Arabic, the official language of more than 27 countries, is the mother tongue of more than 420 million people. It’s spoken throughout the Middle East, from Morocco to Iraq. Additionally, because Arabic is the language of the Koran and Islam, more than 1.3 billion people across the world understand it.

Due to recent geopolitical events, Arabic has catapulted to the top of the list of important world languages. Even in countries where Arabic isn’t the official language, people are scrambling to master this important and vital global language.

For people in North America and Europe, at first glance Arabic seems like a difficult language to master; after all, it isn’t a Romance language and doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. However, like any other language, Arabic is governed by a set of rules, and when you master these rules, you’re able to speak Arabic like a native speaker!

Arabic For Dummies, 3rd Edition, is designed to identify and explain the rules that govern the Arabic language in the easiest and most interactive way possible. I organize each chapter in a straightforward and coherent manner and present the material in an interactive and engaging way.

About This Book

Unlike most books on the Arabic language, I have written Arabic For Dummies, 3rd Edition, in a way that gives you the most accurate and in-depth information available to help you develop and improve your conversational skills. The book is modular in nature, which means every chapter is organized in such a way that you don’t have to read the whole book in order to understand the topic that’s discussed. Feel free to jump to chapters and sections to suit your specific needs. Also, I explain every grammatical and linguistic point in plain English so that you can incorporate the concept immediately. I take great care to explain every concept clearly and succinctly.

To provide the best foundation and the widest usage for students of Arabic, Arabic For Dummies, 3rd Edition, focuses on Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which is the most widely used form of Arabic in the world. Arabic basically has three different types:

• Koranic Arabic: This is the Arabic used to write the Koran, the holy book for Muslims. This form of Arabic is very rigid and hasn’t changed much since the Koran was written approximately 1,500 years ago. Koranic Arabic is widely used in religious circles for prayer, discussions of Islamic issues, and serious deliberations. Its usage is limited primarily to a strict religious context. It’s the equivalent of Biblical English.

• The regional dialects: They’re the most informal type of Arabic. They tend to fall into four geographical categories:

  • North African dialect (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya)
  • Egyptian dialect (Egypt)
  • Gulf Arabic (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates)
  • Levantine dialect (parts of Syria, Palestine, and Jordan)

  Even though the words are pronounced differently and some of the everyday expressions differ dramatically from region to region, speakers from different regions can understand each other. The common denominator for the regional dialects is that they’re all based on MSA.

• Modern Standard Arabic (MSA): This is the most widely used and understood form of Arabic in the world. MSA is the language that Arabic anchors use to present the news, and professionals use to discuss business and technical issues.

Throughout the book, each new Arabic word appears in Arabic script and boldface, followed by the transliteration system used by the Library of Congress, which is how you properly pronounce it (with the stressed syllables italicized), and its English equivalent in parentheses.

Because this is a language book, I include some sections to help you master the linguistic concepts with greater ease. Here’s a description of the specialty sections you find in each chapter:

• Talkin’ the Talk dialogues: Here’s where you get to see Arabic in action. These common Arabic dialogues show you how to use important vocabulary words and terms you should be aware of.
• Words to Know blackboards: An important part of mastering a new language is becoming familiar with important words and phrases. Key terms that I recommend you memorize are included in these sections, which present the transcription of the Arabic word in Arabic script, the transliteration (the pronunciation; stressed syllables are underlined), and the translation.
• Fun & Games activities: The aim of Arabic For Dummies, 3rd Edition, is to help you master the Arabic language in an interactive and engaging way. With that in mind, each chapter ends with a Fun & Games section that lets you review the key concept covered in the chapter in a fun but effective way.

Foolish Assumptions

In writing Arabic For Dummies, 3rd Edition, I made the following assumptions about you:

• You’ve had very little exposure (or none at all) to the Arabic language. Or maybe you’ve been exposed to Arabic but are interested in brushing up on your language skills.
• You’re interested in mastering Arabic for either personal or professional reasons.
• You want to be able to speak a few words and phrases so that you can communicate basic information in Arabic.
• You’re not looking for a dry book on Arabic grammar; you want to discover Arabic in a fun and engaging manner.
• You’re looking for a practical course that will have you speaking basic Arabic in no time!

