Saturday, February 11, 2006

Al-lughatu-l-'arabiyyah - Arabic

People are rightfully wont to ask what the Arabic We use means. Therefore, We write this post regarding Arabic, which will be updated as may be needed. All terms shall be presented according to classical Arabic and contemporary Arabic renditions.

Regular
muSlihoon - explained here
inna naHnu-l-a'lamoon (inna naHnu al-a'lamoon) (with its many version on this blog) - "indeed, we are the knowers of all," a parody of sorts of what Muslims are wont to put at the end of their statements: "inna-llaahu-l-a'lamoon," "indeed, God is the knower of all."

Phrases and other Arabic (alphabetical according to the first word of the phrase, according to the English alphabet, determined by the beginning letter thereof):
'alaihi, 'alaihaa, 'alahim - "upon him, upon her, upon them" (often as part of a blessing or curse said or written after someone's name); whenever "'alaihi" appears, it can be replaced by any of these terms.
'Ashoorah - "tenth," referring to the tenth day of Muharram (the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar), on which day Shiites commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein.
HafiZahu-llaahu wa barakaatu-llaahi wa raHmatuhu 'alayhi - May God keep/guard him, and may His blessings and mercy be upon him
la'nah allaah 'alaihi / la'natu-llaah 'alaihi - "may God's curse be upon him"
ummah - "community," referring to the worldwide Muslim community

Languages other than Arabic:
Amerika ist nicht das Vierte Reich (German) - "America is not the Fourth Reich."
NSDAP (German) - "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei," the German National Socialist Workers' Party, often called the Nazi Party.
Vali (Persian) - "Supreme Leader," the supreme leader of the Irani government based on Grand Aayatollaah Ruhollaah Musavi Khomeyni's Velaayat-e Faqeh. Khomeyni was Iran's first Vali. The corrent Vali (successor to Khomeyni) is Grand Aayatollaah Ali Khaamene'i.
Velaayat-e Faqeh (Persian) - "Government by the Jurisprudent," the theory of theocratic government published, promoted, and implemented by Grand Aayatollaah Ruhollaah Musavi Khomeyni.

Henceforth, a uniform system of transliteration shall be used. It shall be explained here:
The alphabet (name of the letter, how it shall be represented, sound it makes):
alif; a, aa; when short ("a"), like the "a" in "about"; when long ("aa"), like the "a" in "father."
baa; b; as in English
taa; t; a dental "t"
thaa; th; like the "th" in "thing"
jeem; j; as in English
Haa; H; a throaty "h"
khaa; kh; an aspirated "h," like the "ch" in the Scottish word "loch" or the German name "Bach" (no English equivalent)
daal; d; as in English
dhaal; dh; like the "th" in "the"
raa; r
zaa; z; as in English
seen; s; as in English
sheen; sh; as in English
Saad; S; a palatal "s" (no English equivalent)
Daad; D; a palatal "d" (no English equivalent)
Taa; T; a palatal "t" (no English equivalent)
Zaa; Z; a palatal "z" (no English equivalent)
'ayin; '; the epiglottal stop, it is a consonant in its own right, and is different from the hamza' (not always transcribed), which is a glottal stop (no English equivalent)
ghayin; gh; like the French "r" (no English equivalent)
faa; f; as in English
qaaf; q; a "k" further down the throat (no English equivalent)
kaaf; k; as in English
laam; l; as in English
meem; m; as in English
noon; n; as in English
haa; h; as in English
waaw; w, u, oo; when a consonant ("w"), like the "w" in "water"; when a short vowel ("u"), like the "oo" in "book"; when a long vowel ("oo"), like the "oo" in "moon"
yaa; y, i, ee; when a consonant, like "y" in "year"; when a short vowel ("i"), like the "i" in "bit"; when a long vowel ("ee"), like the "ee" in "meet"

Rather than rendering long vowels as double the vowel (aa, ii, uu), We shall render them differently (long "a" = "aa," long "i" = "ee," long "u" = "oo"), which will make it easier to be read.

Five consonants are represented by upper-case letters: Haa, Saad, Daad, Taa, and Zaa.

inna naHnu-l-a'lamoon.

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