English-Arabic vocabulary for the use of officials in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Comp. in the Intelligence department of the Egyptian army, by Captain H.F.S. Amery ..

1905·18.1 MB·English

by  Amery, Harold François Saphir, b. 1877

Digitized by the Internet Arciiive
in 2007 witii funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.arcliive.org/details/englisliarabicvocOOameriala
ENGLISH-ARABIC VOCABULARY
FOR THE USE OF OFFICIALS
IX THE
ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN.
COMPILED IX THE
INTKLLIGENCE DEPARTMENT OF THE EGYPTIAN ARMY
BT
Captain H.F.S. AMERY,
The black watch — attacheo e. a.)
i
CAIRO
:
AL-MOKATTAM PRINTING OFFICE.
1905.

CONTENTS.
Page
Prefacf ... I
hitroductioii IV
Vocabulary . 1
Appendix A Colours 408
—
B Days of ^V 410
_ —
c Months 411
— —
D Noises made to drive animals etc 413
— —
E Numbers. 414
— —
F Ranks, Titles nnd Offices. 416
— —
G Sakia and Parts ... 424
— —
H Weights and Measures 427
.
Specimens of the Colloquial Language 432
—
Sudanese Songs ... 44b
Arabic Eulogy ... 453
—
Picface ... 454
2107701
L

—
PREFACE
This Vocabulary has been compiled primarily for the use
of British Officers and Oflicials serving in the Anglo-Eoyptian
Sudan, but it is hoped that itmay also prove ofsome use to visitors
to the Sudan, or to those interested in the various dialects of the
Arabic lang-uao^e.
It consists of two distinct elements :
1. The technical terms in use in the Egyptian Army
and in the various Departments of the Sudan Govern-
ment.
2. Some 3,500 words of the most common daily usage,
translated into the Arabic equivalents emploj'ed for tliese
in conversation among the Arabs of the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan.
^To avoid repetition and for convenience in finding words,
these two elements liave been arranged together in alphalietical
or<ler, the technical terms bcyfg distliignished l)y having a (f.)
placed after them.
Where a word is peculiar to, or of more frequent use in any
particular part of the Sudan, this is shewn after the word in the
Arabic and transliteration. AVhcre no mark follows the word, it
implies that the word is understood all over the Arabic speaking
Sudan.
As the British Officers of the Egyptian Army and Officials of
the Sudan Government are required to read and write Arabic,
—
it has not been considered nec'essary to adopt any elaborate system
oftransliteration, and the English version of the Arabic words is
only intended as a guide to the nearest approach to the true sound
which a beginner is likely to attain, and consequently Arabic
symbols have not always been represented by the same English
letter. Thus, in thetransliterated form ofthe Arabic, the letter "t'"
may stand for o d» oi* A* and "d" for :> ':> ^Jf ov ^ etc.
Also the fatha is represented sometimes by "a", sometimes by
"e", according to its local pronunciation.
The letter «- has been represented by an " put over the letter
with which it is sounded; the ' hamza has been shewn bv an '
The values given to the English vowels and dipthongs are
shewn in the following table:
a as "u" in but
fi "a" in father
y>
e "e" in let or "e" in brother
11
i ?i "i" in hit or "y" in duty
1 "i" in ravine or "ee" in bee
)•)
o "o" in got
15
o "o" in mote or "oa" in goat
•>i
u 11 "u" in ji'^t or "oo" in foot
u "u" in flute or "oo" in boot
11
ei "ay" in 2)lay
11
ai 1» "i" in i-tjnder
au "ou" in shout.
11
The system in fact is that of the "Rules of Orthograjiliy for
native names of places, persons, etc. in Egypt and tlie Sudan",
pu])lished by the Intelligence Department, War Othce, Cairo,
with the addition of marks to distinguish the long and short
vowels, etc.