Icons Used in This Book

In order to help you get in and get out of this book easily and efficiently, I use icons (little pictures) that identify important pieces of information by category. The following icons appear in this book:

When you see this icon, make sure you read carefully. It points to information that will directly improve your Arabic language skills.

I use this icon to bring to your attention information that you definitely want to keep in mind when studying and practicing Arabic.

Discovering a new language can be a wonderful experience. However, there are always potential pitfalls to avoid, whether grammatical, linguistic, or cultural. This icon points out important notions about Arabic that may trip you up.

Grammar is the glue that binds a language together. Even though this isn’t a grammar book, it does include important grammar lessons you need to be aware of. This icon is attached to major grammar points that will help you master the Arabic language.

This icon points out nonverbal methods of communication common in Arabic-speaking countries and among Arabic speakers. I use this icon to fill the gap between language and culture so that you know the cultural contexts in which you can use newly discovered words and phrases.

Beyond the Book

This book is full of useful information, but you can find even more online! Check out this book’s Cheat Sheet, which contains useful questions, common greetings and expressions, days of the week, and a guide to numbers all in a handy portable format. Just go to www.dummies.com and search for “Arabic For Dummies Cheat Sheet.”

You can also hear all the Talkin’ the Talk dialogues provided in the book to get a better handle on correct pronunciation. Just go to www.dummies.com/go/arabicfd to access the online audio tracks.

Where to Go from Here

This book is organized so that you can jump around from topic to topic. You don’t have to read the whole thing. Want to know how to ask for directions in Arabic? Jump to Chapter 8. Need to exchange money in an Arabic country? Check out Chapter 15. Want to figure out how to greet friends and family? Check out Chapter 4. Peruse the table of contents or index, find a topic that interests you, and start reading.

IN THIS PART …

Get the lowdown on the basics of Arabic.

Familiarize yourself with Arabic script and the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet.

Get an overview of Arabic grammatical and linguistic constructs and find out how nouns verbs, and adjectives interact with each other to create phrases and sentences.

Try out basic greetings and expressions.

Work on numbers, dates, and measurements.

Practice some useful Arabic at the office and around the house.

Taking Stock of What’s Familiar

If English is your primary language, part of grasping a new لغة (lu.ghah) (language) is creating connections between the كلمات (ka.li.māt) (words) of the language, in this case Arabic and English. You may be surprised to hear that quite a few English words trace their origins to Arabic. For example, did you know that “magazine,” “candy,” and “coffee” are actually Arabic words? Table 1-1 lists some familiar English words with Arabic origins.

As you can see from the table, Arabic has had a major influence on the English language. Some English words such as “admiral” and “arsenal” have an indirect Arabic origin, whereas others, such as “coffee” and “cotton,” are exact matches. The influence runs the other way, too, especially when it comes to relatively contemporary terms. For example, the word تلفزيون (ti.li.fiz.yōn) (television) comes straight from the word “television.” As is often the case with languages, Arabic and English tend to influence each other, which is what makes studying them so much fun.

Discovering the Arabic Alphabet

Unlike English and other Romance languages, you write and read Arabic from right to left. Like English, Arabic has both vowels and consonants, but the main vowels in Arabic aren’t actual letters. Rather, Arabic vowels are symbols that you place on top of or below consonants to create certain sounds. As for consonants, Arabic has 28 different consonants, and each one is represented by a letter. In order to vocalize these letters, you place a vowel above or below the particular consonant. For example, when you put a فتحة (fat.ḥah), a vowel representing the “ah” sound, above the consonant representing the letter “b,” you get the sound “bah” as in “ball.” When you take the same consonant and use a كسرة (kas.rah), which represents the short “i” sound, you get the sound “bih” as in “big.”

To help you get a better grasp of the different letters in the alphabet, I explain vowels and consonants in the following sections.

