Visit [Link]

com to download the full version and

explore more ebooks

Arabic An Essential Grammar 2nd Edition Faruk

Abu-Chacra

_____ Click the link below to download _____

[Link]
grammar-2nd-edition-faruk-abu-chacra/

Explore and download more ebooks at [Link]

Here are some suggested products you might be interested in.
Click the link to download

Greek An Essential Grammar 2nd Edition David Holton

[Link]
edition-david-holton/

Romanian An Essential Grammar 2nd Edition Ramona Gönczöl

[Link]
edition-ramona-gonczol/

Czech An Essential Grammar James Naughton

[Link]
naughton/

Serbian An Essential Grammar Lila Hammond

[Link]
hammond/
Thai An Essential Grammar 1st Edition David Smyth

[Link]
david-smyth/

West Greenlandic An Essential Grammar 1st Edition Lily

Kahn

[Link]
grammar-1st-edition-lily-kahn/

Modern Hebrew An Essential Grammar 3rd Edition Lewis

Glinert

[Link]
grammar-3rd-edition-lewis-glinert/

Spanish An essential grammar 1st Edition Peter T. Bradley

[Link]
edition-peter-t-bradley/

Key Features and Parameters in Arabic Grammar [Link].

Abdelkader Fassi Fehri

[Link]
grammar-prof-dr-abdelkader-fassi-fehri/
Arabic An Essential Grammar 2nd Edition Faruk Abu-
Chacra Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Faruk Abu-Chacra
ISBN(s): 9781138659605, 1138659606
Edition: 2nd
File Details: PDF, 4.17 MB
Year: 2017
Language: english
Arabic

This new edition of Arabic: An Essential Grammar is an up-to-date and

practical reference guide to the most important aspects of the language.
Suitable for beginners, as well as intermediate students, the book offers
a strong foundation for learning the fundamental grammar and structure
of Arabic. The complexities of the language are set out in short, readable
sections, while exercises and examples are provided throughout.
Features of this new edition include:

• coverage of the Arabic script and alphabet

• a chapter on Arabic handwriting
• a guide to pronunciation
• full examples throughout.

Ideal for independent learners and for classroom study, Arabic: An Essential
Grammar is the complete reference guide to the most important aspects of
modern literary Arabic.
Faruk Abu-Chacra is Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Arabic at the University
of Helsinki, Finland.
Routledge Essential Grammars

Essential Grammars are available for the following languages:

Arabic
Catalan
Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Finnish
German
Greek
Hindi
Hungarian
Korean
Latvian
Modern Hebrew
North Sámi
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Serbian
Spanish
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Urdu
Arabic
An Essential Grammar
2nd edition

Faruk Abu-Chacra
Second edition published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Faruk Abu-Chacra
The right of Faruk Abu-Chacra to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Hodder Education 2005
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Abu-Chacra, Faruk, author.
Title: Arabic : an essential grammar / Faruk Abu-Chacra.
Description: Second edition. | Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ;
New York : Routledge, 2018. | Series: Routledge essential grammars |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016015431 | ISBN 9781138659582 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781138659605 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315620091 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Arabic language—Grammar. | Arabic language—Textbooks
for foreign speakers—English.
Classification: LCC PJ6307 .A356 2016 | DDC 492.7/82421—dc23
LC record available at [Link]
ISBN: 978-1-138-65958-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-65960-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-62009-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Visit the eResource: [Link]/9781138659605
 Contents

Preface viii
Acknowledgements ix
Important notes x
List of abbreviations xi

Chapter 1 Arabic script, transliteration and

alphabet table 1

Chapter 2 Pronunciation of consonants 6

Chapter 3 Punctuation and handwriting 12

Chapter 4 Vowels 17

Chapter 5 Sukūn, šaddah, noun cases and nunation

as the indefinite form 23

Chapter 6 Long vowels, ʾalif maqs.ūrah, dagger or

miniature ʾalif, word stress and syllable
structure 28

Chapter 7 Hamzah (hamzatu l-qat.ʿi) and the

maddah sign 34

Chapter 8 Definite article ..‫ َﺃ ْﻟـ‬ᵓal.., nominal

sentences, verbal sentences, word order
and adjectives 39

Chapter 9 Sun letters, moon letters, and hamzatu

[Link] ([Link]) 49
v
Chapter 10 Gender 58
Contents Chapter 11 Conjunctions, prepositions and the

particle ‫ﺣ ﱠﺘﻰ‬
َ [Link]̄ 66

Chapter 12 ʾId.āfah construction (genitive attribute)

and the five nouns 80

Chapter 13 Numbers: dual and plural 93

Chapter 14 Perfect tense verbs, root and radicals,

triliteral verbs and word order 106

Chapter 15 Separate personal pronouns and suffix

pronouns 118

Chapter 16 Demonstrative, reflexive and reciprocal

ٌ ‫ َﺑ ْﻌ‬baҁ[Link])
pronouns (‫ﺾ‬ 135

Chapter 17 Imperfect tense verbs in the indicative

and word order 146

Chapter 18 Derived verb forms, roots (stems)

and radicals, transitive and intransitive
verbs 157

Chapter 19 Passive verbs 174

Chapter 20 Rules for writing the hamzah

(hamzatu l-qat.ʿi) 182

Chapter 21 Broken (internal) plurals and

collective nouns 195

Chapter 22 Triptotes and diptotes 205

Chapter 23 Participles, verbal nouns ([Link]),

nouns of place, time and instrument 217

Chapter 24 Interrogative particles, pronouns

and vocative particles 229

Chapter 25 Adjectival patterns, relative adjectives

vi (nisbah), comparatives, superlatives and
diminutives 247
Chapter 26 ᵓInna ‫ﺇِﻥﱠ‬, kāna َ‫َﻛـﺎﻥ‬ and their Contents

sister-words 264

Chapter 27 Relative pronouns and relative clauses 275

Chapter 28 Moods: subjunctive, jussive

and imperative 286

Chapter 29 Doubled verbs (mediae geminatae)

and quadriliteral verbs 298

Chapter 30 Verbs with hamzah 306

Chapter 31 Verbs with a weak initial radical 315

Chapter 32 Verbs with a weak middle radical 323

Chapter 33 Verbs with a weak final radical, doubly

weak verbs and weak verbs with hamzah 335

Chapter 34 Cardinal numbers 348

Chapter 35 Ordinal numbers, fractions, expressions

of time and calendars 367

Chapter 36 Exception 386

َ ‫َﻟــ ْﻴ‬
Chapter 37 Expressions of wonder, the copula ‫ـﺲ‬
laysa, and special usages of the

preposition ‫ ﺑِـ‬bi.. 396

Chapter 38 Adverbs, absolute or inner object, h.āl

(circumstantial clause) and tamyı-z
(accusative of specification) 411

Chapter 39 Conditional sentences 425

Appendix 1 Tables of the ten verb forms 439

Appendix 2 Verb conjugation paradigms 448

vii
Index 471
 Preface

This book describes the fundamental grammar and structure of modern

literary Arabic. It is complete with exercises and offers a strong foundation
for reading and writing the Arabic of newspapers, books, broadcasts, and
formal speech, as well as providing the student with a course for self-study.
The exercises and examples contain modern vocabulary and expressions
taken from everyday use.
I am confident that this book will prove to be of great help to those who
have begun or will begin the study of Arabic, and that teachers will find it
to be a useful aid.

viii
 Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to my former colleagues of the Uni-

versity of Helsinki Department of World Cultures (Middle East Studies),
especially Professor Tapani Harviainen and Dr Bertil Tikkanen, as well as
Professor Daniel Newman of the University of Durham (England) – they
made numerous valuable comments and suggestions for this book’s
improvement – and finally, Geoffrey White for his editing of the English. In
addition, I should also like to thank the anonymous reviewers appointed by
Routledge for their constructive criticism and advice. I also acknowledge
the generous financial support by the Suomen tietokirjailijat ry (The Finn-
ish Association of Non-Fiction Writers).
Faruk Abu-Chacra
Helsinki, Finland, 2017

Faruk Abu-Chacra was born in Lebanon. He held the position of Senior

Lecturer in Arabic at the University of Helsinki (Finland) from 1972 to
2001.

