An #EveryDayArabic Post

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An #EveryDayArabic Post

Imam Marc Manley

Dec 3

 

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In November I started teaching a new Arabic class, "The Arabic Reader" and there have been many great questions from the students thus far. One such question was about the field of grammar known as Ṣarf (morphology) specifically relating to the patters nouns are constructed on, known as a wazn (وزن) or a ṣīghah (صيغة). And while it can seem overwhelming for new students who might mistakenly think they have to master thousands of bits of information just to have basic reading skills I can say confidently this is not the case. What causes this frustration and anxiety is we sometimes latch on to a thing thinking it will be the secret to unlocking all of the secrets but I can also say, confidently, this is not the case. In fact, Dr. Hāshim ṬaHa Shallāsh states this in his book dedicated to this very topic:

لاحظ اللغويون أن الفعل الثلاثي المجرد ذو معانٍ كثيرة لا تكاد تنحصر لذلك لم يحاولوا استقصاء معاني أوزانه وإنما نظروا إليها نظرة عامة ووضعوا فيها أحكاماً عامة، ومن ذلك ما ذكره ابن يعيش (المعروف بـ ابن الصائغ): "أن فَعَلَ مفتوح العين يقع على معانٍ كثيرة لا تكاد تنحصر توسعاً فيه لخفة البناء واللفظ، واللفظ إذا خفَّ كثر استعماله واتسع التصرف فيه. من أوزان الفعل ومعانيها.

“The scholars of language have observed that the triliteral-verb (الفعل الثلاثي المجرد) has numerous meanings that are almost limitless. For this reason, they did not attempt to exhaustively list the meanings of its patterns; instead, they viewed them from a point of generality and so established overarching rules governing them. One such example is the Syrian scholar, Ibn Ya’ish (known also as Ibn al-Ṣāʾigh) mentioned: “That the فَعَلَ pattern, with a fatḥah on the middle root letter, encompasses numerous meanings that are nearly uncountable, due to its flexibility in usage as well as its lightness in structure and pronunciation. The lighter a word is, the more frequently it is used, and thus the broader its applications.” – from Awzān al-Fiʿl wa Maʿānīhā (Verbal Forms and Their Associated Meanings).

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Listen now · 1:34

The point here is that while ṣarf is indeed a very important and often neglected aspect of ASL (Arabic as a second language) studies and textbooks, it is not, however, the only thing to learn. Other aspects of language learning are far more critical to the overall goal and often these aspects are far simpler as well: consistent time put in; exercises and drills to reinforce retention as well as building an overall “muscle memory” in book literacy and speech. This is not at all dissimilar to the phenomenon we have today on social media as it relates to fitness and weight training. Many who aspire to better physical fitness, and I count myself as one of them, are often inspire by individuals we see online who display what we perceive as being physically fit. We also often mistakenly associate the equipment that they use and the supplements they imbibe (and sell!) as being a quintessential part of the fitness journey. This results in many of us spinning our wheels, hoping from supplement to supplement, plan to plan, and making little to no progress. So it is with the multitude of textbooks and other devices available to us today as we pursue facility with the Arabic language but all too seldom we’re simply not picking up the pen and paper and sitting down to do the necessary mundane work.

So be neither discouraged nor distracted. Know it’s far more process than product.

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