Military historian's corner - EN, HE, ZH, AR, sometimes RU, FR and DE

[cjareck]

What kind of AR vocabulary are you learning right now?

It is still very basic but interesting:
مملكة
مراسلة
جمهورية
مكتبة
(kingdom, correspondent (female), republic, library)

[reineke]

If you're a freelance writer zleceniodawca = client.

[StringerBell]

* Google was unable to translate zleceniodawca and my old paper dictionary gives me principal, employer, customer as English equivalents. Which one of them, if any, suits best here?

Can you give the context? Then I could (hopefully) tell you which one of those definitions makes the most sense.

[SGP]

What kind of AR vocabulary are you learning right now?

It is still very basic but interesting:
مملكة
مراسلة
جمهورية
مكتبة
(kingdom, correspondent (female), republic, library)

All meanings are accurate. However, there are some additional ones as well.

مراسلة is a female correspondent, no doubt. But it what way exactly?
With a Kasrah below the Sin, it is a woman doing the action of راسَلَ. I.e. she is sending something.
With a Fathah above the Sin, it is a woman to whom the action of that verb is being done. I.e. something is sent to her.
And that variant of this word (i.e. Fathah) has yet another meaning as well. It is the masdar (المصدر) of this verb. This means that it is a noun representing its action, regardless of:
- grammatical gender
- time (past, present, future)
- number (singular, dual, plural)

مكتبة: its root is ك-ت-ب (not too difficult ). Because of that, it can also be used for a bookstore. Because that one, too, is a "place of books".

And when the ending Ta' is removed, it is a place of writing, e.g. an office. Apart from that Ta'un Marbutah تاء مربوطة being dropped, it has the same tashkil (i.e. Fathah - Sukun - Fathah - Tanwin).

[cjareck]

If you're a freelance writer zleceniodawca = client.

Can you give the context? Then I could (hopefully) tell you which one of those definitions makes the most sense.

I am not a freelancer since I have got a job at the university. But this was something extraordinary. An association wants to have a book about a small town called Działdowo. They choose a group of historians, who research different periods and offered them money from writing texts about this settlement. We signed an agreement which contained things like what we should write, how much we should write when we should finish and how much the other side is ready to pay for it.

[cjareck]

However, there are some additional ones as well.

Thanks for an explanation! I read somewhere that by adding "م" to a root one often receive a name of the place where the action is taking part. But with the root
د-ر-س (to learn)
you may have
مدرس (teacher)
and
مدرسة (school)
I heard about verb's aspects but not studied them yet. I can suppose what to expect, however, because, I am slowly getting through Hebrew binyanim which are different conjugations with different meanings. Very logical thing but extremely different what we have in Polish.

Thanks for the explanation on Masdar as well. I heard the term, I know that it is a noun that represents action, but I didn't realize that it does not have gender, time and number.

مكتبة: its root is ك-ت-ب (not too difficult ). Because of that, it can also be used for a bookstore. Because that one, too, is a "place of books".

Yes, this is an easy example. I also use it to explain how the roots in Hebrew and Arabic work. On an elementary level, that is.

[SGP]

However, there are some additional ones as well.

Thanks for an explanation! I read somewhere that by adding "م" to a root one often receive a name of the place where the action is taking part. But with the root
د-ر-س (to learn)
you may have
مدرس (teacher)
and
مدرسة (school)

You are welcome. Yes, names of places are being made by a Mim that follows the three root letters, and sometimes an ending Ta'un marbutah. Apart from that Ta', one of these two Templates (أوزان) is used, speaking of Three Letter Verbs:

مَفْعِلٌ

مَفْعَلٌ

(And yes, if it is about two of these أوزان only, one would say وَزْنانِ and وَزْنَيْنِ. However, even in Classical Arabic, the plural sometimes is used instead of the dual, e.g. قلوبكما instead of قَلْباكما. And as for MSA, it is even much more common.)

As for the "Kasrah or Fathah" rule, it could be enough to simply remember that particular Harakah.

"Mudarris" مدرس has got an additional letter, so they are five in total. The Ra'un mushaddadah الراء المشدّدة counts as two. Sometimes the Shaddah الشدة is written, even if the Vowel Harakat are omitted, sometimes not.

I heard about verb's aspects but not studied them yet. I can suppose what to expect, however, because, I am slowly getting through Hebrew binyanim which are different conjugations with different meanings. Very logical thing but extremely different what we have in Polish.

Are you entirely sure that it is about verb aspects, rather than verb tenses? If you do mean the former, maybe you could provide one or two examples. Because as we know, Grammar Concepts don't always directly translate to another language.

Thanks for the explanation on Masdar as well. I heard the term, I know that it is a noun that represents action, but I didn't realize that it does not have gender, time and number.

It doesn't have gender? Well, what I wrote is that it doesn't represent a gender, in the same way as it also doesn't represent a time and a number. But maybe me and you are, nevertheless, speaking about the same thing. So a masdar doesn't provide any clue on whether one describes something with a grammatical male or female gender. But that masdar word itself always has a gender, either male or female, just as any other Arabic noun.

[cjareck]

"Mudarris" مدرس has got an additional letter, so they are five in total. The Ra'un mushaddadah الراء المشدّدة counts as two. Sometimes the Shaddah الشدة is written, even if the Vowel Harakat are omitted, sometimes not.

Of course, you have right. I should point out that there is shadda in that word. What I was aware. I should also figure out that if there is not only "Mim" added, but one root letter is doubled, something more happened to the root.