ix
 Important notes

1—The work contains thirty-nine chapters with an appendix of tables for

verb forms and verb conjugation paradigms. All chapters are progressive,
and they complement each other. For this reason it is recommended that
the student master each lesson before going on to the next.
2—Up to chapter 22, a full transliteration into the Latin alphabet is given
for all Arabic examples and exercises. From chapter 22 onwards, the trans-
literation is omitted from the exercises only.
3—There are two types of exercises: Arabic sentences translated into
English, and English sentences to be translated into Arabic. The words of
the English to Arabic translation exercises are taken from the Arabic-to-
English exercises of the same chapter.
4—So that readers need not use Arabic-English dictionaries, which a
learner of Arabic would find difficult at this stage, most Arabic words in
the exercises are indexed with a superscript number and the same number
is given to the equivalent English word. The student is advised to compile
his own glossary as he proceeds through the book.
5—The English translation has sometimes been adapted to show the Ara-
bic construction (e.g. Kuwait’s airport rather than Kuwait airport).
6—The exercises after each chapter are constructed to be used as examples
of the grammar introduced in the chapter; for this reason the language of
the exercises does not always correspond exactly with everyday Arabic.
7—In both the Arabic and the Latin transliteration two full stops (points)
after or before a letter or word indicate that it forms part of a preceding or
following word.

x
 Abbreviations

acc. accusative
act. active
adj. adjective
C consonant
coll. collective
conj. conjunction
def. definite
dipt. diptote
du. dual
f./fem. feminine
gen. genitive
imperat. imperative
imperf. imperfect
indecl. indeclinable
indef. indefinite
indic./ind. indicative
intr./intrans. intransitive
juss. jussive
lit. literally
m./masc. masculine
n. noun
nom. nominative
part./particip. participle
pass. passive
perf. perfect
pers. person
pl./plur. plural

xi
Abbreviations prep. preposition
s./sing. singular
subj. subjunctive
trans. transitive
V. vowel
v. verb

xii
 Chapter 1

Arabic script, transliteration

and alphabet table

1.1 The Arabic script

The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters which are considered to be conso-

nants; in addition, there are 3 vowels designated by diacritic signs above or
below the consonants. Moreover, there are various other orthographic signs
that are explained in the following chapters. Usually, these short vowels and
diacritic signs are simply omitted in everyday written Arabic and books but
are retained in the Koran and teaching material as well as in this book.
These 28 letters are written from right to left. When writing words, the
letters are connected from both sides, except in the case of six letters which
can only be joined from the right side. These letters are numbered 1, 8, 9,
10, 11 and 27 in the table below and are marked with an asterisk (*). It is
important to remember that these letters cannot be connected to the fol-
lowing letter (i.e. on their left).
Most of the letters are written in slightly different forms depending on their
location in the word: initial, medial, final or standing alone. There are no
capital letters.
Arabic grammarians use three different names for the alphabet:

ْ ‫ﻭﻑ‬
‫ٱﻷَ ْﺑ َﺠ ِﺪ ﱠﻳ ُﺔ‬ ُ ْ‫َﺃﻟ‬
ُ ‫ـﺤ ُﺮ‬ ᵓ[Link]̄fu l-ᵓabǧadiyyatu

‫ﻭﻑ ٱﻟْﻬِ َﺠﺎ ِﺋ ﱠﻴ ُﺔ‬ ُ ْ‫َﺃﻟ‬

ُ ‫ـﺤ ُﺮ‬ ᵓ[Link]̄fu l-hiǧ āᵓiyyatu

‫َﺃ ْﻷَ ِﻟـ ْﻔـ َﺒﺎ ُﺀ‬ ᵓal-ᵓalifbāᵓu

1
 1 1.2 Transliteration
Script,
transliteration, The transliteration of the Arabic alphabet given below is based on the Latin
and alphabet alphabet, but some of the letters have an extra sign indicating some special
feature of the Arabic pronunciation of the letter in question.

The ᵓalif (‫)ﺍ‬, which is the first letter, has so far not been given any transliter-
ation, because its sound value varies (to be dealt with in chapters 6 and 7).

1.3 Alphabet table and transliteration

Transliteration Standing Final Medial Initial Name

alone

1) (*) ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ ـﺎ‬.. ‫ ـﺎ‬.. ‫ﺍ‬ ᵓAlif

2) b ‫ﺏ‬ ‫ ــــﺐ‬.. ..‫ ـﺒـ‬.. ..‫ﺑـ‬ Bāᵓ

3) t ‫ﺕ‬ ‫ ـــﺖ‬.. ..‫ ـﺘـ‬.. ..‫ﺗـ‬ Tāᵓ

4) t- ‫ﺙ‬ ‫ ـــﺚ‬.. ..‫ ـﺜـ‬.. ..‫ﺛـ‬ T- āᵓ

5) ǧ ‫ﺝ‬ ‫ ـﺞ‬.. ..‫ ـﺠـ‬.. ..‫ﺟـ‬ Ǧı̄m

6) h. ‫ﺡ‬ ‫ ـﺢ‬.. ..‫ ـﺤـ‬.. ..‫ﺣـ‬ H.āᵓ

7) h
˘ ‫ﺥ‬ ‫ ـﺦ‬.. ..‫ ـﺨـ‬.. ..‫ﺧـ‬ Hāᵓ
˘

8) d (*) ‫ﺩ‬ ‫ ـــﺪ‬.. ‫ ـﺪ‬.. ‫ﺩ‬ Dāl

9) d- (*) ‫ﺫ‬ ‫ ـــﺬ‬.. ‫ ـﺬ‬.. ‫ﺫ‬ D

- āl

10) r (*) ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ ـــﺮ‬.. ‫ ـﺮ‬.. ‫ﺭ‬ Rāᵓ

11) z (*) ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ ـــﺰ‬.. ‫ ـﺰ‬.. ‫ﺯ‬ Zāy

2 12) s ‫ﺱ‬ ‫ ـــﺲ‬.. ..‫ ـﺴـ‬.. ..‫ﺳـ‬ Sı̄n

13) š ‫ﺵ‬ ‫ ـــﺶ‬.. ..‫ ـﺸـ‬.. ..‫ﺷـ‬ Šı̄n

 Alphabet
Transliteration Standing Final Medial Initial Name table and
alone translitera-
tion

14) s. ‫ﺹ‬ ‫ ـﺺ‬.. ..‫ ـﺼـ‬.. ..‫ﺻـ‬ S.ād

15) d. ‫ﺽ‬ ‫ ـﺾ‬.. .. ‫ ـﻀـ‬.. ..‫ﺿـ‬ D

. ād

16) t. ‫ﻁ‬ ‫ ـﻂ‬.. ..‫ ـﻄـ‬.. ..‫ﻃـ‬ T.āᵓ

17) d-. ‫ﻅ‬ ‫ ـﻆ‬.. ..‫ ـﻈـ‬.. ..‫ﻇـ‬ D

–. āᵓ

‫ﻉ‬ ‫ ـﻊ‬.. ..‫ ـﻌـ‬.. ..‫ﻋـ‬

ҁ ҁ
18) Ayn

19) ġ ‫ﻍ‬ ‫ ـﻎ‬.. ..‫ ـﻐـ‬.. ..‫ﻏـ‬ Ġayn

20) f ‫ﻑ‬ ‫ ـﻒ‬.. ..‫ ـﻔـ‬.. ..‫ﻓـ‬ Fāᵓ

21) q ‫ﻕ‬ ‫ ـﻖ‬.. ..‫ ـﻘـ‬.. ..‫ﻗـ‬ Qāf

22) k ‫ﻙ‬ ‫ ـﻚ‬.. ..‫ ـﻜـ‬.. ..‫ﻛـ‬ Kāf

23) l ‫ﻝ‬ ‫ ـﻞ‬.. ..‫ ـﻠـ‬.. ..‫ﻟـ‬ Lām

24) m ‫ﻡ‬ ‫ ـﻢ‬.. ..‫ ـﻤـ‬.. ..‫ﻣـ‬ Mı̄ m

25) n ‫ﻥ‬ ‫ ــﻦ‬.. ..‫ ـﻨـ‬.. ..‫ﻧـ‬ Nūn

26) h ‫ﻩ‬ ‫ ــﻪ‬.. ..‫ ـﻬـ‬..OR..‫ ـﻬـ‬.. ..‫ﻫـ‬ Hāᵓ

27) w(*) ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ ـﻭ‬.. ‫ ـﻮ‬.. ‫ﻭ‬ Wāw

28) y ‫ﻱ‬ ‫ ـﻲ‬.. ..‫ ـﻴـ‬.. ..‫ﻳـ‬ Yāᵓ

Note: The letter no. 26 /h/ in the middle can be written in two ways, in
3
this case ..‫ ــﻬـ‬.. is used in printing as it is used in this book, and this one

..‫ ـﻬـ‬.. is mostly used in handwriting.

 1 1.4 Writing letters in different positions
Script,
transliteration, The following letters are presented as they appear in different positions in
and alphabet joined writing when using a computer or handwritten. The same letter is
written three times in the order initial-medial-final in each example.

