This Arabic language-learning classic is now enhanced with a bound-in CD of MP3 files. Designed to provide beginners in Arabic with maximum linguistic and cultural exposure in a short period (about 100 hours of contact time), this book consists of sixteen lessons with dialogs and exercises dealing with day-to-day scenarios: greeting people, getting a taxi, making phone calls, asking directions, discussing the weather, and effectively communicating with police and duty officers. The lessons help the reader to navigate situations at gas stations, marketplaces, restaurants, and in their own households. Formal Spoken Arabic (FSA) is a kind of lingua franca that is more natural than speaking Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the literary form of the language. FSA uses the shared features of the various urban colloquial dialects, defaulting to Levantive (terms common to Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan) where the spoken dialects diverge. Each lesson includes cultural notes on American-Arab interactions, notes on learner strategies for managing Arabic conversations with a limited amount of language, and grammar explanations in clear, non-technical language. Although the main dialogue for each lesson is presented in Arabic script, transcriptions are used to accelerate spoken performance. The FAST Course includes grammatical explanations, English-Arabic and Arabic-English glossaries, appendices listing common idioms, courtesy expressions and other useful terms, instructor's notes, and drills aided and accompanied by the CD. Originally created for diplomats, this is an expanded and enhanced edition of a work originally developed by the U.S. State Department as a six-week intensive, or "FAST" (Familiarization and Short-Term) course, and is easily adaptable for students in Middle East area studies. Travelers heading for posts in the Arab world who quickly need to gain a basic ability to converse in day-to-day situations will find Formal Spoken Arabic FAST Course an invaluable companion.

A textbook for learners who have previously studied, or are concurrently studying Modern Standard Arabic and Arabic script and phonology--for example college students who have studied written Arabic but find they are unable to talk informally with their Arab friends. The audio exercises on the disk are keyed to the text, and drill students on listening and speaking. The first edition was published in 1989. Annotation :2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic is a textbook in spoken Moroccan Arabic that is written for beginners who are unfamiliar with the Arabic language, alphabet, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Written in Latinate transcription it is carefully designed to present these elements in a progressive, user-friendly, step-by-step manner. Following the initial pronunciation introductions and practice, there are 130 lessons consisting of a text where a small number of phrases and sentences illustrate grammatical points. These sections also contain exercises in new grammar and vocabulary. Each lesson is structured in a way that guides the learner naturally and comfortably into an understanding of the structure of Moroccan Arabic. From there, the course progresses into ninety-seven short, conversational dialogs that place the student in a variety of social situations. First introduced to Arabic language students in the 1960s, A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic still has no equal for clarity and ease of use. An audio CD of MP3 files that further aid and enhance the lessons is now bound into this volume.

The Modern Arabic Literary Language is a thoughtful examination of the changes that the Arabic language has undergone in its transition from its roots in classical Arabic to a language able to meet the demands of twentieth-century life. In this volume a respected and masterful scholar of the Arabic language Jaroslav Stetkevych notes the ways that new words have been incorporated into the language, ranging from deriving new terms from existing roots (for example, the word for "newspaper" derives from the word meaning "sheet to write on") to downright assimilation of foreign words. Also noting the changes in grammar and semantics, Stetkevych illustrates how literary Arabic has become a more flexible language. Originally published in 1970, this volume is a clear assessment of lexical and stylistic developments in Modern Literary Arabic. This classic book is an important resource for scholars and advanced students of Arabic language and linguistics who wish to study the complexities of language change and lexical expansion.

The Middle East has become an increasingly important place in the minds and concerns of the English-speaking world. This volume, originally published under the title Jerusalem Arabic, is the gold standard for anyone beginning to learn the Arabic spoken by Palestinians, or those who live in Syria or Lebanon. Written in transcription using the Roman alphabet, the "Levantine" Arabic, or Jerusalem dialect, is a central Middle Eastern dialect and is recognized by Arabs virtually anywhere--in large part due to the Palestinian diaspora--and a good choice for anyone wishing to learn a base Arabic dialect. Enhanced by a CD with MP3 files (replacing the former set of nine audiocassettes), Eastern Arabic provides the best available structured introduction to the essential features and vocabulary of spoken Palestinian Arabic.