Are you entirely sure that it is about verb aspects, rather than verb tenses? If you do mean the former, maybe you could provide one or two examples. Because as we know, Grammar Concepts don't always directly translate to another language.

Surely they are not tenses. The case (from FSI handbook) will be the best:
הוא אוכל אצלי -> אני מאכיל ואתו

Hu okhel etzli -> Ani ma'akhil oto
He eats at my house -> I give him to eat
The root
א כ ל
is visible in both sentences. The tense doesn't change. There is seven binyanim, but not every verb has all of them.

Thanks for the explanation on Masdar as well. I heard the term, I know that it is a noun that represents action, but I didn't realize that it does not have gender, time and number.

It doesn't have gender? Well, what I wrote is that it doesn't represent a gender, in the same way as it also doesn't represent a time and a number. But maybe me and you are, nevertheless, speaking about the same thing. So a masdar doesn't provide any clue on whether one describes something with a grammatical male or female gender. But that masdar word itself always has a gender, either male or female, just as any other Arabic noun.

Grammar is not my strongest point even in Polish. Remember that I wanted to say that, as I understand, I do not need to change Masdar according to gender, number and whatever. As far as I remember there are small words like هذا that doesn't change.
هذا بيت
من هذا البيت

hadha bayt
min hdha-l-bayti

This is a house
From this house
(However, the gender and number are fixed in this example). They have the case and number, but since they do not change, and I am not doing any grammatical analysis, I treat them as they do not have it. And I understood that Masdar is one of them. I forgot their name in Arabic but surely heard it.

[SGP]

Are you entirely sure that it is about verb aspects, rather than verb tenses? If you do mean the former, maybe you could provide one or two examples. Because as we know, Grammar Concepts don't always directly translate to another language.

Surely they are not tenses. The case (from FSI handbook) will be the best:
הוא אוכל אצלי -> אני מאכיל ואתו

Hu okhel etzli -> Ani ma'akhil oto
He eats at my house -> I give him to eat
The root
א כ ל
is visible in both sentences. The tense doesn't change. There is seven binyanim, but not every verb has all of them.

So maybe you were talking about Hebrew verb aspects only, between saying something about Arabic, and something else about it, too? Anyway, if you would know one or two AR verb aspects examples, at any future time, I'd really like to read them to know what exactly you would be learning about. Because as I already mentioned in the previous post, Grammar Concepts don't always translate that easily .

Grammar is not my strongest point even in Polish. Remember that I wanted to say that, as I understand, I do not need to change Masdar according to gender, number and whatever.

Yes, this is very true. A single Masdar is something like a multi-purpose buttler, so to say . Because of that reason, in #Very Standard Arabic, there even are some Masdar nouns that could describe either a male or a female. A textbook example is 3abd عبد (servant / slave). There is a female-only version which is amah أمة. However, it is #Entirely Within the Scope of Standard Arabic to describe a woman, too, as 3abd. Because it is a Masdar, rather than another noun that would include anything specifically male.

As far as I remember there are small words like هذا that doesn't change.
هذا بيت
من هذا البيت

hadha bayt
min hdha-l-bayti

This is a house
From this house
(However, the gender and number are fixed in this example).

Yes, the gender and number are fixed. And as for the male singular, hadha really doesn't change, no matter which of the three Noun Cases it is about. It has some other forms as well that are suitable for other numbers / the other grammatical gender. They also don't change because of the Noun Cases. Except the dual (both masculine and feminine). It is like this in the case of الرفع, and like that in the case of both of الجر والنصب. Not "disclosing" the meaning of "this" and "that" for now , because sometimes less is more . But it is easy to look up in case you would decide to learn it right now. Or you could ask in your follow-up reply... I don't know how much you could learn at the same time. When I started with Arabic, I only made some small Steps of Progress. Otherwise I could have been überfordert.

They have the case and number, but since they do not change, and I am not doing any grammatical analysis, I treat them as they do not have it. And I understood that Masdar is one of them. I forgot their name in Arabic but surely heard it.

There is one Masdar-related change that I should mention at this point, I'd say. Because it isn't as unchangeable as, e.g., hadha. The Masdar does change because of anything that changes the Noun Case. It works like just any other Arabic Noun (well, most of them) in that regard.

And as for whether the Masdar would be pluralized in some situations, this is #Beyond This Post's Scope, too .

[cjareck]

So maybe you were talking about Hebrew verb aspects only, between saying something about Arabic, and something else about it, too? Anyway, if you would know one or two AR verb aspects examples, at any future time, I'd really like to read them to know what exactly you would be learning about. Because as I already mentioned in the previous post, Grammar Concepts don't always translate that easily .

You are right. I used my experience on Hebrew verbs to presume what the verb aspects (I think it is called classes or categories) in Arabic are. I am fully aware that even if those languages are similar, they are not identical. But I didn't start to learn Arabic verbs seriously yet, so I still have time to clarify the topic.

But it is easy to look up in case you would decide to learn it right now. Or you could ask in your follow-up reply... I don't know how much you could learn at the same time. When I started with Arabic, I only made some small Steps of Progress. Otherwise I could have been überfordert.

Nouns and cases in Arabic I learned from Madeenah Book 1 and from video lessons by [url="http://www.lqtoronto.com/"]LQ Toronto[/url]. I specifically asked them if they don't mind Christian learning from them and they didn't. Unfortunately, lack of time does not allow me to sit and watch a 40-minute lesson without being disturbed. And, as mentioned before, Arabic still is not a priority language.