Carl Albert Thimm

“ Arabic is a very rich language with numerous synonyms, so much so that it has been described by a wag as a language in which every word has its own meaning and exactly the opposite, and a third meaning of some kind of camel. ”

“ General Formation of Tenses.
An ordinary verb—katab, he wrote—is here given, and all the verbs are formed similarly:—
Nearly all imperatives are formed uniformly, as Iktib—Write! Imsik—Take hold of! Imshi—Walk! or Go! Iftaḥ—Open! From masak, māshi, fatah.
A form to express present action, to distinguish the present from the future, is often used, the present being given the prefix bi. Thus,
The verbs call for no further remark beyond the fact that there is a feminine form of the 3rd person sing., present and past tense. ”

“ On The Nile I have seen the dahabieh, and it is a very fine boat ana shuft ed dahabīeh wa hiya merkeb 'aal have you brought all the luggage down? nazzált kul el 'afsh? have you brought the vegetables and mutton, fowls and eggs; also provisions for the crew? ishtereyt el khodārāt wa lahm dāni, wa firākh wa beyd; wa t'ayyināt lil merākbīeh if the wind is not enough, we must use the oars iza kan el hāuwa (or er rīḥ) mush kāfi, lazim nist-'aamil el maqādīf the weather is beautiful el hāuwa kwāy-īs can we land and see the town after sunset? ”

“ I will bring you a porter agīb lak wāḥed shāyyāl he can carry the lot by himself; he is strong yeqdar yeshīl kullu bi nafs-u; karro he has a cart, too huwa gad'a [3] there is first the custom-house examination 'andu kaman wahed 'arabīeh auwalan fi taftīsh el gumruk we will go in the carriage eḥna nerūḥ fil 'arabīeh you must come with us lāzim inta teygi wāyyā-na tell me how much the fare is qul-li el ograh bi kām how much is the fare to the station? bi kām el ograh lil maḥattah? each person four piastres kul shakhs arb'aa qurūsh and the porter, how much? ”

“ Arabic.—Phonetic Pronunciation God Allāh Creator khāliq world dunya sky sama, gāu sun shems, sems (l.) , shemsh (u.) moon qamar star nigmah air hāua earth ard water moyyah fire nār sea bāḥr animal ḥāywān, plu. ḥāywānāt cattle plu. bahayim nature tab'iah light nūr dark atmah, zalara weather hāua wind rīḥ, plu. aryāḥ storm nāu cloud ghāim rain matar snow, ice telg hail bard, galīd thunder ra'ad lightning barq fog shābūrah heat harārah cold bard, bārid North bāhri, shemāl South qibli East sharq West gharb whirlwind zoba'ah North-wind tiyāb earthquake zilzilah, plu. ”

“ It can be attained by practice, and is a vowel-sound produced far back and down in the throat. Special throat-muscles must be developed to produce it, so that a European can never imitate the sound at the first attempt. ”

“ The plurals of nouns [2] ring the following kinds of changes, and each must be learnt as an exception. For instance:
The dual form is obtained by adding -eyn; thus, rāgil, a man; rāgileyn tāyyibeyn, two good men.
THE DEFINITE ARTICLE.
The definite article el, the, is repeated with a qualifying adjective. Thus el geysh el kebīr, the large army. It has no feminine or plural form. Before certain letters el suffers elision and duplicates the initial letter of the following word. Thus, en nār, the fire; esh shems, the sun.
THE NEGATIVE.
The negative is peculiar. ”

“ At last! akīran! allow me ismaḥ li are you hungry? inta ga'ān be careful, open your eyes iftaḥ 'eynak begone imshi out with you! itl'a barra by all means 'ala kulli ḥāl certainly la budd, m'alūm, na'am come back irg'a come here ta'ala hena come in idkhol, hūsh do you hear? inta sām'a? do you know? inta ārif, or ta'araf. excuse me sāmiḥ ni, or ma ta'akhiznīsh forgive me from here min hena good-bye m'a es-salāmah go away rūḥ min hena go on imshi give me iddī-ni, a'atī-ni how many times? kām marrah? ”

