Alif Baa: Introduction to Arabic Letters and Sounds. Al-Kitaab fii ta allum al -Arabiyya - a textbook for Arabic

213 Pages·1995·11.39 MB·English

by  Mahmoud Al-Batal

ALIF BAA

INTRODUCTION TO ARABIC LETTERS
AND SOUNDS

gla adi

Lat qua Gendt gar od! Je

Kristen Brustad Mahmoud Al-Batal Abbas Al-Tonsi

eel ls bal apaand stag Gries

Georgetown University Press/Washington D.C

a
Georgetown Univessity Press, Washington, D.C.

© 1955 by Georgetown University Press. All tights reserved,
Veinted in the United States of Anvrica

1987 1995,

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data,

dusted Kosten

Abt bon» introduston to Arnie loliers nd sounds / Kristen Brustad,
Mabunend ALData, Aboas ALTonsi.

1, Ambiclanguage-Writing, 2. Arabiclanguage-Alphabet.

Talat, Mahmood Te Tonic “Abbas Tide

Tyenaast 18

ar Toedead

TON DB7SH0-292-6 (paper 56581
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ix

Acknowledgment.

Introduction: The Arabic Alphabet...» 1

Unit One: ig! Bag

1 ali 8
hae a
ae B
ay rr
) 7
fe) 6
2 ltt oue sevsmnnniinnin 2%
2 Bam 2
me HSI0 _ 2
Colture
Tari, Harta 26
idl) Bang
oie Ea
co He 0
Prt rss a 2
L sucka 34
swe *
tw 36
Culture
ao

Meuting and Greeting People
3 tay
Culture

a Edt HEARD
Arabic Dialects.

Unit hour Hails Bag)
2 sind
ese
Lh sheen
ve Saat
La Daul

Forms of Address

Unit Five: Gumalt BagH

faa nearbuniTa

Tu
ite
ty
Bsa
Culture

Taking Leave a

3
5

oa
Unit Sie: Sauda! Bacegl!

a fea
3S wf
Skea.
Jo taan
Yam aif
Le tamenum yaa seat
3 amen on anti seat
Culture

Cotte

Unit Seven: Saal! G33!

omit
ston
ake
Totifunda
Cultne

Unit Bight: aad! Big!
al peat
Tuell apace

dagger alif
Arabic Numerais ancl Numbers (1-10)

coltere
Saying Helle

a9

120
aaa
126
at

a1

12
“Wy
1s
152

155
Unit Nine: aaatil Saag

156
158
2 160
161
Culture
Visiting, 168
Unit Hem: Bylletl Saag!
Alphabet chart - 170
ne-letice particles and prepositions y A i sem cd
Justfition Of Margi snncsneanineannncnncninie TT
Randovriting styles wy
Culture
Development ofthe Arabe Weng Syste 178
Calligraphy o a9
Appendix: Texts ofthe Fgyptian Cotloquial Tislogues
con the Accompanying Videotape... 183

English-Arabic Glossaty scene enmsincne 198
PREFACE
Tome Srcpent
Ahlan: wa Satan! Welcome to Arabic! This lexthook, lif daa, represents Ube

fist ia sceies of textbooks aimed at teaching Arabic to English-speaking sadents,
followed by AEKitaab ft Taal al“ Arabiyya 1 &

‘The presen| book aims lo help you lear ta produce Arabic sounds and waite
its leters, and to Inteoduee to you a number af geectings, common phrases, and
basic vocabulazy, as well ax aspects of Arab culture. The book is accompanied by a
set of audio tapes for you lo use outside of class and a video tape that you wil