Speaking Arabic like a Native

In this section, I share a couple of tricks to help you focus on pronunciation of difficult letters that, if you can master, are sure to make you sound like a native speaker. Here are some difficult letters and some related words you should familiarize yourself with:

• أحمر :ح (aḥ.mar) (red); حسن (ḥa.san) (a man’s name); حوار (ḥi.wār) (conversation); حزين (ḥa.zīn) (sad)
• عجيب :ع (‘a.jīb) (amazing); عزيمة (‘a.zī.mah) (determination); عريض (‘a.rīḍ) (wide)
• قف :ق (qif) (stop); قرد (qird) (monkey); قوس (qaws) (bow)
• غضبان :غ (ghaḍ.bān) (angry); غرفة (ghur.fah) (room); غداً (gha.dan) (tomorrow)

The difference between native Arabic speakers and nonnatives is enunciation. If you can enunciate your letters clearly — particularly the more difficult ones — you’ll sound like you’re fluent. Practice these words over and over until you feel comfortable repeating them really quickly and very distinctly. With practice, you can sound more like a native and less like someone who’s just trying to pick up the language. Plus, memorizing these words not only helps with your pronunciation but also helps build your vocabulary.

Figuring Out the Transcription

This book uses the Library of Congress transcription system, which is a widely used and approved transcription and transliteration system. Officially known as the ALA-LC Romanization Scheme, this system was jointly developed and approved by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Library of Congress (LC).

Both the Library of Congress and the American Library Association have a vested interest in having an accurate and widely recognized transcription system for their users. The Library of Congress houses many foreign language texts that need to be archived, shelved, circulated, and used as references by thousands if not millions of users. The transcription essentially allows English speakers access to millions of texts without actually learning the original language script.

In the transliteration in this book, you see letters in the transliteration text that are italicized. The italicized portion of the text should be emphasized during pronunciation; in other words, you have to stress this syllable when speaking the word.

Another common symbol that you see is a small horizontal line over certain vowels, such as the vowel a or the vowel i. In this case, you have to extend the pronunciation of the vowel so that it’s longer than the other vowels. Here’s an example of a word where you would extend the pronunciation: mī.lād (birth). In this case, you have to extend both the vowel i and the vowel a.

Finally, whenever you come across an apostrophe, that means you have to make the ’ayn sound. The transliteration system is straightforward, and you can pick it up very quickly with a little practice.

The Library of Congress system uses Arabic script for the following languages: Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi Persian, Urdu, and even Pashto. As such, the script that I use in this book can also be applied to several different languages as well. In addition to Arabic, the Library of Congress also uses Romanization for Cyrillic languages such as Russian and Serbian, Hebrew, and even Classical Greek languages and dialects.

Because this system is so widespread and covers a wide range of languages, you can rest assured that you’re getting exposed to the most widely accepted transliteration scheme out there. In mastering this system, you can easily apply it to other languages as well.

Getting Better Acquainted with the Script

You may be surprised to find out that the Arabic script isn’t used exclusively for the Arabic language. Rather, the Arabic script is used to depict other important world languages, such as Urdu and Farsi.

Urdu is the official language of Pakistan and is also widely used in parts of India. In total, there are approximately 100 million Urdu speakers worldwide. Farsi, on the other hand, is the official language of Iran, but it’s also widely spoken in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and even Tajikistan — more than 110 million people speak Farsi worldwide. So when you unlock the Arabic script, you get access to other key world languages.

Many folks are daunted by the Arabic script because the letters seem unfamiliar. A common phrase I often hear from students is that the script isn’t relatable to the traditional Roman script used in English and other Romance languages. However, Arabic and Roman scripts share a common history. In many parts of Spain, the Arabic script was used alongside Roman script for centuries. In fact, Arabic script is the second most widely used in the world right after Latin.

Another key difference is that Arabic is written from right to left, which is challenging at first. However, with a little patience and practice you can get used to it very quickly and won’t even realize that you’re reading from right to left! In Chapter 1, I include a word that is associated with each consonant in Arabic. In this section, I expand on that discussion so you can familiarize yourself with the script. Table 2-1 can help you to develop a faster understanding of the script, the words, and their usage in a sentence.

The Arabic script and language may seem daunting at first. But remember that the language is structured in a highly efficient and organized manner, following consistent rules, which I cover in the first chapters of the book, and throughout later chapters as well. After you master these language rules, you can see just how simple and friendly the language actually is!