21.
ān and twentig 22. twēgen and twentig 23.
ðrīe and twentig 24. fēower and twentig 25. fīf and twentig 26. siex and twentig 27. seofon and twentig 28. eahta and twentig 29. nigon and twentig 30. ðrītig 31. ān and ðrītig 32.
twēgen
and ðrītig 33. ðrīe and ðrītig 34. fēower and ðrītig 35. fīf and
ðrītig 36. siex and
ðrītig 37. seofon and
ðrītig 38. eahta and
ðrītig 39. nigon and
ðrītig 40. fēowertig 41. ān and
fēowertig 42. twēgen and
fēowertig 43. ðrīe and
fēowertig 44. fēower and fēowertig 45. fīf and
fēowertig 46. siex and
fēowertig 47. seofon and
fēowertig 48. eahta and
fēowertig 49. nigon and
fēowertig 50. fīftig
der Kuss (Pl: Küsse) - kiss der Film (Pl: Filme) - movie der Pullover (Pl: Pullover) - sweater, pullover der Pulli [colloquial, cute] - sweater, pullover das Kissen (Pl: Kissen) -pillow der Kaffee - coffee die Kuschelsocken (pl) - woolly socks das Buch (Pl: Bücher) - book die Gemütlichkeit - comfort, cosiness/coziness die Decke (Pl: Decken) - blanket das Nickerchen (Pl: Nickerchen) -nap der Mittagsschlaf - midday nap das Feuer - fire der Kamin (Pl: Kamine) - fireplace die Katze (Pl: Katzen) - cat die Wärme - warmth die Sterne (pl) -stars der Tee - tea die Umarmung (Pl: Umarmungen) -hug die Kerze (Pl: Kerzen) - candle das Kerzenlicht - candlelight
küssen - to kiss umarmen - to hug kuscheln -to cuddle
sich um jemanden kümmern - to take care of smb sich hinlegen - to lie down lesen - to read schlafen - to sleep sich ausruhen - to rest sich entspannen - to relax
First of all, before starting with any grammar, it is important to familiarize yourselves with the alphabet and the vowels in Arabic.
Note : the sections will contain voice recordings of the words written in Arabic to help you know the correct pronunciation.
Don’t forget to check out the useful links below!
The Alphabets - حروف الهجاء
[audio]
Arabic has 28 letters, and because the writing connects the words together to form sentences, each letter can be written in three ways : how it would look like if it came at the beginning of the word, how it would look like if it was in the middle of the word, and finally, how it would look like if it were at the end of the word.
However, it is important to note that not all letters connect with other letters, for example, the letters (ا / د / ذ / ر / ز / و) do not connect to each other, and only connects if the other letters in the alphabet comes before it.
This will become easier to understand the more you practice the alphabets.
notice how this letter was connected to the letter that followed it
2) The letter in the middle of the word : ـبـ
word : طبلة (meaning : drum)
3) The letter at the end of the sentence ـب
word : قلب (meaning : heart)
Notice how the same letter had three different writings depending on where it was situated in the word. It is very important to learn the different writings of each letter in order to be able to read and write in Arabic.
Notice how this letter was not connected to the letter ب that came after it. If the letter د is written in the beginning of the word, it does not connect to the letter that follows it, same goes with the letters (ا / ذ / ر / ز / و).
2) the letter at the beginning of the word د or ـد
word : وادي (meaning : valley )
word : ضفدع (meaning : frog)
3) the letter at the end of the word د or ـد
word : ورد (meaning : roses)
word : يد (meaning : hand)
Useful links :
Here’s the link to a PowerPoint presentation that I have prepared with all the alphabets, and how they are written as well as examples for each letter. There is an audio file with each letter to show you how each letter and the examples are pronounced [link].
Here’s a link to a song to help you memorize the alphabets, it also has the Arabic Sign Language alphabets, which is interesting : [link].
This is a link to a website that has work sheets to help you practice the letters [link].
I hope this was helpful, if you have any questions let me know.
Next lesson : The vowels in Arabic, and the difference between the vowels (al-mudood المدود ) and the diatrics (al-harakat الحركات)
Мне (срочно) нужен врач - I need a doctor (quickly) Вызовите, пожалуйста, врача - Please, get me a doctor Я плохо себя чувствую - I’m not feeling well Здесь болит - It hurts here Здесь не болит- It does not hurt here Мне лучше (хуже)- I feel better (worse) У меня болит голова (живот) - I have a headache (stomach-ache) У меня высокая температура- I have a high temperature У меня кружится голова - I feel dizzy У меня насморк -I have caught a cold Какое лекарство мне нужно принимать? - What medicine should I take? Мне что-то попало в глаз - I’ve got something in my eye У меня болит зуб - I have a tooth-ache Сколько я должен за визит? - what do I owe you for the call?