Printed Handwritten

1) ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﺍﺍﺍ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﺍﺍﺍ‬

2) b ‫ﺏ‬ ‫ﺑـﺒـﺐ‬
3) t ‫ﺕ‬ ‫ﺗـﺘـﺖ‬
4) t- ‫ﺙ‬ ‫ﺛـﺜـﺚ‬
5) ǧ ‫ﺝ‬ ‫ﺟـﺠـﺞ‬
6) h. ‫ﺡ‬ ‫ﺣـﺤﺢ‬
7) h
˘ ‫ﺥ‬ ‫ﺧـﺨﺦ‬
8) d ‫ﺩ‬ ‫ﺩﺩﺩ‬
9) d
¯ ‫ﺫ‬ ‫ﺫﺫﺫ‬
10) r ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺭﺭﺭ‬
11) z ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﺯﺯﺯ‬
12) s ‫ﺱ‬ ‫ﺳـﺴـﺲ‬
13) š ‫ﺵ‬ ‫ﺷـﺸـﺶ‬
4 14) s. ‫ﺹ‬ ‫ﺻـﺼﺺ‬
 ‫‪Writing‬‬
‫‪Printed‬‬ ‫‪Handwritten‬‬ ‫‪letters in‬‬
‫‪different‬‬
‫‪positions‬‬
‫‪15) d.‬‬ ‫ﺽ‬ ‫ﺿـﻀﺾ‬
‫‪16) t.‬‬ ‫ﻁ‬ ‫ﻃـﻄـﻂ‬
‫‪17) d-.‬‬ ‫ﻅ‬ ‫ﻇـﻈـﻆ‬
‫ﻉ‬ ‫ﻋـﻌـﻊ‬
‫‪ҁ‬‬
‫)‪18‬‬

‫̇‪19) g‬‬ ‫ﻍ‬ ‫ﻏـﻐـﻎ‬

‫‪20) f‬‬ ‫ﻑ‬ ‫ﻓـﻔـﻒ‬
‫‪21) q‬‬ ‫ﻕ‬ ‫ﻗـﻘـﻖ‬
‫‪22) k‬‬ ‫ﻙ‬ ‫ﻛـﻜـﻚ‬
‫‪23) l‬‬ ‫ﻝ‬ ‫ﻟـﻠـﻞ‬
‫‪24) m‬‬ ‫ﻡ‬ ‫ﻣـﻤـﻢ‬
‫‪25) n‬‬ ‫ﻥ‬ ‫ﻧـﻨـﻦ‬
‫‪26) h‬‬ ‫ﻩ‬ ‫ﻫـﻬـﻪ‬ ‫ﻫـ‬
‫‪27) w‬‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﻭﻭﻭ‬
‫‪28) y‬‬ ‫ﻱ‬ ‫ﻳـﻴـﻲ‬

‫‪5‬‬
 Chapter 2

Pronunciation of consonants

2.1 ᵓAlif ‫ﺍ‬

This first letter has no pronunciation of its own. One of its main functions is
to act as a bearer for the sign hamzah, which is explained in chapters 6 and 7.

2.2 Bāᵓ ‫ ﺏ‬/b/

A voiced bilabial stop as the b in the English ‘habit’.

2.3 Tāᵓ ‫ ﺕ‬/t/

An unaspirated voiceless dental stop as the t in the English ‘stop’.

2.4 Tāᵓ ‫ ﺙ‬/t /

¯ ¯
A voiceless interdental fricative as th in the English ‘thick’, ‘tooth’.

2.5 Ğı̄m ‫ ﺝ‬/ğ /

This letter has three distinct pronunciations depending on the dialectal

background of the speaker:

a) In Classical Arabic and the Gulf area, as well as in many other places in
6 the Arab world, it is pronounced as a voiced palato-alveolar affricate as
the j in ‘judge’, ‘journey’, or g in Italian ‘giorno’.
b) In Lower Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria) it is pronounced as a voiced velar Rāᵓ ‫ ﺭ‬/r/
stop g, as in English ‘great’.
c) In North Africa and the Levant it is pronounced as a voiced palato-
alveolar fricative /ğ , ž/ in the English ‘pleasure’, and as j in the French
‘jour’. This one is the most common and will be used in this book.

2.6 H
. āᵓ ‫ ﺡ‬/h./
This consonant has no equivalent in European languages. It is pronounced
in the pharynx by breathing with strong friction and no uvular vibration or
scrape, so that it sounds like a loud whispering from the throat. It must be

kept distinct from the sounds of ‫ ﺥ‬/h / (7) and ‫ ﻩ‬/h/ (26).
˘

2.7 Hāᵓ ‫ ﺥ‬/h /

˘ ˘
This consonant occurs in many languages. It is a voiceless post velar
(known also as the velum) fricative, quite similar to the ach in German
‘Nacht’, the Scottish ‘loch’ or the Spanish j in ‘mujer’, but in Arabic it has
a stronger, rasping sound.

2.8 Dāl ‫ ﺩ‬/d/

A voiced dental stop as d in English ‘leader’ (unaspirated voiceless).

2.9 D āl ‫ ﺫ‬/d /

¯ ¯
A voiced interdental fricative, as the th in English ‘either’.

2.10 Rāᵓ ‫ ﺭ‬/r/

A voiced alveolar trill, which differs from the English r in that it is a rolled
sound or trill, pronounced as a rapid succession of flaps of the tongue, simi- 7
lar to the Scottish r in ‘radical’ or Italian r in ‘parlare’ or Spanish rr in ‘perro’.
 2 2.11 Zāy ‫ ﺯ‬/z/
Pronunciation
of consonants A voiced alveolar sibilant, as the z in English ‘gazelle’.

2.12 Sı̄n ‫ ﺱ‬/s/

A voiceless alveolar sibilant as the s in English ‘state’.

2.13 Šı̄n ‫ ﺵ‬/š/

A voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant as the sh in English ‘shave’, ‘push’.

2.14 S.ād ‫ ﺹ‬/s./

Belongs to the group of emphatic consonants. The emphatic consonants

are pronounced with more emphasis and further back in the mouth than

their non-emphatic (plain) counterparts ‫ﺱ‬ /s/ (12). In pronouncing

them, the body and root of the tongue are (simultaneously) drawn back
towards the rear wall of the throat (pharynx), and the tip of the tongue
is slightly retracted. Hence the emphatic consonants are also called pha-

ryngealized consonants. ‫ ﺹ‬/s. / is thus the emphatic or pharyngealized

counterpart of plain alveolar ‫ ﺱ‬/s/ (12) and sounds somewhat similar to

the s in English ‘son’ or ‘assumption’. For the retracting and lowering

effect of the emphatic consonants on the adjacent vowels, see chapter 4.

2.15 D.ād ‫ ﺽ‬/d. /

8 This is also an emphatic consonant, classified as a pharyngealized voiced

alveolar stop. Arab phoneticians and reciters of the Koran recommend its
pronunciation as a counterpart to ‫ﺩ‬ /d/ (8). In current use in many
ҁ
Ayn ‫ ﻉ‬/ҁ/

dialects it is, however, also pronounced as the counterpart of ‫ ﺫ‬/d¯/ (9),

somewhat similar to the sound of th in the English ‘thus’. See also
chapter 4.

2.16 T.āᵓ ‫ ﻁ‬/t. /

An emphatic consonant, classified as a pharyngealized voiceless alveolar

stop. It is the counterpart of ‫ ﺕ‬/t/ (3), and is similar to the sound t at the
beginning of the English word ‘tall’. See also chapter 4.

2.17 .̄ āᵓ ‫ ﻅ‬/d.̄ /

D

An emphatic consonant, classified as a pharyngealized voiced interdental

fricative. It is the emphatic counterpart of ‫ ﺫ‬/d¯/ (9). In some dialects it is

pronounced as ‫ ﺽ‬/d. / (15). In some other dialects it is pronounced as pha-

ryngealized ‫ ﺯ‬/z/ (11). See also chapter 4.

2.18 ҁ
Ayn ‫ ﻉ‬/ҁ/

This consonant has no equivalent in European languages. It is defined as a

voiced emphatic (pharyngealized) laryngeal fricative, which is pronounced
by pressing the root of the tongue against the back wall of the pharynx
(upper part of the throat) and letting the pressed air stream from the throat
pass through the pharynx with some vibration. In a way it is the voiced

counterpart of ‫ ﺡ‬/h./ (6). It sounds as if you were swallowing your tongue

9
or were being strangled.
 .
Gayn ‫ ﻍ‬/g /
2 .
2.19
Pronunciation
of consonants A voiced uvular fricative, a gargling sound, similar to Parisian French r in
‘Paris’, ‘rouge’ but with a more rasping sound.

2.20 Fāᵓ ‫ ﻑ‬/f/

A voiceless labiodental fricative as the f in English ‘fast’.

2.21 Qāf ‫ ﻕ‬/q/

This has no equivalent in European languages. It is a voiceless uvular stop,

pronounced by closing the back of the tongue against the uvula as if it were

to be swallowed. It is like ‫ ﺥ‬/h / (7) without vibration. This sound should not
˘

be confused with ‫ ﻙ‬/k/ (22), e.g. ‫ ﻗَـﻠْﺐ‬qalb, ‘heart’, but ‫ َﻛـﻠْﺐ‬kalb, ‘dog’.

