4.2 People and Family — Epoché
What you will be able to do Name the members of a family, including the four relatives English lumps together as uncle and aunt. Say why عَمّ and خَال are built on different roots and cannot be confused. Use the two words for family and say which covers the household and which the whole kin. Read the courtesy titles and use them in front of a name. Say why the verb meaning to be born is a passive in Arabic. Prerequisites : 4.1 and the first forty words These forty are narrower than the last forty and far easier, because most of them name something an English speaker can point at. The interest is in where the two languages divide the ground differently, and in this field they divide it very differently indeed. Arabic kinship terms are more numerous than English ones and more exact. Where English has one uncle, Arabic has two words built on unrelated roots; where English has cousin, Arabic has a phrase that says which uncle's child is meant; and where English has family, Arabic has two words that are not interchangeable. None of this is difficult, but a learner who translates word for word will be understood to say something more specific than he intends, or less. Word list Forty words: the family, the words of address that go with it, and a small group of verbs about being born, living and dying that the subject brings with it. Word (with harakat) Meaning Notes وَالِد ar wālid father, parent Root و-ل-د Pattern / form (I–X) faail Plural وَالِدُون Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English the doer shape of 2.4 from the verb for giving birth, so it means the begetter; its dual means the parents الوالد ينتظر. Father is waiting. الْوَالِد يَنْتَظِر. Father is waiting. وَالِدَة ar wālida mother Root و-ل-د Pattern / form (I–X) faaila Plural وَالِدَات Part of speech noun, feminine How it differs from English the feminine of the last; more formal than the short word of 3.8 جَدّ ar jadda grandfather; ancestor Root ج-د-د Pattern / form (I–X) fal Plural أَجْدَاد Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English the plural is the ordinary word for ancestors, so the family tree is in one word جَدَّة ar jadda grandmother Root ج-د-د Pattern / form (I–X) fala Plural جَدَّات Part of speech noun, feminine How it differs from English formed from the last by the feminine ending of 3.2 عَمّ ar ʕamma paternal uncle, father's brother Root ع-م-م Pattern / form (I–X) fal Plural أَعْمَام Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English Arabic keeps the father's brother and the mother's brother entirely apart, where English has one uncle عَمَّة ar ʕimma paternal aunt, father's sister Root ع-م-م Pattern / form (I–X) fala Plural عَمَّات Part of speech noun, feminine How it differs from English the feminine of the last, and again distinct from the mother's sister خَال ar ḵālin maternal uncle, mother's brother Root خ-و-ل Pattern / form (I–X) faal Plural أَخْوَال Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English a different root from the father's brother, not a variant of it أنا وهو أولاد خال. Him and me are cousins. أَنَا وَهُوَ أَوْلَاد خَال. Him and me are cousins. خَالَة ar maternal aunt, mother's sister Root خ-و-ل Pattern / form (I–X) faala Plural خَالَات Part of speech noun, feminine How it differs from English the fourth of the four words English covers with uncle and aunt زَوْج ar zawj husband; one of a pair Root ز-و-ج Pattern / form (I–X) fal Plural أَزْوَاج Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English the same word means a husband and one of a matching pair, which is the older sense زوج امه مسلم. His stepfather is Muslim. زَوْج أُمِّهِ مُسْلِم. His stepfather is Muslim. زَوْجَة ar zawja wife Root ز-و-ج Pattern / form (I–X) fala Plural زَوْجَات Part of speech noun, feminine How it differs from English the feminine of the last, formed regularly هي زوجة أبيه. That's his stepmother. هِيَ زَوْجَة أَبِيهِ. That's his stepmother. اِمْرَاة ar woman, wife Root م-ر-أ Pattern / form (I–X) fila Plural نِسَاء Part of speech noun, feminine How it differs from English its plural comes from a completely different root, as English person and people once did إنها امراة جميلة. She's a beautiful woman. إِنَّهَا اِمْرَاة جَمِيلَة. She's a beautiful woman. رَجُل ar rajila man Root ر-ج-ل Pattern / form (I–X) faul Plural رِجَال Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English repeated from 2.7 because it is the pair of the last word and because its plural is irregular شَابّ ar šābb young man; young Root ش-ب-ب Pattern / form (I–X) faal, doubled Plural شَبَاب Part of speech noun, adjective How it differs from English its plural is the ordinary word for youth as a body of people إنه شاب جدا. He's so young. إِنَّهُ شَابّ جِدّاً. He's so young. عَجُوز ar ʕajūz old person, old Root ع-ج-ز Pattern / form (I–X) fauwl Plural عَجَائِز Part of speech noun, adjective How it differs from English used of people only; a different word is used of old things, as in 2.2 سَيِّدَة ar sayyida lady, Mrs Root س-و-د Pattern / form (I–X) faaila Plural سَيِّدَات Part of speech noun, feminine How it differs from English the courtesy title before a woman's name, and also the ordinary word for a lady السيدة تشرب الآن ماءا. The lady is now drinking water. السََّيِّدَة تَشْرَب الْآنَ مَاءاً. The lady is now drinking water. سَيِّد ar sayyid gentleman, Mr; master Root س-و-د Pattern / form (I–X) fail Plural سَادَة Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English the courtesy title and the word for a master are the same, which they once were in English too أُسْتَاذ ar ʔustāḏ teacher, professor; sir Plural أَسَاتِذَة Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English a Persian borrowing used as a title of respect far beyond the university الأستاذ على حق. The teacher is right. الْأُسْتَاذ عَلَى حَقّ. The teacher is right. طَبِيب ar ṭabīb doctor, physician Root ط-ب-ب Pattern / form (I–X) faiil Plural أَطِبَّاء Part of speech noun, masculine How it differs from English from a root meaning