Doctor’s part
Что у вас болит? - Where does it hurt? Откройте рот - Open your mouth Покашляйте, пожалуйста - Cough, please Сделайте (глубокий) вдох - Take a (deep) breath Выдохните - Breath out Не дышите - Don’t breath Ложитесь сюда - Lay down over here Я сделаю вам укол - I’ll give you an injection
на́хуй, нахуя́, захуя́ - all those words mean “why?” (with what aim)
ты на́хуй сюда́ пришёл? why the fuck have you come here?
с хуя́ ли / схуя́ли - why the fuck? (for what reason)
дохуя́ - a lot
я съел дохуя́ карто́шки I ate a shitton of potatoes
нихуя́ - nothing, not at all
нихуя́ они́ мне не да́ли! they didn’t give me anything! нихуя́ они́ не спортсме́ны they are not (at all) sportsmen
не́хуй - (1) nothing, (2) when telling someone to stop doing something
(1) мне бы́ло не́хуй де́лать, и я прибра́лся i had nothing to do, so i tidied up (2) не́хуй смея́ться на́до мной! stop laughing at me!
хуй там был - said when you were expecting/hoping/told something would happen and it didn’t
я ду́мал, меня́ поко́рмят - (а вот) хуй там был! i thought they would feed me - but they didn’t!
положи́ть хуй (на) - to ingore, to not care about something too much
я давно́ положи́л хуй на заря́дку I stopped doing morning exercise long ago
заби́ть хуй (на) - same as above, sometimes just
заби́ть
is used
забе́й ты на уро́ки, пойдём поигра́ем! screw homework, let’s go play! [you’re suggesting someone to stop doing homework]
хуи́ пина́ть - to do nothing productive or useful
мы це́лый день уже хуи́ пина́ем, пора́ взя́ться за де́ло! we’ve been doing nothing all day, it’s time to get down to business!
я́сен хуй - obviously! duh!
посла́ть на́хуй - to tell someone to fuck off иди́ на́хуй! - fuck off! пошёл на́хуй! [to a male] / пошла́ на́хуй! [to a female] - fuck off!
хуй (его́) зна́ет - I have no fucking clue
- кто съел соси́ски? - да хуй его́ зна́ет! - who ate the sausages? no fucking idea!
охуе́ть - (1) to be extremely shocked (2) same, but as an interjection - “oh shit!” (3) said about someone who’s behaving very badly (4) ну охуе́ть / ну охуе́ть тепе́рь is said sarcastically as an interjection about something which another person thought would surprise you but didn’t
(1) я вошёл в ко́мнату и охуе́л -
там го́лый полице́йский танцева́л! i entered the room and was shocked - there was a naked policeman and he was dancing! (2) охуе́ть! ты где э́то доста́л? oh shit! where did you get that? (3) он вы́пил мой сок? да он охуе́л! he drank my juice? he comepletely lost his mind! (4) - я гуля́л и уви́дел БОЛЬШУ́Ю СОБА́КУ!!! - ну охуе́ть тепе́рь… - i was walking and saw A BIG DOG!!! - what a fucking surprise….
охуе́нный - really fucking good
я тако́е охуе́нное пла́тье вчера́ купи́ла. i bought such a nice fucking dress yesterday
охуи́тельный - same as above
хуёвый - really bad
хуёвый у тебя́ компью́тер - виснет постоянно your computer is shit - it’s always lagging
[someone] ху́ев - said to/about someone who’s supposed/told to know how to do something or to have certain knowledge about something, but failed, and you’re judging them for “showing off” but not actually knowing what they’re doing or not doing this to the promised extent
по́вар ху́ев, ты мне что́-нибудь кро́ме карто́шки жа́реной бу́дешь гото́вить? hey “chef”, will you cook anything except friend potatoes for me?
хуй зна́ет что - something unpleasant, bad, poorly made, something that you don’t understand
снача́ла она́ ра́довалась, а тепе́рь переста́ла со мной обща́ться. хуй зна́ет что присхо́дит! she was happy at first, but then stopped talking to me at all. what is this nonsese that’s happening!
