. Alphabet…………………………………………………………………………….....................3 2. Vowels…………………………………………………………………………………….............. 5 3. Writing System…………………………………………………………………………………. 7 Section B………………………………………………………………………………………............... 10 4. Subject Pronouns……………………………………………………………………………………..11 5. Possessive Pronouns…………………………………………………………………………..13 Section C…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15 6. Present Tense: Common Irregular Verbs………………………………………….. 16 7. A Quick Introduction to Three Letter Roots…………………………………….. 8. Present Tense: Regular Verbs…………………………………………………………….. 4 2..……………………………………………………………………… بـ Present Tense with .9 10. Imperative…………………………………………………………………………………………..25 11. Future Tense …………………………………………………………………………………………29 12. Past Tense ……………………………………………………………………………………………31 Section D ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 36 13. Nouns & Adjectives ………………………………………………………………………………37 14. Plural ……………………………………………………………………………………………………38 15. Before & After ………………………………………………………………………………………39 16. The Definite Article …………………………………………………………………….………………40 17. Comparative and Superlative …………………………………………………………………41 Section E …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..44 18. “Still / Not Yet” ………………………………………………………………………………… 45 19. “That” ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 45 20. Become / happen / befall ………………………………………………………………………46 21. Conditional ………………………………………………………………………………………..47 22. Modal Expressions …………………………………………………………………………………48 23. Negations …………………………………………………………………………………………. 49 24. Relative Clause………………………………………………………………………………….. 50 25. The i-Daafa………………………………………………………………………………………….51 26. Noun-adjective phrases………………………………………………………………………52 1 Hosted for free on livelingua.com Section A 2 Hosted for free on livelingua.com 1. THE ARABIC ALPHABET ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن هـ و ي 3 Hosted for free on livelingua.com Table 1.1 Letter Transli- Arabic English equivalent Example name teration alif Aa A apricot ا baa B B book ب taa T T tall ت thaa Th (same as "thin") three ث jiim J J juice ج Haa (emphatic "h" with strong expulsion no H ح of air) equivalent khaa Kh (same as breath)German "Bach") no equivalent خ daal D D dark د dhaal Dh (same as "the") this ذ raa R R room ر zaai Z Z zoo ز siin S S small س shiin Sh (same as "shine") short ش (emphatic "s" pronounced with the no Saad S teeth slightly apart pressing the tip ص of the tongue to the lower teeth) equivalent (emphatic "d" pronounced with the no Daad D tongue pressing against the edge of ض the upper teeth with the tip equivalent protruding) (emphatic "t" where you should be no Taa T able to bite the sides of the tongue ط equivalent as flat as possible). DHaa DH (emphatic "dh") no equivalent ظ (pronounced with the constriction of no ع ainع ع the larynx) equivalent ghain Gh (like Parisian r, sound of gargling) no equivalent غ faa F F father ف qaaf G G goal ق kaaf K K kind ك laam L L lemon ل 4 Hosted for free on livelingua.com miim M M month م nuun N N number ن haa H H Happy هـ waaw w/uu/oo W way - food و yaa y/ii/eeo Y yard - visa ي Some notes on pronunciation: 1) To say the Ha, pretend like you are breathing on a glass window, trying to make a fog-cloud. It should be an audible, breathy sound in the back of your throat. The kha is the same idea, but raspier, like the Scottish “loch.” 2) One way to practice making the ayn sound is to practice saying it with your hand on your throat to feel your larynx contract. The sound should come from deep in your throat, rather than from the back of your mouth (as in an English “a” sound). 3) To practice the ghayn, imitate gargling water in your throat with your head slightly tilted back. The ghayn is made a little lower in your throat than the kha, but it is a similar rough, vibrating sound. 4) In Modern Standard Arabic, and in many regions in the Middle East outside of Jordan, the qaaf is pronounced as a Q sound in the back of your throat. You will mostly hear the formal pronunciation when discussing the news, academic matters, technical vocabulary, or any other more “formal” conversations. 