Arabic

= مرحبا Mar-ha-ba (Welcome) =

**Creators of the Arabic Wiki Site**
Michelle Kathy Andrea Laura Kyla

Arabic is the official and most commonly spoken language in the following areas: Sudan, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Omen, Yemen, and United Arab Emirates

Retrieved from GAME QUIZ - []



//Arabic is one of the younger, ancient Semitic languages, following Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Latin. It grew in use and popularity within 100 years after the death of Muhammad (632 CE), Islam’s great prophet, as Islam grew in political power in the Mediterranean region. As other ancient Semitic languages have fossilized and are no longer commonly spoken in the modern world, the use of Arabic has continued to grow.// @http://www.indiana.edu/~arabic/arabic_history.htm

**Word Order-**
Applies coordination to sentences-usually begin with so or and. example: So how can I help you?

Coordination favored over subordination
 * **SUBORDINATORS** || **COORDINATORS** ||
 * Although || But ||
 * If || and (then) ||
 * Unless || or (else) ||
 * when (adverbial) || and (then) ||
 * who (adjectival) || and + subject ||
 * Whereas || and/but (at the same time) ||
 * ..., as a result of which || and as a result that ||
 * as (adverbial) || and so ||
 * principal clause || and then ||

Personal pronouns usually are added to verbs and restate subject. example: My friend she works at the school.

A singular noun is placed after a number greater than ten. example: She has twelve cousin.

Present tense- no "be" verb example: Where the theatre?

No comparable auxiliary verb "do" example: You have a pet?

No modal verbs- should, would, could, may, will, can, might, must, ought, and shall.

Past perfect- connect with "be" example: They were sleep.

Adjectives come after nouns example: A television show interesting short.

No indefinite articles: A/An example: She is teacher.

No subject-verb agreement as regard to singular and plural. example: He like apples.

No regular past tense. example: We go yesterday.

Different tense boundaries from English example: I study here for a year. He has left yesterday.

Verb precedes subject example: Good grades received every student in the classes.

//"//That" clause rather than infinitive example: I want that you stay. I want that they try harder.

Retrieved from: __http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/ahmad/Pages/aticl2.aspx__ @http://abisamra03.tripod.com/nada/languageacq-erroranalysis.html Almansuri, A. (2012, February 24). (K. Goodwin, Interviewer) [] http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/ahmad/Pages/aticl2.aspx

**Grammar**-
The Noun in Arabic Arabic nouns are either indefinite or definite. Nouns and adjectives have both a masculine and feminine form.

The Nominal Sentence in Arabic NOTE: In Arabic we don't have a word for 'is/are' in the nominal sentence. The most basic sentence in Arabic is called the nominal sentence. This is of the form 'X is/are Y', such as 'The boy (is) tall', or 'The books (are) big.' X is usually a definite noun, known as the subject. Y is usually an indefinite noun or an indefinite adjective, called the predicate.

The Singular Detached Pronouns We can replace the subject of a nominal sentence with a pronoun. For example, rather than saying 'The man is tall', we might want to say, 'He is tall'. The Arabic pronouns we use for this replacement are called the detached pronouns. NOTE: There are different words for 'you' in Arabic for addressing a male and a female person.

Definite article with days, months, places, idioms example: She is in the bed. He lives in the Peru.

No human/ nonhuman distinction for relative pronoun (//who/which//) example: Here is the student which you met her last week. The people which arrived...

No use of possessive form of nouns; no use of 's. example: This is Maram sister Zaid.

Retrieved from: Almansuri, A. (2012, February 24). (K. Goodwin, Interviewer) []

**Writing Systems**-
Arabic writing is written horizontally from right to left, except for numbers which are written from left to right. There are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet.

There are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet.

