User talk:Forscher

Selam everybody!

I´m starting this wiki after years trying to learn Arabic, but without going far... The main causes are: 1) NOBODY SPEAKS MSA (Modern Standard Arabic). Believe, NOBODY. Many Arabic teachers told me of how frustrated they got as they ordered water in Cairo, speaking MSA and the waiters answered something as: "Sorry, I don´t speak German, d´you speak English?" (in English, of course). 2) There are many dialects, but the courses in dialect are just for beginners.

So, I decided to create here a mixed dialect to be used in Middle Eastern countries (Egypt, Jordania, Libanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuweit, Saudi Arabia, and in the Gulf countries). Suggestions are welcome. I´m no Arab, no moslem, I do it for the curiosity and love for languages.

Arabic grammar

1.1 Pronunciation

ch= as in English (chat) gh= as the Parisian French "r" kh= as the German "ch" (ach) ´= sound said from the throat, a heavy forced a H= an emphatic h, said from the back of the throat ´= glottal stop q= emphatic k

Some sounds are peculiar to some dialects, as "zh" (French "j" as in "jour") in Lebanese, "g" (as in "get") in Egyptian and "j" (as in "Jack) in most dialects for the letter "jiim". In this case, I´m going to use "j". The Egyptian dialect doesn´t accept the sound "ey", it shortens it to "e". I´ll keep "ey" sound.

1.2 Article

Arabic has one article for both singular and plural. MSA has "al", some dialects have "el" or "il". I´m going to use "el". An important concept here is solar and lunar consonants: Solar consonants ( t,d, r, z, s, n) cause the "l" in "el" to be assimilated, so: shems (sun) el+shems= esh-shems (the sun).

1.3 Nouns

1.3.1 Gender

Arabic nouns have two genders- masculine or feminine. Nouns ending in "a" (or "e") are feminine. Ex: ahwa (or ahwe)- coffee

Feminine are also names of some countries, cities and parts of the body: Ex: Masr- Egypt ras= head

1.3.2 Plural

1.3.2.1 Dual

Dual is a form of plural for two things, it´s very common for parts of the body. It´s formed by adding the suffix "eyn" Ex: id (hand)- ideyn (hands) In case of feminine words ending in "a", a "t" is added before "eyn". jizma (shoe)- jizmateyn (shoes)

1.3.2.2 Regular plural

For masculine nouns "iin" is added, for feminine words "aat".

mu´allim (teacher)- mu´allimiin (teachers) majalla (magazine)- majallaat (magazines)

1.3.2.3 Irregular Plural

Many nouns have irregular nouns. I advise to learn them as you learn the singular form.