watch in class with your teacher,

‘The book consists of an introduction, ten units, an appendix and an English-
Arabic Glossary. The introduction provides a brief overview of same special
characteristics of Arabic, and the ten units present the alphabet in groups following
the modern Arabic order, with the exception that all ofthe Jong vowels are peesented
in the first unit. In describing the saunds, we have avoided technical descriptions,
opting instead [or a moze practical approach involving tips and exercises thal focus
con the points of articulation of the sounds. Tollowing the description of each sound,
we have provided a brief explanation of the writing of the comesponding letter.
Each unit conlaine a number 0: recorded listening exercises and drills on reading,
veviting, connecting letters, and dictation. We have used only mesningful wards in
these exercises, because word structure in Arabic isbased on camsonant-vowel patterns,
and listening to a large number of wwords, even if yon do not knew their memting,
vail help you begin intemalizing these patterns and facilitate learning voeabulary.
We have alsa included in this book examples of authentic or "real-life" Arabic from
nessspapers, books, and magazines. Tinally, we have inched short cultural notes
explaining aspects al the situations that you will see on the accompanying video
tape. The appendix prowides the texts of al she dialogues on the video tape, and the
glossary includes all the vocabulary items introduced in the book,

We believe that itis crucial for you to leam to recognize and produce Arabic
sounds accuratoly from the mutset, for several censonw, Tlest, youl must leaen to
pronounce Arabic correctly in order to communicate effectively with Arabic spealers.
‘Arabic has its own unique beauty, and the extent to which you learn the sounds
‘comrectly reflects, ameng other things, the degree of respect you hove for the language
and its speakers. Second, Arabic sounds are not very difficult, Many non-native
speakers have leamed to pronounce Arabie sounds accurately, and there isn reason
why you should not expect to do se as well, ‘Third, il is importaal to lesen the
sounds correttly now wien you have the time and energy to concentrate on Uneary
Tater you well be concentrating on ather aspects of the ‘anguagy, such as vocabulary
and geamuasas, Fourth, Uhe stricture of the Arabic language is such that being able to
recognize sounds when you hear them will greatly enhance your ability to lea,
understand, and remember vocabulary. Tifth, Arabic is largely phosvetic, which,
‘means that if you eam the sounds correctly nov, you will nol sulfer from spelling
headaches. Tinally, we do not agree with the commonly held assumption that
Arabic is too difficult for non-nalive speakers to learn: all languages require a
Certain ameunt of exposure Hime, anc effort, and the ability to lear a foreign language
is directly related to both the desire to de so an the belie! that you can

Tips for Using This Book:

L. Prepare far active participation in class. Listen to the tapes and prepare the
lesson assigned beforchand, <0 that you will be ready to read and weite. Class me
should be spent practicing, not listening to Tectures,

2. Once is not enough. Whether you are pronouncing new sounds, writing new
letters, o¢ studying voeabulary, you should repeat the activity as many times as you
‘con, Repent until you can produce a sound or wrile a letter easily. Kemember thal
You are training your brain and your muscles to da new things, und this takes
Practice. Listen t the tapes as many times as you con, and go back over items that
‘you mised on the homework, Although most of your stuclies are visually oriented,
you leamed your native language mainty trongh hearing and listening, and not
through reading and writing. Rediscover your native ability to learn Urough listening
by devoting ax much tinte as you can while working through thig book to the
etening and dictalion exercises.

3. Study out loud. ‘The only way to train your brain and your inouth to speak this
language is by doing—thinking about itis not enough!

4. Study in groups, You are much more likely to study actively when you study
swith others, Good group activities include quizzing and diclating to each other, and
‘making up sentences and dialogues,

5. Review constantly. Set aside part of your study time each day to go aver old
material and practice sounds ad letters you learned previously. his investment
will pay off in improved avcuraey in listening, speaking, reading ard writing

6. Expect ta feel tired occasionally. Being Hired is a good sign—it means that you
are concentrating, and that you are training your muscles to produce new sounds
correctly. Remember that you will soon be able to do wasify things that tre you at
frst