In 1968 Margaret K. Omar (Nydell) spent four months in a small Egyptian village called Sheikh Mubarak. Located in Middle Egypt near Al-Minya, residents of Sheik Mubarak speak in a dialect closer to Sa'eedi, not the dialect spoken in Cairo. Omar spent time there conducting interviews, examinations, and taping sessions with children and families to study primary language acquisition in non-Western languages. Based on her fieldwork, Omar describes the physical and social environment in which the native language was learned, the development of early communication and speech, and when and how children learn the phonology, vocabulary, morphology, and syntactical patterns of Egyptian Arabic. Omar makes comparisons with aspects of language acquisition of other languages, primarily English, and explores implications for the theory of language acquisition. Originally published in 1973, this book is the most thorough and complete analysis of the stages in which children learn Arabic as a first language. The Arabic in this book is presented in transcription, making the information accessible to all linguists interested in language acquisition.

This dictionary provides Syrian terms for the language needed in everyday life. The Syrian used is that of educated Muslims in Damascus, which would be understood not only elsewhere in Syria but also in the broader linguistic area of "Syrian Arabic," which encompasses present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Arab-speaking population of Israel. The book includes examples, idioms, and common phrases using the word in question. The Arabic terms are presented in transcription.

This important reissue, enhanced with an audio CD to supplement the first chapter of the text (sounds), is another addition to Georgetown's world-renowned Arabic language-learning materials and is considered to be one of the most outstanding descriptions of any Arabic dialect written for the English-speaking world. It is comprehensive in its coverage--ranging from phonology (how sounds are organized and used) to morphology (sound, syllable, and word structure), with an analysis that is insightful and original. It contains hints on how to master nuances in dialectical pronunciation, as well as the differences of meaning in their various forms. Based on the dialect of Damascus, the language covered here is part of what has variously been called "Syrian Arabic," "Eastern Arabic," and "Levantine Arabic," encompassing the dialects of Beirut, Amman, and Jerusalem--as well as Damascus--with references made to regional variants. In a world drawn ever closer to events in the Middle East, this comprehensive grammar reference is yet another extraordinary addition to the growing library of Arabic language-learning materials published by Georgetown University Press.

The revised and updated edition of Modern Arabic takes this authoritative, concise linguistic description of the structure and use of modern Arabic to an invaluable new level. Clive Holes traces the development of the Arabic language from Classical Arabic, the written language used in the 7th century for the Qur'an and poetry, through the increasingly symbiotic use of Modern Standard Arabic or MSA (the language of writing and formal speech) and dialectal Arabic (the language of normal conversation). He shows how Arabic has been shaped over the centuries by migration, urbanization, and education--giving us "a balanced, dispassionate, and accurate picture of the structures, functions, and varieties of the contemporary Arabic language." Holes explains the structural characteristics--phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and lexical and stylistic developments--that the majority of the dialects share, as distinguished from Modern Standard Arabic. He also shows how native speakers use both types of Arabic for different purposes, with MSA being the language of power and control as used on television and in political speeches, and the dialects serving as the language of intimacy and domesticity. He further shows how MSA and spoken dialects are not as compartmentalized as one might be led to believe. Modern Arabic illustrates the use of the Arabic language in real life, whether in conversation, news bulletins and newspaper articles, serious literature, or song. This new edition takes into account research published in several areas of Arabic linguistics since the first edition was published in 1995. It includes more extensive comment on the North African Arabic vocabulary of Modern Standard Arabic, more information about "mixed" varieties of written Arabic that are not in MSA (especially in Egypt), updated references, explanations, and many new examples. All Arabic is transcribed, except for an appendix presenting the Arabic alphabet and script. Students of the Arabic language will find Modern Arabic without peer--as will those general linguists who are interested in discovering how Arabic compares structurally and sociolinguistically with European languages.

This classic volume presents the core vocabulary of everyday life in Morocco--from the kitchen to the mosque, from the hardware store to the natural world of plants and animals. It contains myriad examples of usage, including formulaic phrases and idiomatic expressions. Understandable throughout the nation, it is based primarily on the standard dialect of Moroccans from the cities of Fez, Rabat, and Casablanca. All Arabic citations are in an English transcription, making it invaluable to English-speaking non-Arabists, travelers, and tourists--as well as being an important resource tool for students and scholars in the Arabic language-learning field.