2.22 Kāf ‫ ﻙ‬/k/

An unaspirated voiceless velar stop as the k of English ‘skate’.

2.23 Lām ‫ ﻝ‬/l/

A voiced alveolar lateral as the l in English ‘let’.

2.24 Mı̄m ‫ ﻡ‬/m/

A voiced bilabial nasal as the m in English ‘moon’.

100
 Yāᵓ ‫ ﻱ‬/y/
2.25 Nūn ‫ ﻥ‬/n/

A voiced alveolar nasal as the n in English ‘nine’.

2.26 Hāᵓ ‫( ﻩ‬..‫ ) ﻫـ‬/h/

A voiceless glottal fricative as the h in English ‘head’.
Note a: This letter has another function when it occurs at the end of a

word with two superscript dots: ‫ ﺓ‬، ‫ ـﺔ‬.. It is then pronounced exactly
like ‫ ﺕ‬/t/ (3) and is called Tāᵓ marbū[Link] (see chapter 10 on gender).

Note b: As mentioned in chapter 1, the letter 26 /h/ in the medial position

can be written in two ways: ..‫ـﻬـ‬.. is mostly used in printing as used in this

book, whereas ..‫ ــــﻬــــ‬.. is mostly used in handwriting.

2.27 Wāw ‫ ﻭ‬/w/

A voiced bilabial semivowel, as the w in English ‘well’.

2.28 Yāᵓ ‫ ﻱ‬/y/

A voiced alveo-palatal semivowel, as the y in English ‘yes’.

11
 Chapter 3

Punctuation and handwriting

3.1 Punctuation

Punctuation marks are not found in early Arabic manuscripts. The Arabs
have borrowed the modern European punctuation marks with some mod-
ifications in order to distinguish them from the Arabic letters, as follows:

<< >> " () ‫؛‬ ! ‫؟‬ : ، .

3.2 Arabic handwriting

It is recommended that handwriting technique be practised from the very

beginning, otherwise it may become difficult to learn not only to write but
even to read handwritten texts. Arabs consider good handwriting a sign of
erudition.
Printed and handwritten Arabic texts do not differ from each other as
much as they do in European languages.
Arabic handwriting follows certain rules. The sequential horizontal direction
used in writing English must be modified in Arabic handwriting, since some
of the letters change their form according to the preceding or following letter.

3.3 Some remarks concerning the dots with

certain consonants

The most common way of marking the dots which belong to certain con-
sonants in handwriting is to use a straight stroke (a dash) (-) instead of two

12 dots, as in /t/ or /y/; a circumflex (ˆ) instead of three dots, as in

 /t/ or /š/. One might suspect that the straight stroke replacing Exercises

the two dots could be confused with the vowels ‫ ــَـ‬[Link] or kasrah ‫ ـ ِــ‬, but

this is not the case, since these vowel signs are diagonal (sloping) strokes.
As noted above, handwritten as well as printed texts are normally written
without vowel signs.

Exercises

The examples below and in the next few chapters are intended mainly for
practising how to read and write Arabic script.

‫ﺳﺤﻖ‬ ‫ﻫﺠﻢ‬ ‫ﻧﻜﺮﻩ‬ ‫ﺟﺮﺡ‬

1) s + h· + q h + ğ + m n+k+r+h ğ + r + h·

‫ﺭﺣﻞ‬ ‫ﻟﻬﻢ‬ ‫ﺯﺭﻉ‬ ‫ﻏﺮﻕ‬

2) r + h· + l l+h+m z+r+ҁ g· + r + q

‫ﳊﻢ‬ ‫ﻧﺴﻲ‬ ‫ﺗﻌﺐ‬ ‫ﺑﺤﺮ‬

3) l + h· + m n+s+y t+ҁ+b b + h· + r

‫ﺳﻤﻊ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﻞ‬ ‫ﻣﻨﻪ‬ ‫ﺻﺒﻎ‬

4) s + m + ҁ ҁ
+m+l m+n+h s· + b + g· 13
 3
Punctuation
and ‫ﺗﺮﻙ‬ ‫ﻭﺯﻉ‬ ‫ﺗﺮﺟﻢ‬ ‫ﻣﻴﻞ‬
handwriting

5) t + r + k w+z+ҁ t + r + ğ + m m+y+l

‫ﻋﺰﻱ‬ ‫ﺟﺤﺶ‬ ‫ﺳﻜﺖ‬ ‫ﳒﺢ‬

6) ҁ + z + y ğ + h· + š s+k+t n + ğ + h·

‫ﻋﻜﻒ‬ ‫ﺩﺣﺮﺝ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﻲ‬ ‫ﻓﻴﻞ‬

7) ҁ + k + f d + h· + r + ğ ҁ
+m+y f+y+l

‫ﻏﺮﺱ‬ ‫ﻓﻬﻢ‬ ‫ﻫﺠﺮ‬ ‫ﻫﺮﺏ‬

8) g· + r + s f+h+m h + ğ + r h+r+b

‫ﺑﻬﻖ‬ ‫ﺯﻋﻢ‬ ‫ﻓﻬﻤﻪ‬ ‫ﺩﺭﺱ‬

9) b + h + q z+ҁ+m f+h+m+h d+r+s

‫ﺻﺒﺮ‬ ‫ﺿﺮﺏ‬ ‫ﻃﺒﻊ‬ ‫ﺑﻄﻞ‬

144
10) s· + b + r d. + r + b t· + b + ҁ b + t· + l
 Exercises

‫ﺳﺮﺩ‬ ‫ﻇﻠﻢ‬ ‫ﻗﻮﻱ‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺽ‬

11) s + r + d d. + l + m q+w+y m + r + d.
¯

‫ﻭﺿﻊ‬ ‫ﺷﺮﺩ‬ ‫ﻣﻬﻠﻪ‬ ‫ﺿﺒﻂ‬

12) w + d. + ҁ š+r+d m+h+l+h d. + b + t·

‫ﻓﺮﻍ‬ ‫ﺷﻬﻢ‬ ‫ﺳﻤﺴﺮ‬ ‫ﻋﺮﻙ‬

13) f + r + g· š+h+m s+m+s+r ҁ

+r+k

‫ﻗﺴﻢ‬ ‫ﺑﺮﻙ‬ ‫ﺷﻜﻞ‬ ‫ﻓﺮﺵ‬

14) q + s + m b+r+k š+k+l f+r+š

‫ﺷﺤﻢ‬ ‫ﻣﺼﻮﺭ‬ ‫ﻣﻮﺭﺩ‬ ‫ﻣﺼﺪﺭ‬

15) š + h· + m m + s. + w + r m+w+r+d m + s. + d + r

‫ﺷﻬﺮ‬ ‫ﻣﻜﺚ‬ ‫ﻟﻄﻢ‬ ‫ﻭﻟﺪﻩ‬

15
16) š + h + r m+k+t l + t· + m w+l+d+h
¯
 3
Punctuation
and ‫ﻗﺴﻢ‬ ‫ﺑﺮﻙ‬ ‫ﺷﺮﻑ‬ ‫ﺷﻮﻕ‬
handwriting

17) q + s + m b+r+k š+r+f š+w+q

‫ﺫﺑﺢ‬ ‫ﺭﺣﻢ‬ ‫ﻓﻨﺪﻕ‬ ‫ﺧﻮﻑ‬

18) d + b + h· r + h· + m f+n+d+q h+ w + f
¯ ˘

‫ﺷﻜﺮ‬ ‫ﻣﻜﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻧﻬﺪ‬ ‫ﺑﺤﺚ‬

19) š + k + r m+k+t+b n+h+d b + h· + t

¯

166
 Chapter 4

Vowels

4.1

There are three vowels in Arabic called ‫ﺎﺕ‬ َ ْ‫ﺃﻟ‬

ُ ‫ـﺤ َﺮ َﻛ‬ ᵓ[Link]̄tu (singular:

‫َﺣ َـﺮ َﻛـ ٌﺔ‬ [Link]) or ُ ‫ﱠــﺸ ِـﻜ‬

‫ـﻴـﻞ‬ ْ ‫ ﺃﻟـﺘ‬ᵓat-taškı̄lu, meaning ‘vowel marks’.
They can be both short and long (see chapter 6).

4.2 Short vowels

The three short vowels ( ‫ﺎﺕ‬ َ ْ‫ﺃﻟ‬

ُ ‫ـﺤ َﺮ َﻛ‬ ᵓ[Link]̄tu) are written as diacriti-

cal signs above or below the consonant to which they belong. As a word
always begins with a consonant, this consonant is pronounced before the
vowel.