хуй с ним - fuck it (exclamation)
хуй тебе́ - said to someone when you don’t want to do something for them or give them something they ask
почи́нишь по́лку? хуй тебе́, сама́ чини́ will you fix the shelf? fuck no, do it yourself
похуи́зм - the state or trait of not caring about anything (usually positive connotation)
тебе́ для сча́стья не хвата́ет немно́го похуи́зма to be happy you need to care a bit less
похуи́ст - a person who doesn’t care too much (usually positive connotation)
како́го ху́я - what the fuck?! ху́ли/ху́ле - same as above, but usually used in full questions, whereas the above can be used on its own
оди́н хуй - it doesn’t matter, it makes no difference
я и во́ду пил, и дыха́ние заде́рживал - оди́н хуй ика́ю i drank water and held my breath - and i still get hiccups
хуета́/хуита́/хуйня́ - (1) something unpleasant or hard to understand (2) a thing you and the person you’re talking to know about
(1) что за хуйню́ ты тут написа́л? я да́же не понима́ю, что ты име́л в виду́ what the fuck have you written? i don’t even understand what you were trying to say (2) пода́й мне э́ту хуйню́ с ру́чкой give me that thing with a handle
хуёвина - same as (2) above
страда́ть хуйнёй - to do nothing productive, to do something which seems really useless
ле́том мне надое́ло страда́ть хуйнёй, и я реши́л нача́ть учи́ть но́вый язы́к in the summer i got tired of doing nothing and decided to start learning a new language
спор́оть хуйню́ - to say something dumb or something which doesn’t make sense (incoherent, etc)
вчера́ напи́лся и споро́л каку́ю-то хуйню́, а тепе́рь она́ ду́мает, что она́ мне нра́вится i drank too much yesterday and said something dumb, and now she thinks i like her
хуйло́/хуесо́с - an unpleasant/dumb person whose behaviour is questionable
ну ты и хуесо́с! ты заче́м мою́ соба́ку побри́л? you’re a moron! why did you shave my dog?
хуя́к - denotes a sudden, quick and/or unexpected action
ката́юсь я, а пото́м хуя́к на лёд! so i’m skating, and then bam - i fell on the ice!
хуя́се! / (ну) нихуя́ себе́! / нихуя́! / хуя́! - an exclamation of surprise (you’re impressed)
I am using Valentine’s day as an excuse to do a list about love. I have included verbs with their imperfective/perfective forms, as well as a few phrases.
Verbs
броса́ть / бро́сить кого – to dump someone встреча́ться с кем-то– to date someone влюбля́ться / влюби́ться в кого – to fall in love влюблён / влюблена / влюблены в кого– in love with someone скуча́ть по – to miss соблазня́ть - to seduce/ to tempt изменя́ть / измени́ть кому – to cheat/ betray someone коке́тничать с – to flirt with люби́ть/ полюби́ть – to love нра́виться/ понра́виться – to like обожа́ть – to adore обнима́ть - to hug обручи́ться - to be engaged подмигну́ть - to wink приглаша́ть на свида́ние - to ask on a date целова́ть / поцелова́ть кого/что – to kiss someone/something целова́ться / поцелова́ться - to kiss each other выходи́ть / вы́йти за кого - to get married (used by women) за́мужем за кем - to be married (used by women) жени́ться на ком – to get married (used by men) жена́т на ком – to be married (used by men) пожени́ться - to marry each other
Nouns
брак [m]- marriage валентинка [f] – valentine’s day card сва́дьба [f]- wedding свида́ние [n] - date сердце [n] - heart
сча́стье [n]- happiness
де́вушка [f]- girlfriend День Святого Валентина – Valentine’s Day
коке́тка [f]- flirt Купидон [m] - cupid
любо́вь [f] - love
любо́вница [f] - mistress, lover
любо́вник [m]- lover (male)
объясне́ние
в
любви́
[n] – declaration of love
объя́тие [n]- hug
отноше́ние [n]- relationship
па́рень [m] - boyfriend
поцелу́й
[m] - kiss
ра́дость [f] - joy
Adjectives
дорого́й
/ -ая – dear (adj. as well as a nickname) красaвчик / красавица– cutie, handsome
люби́мый
/ -ая – favorite , beloved (adj. as well as a nickname)
ми́лый
/ -ая – darling, sweetheart (adj. as well as a nickname)
не́жный
/ -ая - tender
романти́ческий
- romantic
Phrases
Ты мне нравишься – I like you Я тебя люблю – I love you Будь моим/ моей – Be mine Ты моя любовь на всю жизнь – You are my love forever. Я полюбил(a) тебя с первого взгляда – I fell in love with you at first sight. Я не могу жить без тебя – I can’t live without you С Днём Святого Валентина – Happy Valentine’s Day
(I know it is science-fiction and movies like this one take certain premises and blow them out of proportion but I thought it’d be worthwhile to discuss the topic)
Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival movie is an interesting work about, amongst other themes, how humans would manage to establish first contacts with an alien race come to Earth, how to learn their language to communicate with them and understand their motives. Arrival features Amy Adams as linguist Louise Banks, who is commissioned by the United States to climb up in the spaceship and try to exchange and talk with the new-comers. She is accompanied by Jeremy Renner’s character;
Ian Donnelly, a military theoretical physicist.