“ It is also indicated by the duplication of letters and by the occurrence of the hard ḥ; e.g., makhad'dah, arbag'gi, feluk'kah, eḥ'na, istah'kam.
The غ ('ain) , except in the rare case of its being final, re- quiring more effort to pronounce, also indicates the accent ; e.g., bit'ai.
In many instances where the stress is not specially indicated, it falls quite naturally on the right syllable; e.g., heytah, tarabeyzah, dunanmah (hey'tah, tarabey'zah, dunan'mah) . ”

“ Wake me early in the morning saḥī-ni badri es subḥ we are going to see the eḥna rāyḥīn neshūf el āḥram bukra Pyramids to-morrow do you want me to get the donkeys ready? ḥadrétak 'auz in-ni aḥaddar el ḥemīr? perhaps we shall go in a carriage, but anyhow we shall take food with us yumkin nerūh fi 'arabīeh, walakin 'ala kulli ḥāl nākhod ākl wāyyā-na yes, sir ”

“ Gold dahab silver faddah copper nhhās aḥmar brass nahhās asfar iron hadīd tin safīeh, tanak steel solb, bulād lead rusās coal (charcoal stone) faḥm hagar marble rokhām stone hagar sand raml, ramleh metal m'adan, plu. ma'ādin charcoal faḥm ḥatab mineral m'adāni amber kahramān granite sawān gravel hasā, local haswah mercury zeybaq quicksilver zeybaq 4. Animals, Birds and Fishes. Animal haywān, plu. ḥāywānāt horse hosān, plu. ”

“ Private nafar bugler; drummer burūgi; tabbāl, trombetgi farrier beytār trumpeter trombetgi, burūgi lance-corporal wakīl onbāshi corporal onbāshi sergeant shaweysh sergeant-major bash shaweysh quarter-master sergeant buluk amīn adjutant-major saghkolaghāsi chief clerk bash kātib warrant officer sōl sub-lieutenant mulāzim tāni lieutenant mulāzim āuwel captain yuzbāshi major binbāshi lieutenant-colonel qāimaqām colonel miralāi brigadier-general lewa lieutenant-general farīk field-marshal mushīr doctor ḥakīm, plu. ”

“ Town and Country. City, or town (large) medīnah, plu. madayin country (native) beled village beled street sikkah, plu. sikak square māidán market sūk, plu. aswāk palace sarāyah or qasr; plu. sarāyāt qusur church kenīsah, kanāyis tower burg, plu. abrāg post bosta post-office bosta, moḥall el bosta police-office zabtīeh hospital isbitāliah exchange borsa bridge qantarah, plu. qanātir custom-house gumruk prison ḥabs shop dokkān, plu. dakākīn hotel lokanda castle, fortress qal'aah corner rukn, plu. arkān foot pavement balat railway sikkat el ḥadīd field gheyt, plu. ghītān forest ghābab, plu. ”

“ Land and Water. Land ard island gezīrah, plu. gazāyir mountain gebel, plu. gibāl valley wādi river bāḥr, plu. buḥūr lake birkah water moyyah rock sakhrah, plu. sukhūi wave mōgah, plu. ámwāg shore barr, shāti, sāhil garden gineynah, plu. ganāyii reservoir khazzān mound kom, plu. kimān the first cataract shallālah el āuwal the second cataract shallālah et-tāni clay tīn clear water moyyah rāyqah cold water moyyah bāridah hot water moyyah sukhnah 3. Minerals and Metals. ”

“ Travelling. Voyage Safar journey Safar railway-station mahattah steamboat wabūr captain kabtān, rā,is sailor marākbi, bāḥri custom-house gumruk key muftaḥ, plu. mafatīḥ arrival wusūl railway sikkat el ḥadīd train qattr luggage 'afsh bag kīs, plu. ”

“ Nuss Qirsh 1⁄2 5 — — 1⁄2 — 1 2 Millièmes 2⁄10 2 — — 1⁄2 — 1 1 Millième 1⁄10 1 — — 1⁄4 — 1⁄2 There are Copper pieces of 1⁄2 and 1⁄4 Millième (2-Para and 1-Para pieces) ; these are used only by the very poor.
Note.—English tourists are recommended to have their credit notes cashed in English Gold. ”

“ To abandon [3] tarak ,, accept qebel, 'imp. igbal ,, admire ta'aggab ,, agree to ittafaq 'ala ,, allow azan, samaḥ ,, alter ghāyyar, imp ghāyyar ,, answer gawab ,, appear zahar ,, arrive wasal ,, ask sa,al imp. ”