[Link] ‫ ـــَـ‬/a/ is a small diagonal stroke above the consonant:

َ ‫ َﻛـﺘ‬kataba, ‘to write’.

‫ َﺏ‬/ba/, e.g. ‫َـﺐ‬

kasrah ‫ ــ ِــ‬/i/ is a small diagonal stroke under the consonant:

‫ ِﺏ‬/bi/, e.g. ‫ َﻗ ِﺒ َﻞ‬qabila, ‘to accept’.

[Link] ‫ ــُـــ‬/u/ is a sign similar to a comma above the consonant: 17

‫ ُﺏ‬/bu/, e.g. ‫ـﻦ‬

َ ‫ ﺣـَ ُﺴ‬[Link], ‘to be handsome’.
 4 4.3
Vowels

The sound quality of [Link] ‫ ــــَـــ‬/a/ tends to be slightly coloured towards

/æ/, like /a/ in the word ‘fat’ in English.

4.4

Short vowels are normally not marked in personal handwriting and in most
Arabic publications. In order to avoid misunderstandings, the vowel signs are
marked on unusual or foreign words, and in the Koran and children’s books.

4.5

The vowel qualities of the three vowels mentioned above are influenced by
the emphatic (pharyngealized) consonants. Emphatic consonants reflect more
a change in the pronunciation of the following vowel, rather than a change in
the consonant itself. This is, however, a moot point, but held by the author.
The emphatic consonants are most easily heard in conjunction with [Link]

‫ ـــَــ‬/a/, which is then coloured toward /o/, or toward American English /u/
in ‘but’ or /o/ in ‘bottle’, ‘hot’, etc.

Emphatic consonants non-emphatic consonants

‫ﺹ‬
َ /s./ (14) more like /s.o/ The counterpart of ‫ﺱ‬
َ /s/ (12) more

like /sæ/ as in ‘sat’

‫ﺽ‬
َ /d./ (15) more like /d.o/ The counterpart of ‫ َﺩ‬/d/ (8) more like
/dæ/ as in ‘dam’

188
 ‫ ﻁ‬/t. / (16) more like /t.o/ The counterpart of ‫ َﺕ‬/t/ (3) more like Short
Shor
ort vowels

/tæ/ as in ‘tat’

‫ َﻅ‬/d¯./ (17) more like /d¯.o/ The counterpart of ‫ َﺫ‬/dd¯/ (9) more like
/dæ/ as in ‘that’

Example:

The non-emphatic /s/ in the word ‫ َﺳـﻠَ َﺐ‬salaba, ‘to steal’, sounds like

َ َ ‫ﺻﻠ‬
sælæbæ but the emphatic /s. / in the word ‫ﺐ‬ َ s. alaba, ‘to crucify’, sounds
almost like [Link].
Note a: The following two consonants may sometimes also function as
emphatic:

‫ ﺭ‬/r/ (10) and ‫ ﻟــ‬/l/ (23) used only with the word ُ‫ أَﻟـ ٰﻠّﻪ‬ᵓallāhu, ‘God’.

Note b: The uvular consonant ‫ ﻕ‬/q/ has almost the same effect on the adja-

cent vowels as the emphatic consonants. Thus the word ‫ﻛــﻠْﺐ‬

َ kalb, ‘dog’,
with a velar /k/, sounds almost like /kælb/, whereas ‫ ﻗَــﻠْﺐ‬qalb, ‘heart’, with

a uvular ‫ ﻕ‬/q/, sounds almost like /qolb/.

Note c: Phonologically the above sounds /æ/ and /o/ both represent the

[Link] ‫ ــَــ‬. However, in the transliteration system used in this book they
are replaced by /a/. This is because they function as /a/ phonemically.

19
 4 Exercises
Vowels
Read and practise your handwriting:

‫ﺧَ ـ َﺒـ َﺰ‬ ‫َﻛﺮِ َﻩ‬ ‫َﺳ ِـﻤ َﻊ‬ ‫َﺷﻬِ َﺪ‬ ‫َﻓﺮِ َﻍ‬

.
1) h abaza kariha samiҁa šahida fariga
˘
to bake to dislike to hear to witness to be
empty

‫ﺱ‬
َ ‫َﺩ َﺭ‬ ‫َﻗ ُﺮ َﺏ‬ ‫َﻛـ ُﺮ َﻡ‬ ‫َﺛـ ُﻘـ َﻞ‬ ‫َﺳ ِﻤ َﻌ ُﻪ‬

2) darasa qaruba karuma t aqula samiaҁahu

¯
to study to be near to be noble to be heavy he heard
him

‫ـﺢ‬
َ ‫َﺭ ِﺑ‬ ‫َﻭﺭِ َﻡ‬ ‫ﺯ َِﻫ َﺪ‬ ‫َﺭ ِﺿ َﻊ‬ ‫َﺳـ ُﻬ َﻞ‬

3) rabih.a warima zahida radiҁa sahula

to gain to be swollen to abstain to suckle to be easy

‫َﺺ‬
َ ‫َﺭﻗ‬ ‫َﻗ َﻬ َﺮ ُﻩ‬ َ‫َﻃـ َﺒﺦ‬ ‫َﻇﻠَ َﻢ‬ ‫ﻟَ ُﻪ‬

4) raqas. a qaharahu t. abaha d. alama lahu

˘ ¯
200 to dance to defeat him to cook to oppress for him
 Exercises

‫ﺶ‬ ِ ‫َﻋ‬
َ ‫ـﻄ‬ ‫ﺿ َـﺮ َﺏ‬
َ ‫َﻋﻬِ ﺪ‬ ‫َﻫ َﺠﺮ‬ ‫َﻭﻗَـ َﻊ‬

5) ҁat. iša [Link] ҁ

ahida hağara waqaҁa

to be to beat to entrust to emigrate to fall

thirsty

‫َﻫ َـﺮ َﺏ‬ ‫َﺑـﻠَ َﻊ‬ َ ‫ﺿـ ُﻌ‬

‫ـﻒ‬ َ ‫َﺳـ َﻜ‬
َ ‫ـﺖ‬ ‫ﻧ َِـﺪ َﻡ‬

6) haraba balaҁa d.aҁufa sakata nadima

to escape to swallow to be to be silent to regret

weak

‫َﺭ َﺳـ َﻢ‬ ‫َﺷـ َﻬ َﺮ‬ ‫َﺣـﻠَ َﻒ‬ َ ‫َﺭ َﻛ‬

‫ـﺾ‬ ‫ﺧَ ـﻠَ َﻂ‬

7) rasama šahara [Link] rakad.a halat. a

˘
to draw to make to swear to run to mix
famous

‫َﻃـ َﺒـ َﻊ‬ ‫ﻓَـﻬِ ـ َﻢ‬ ‫ﺽ‬

َ ‫ــﺮ‬
َ ‫َﻋ‬ َ‫ﺻ َـﺮﺥ‬
َ ‫َﻭﺯ ََﻥ‬

8) t. abaҁa fahima ҁ
arad.a s. araha wazana
˘
to print to understand to exhibit to scream to weigh 21
 4 Write in Arabic:
Vowels

9) wat iqa [Link] a bahila kasila tarakahu

¯ ¯ ˘
to trust to search to be to be lazy he left him
stingy
.
10) [Link] ğamaҁa marid.a našara faqada
to be to collect to become to publish to lose
angry ill
.
11) nağah.a sağada tabiҁa ğaraҁa [Link] at. a
to succeed to bow to follow to swallow to press
ҁ
12) [Link] rağa a labisa [Link] waҁada
to arrive to return to dress to calculate to promise
.
13) t. arada rag ama salima našiqa wad.aҁa
to dismiss to force to be safe to sniff to place
.
14) g ariqa barama hağama [Link] šahida
to sink to turn to attack to be to witness
merciful
15) badala taҁisa fasada zaraҁa ҁ
at. iba
to change to be to be to plant to be
miserable rotten destroyed
.
16) t abata talafa barada dabag a zaҁila
¯
to be firm to destroy to be cold to tan to be angry
.
17) [Link] a nabata hatafa [Link] baraҁa
to chew to grow to shout to creep to be
(plants) skillful

222
 Chapter 5

Sukūn, šaddah, noun cases

and nunation as the
indefinite form
5.1 Sukūn: ‫ـــ‬
ْ
This is a small circle written above a consonant; it indicates the absence of
a vowel. For example:

‫ ُﻫـ ْﻢ‬hum, they ‫ ِﻣ ْﻦ‬min, from ‫ْـﺖ‬

َ ‫ َﲢ‬[Link], under

‫ ﻟَـ ْﻮ‬law, if ‫ َﻛ ْﻲ‬kay, in order to ‫ـﻒ‬

َ ‫ َﻛـ ْﻴ‬kayfa, how

5.2 Šaddah: ‫ـــ‬

ّ (a doubling of a consonant)
When a consonant occurs twice without a vowel in between, the consonant

is written only once but with the sign Šaddah above it ‫ ; ـــّـــ‬its pronuncia-
tion is doubled. For example:

‫َﻋـﻠﱠ َﻢ‬ ҁ
allama, to teach ‫ﺏ‬
َ ‫ َﺟـ ﱠﺮ‬ğarraba, to try ‫ َﻋـ ﱠﺪ‬ҁadda, to count

When kasrah ‫ ــ ِـــ‬/i/ appears together with Šaddah ‫ــــّــ‬, the kasrah can be

placed above or under the consonant but when above the consonant it
must be under the Šaddah. For example:

23
‫ َﺟـ ﱢﺮ ْﺏ‬ğarrib, try! ‫َﻋـﻠﱢ ْﻢ‬ ҁ
allim, teach!
 5 5.3 Noun cases
Sukūn,
Šaddah, noun The case inflection is called ‫ـﻢ‬ ِْ
ِ ‫ٱﻻ ْﺳ‬ ‫ﺍﺏ‬
ُ ‫ــﺮ‬
َ ‫ِﺇ ْﻋ‬ ᵓiҁrābu l-ismi in Arabic. Ara-
cases and
nunation as bic nouns and adjectives have three cases. For the most part they are indi-
the indefinite cated by adding a vowel to the last consonant, and are called:
form

Nominative ٌ ‫َﻣ ْﺮ ُﻓ‬

‫ـﻮﻉ‬ marfūҁun (takes the vowel [Link])

Accusative ‫ﻮﺏ‬
ٌ ‫ْﺼ‬
ُ ‫َﻣـﻨ‬ manṣūbun (takes the vowel [Link])

Genitive ‫َﻣ ْﺠـ ُﺮﻭ ٌﺭ‬ mağrūrun (takes the vowel kasrah)
(There is more about cases in later chapters.)

5.4 Nunation as the indefinite form

Nunation means the doubling of the final vowel sign and adding a final ‘n’.

ٌ ِ‫ َﺗﻨْﻮ‬tanwı̄nun. This is the usual way of indicating

In Arabic this is called ‫ﻳﻦ‬

َ ‫ ﺍﻟـﻨ ِﱠـﻜ‬ᵓan-nakiratu, of nouns and adjectives.

indefinite forms, or ‫ـﺮ ُﺓ‬

The final vowel itself does not, however, become long in spite of the double
vowel sign. The indefinite forms of the three different cases are:

Nominative indef.: The word ends with a double [Link].

ٌ ‫ َﻣ ِﻠ‬malikun, a king
‫ ـــُـــُــ‬or ‫ ـــٌــ‬/..un/ ‫ـﻚ‬
Accusative indef.: The word ends with a double fath. ah and often an

extra ᵓalif ‫ ﺍ‬which is not pronounced as the long vowel ā.

‫ ــًـﺎ‬/..an/ ‫ َﻣ ِﻠـ ًﻜـﺎ‬malikan, a king (object)

Genitive indef.: The word ends with a double kasrah.
244
‫ ـــٍ ــ‬/..in/ ‫ َﻣ ِﻠ ٍـﻚ‬malikin, a king’s, of a king
Note a: The form of the double [Link] ‫ ـــٌــ‬is the commonest of the two Ex e c ses
Exercises
Exeercises
Exer
alternatives and will also be used in this book.
Note b: In spoken Arabic, the use of nunation, i.e., /..un/, /..an/ and /..in/,
in nouns is rare.

Exercises

Read and practise your handwriting:

1) َ ‫َﺩ ﱠﺧ‬
‫ـﻦ‬ ‫َﻛــﻠْـ ًﺒﺎ‬ ‫َﻭﻟَـ ًﺪﺍ‬ ‫َﺑ ْﺤـ ٌﺮ‬ ‫َﺟـ ﱠﺮ‬
dahhana kalban waladan [Link] ğarra
˘˘
to smoke dog boy sea to draw

2) ‫ـﻦ‬
َ ‫َﻋــ ﱠﻴ‬ ‫ﻗَـ ْﻮ ٌﻡ‬ ‫ُﻣ َﺤـ ﱠﻤـ ٌﺪ‬ ‫ُﻣ َﻌــﻠﱢ ًﻤﺎ‬ ‫َﻧ ْﻬ ٍـﺮ‬
ҁ
ayyana qawmun [Link] muҁalliman nahrin
to appoint people Muhammad teacher river

3) ‫َﺛـ ْﻮ ًﺑﺎ‬ ‫َﻳـ ْﻮ ًﻣﺎ‬ ‫َﻣ َﻄ ٍﺮ‬ َ ‫َﺭ ْﻣـ ًﻴﺎ ﺧَ ـ ْﺮ َﺑ‬
‫ــﺶ‬
t awban yawman mat· arin harbaša ramyan
¯ ˘
dress day rain to scratch shooting

4) ‫َﻋـﻠﱠ َﻢ‬ ‫َﻋـ ْﻮ ٌﻥ‬ ‫َﺣـ ْﺮ ٌﺏ‬ ‫ِﻫ َﻲ‬ ‫ُﻫــ َﻮ‬
ҁ ҁ
allama awnun [Link] hiya huwa

to teach help war she he

5) ‫َﻋـﻠَ ًﻤﺎ‬ ‫ﻗَــﻠَ ٌﻢ‬ ‫َﺣـﺮِ ٍﻙ‬ ‫َﻭ َﻃ ٌﻦ‬ ‫ـﻦ‬

ُ ‫ﻧ َْﺤ‬
ҁ
alaman qalamun [Link] wat· anun [Link]

flag pen lively homeland we

25
 5
Sukūn,
Šaddah, noun
6) ‫َﺭ ُﺟ ٍـﻞ‬ ٌ ‫َﻋـ َﻤ‬
‫ـﻞ‬ ‫ــﻞ‬
ٍ ‫َﺟـ َﺒ‬ ‫َﺷ َـﺮ ٍﻑ‬ ‫َﻋ َـﺮ ِﺑ ﱞﻲ‬
cases and
ҁ ҁ
nunation as rağulin amalun ğabalin šarafin arabiyyun
the indefinite man work mountain honour Arab
form

7) ‫ﻗَـ َﻤ ٍﺮ‬ ٌ ‫َﺼ ٍﺮ َﺷ ْﻤ‬

‫ـﺲ‬ ْ ‫ﻗ‬ ‫ــﺪ‬
ٍ ‫َﺳــ ﱢﻴ‬ ‫َﺑ ْﻄ ٌﻦ‬
qamarin šamsun [Link] sayyidin bat· nun
moon sun castle lord, Mr. belly

8) ٌ ‫َﺭ ْﻣ‬
‫ـﻞ‬ ‫ﻏَـ ْﺮ ٍﺏ‬ ٌ‫َﺷـ ْﺮﻕ‬ ‫ـﻦ‬
ٌ ‫َﺩ ْﻳ‬ ٍ ‫ﻧَـ ْﻔ‬
‫ـﺲ‬
ramlun g·arbin šarqun daynun nafsin

sand west east debt soul

9) ٍ ‫ُﻋــ ْﺬ ٌﺭ ُﺣ ْﻜـ ًﻤﺎ ُﺷﻐ‬

‫ْــﻞ‬ ‫ﻟَ ْﻮﻧًﺎ‬ ‫ُﺧـ ْﺒـﺰًﺍ‬
šug· lin [Link] ҁ
udrun lawnan hubzan
¯ ˘
work rule excuse colour bread

10) ‫َﺷ ْﻴ ًﺨﺎ‬ ْ ‫ِﻗ‬

‫ـﺴـ ٌﻢ َﺳـ ْﻴ ٍـﻒ‬ ٌ ‫َﺟ َﻤ‬
‫ـﻞ‬ ‫ِﻋـﻠْ ٌﻢ‬
ҁ
šayhan sayfin qismun ğamalun ilmun
˘
old man sword part camel knowledge

Write in Arabic:

Remember! The words below with the endings /..un/, /..an/ and /..in/ should

be written with a double vowel (and an extra ᵓalif ‫ ﺍ‬if the ending is / ..an/),

266 as mentioned above, e.g. ‫ َﻣ ِﻠـ ًﻜـﺎ‬malikan, ‘a king’.