She is charged with the decipherment of their language, with the ultimate goal of asking them “What is your purpose on Earth ?”
The aliens look like giant heptapods, which use an ink-like mist to form the round shapes that is their written language.
Later in the movie, Ian and Louise talk as an evacuation takes place, and Ian tells Louise he’s just read about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which assumes that a language is a vision of the world unto itself. In the context of the movie, the characters explain that being exposed to and immersed in a foreign language will subtly cause the brain to adapt to this language’s vision of the world. In the case of the Heptapods’ language; Louise and Ian believe that it will rewire one’s brain not only on a intellectual level but also on a physical level. By acquainting themself with the alien language (especially regarding the syntax and morphology), one would be able to experience time like the Heptapods do, in a non-linear way.
This conception of languages is called “Linguistic relativity”. However, issues arise here with the stance taken of such a hypothesis. It is rather extreme to present linguistic relativity in such a manner. One of the weaknesses on which the theory was based upon was the famous The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax. Franz Boas in 1911 wrote The Handbook of North American Indians in which he explains that Eskimos had dozens of words to describe different types of snow. This is not true, because the confusion arose from the fact that Eskimo speakers have a polysynthetic language and therefore have phrases that can look like words to outsiders, making them think that each sentence was a word for a type of snow.Therefore, it was thought that language differences were necessary related to the speakers’ environment.
There is no denying that languages do differ in terms of wealth of lexicon in certain fields, of grammatical tenses or genders. For instance, Farsi has a third-person pronoun “ او ” /u:/ that does not differentiate gender, so that
“
او ” means both “he” and “she”. It does not mean that Farsi-speakers see the world genderless. As French linguist Nicolas Tournadre says it in his book (2014:199) Le Prisme des Langues
: “Languages that do not have grammatical genders do not have a a vision of sexuality that is different from those that have grammatical genders”.
The Warlpiri aboriginal language has a word for “one” but not beyond. The grand-father in this video shows that he can’t count them down orally but can make as many marks in the sand as he has grand-children, and knows their name. The lack of numerals does not prevent their minds from conceiving the concept of plurality. They just don’t express it the same way.
Another example is the
Pirahã language, it is spoken in Amazonia and has no words for number. Speakers use generic formulations such as “a few”, “a pile” and “a large quantity”. This does not mean however that beyond their numerical limits, these languages can’t allow their speakers to talk about a mother’s several children or render a fisherman unable to mentally visualise the two fish he just took out the water.
Not all languages are equal in terms of expressing certain concepts. For instance, the Pirahã people are not expected to see mathematicians in their ranks because their language does not allow that. However, it does not mean that they see the world in a drastically different manner from us. They are still able to live in communities, talk to each other, make food, locate elements. They experience the world like us. They may not have the same problems and preoccupations as us due to these differences (counting cattle) but they are still able to see the same world as us.
Another category that is interesting to mention is the English language’s numerous and diverse words related to light: glisten, shine, glow, glitter, gleam, glimmer, flicker, dazzle, sparkle, flare, flash or glint. This plethora of verbs shows the wide range that the language has to express different types of light and brightness. This does not mean that light is different to English-speakers or that light was different where the English language emerged. It just means that the language has paid particular attention to a phenomenon, not that reality is different where it is from. Nicolas Tournadre explains (2014:199) “the geographical environments, as different they may be, of a given community is therefore not enough to cause a specific lexicon.”
This is the extent of the impact that languages differences can have on their speakers. On the other hand, Louise starts to get flashes of her daughter that we later learn are not extra-diegetic flashbacks but intra-diegetic flashforwards because she started to gather a fair amount of knowledge about the alien language. Just because your language is different does not mean that the world changes. The movie’s depiction of this theory has more to do with magic than linguistics.
What I aim at showing is that linguistics relativism’s representation is too often extreme. It is often presented as a proof that people who speak different languages don’t see, experience or think their environment the same way we do because they’re not allowed to by their mother tongue. It is both an interesting theory but it is also worrisome because it pushes the Other further away from us, finding excuses to see HER/HIM as dissimilar and ponder over these differences.
Rather, as Nicolas Tournadre (2014:207) explains , these “languages are not like “conceptions of the world” that are perfectly structured, coherent and homogeneous but rather like prisms, or kaleidoscopes that modify subtly certain perceptions of the experience and have in the end an impact of the type of inference that the speaker carries out”.
So although the movie’s depiction of the process of establishing contact and deciphering the aliens’ language is genuinely interesting and realistic. However the moment linguist Louise Banks confirms Ian’s interpretation of the Sapir-Whorf theory and the fact that she starts to experience time non-linearly because she starts to be proficient in that language is where the movie derails because it blows a theory out of proportions and misinterprets it.