Letters change form depending on the letter placement in a word, either the initial, middle or final letter. For example, t he Arabic letter taa ت
 * Initial: تونس
 * Medial: شتاء
 * Final: بنت

Of the 28 letters, 22 can be connected to the subsequent and previous letters. The six remaing letters: > can take the initial form if it is still in the middle of the word. يريد after the ـر the next letter is in the initial ي form that looks like يـ.
 * و,ز,ر,ذ,د,ا** cannot be connected to the subsequent letters, instead the letters take on the initial form, or the isolated form if it is the final letter in the word
 * Initial form: Letters that follow **و,ز,ر,ذ,د,ا**
 * Isolated form: Letters that follow **و,ز,ر,ذ,د,ا** can take an isolated form if it is the last letter in the word. In the Arabic word “bab” (باب ), is ba ( [[image:http://www.meem.freeuk.com/Images/2.gif width="20" height="16" align="bottom"]]), and normally would end in the final form, but because it is the last letter of the word and follows alif "I" it takes on the isolated form.

Retrieved from []

**Phonology**-
Click the link below to watch and listen to the Arabic alphabet. See how many letters sound the same and how many letters sound different as compared to the English alphabet. []

media type="youtube" key="GdiE2kqbeaM" height="315" width="420" Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdiE2kqbeaM

English has about three times as many vowel sounds as Arabic, so it is inevitable that beginning learners will fail to distinguish between some of the words they hear, such as //ship// / //sheep// or //bad// / //bed//, and will have difficulties saying such words correctly. Problems in pronouncing consonants include the inability to produce the th sounds in words such as this and thin, the swapping of /b/ and /p/ at the beginning of words, and the subsitution of /f/ for /v/. Consonant clusters, such as in the words //split//, //threw// or //lengths//, also cause problems and oten result in the speaker adding an extra vowel: //spilit//, //ithrew// or //lengthes//. In Arabic word stress is regular. It is common, therefore, for Arab learners to have difficulties with the seemingly random nature of English stress patterns. For example, the word **yes**//terday// is stressed on the first syllable and //to**morr**ow// on the second.

The elision (or swallowing) of sounds that is so common in spoken English is problematic for Arab speakers, and they will often resist it. (Consider, for example, how the questions //What did you do?// or //Do you know her?// are said in conversational English: //Whatcha do? / Jew know her?//) This aversion to elision and the use of glottal stop (A glottal stop is the emphasis of a vowel at the beginning of a word or syllable. It is common in some English dialects and derided as typical of the uneducated, lower class.) As an example imagine saying the word 'butter' without saying the 't' sound. The glottal stop occurs on the production of the second syllable: 'er'. before initial vowels are the primary reasons for the typical //staccato//quality of the spoken English of Arab learners.

Arabic is a consonant-heavy language where vowels are often omitted in the written form, and this makes Arabic students frequently exchange or reassign vowels in English words.

Retrieved from: []

**Morphology**-
No //-ing// (gerund)/ infinitive distinction //She avoids to go.// //I enjoy to play tennis.//

Verbs can change form when the person, number, gender, and tense changes:

__Past tense__

kataba - he wrote katabna - we wrote katabuu - they wrote

__Present tense__

yaktubu - he writes naktubu - we write yaktabuuna - they write

__Future tense__:

Suffixes can be used for inflection. For example, the suffix of the verb " ambas " (to make beautiful, to beautify) can be changed depending on person, number, gender and tense. " ambas ufda" = "we beautify" " ambas ufti" = "we beautified" " ambas ufku" = "we will beautify" " ambas izda" = "he beautifies"

Suffixes such as " pumbas " (to be beautiful) can be used to describe a state. " pumbas anda" = "she is beautiful" " pumbas anti" = "she was beautiful" " pumbas anku" = "she will be beautiful" " pumbas ulda" = "they are beautiful"

Suffixes can be used to inflict "to become" a state or " dimbas " = "to become beautiful". " dimbas osda" = "it is becoming beautiful" " dimbas osti" = "it became beautiful" " dimbas osku" = "it will become beautiful" " dimbas ufda" = "we are becoming beautiful"

Retrieved from: http://www.eskimo.com/~ram/arabic_morphology.html