 Exercises
11) [Link] bah.h.a [Link] zuhdan [Link]
to deport to be hoarse to feel asceticism to move
12) muhaddirun madhabiyyun wakkala [Link] raddada
˘ ¯
anaesthetic sectarian to authorize envy to repeat
ҁ
13) šahran hağalun s·abba bu dun [Link]· t· a
˘
month shyness to pour distance to put
14) harraba qat· aҁa rağğaҁa šabba mutah.
˘
arrirun
to destroy to cut to return to grow up emanicipated
15) hamran [Link] šahriyyan bawwaba qarnin
˘
wine lively monthly to classify horn
16) zawğan ballag· a radda šahiyyan rağҁiyyin
husband to inform to return tasty reactionary
ҁ
17) bawwala rabbun š[Link] šağğa a danna
¯·
to urinate lord to grease to encourage to think
18) šukran šaҁҁala ҁ
abdan t· abҁan [Link]
thanks to light slave naturally hello
19) s·ah.h.a muharribin [Link] qarrara šawwaqa
˘ ¯· ¯·
to be healthy saboteur fortune to decide to desire

27
 Chapter 6

Long vowels, ᵓalif maqs.ūrah,

dagger or miniature ᵓalif, word
stress and syllable structure
6.1

The three short vowels, ‫ ـــَــ‬/a/, ‫ ـــُــ‬/u/, and ‫ ــ ِـــ‬/i/, also have long vari-
ants. They are written by adding one of three letters after the short vowel

signs. These three letters are called in Arabic ‫ﻭﻑ ٱﻟْـ َﻤـ ﱢﺪ‬
ُ ‫ُﺣـ ُﺮ‬ [Link]̄fu
l-maddi, ‘letters of prolongation’:

ᵓalif ‫ﺍ‬ which is related to fath. ah ‫ ـــَـــ‬/a/

wāw ‫ﻭ‬ which is related to d. ammah ‫ ـــُـــ‬/u/

yāᵓ ‫ﻱ‬ which is related to kasrah ‫ ــ ِــــ‬/i/

Note: The ‫ ﻱ‬y (28) can be connected from both sides: (‫ـﻴـ ـﻲ‬ ‫)ﻳـ‬.

Short vowels long vowels

‫ َﺑـ‬/ba/ ‫ َﺑـﺎ‬/bā/, e.g. ‫ـﺎﺏ‬

ٌ ‫ َﺑ‬bābun, door

‫ ُﺑـ‬/bu/ ‫ ُﺑـﻮ‬/bū/, e.g. ‫ ﻧُـﻮ ٌﺭ‬nūrun, light

28 ‫ ﺑ ِـ‬/bi/ ٌ ‫ ِﺩ‬dı̄nun, religion

‫ ِﺑـﻲ‬/bı̄/, e.g. ‫ﻳـﻦ‬
Note: In some books, long vowels are transliterated as double vowels. Dagger or
Here, we use the macron above the vowel to indicate length. miniature
ᵓalif

6.2

It should be noted that the combination of the letter lām ‫ ﻟـ‬followed by ᵓalif

َ / lā/ (not as ‫)ﻟَـﺎ‬. Also, the

‫ـﺎ‬.. is called lām-ᵓalif and written as ‫ َﻻ‬or ‫ـﻼ‬..
lām-ᵓalif ‫ ﻻ‬follows the rule of ᵓalif (1) ‫ـﺎ‬. ., which means that it cannot be

connected to the following letter (to the left). For example:

‫ َﺳ َﻼ ٌﻡ‬salāmun, peace ‫ َﻻ َﻡ‬lāma, to blame ‫ َﺣ ًّﻼ‬[Link], a solution

6.3 ᵓAlif maqs.ūrah

The long vowel /ā/ at the end of a word can be written with ᵓalif ‫َﺍ‬.. or, in

some words, with yāᵓ ‫ﻱ‬, but without the dots ‫ ـَﻰ‬... The yāᵓ is then called
ᵓalif maqs. ūrah ‫ﻮﺭ ٌﺓ‬ ُ ‫ َﺃ ِﻟ ٌﻒ َﻣـ ْﻘ‬, as in:
َ ‫ـﺼ‬

‫َﻋـﻠَﻰ‬ ҁ
alā, on ‫ َﺭ َﻭﻯ‬rawā, to tell ‫ َﺭ َﻣﻰ‬ramā, to throw

Note: Certain rules explained in later chapters govern which one of the two
ᵓalifs is to be used in a word.

6.4 Dagger or miniature ᵓalif

In some common words the long vowel /ā/ is written with a miniature ᵓalif, 29
also called the dagger ᵓalif. As the name suggests, this is a small vertical
 6 stroke ‫ ـــٰــــ‬placed above the consonant, replacing the ordinary full ᵓalif
Long vowels,
(‫)ﺍ‬, as in:
ᵓalifs, stress,
syllable
structure
َ ‫( ٰﻫ‬not ‫) َﻫﺎ َﺫﺍ‬
‫ــﺬﺍ‬ ‫( ٰﻟـ ِﻜ ﱠ‬not ‫ـﻦ‬
‫ـﻦ‬ َّ ‫) َﻻ ِﻛ‬ َ ِ‫( ٰﺫﻟ‬not ‫ـﻚ‬
‫ـﻚ‬ َ ‫) َﺫﺍ ِﻟ‬
hāddā, this lākinna, but d ālika, that
¯ ¯

6.5 Word stress and syllable structure

Surprisingly enough, Arabic grammarians did not deal with the position of
stress (dynamic accent) in Arabic words. Nevertheless, almost all Arabic
words must be stressed on one of their syllables, which may be short or
long. The stress appears as an increase of vocal intensity, as well as raising
the pitch of the voice.
The following general rules are mainly based on the methods of pronunci-
ation employed by the reciters of the Koran. In some cases, there are vari-
ations between different traditions; the native dialect of the speaker may
also influence the pronunciation.
Syllables are divided into short and long. A short syllable consists of a con-
sonant plus a short vowel (CV), whereas a long syllable consists of: (1) a
consonant plus a long vowel (CV̄), (2) a consonant plus a short vowel plus
a consonant (CVC), or (3) a consonant plus a long vowel plus a consonant
(CV̄C). No syllable can start with more than one consonant.

1a) The stress falls on the first long syllable counting from the end of
the word. However, the final syllable cannot itself carry the stress,
except when the word has only one syllable, e.g. /yak-tu-bū-na/, /
qal-bun/, /ᵓuq-tu-lū/, /ka-tab-tum/, /ka-tab-tun-na/, /mam-la-ka-tun,
dū/. (The hyphens here indicate syllable, not morpheme junctures.)
¯
1b) Another tradition holds that if the first long syllable is the fourth syllable
counting from the end or any syllable before that syllable, then the third
syllable counting from the end receives the stress, e.g. mam-la-ka-tun.
2) If there is no long syllable or if only the last syllable is long, the first
syllable receives the stress (e.g. /ka-ta-ba/, /sa-ma-ka-tun/, /sa-ma-
300 ka-tu-hu-mā/(. According to another tradition, in these cases the
stress cannot be retracted to an earlier position than the third syllable
counting from the end (e.g. /sa-ma-ka-tun/, /sa-ma-ka-tu-hu-mā/).
3) The stress cannot normally fall on the definite article ᵓal- or a prefixed Exercises
preposition or conjunction (e.g. /ᵓal-ya-du/, /ka-dā, wa-ra-mat/).
¯
Note: The final short vowel or final syllable of certain word endings (to
be dealt with later) tends to be left out in pronunciation, especially in
pausa (i.e, at the end of a sentence). Yet the given stress rules still apply
in most cases, if you bear in mind that the final vowel or syllable has
been lost, e.g. maf-hūm(-un), mad-ra-sa(-tun), sa-ma-ka(-tun), lub-nā-nı̄
(lub-nā-niy-yun).

Exercises

Read and practise your handwriting:

ٍ ‫َﺳ ِـﻔ‬
ٌ ‫ـﻴـﺮ ُﺣــ ُﺮ‬
‫ﻭﻑ‬ ‫َﻛـﺮِ ﻳـ ٌﻢ‬ ‫َﺭ َﻣﻰ‬ ‫ِﺣـ َﻤﺎ ًﺭﺍ‬
1) [Link]̄fun saf ı̄rin karı̄mun ramā [Link]̄ran
letters ambassador generous to throw donkey

‫ﻳـﻦ‬
ٌ ِ‫ــﺮ َﺣــﺰ‬
ٍ ‫َـﺎﺟ‬
ِ ‫ﺗ‬ ِ ‫ٰﻫـ ِﺬ ِﻩ َﻭ‬
‫ﺍﺳـ ًﻌـﺎ‬ ً ‫َﺣ‬
‫ـﺎﻻ‬
2) [Link]ı̄nun tāğirin wāsiҁan hādihi h.ālan
¯
sad merchant wide this (f.) immediately

‫ـﻲ‬
‫َﺣ ﱞ‬ ‫ﻟَـ ﱠﻤـﺎ‬ ‫ِﻓﻲ‬ ‫َﺭ َﻭﻯ‬ ‫َﺟ ِـﺪﻳـ ًﺪﺍ‬
3) [Link] lammā fı̄ rawā ğadı̄dan
living when in to tell new