We roish you 2 successful ane enjoyable earning experience!
To rae Teacuer

The philosophy behind this textbook represenis a departuve [rom that of
previous alphabet textbooks in several ways. Fits, itis mur belief that everyone can
[produce Arabic sounds accurately, and that it iv necessary to encourage and expect
accusacy frown the outzet, Not only is tis the only opportunity you and the students
saill have to focus all of your attention om the phonetic aspects of Arabic, il is also
Detter to form good habits from the start. Sccond, we believe that all language skills
are jraportant, and that they reinforce each other, The ability to hear the difference
beuseen, for exainple, oJ and gis a necessary prelude to being able to produce
‘them, and the ability to do both will aid in mastering Arabic mosphology, in writing,
and in retaining vocabulary. ‘Third, we believe that Arabic ix ane language, albeit
fone vich in varieties, and that each variety embraces its own level of part of the
culture. br order to unclerstand the language and the culture, students moed te Hearn
Doth formal and spoken varieties. ttis the goal of this textbook series te provide a
framework far introducing students to Both varieties while focusing on the formal;
the extent to which you emphasize each variety will depend on your program and
the needs of your students. We have found thrauga experience that tix upprowch
does not confuse smndents, as long, as spaken variants are introduced as vocabulary
iMenis and expressions, On the conteary, il adds to thelr pool of vocabulary, and,
‘mors importantly, gives them the tools they need to begin communicating with
nalive speakers they might meet or know in their iunediate envionment, who will
rot speak fa them ja formal Arabic

‘The material im this textbook can be covered in twenty to twenty-five contact
hours, clepencting on the amount of time devoted to he various activities, and assuming
‘that the student will devote one to two hors a night te doing the drills. The Rook i
designed so that the student can do much of his or her teaming outside of class,
‘Class time should be spent on practice rather than explanations, We bulieve that itis
xucial for the students to leam the sounds corsectly from the outset. in order to
hholp thent do so, spend as muuch class time as possible on activities Involving fistenlng,
dictation, and reading aloud. Our approach stresses dictation because we believe
thal the mastery of sounds and Ihe ability to relate sounds and weiling muist be
developed early. Repeat sounds and words many times over, and have students
repeat a8 a group to take the pressure oll individual performance. takes sevaral
repetitions of a new o> unfamiliar sound in order to identify it, and several more to
‘be able to produceit,

‘The accompanying video tape contains some basic diatagties that were Blaned
in Egypt in the Cairene dualect. Our decision to use colloquial Arabic was a natural
congequence of our desire to include a cultural component in these materials, and to
tse language forms appropriate to that component. Many culturally important
expressions helang to the colloquial zegister, and inlzoducing the students to thuan
as they naturally occur helps thea to fea that they are beaming to comaunicate
with Arabs. We decided fo use the dialect of Cairo in this frst edilion of the
materials because itis te mast widely understood among Arabic speakers. However
itis nat our desire to impave the teaching of the Buyptin dialect on anyone: if your
ovn dlalect dillers, we encourage you to teach your students the forms with which
you are opinfostable. (We do nut believe sou will find the differences to be very
Brea)

We hope that you will make wse of the accompanying video tape not only for
its Linguistic value but also for its visual and cultural content, You will need 10 use
lhe tape in class in ordor to explain the content. We have distributed the vightesn
dialogues over the first nine units. While we have inehwled short cultural notes in
the book aneant to accompany the video seenes, we have not provided detailed
Tesson plans in order to give you the flexibility te proceed as you wish and focus on
the aspects you deem intportant. Use the ape and cultural notes as starting pointe,
encourage questions and discussion, and expand ab you wikh. We snguest that you
hace the studants listen lo each dialogue several mus as follows: {1) Betore explaining
anything, have them watch for general content, then discuss, and sew what they
tontterstond. (2) Have them watch again, as many times as necessary, to isten for
individual words or expressions, followed by diseussion and explanation of what
‘they heard. (3) Have them watch a final time, after they have understood whet is
said, to focuson howitis said, After that, the students should be ready to try out the
expressions themvelves, 90 let them auake up their own situations and act theay out
‘Your own contribution will be vital to the success of these materials

Do not worry about writing out the dislogues, Tt is good training for the
students to develop confidence in their aural and oral skills al this stage, and they
need ta be encauraged ta rely on thaic “phonographic” rather than their “photographic”
memory. Everybody has nalural aural and oral language learning skills, because
nobody learned their native language through reading. Ax the students master the
alphabet, they will beable to study from the transcribed texts in the appendix,

OF course, na lextbook can take the place of a good teacher. Tt is our hupe
thot these materials will help you to encich your classroom and make leaming Arabic
mn enjoyable experience for yom students.