MATSEC SEC Arabic flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Sun letters (حروف شمسية)

Fourteen consonants that cause the definite article's lām to assimilate in pronunciation, e.g., الشَّمْس 'the sun' is pronounced ash-shams, not al-shams.

Waqf (pausal form)

In formal Arabic, final short vowels and tanwīn are dropped at pause; كِتَابٌ 'a book' becomes كِتَابْ when the speaker stops.

Non-connecting letters

Six Arabic letters (ا د ذ ر ز و) never connect to the following letter, so words like دَار 'house' show a break after the dāl.

Arabic numerals

Eastern Arabic-Indic digits ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩ are read left-to-right as numbers; ١٩٩٩ equals 1999 and the decimal separator is ٫.

MSA vs. dialect

Modern Standard Arabic (al-fuṣḥā) is the formal written and spoken register; regional dialects (ʿāmmiyya) differ in vocabulary and grammar and are not the exam standard.

Arabic case endings

Nouns take ـُ (nominative), ـَ (accusative), or ـِ (genitive) depending on sentence role and prepositions; these endings are often omitted in unvocalised text.

Verbal sentence (جملة فعلية)

A sentence beginning with a verb; the subject (fāʿil) is nominative and the object (mafʿūl bihi) is accusative, e.g., كَتَبَ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ 'the student wrote the lesson'.

Dual form

Arabic marks exactly two with ـَانِ in the nominative and ـَيْنِ in the accusative/genitive, e.g., كِتَابَانِ 'two books', كِتَابَيْنِ 'two books (object)'.

Idāfa (إضافة)

A possessive construction where the possessed noun takes no article or tanwīn and the possessor is genitive, e.g., كِتَابُ الطَّالِبِ 'the student's book'.

Verb Form II

A derived triliteral pattern (فَعَّلَ) often causative or intensive: عَلِمَ 'know' becomes عَلَّمَ 'teach', and كَتَبَ 'write' becomes كَتَّبَ 'make write'.

إنَّ and sisters

Particles such as إِنَّ، أَنَّ، كَأَنَّ، لَكِنَّ make the following noun accusative and the predicate nominative, e.g., إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ.

Triliteral root

Most Arabic words derive from three-consonant roots; the root ك-ت-ب 'write' yields كِتَاب 'book', كَاتِب 'writer', and مَكْتَب 'office'.

Pattern فَعَّال

A noun pattern often denoting a profession or intensive doer, e.g., خَبَّاز 'baker', نَجَّار 'carpenter', and صَحَّاف 'bookseller'.

Place pattern مَفْعَلَة

A derived noun pattern indicating place, e.g., مَدْرَسَة 'school' from د-ر-س 'study' and مَكْتَبَة 'library' from ك-ت-ب 'write'.

Genitive prepositions

Prepositions such as فِي 'in', مِنْ 'from', إِلَى 'to', عَلَى 'on', عَنْ 'about', بِـ 'with', and لِـ 'for' govern the genitive case.

Connectors in comprehension

Words like لَكِنْ 'but', لِأَنَّ 'because', and لِذَلِكَ 'therefore' signal contrast, cause, and result, helping map an argument's structure.

Grammatical gender

Arabic nouns are masculine or feminine; gender is grammatical, not natural, e.g., شَمْس 'sun' is feminine while قَمَر 'moon' is masculine.

VSO vs. SVO

Classical Arabic prefers verb–subject–object order, while modern journalistic Arabic often uses subject–verb–object; both are grammatical.

Arabic essay structure

Formal composition typically follows introduction, body, and conclusion, linked by أَوَّلًا 'firstly', ثَانِيًا 'secondly', and وَأَخِيرًا 'finally'.

Qaṣīda

The classical Arabic ode, often opening with a nasīb (love prelude); Imruʾ al-Qays and al-Mutanabbī are canonical practitioners.

Naskh calligraphy

A legible, cursive Arabic script style widely used in printed books and newspapers, as opposed to decorative thuluth or angular kufic.

ʿĪd al-Fiṭr

The festival marking the end of Ramadan; a common greeting is عِيد مُبَارَك 'blessed Eid', and ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā is the other major festival.

Najīb Maḥfūẓ

Egyptian novelist (Nobel Prize 1988) known for the Cairo Trilogy; his works exemplify modern Arabic narrative prose.

Formal letter opening

Arabic formal letters often open with تحية طيبة 'greetings' and close with وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام 'please accept my highest respect'.

Arabic definite article

الـ (al-) marks definiteness; indefiniteness is marked by tanwīn, e.g., كِتَابٌ 'a book' versus الكِتَابُ 'the book'.

Tanwīn

The double vowel diacritic (ـٌ ـً ـٍ) written on a noun's final letter to mark indefiniteness, e.g., بَيْتٌ 'a house'.

Verb-initial agreement

In a verb-initial sentence, the verb remains singular before a plural subject, e.g., ذَهَبَ الطُّلَّابُ 'the students went'.

Arabic punctuation

Arabic uses ، for comma, ؛ for semicolon, ؟ for question mark, and ! for exclamation; there is no capitalisation to mark sentence starts.

Root ك-ت-ب

The root meaning 'write' yields كَتَبَ 'he wrote', كِتَاب 'book', كَاتِب 'writer', مَكْتَب 'office', and مَكْتَبَة 'library'.

Arabic word order

Verb–subject–object is the classical default, but subject–verb–object is frequent in modern prose; both are accepted in formal writing.

Arabic short vowels

The ḥarakāt (َ ُ ِ ْ ّ) are optional diacritics; in unvocalised text, context and morphology determine pronunciation and meaning.

Arab world

Twenty-two countries stretching from Morocco to Iraq; regional dialects vary, but Modern Standard Arabic is the shared formal register.