2. LONG & SHORT VOWELS In Arabic, vowels are divided into two groups: long and short. The first table provides us with the three long vowels in Arabic, and the second table provides is with the short vowels. Table 2.1 Long Vowel Pronunciation Example زاكي - aa (e.g. flag) (delicious) zaakii ا بلوزة - uu (e.g. shoes) (sweater) bluuza و ُكرسي - ii (e.g. piece) (airplane) Kursii ي 5 Hosted for free on livelingua.com To understand how long vowels are formed & used in Arabic, look at the three examples below: م With د With ر With ما maa دا daa را raa مو muu دو duu رو ruu مي mii دي dii ري rii Table 2.2 Short Vowel Symbol Pronunciation It sounds like a very short a --- َ -- فـ ت ـ ح ة / fatHa أكـ ل / e.g.animal,Madaba) ate) It sounds like a very short u --- َ -- ض مَّة / Damma ُد ب /e.g. full) bear) It sounds like a very short i --- َ -- كـ س ر ة / kasra ع ن ب /e.g. fridge, fit) grapes) It sounds like d in kid, t in cut,… etc. It is a full stop --- َ -- ُس كون / Sukuun between consonants. It sounds like a doubled letter --- َ -- ش َّدة / shadda ح مَّام / e.g. attack) bathroom) It sounds like a short an --- َ -- تـ ن وين فـ ت ح /tanwiin fateH قـ لـ ما / e.g. fun, sun) pen) It sounds like a short un تـ ن وين / tanwiin Damma --- َ -- قـ لـ ـم / e.g. on the table) pen) ض م It sounds like a short in تـ ن وين / tanwiin kasra --- َ -- ق لم / e.g. lookin, blamin) pen) كـ سر Notes: 6 Hosted for free on livelingua.com 1) The tanwiin vowels only occur at the end of word on an alif. 2) With the exception of the tanwiin fatah (which you see in ahlan wa sahlan and a few other commonly used phrases), the tanwiin vowels markings are exclusive to written fousha OTHER SYMBOLS Hamza We sometimes see the or (أ) hamza on top of alif. This tells us (إ) below which short vowel to use in pronouncing the alif. If a hamza occurs after the or alif maksura (ـاء) alif it signifies a glottal ,(ـىء) (ق راءة) ”stop, like in “reading or in certain emphatic pronunciations of “la.” Tar marbuta Generally, this is used to designate feminine nouns or adjectives and it always occurs at the end of a word. It is pronounced as an “a” sound. If there is a suffix attached to the word, or it is part of an i- daafa phrase, the ta marbuta becomes a “t” sound. 3. THE ARABIC WRITING SYSTEM The shape of the Arabic letter changes according to its position in the word: Table 3.1 At the end of the In the middle of the At the beginning Letter word word of the word الح ر ف أ و ل الك لم ة و س ط الكـ ـ لم ة آ خر الكـ ـ لم ة اََ،ََأََ،ََإ اََ،ََأََ،َإ أحمَد ـاَ,َا شارَ عَ ـاَ,ََا سَما َّ ب بـ بطة ـبـَ,َبـ ع لبة ـبَ,َب قـَ لـَ ب ت تـ تـَ فـََّاح ـتـَ,َتـ يتـَ عَلـََّم ـتَ,َت بيتَ 7 Hosted for free on livelingua.com ث ثـ ثـَ عَلـَ ب ـثـَ,َثـ الثـَ ﻻثا ـثَ,َث مَثـَ لـََّث ج جـ جَ مَل ـجـَ,َجـ جاجَة ـجَ,َج ثـَ لج ح حـ حَليب ـحـَ,َحـ أ حَ مَر ـحَ,َح مَلَ ح خ خـ خَ رَوف ـخـَ,َخـ أ خَ ضَر ـخَ,َخ مَخ د د دَ بَ ـدَ,َد وَ رَ دَة ـدَ,َد بَ ريدَ ذ ذ ذَ رَة ـذَ,َذ هاذاَ/َهاذي ـذَ,َذ قـَ نَ فَذ ر ر راس كـَ رَسي ـرَ,َر ـرَ,َر زِر ز ز زَ رَ افَة ـزَ,َز مَ زارَع ـزَ,َز خَبز س سـ سَ مَكـَ ة ـسـَ,َسـ عَ سَ لَ ـسَ,َس خَس ش شـ شَ جَ رَة ـشـَ,َشـ مَ شمَش ـشَ,َش عَش ص صـ صَوص ـصَ,َصـ حَ َّصة ـصَ,َص قـَ فـَ ص ض ضـ ضَ فَ دَع ـضـَ,ضـ مضرَب ـضَ,َض يـَ عَض ط طـ طاولـَ ة ـطـَ,َط مَ طَر ـطَ,َط يحَط ظ ظـ ظَ رَف ـظـَ,َظ مظَ هَر ـظَ,َظ ح ظَ ع عـ ع نب ـعـ , عـ م ل ع ب ـع , ع ش م ع غ غـ غ زال ـغـ , غـ يغ َّني ـغ , غ ص م غ ف فـ ف راشة ـفـ , فـ ضف د ع ـف , ف ر ف ق قـ قرد ـقـ , قـ م ق ـ لوبة ـق , ق ع ر ق ك كـ ك لب ـكـ , كـ م ك تـ ب ـك , ك س م ك ل لـ ُليم ون ـلـ , لـ س لـ َّم ـل , ل ُش ُغ ل م مـ ميزان ـمـ , مـ ُم متاز ـم , م قـ لـ م ن نـ ن م ر ـنـ , نـ ع نوان ـن , ن لـ ُون 8 Hosted for free on livelingua.com هـ هـ هاذا ـهـ , هـ ُالظ هُ ر ـه , ه فواك ه و و و رد ة ـو , و موز ـو , و أبو ي يـ يُ ك تـ ُب ـيـ , يـ عين ـي , ي م ي Note(s): (ﻻ = ل + ا) is not from the Alphabet. It is two letters joint together ”ﻻ“ .1 only connect to ز, ر, ذ, د and four consonants , و and ا The two long vowels .2 the preceding side. All other letters connect to both sides. 9 Hosted for free on livelingua.com Section B 10 Hosted for free on livelingua.com 4. SUBJECT PRONOUNS In Jordanian Arabic, the subject pronouns parallel subject pronouns in English, except they include more versions of the 2nd person (you).1 The subject pronouns in Arabic are: Table 4.1 English Arabic Transliteration Ana أنا I in-ta إن ت (You (masculine in-ti إن ت (You (feminine in-tu إنتو (You (plural hu-wa هُو He hi-ya ه َّي She hum-ma َّهُم They iH-na إحنا We Examples: English Arabic Transliteration aliع ana أنا علي I am Ali ?min wain inta من وين إن ت ؟ ?Where are you (m.) from 1 There are many other subject pronouns used in formal Arabic that are not used in spoken Arabic (and rarely used in news or print media), so we will not go over them here.