‫ﻭﺡ‬
ٌ ‫ُﺭ‬ ‫ﺻـﻮ ًﻓـﺎ‬
ُ ‫ــﺮﻯ‬
َ ‫َﺟ‬ ‫ﺧَ ــ ﱠﺒـﺎﺯًﺍ‬ َ ‫ُﻫـﻨ‬
‫َـﺎﻙ‬
4) rū[Link] s. ūfan ğarā habbāzan hunāka
˘
soul, spirit wool to run baker there

‫ُـﻮﻥ‬ ً ‫ﺧَ ـ ﱠﻴ‬

ٌ ‫ـﺎﻃﺎ ﻗَـﺎﻧ‬ ‫َﺣـ ﱠﺪ ٍﺍﺩ‬ ‫َﻗـﺮِ ﻳـ ًﺒﺎ‬ ‫َﺑـﻨَﻰ‬
5) qānūnun hayyāt. an [Link]̄din qarı̄ban banā 31
˘
law tailor blacksmith near to build
 6 Read, practise your handwriting, and transliterate:
Long vowels,
ᵓalifs, stress,
syllable ‫ـﺼـﺮِ ﱞﻱ‬ ً ‫َﺣـ ﱠﻤ‬
ْ ‫ـﺎﻻ ِﻣ‬ ٌ ‫َﺳ ِﻤ‬
‫ـﻴـﻦ‬ ‫ـﺎﺝ‬
ٍ ‫ﺯ َُﺟ‬ ‫َﺳ َﺤـﺎ ًﺑﺎ‬
structure
6) Egyptian porter fat glass clouds

ٌ‫َﻃﺮِ ﻳـﻖ‬ ‫ــﻮﻕ‬

ٍ ‫ُﺳ‬ ٍ ‫َﺑـ َﻜﻰ ِﺳـ ﱢﻜ‬
‫ـﻴـﻦ‬ ‫ـﺎﺟـﺎ‬
ً ‫َﺩ َﺟ‬
7) road marketplace knife to cry poultry

‫ﻭﺱ‬
ٌ ‫ُﺩ ُﺭ‬ ‫ـﻮﺭ‬ ْ ‫ِﻛ َـﻼ ًﺑﺎ ُﻋ‬
ٍ ‫ـﺼ ُﻔ‬ ‫ُـﻮﻥ‬
ٌ ‫َﺯ ْﻳـﺘ‬ ‫َﻛ َﻼ ًﻣﺎ‬
8) lessons bird dogs olives talk

‫ـﻮﻑ‬ ُ ‫ﻓ ﱠَـﻼ ًﺣﺎ ِﺧــﻨْـﺰِ ﻳـ ًﺮﺍ‬

ٌ ‫ﺿـ ُﻴ‬ ‫ـﺲ‬
ٌ ‫َﻳﺎ ِﺑ‬ ‫َﻭﺍ ِﻟ ٍـﺪ‬
9) guests pig peasant dry father

‫ﻳﺢ‬
ٌ ِ‫ﺭ‬ ‫َﺳ َﻌﻰ‬ ٌ ‫ﺎﻫ‬
‫ـﻞ‬ ِ ‫َﺟ‬ ‫ِﻋـﻠْ ِﻤ ﱞﻲ‬ ً ‫ﻏَـﺰ‬
‫َﺍﻻ‬
10) wind to strive ignorant scientific gazelle

‫ﻳـﺮ‬
ٍ ِ‫َﻭﺯ‬ ‫ﻏَـﺮِ ﻳـ ًﺒـﺎ‬ ‫ـﻮﺯ‬
ٍ ‫َﻋ ُﺠ‬ ‫َﻋ َـﺮ ِﺑ ﱞﻲ‬ ٌ ‫َﺷ َـﺮ‬
‫ﺍﺏ‬
11) minister strange old Arab drink

ٌ ‫ﺿ ِﻌ‬
‫ــﻴـﻒ‬ َ ‫ﻴـﻒ‬ ِ َ‫ﻟ‬
ٍ ‫ـﻄ‬ ‫ِﺑ َﻼ ًﺩﺍ‬ ً ‫َﺣ‬
‫ـﺎﻻ َﻣ ْﺸـ ُﻬــﻮ ٌﺭ‬
12) weak gentle countries famous immediately

‫َﺣ َﻼ ًﻻ‬ ‫ﺎﺩ ًﻻ‬

ِ ‫َﻋ‬ ‫َﺩﻧَﺎ‬ ‫ﻧَـﺰِ ﻳ ٌﻪ‬ ٍ‫ﻧَـﺒِـﻴﻪ‬
13) permitted just to come honest smart
(halal) near

‫َﺳ َـﻼ ًﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻧ َِﻈﻴـ ًﻔﺎ‬ ‫ـﺤ ٍﺎﻡ ُﻛــ ْﺮ ِﺳ ﱞﻲ‬

‫ﻟَ ﱠ‬ ً ‫ِﻣـ َﻴ‬
‫ﺎﻫـﺎ‬
14) peace clean chair butcher waters

‫ُﺳﻮﺭِ ﱠﻳـﺎ‬ َ ِ‫ٰﺫﻟ‬

‫ـﻚ‬ ‫ﺎﺳ ًﻴّﺎ‬
ِ ‫ِﺳ َﻴ‬ ٌ‫ﺻـﻨْـ ُﺪﻭﻕ‬ َ ‫َﺫ‬
ُ ‫ﺍﺏ‬
322
15) Syria that politician box to melt
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
"Mrs. Perage is a very clever and sensible woman," mused Owain
thoughtfully. "And I really think it would be wise for me to tell her
everything."

"I agree!" cried Vane emphatically. "Bachelor as I am, I always

believe in asking a woman's advice. The sex has more intuition than
ours has. Let her be the person to deal with Madame Alpenny--one
woman against another. Then," added the barrister cynically, "you'll
see the fur fly."

"I won't tax Mrs. Perage's friendship so far, Jim. My ankle will be all
right to-morrow, so if you will ask Gwen to meet me near the old
Saxon Cross in the churchyard I can reveal who I am. When I settle
matters with her I shall see Mrs. Perage and relate the whole story."

"Relate it to Miss Evans also," advised Vane strongly.

"No. I shall only tell her who I am, and give her time to get over that
before I tell more. It's dangerous to give her too big a dose at once.
Also, when I tell your aunt about my adventure I wish to be guided
by her advice. She may suggest my keeping the same a secret from
Gwen until the truth becomes known."

"Well, do as you think best, Owain. But how is the truth to become
known?"

"I shall wait until I see Madame Alpenny before forming an opinion."

Vane wheeled round. "Do you mean to accuse her of the murder?"

"Not unless she accuses me. It's a case of pull devil, pull baker. Now
you'd better out along to your aunt's and make my excuses for not
turning up. Meanwhile I shall think over things, and a pleasant night
I shall have."

"The way of the transgressor is hard," laughed Vane cheerfully.

"Transgressor be hanged! I'm more sinned against than sinning."

Vane laid a friendly hand on his friend's shoulder. "All right, old man,
don't get your hair riz. I'll tell Aunt Emma that your ankle kept you
from paying your respects to her, and will request Miss Evans to
meet you to-morrow near the Cross. At what time, by the way?"

"Three o'clock in the afternoon. And don't come along in the

morning, Jim. I wish to think out matters alone. I shall see you in
the afternoon."

Vane put on his hat and prepared a cigarette. "Don't overdo it," he
advised at the door. "And remember that two heads are better than
one."

"Quite so. That is why I intend to see Gwen. All the same, I'm
afraid."

"Nonsense! Use that very eloquent tongue of yours and show her
that the devil is not so black as he is painted. Miss Evans, being very
much a woman, may cut up rough at the outset, but when----"

"When what?"

"When she knows that you are in danger of arrest she will stand by
you through thick and thin."

"I have my doubts," said Hench dolefully.

"I haven't. Women are contrary animals. As her prosperous cousin

she may hate you. As an innocent man, in danger of being hanged,
she will love you."

"May you be a true prophet," said Hench fervently, and Vane went
away laughing.
 CHAPTER XIV

AT BAY

Vane faithfully delivered both messages, and Gwen was as pleased

with the churchyard appointment as Mrs. Perage was annoyed by
Hench's folly. That he should walk for miles on a weak ankle proved
what a fool he was, and she said as much to her nephew next
morning at breakfast.

"You men are all babies, Jim, silly, obstinate and weak."

"Not me," retorted the barrister. "I haven't been fooling with my
ankle."

"You know quite well what I mean," fumed Mrs. Perage, who was in
her work-a-day attire, and who looked particularly fierce. "It's not
only his ankle, it's his masquerading." She rubbed her nose irritably.
"I tell you there will be the deuce to pay. Gwen is Welsh."

"Well, what does her nationality matter?"

"It matters everything. The Welsh are a particularly fiery nation, and
have the pride of Old Nick. As a poor man Gwen loves her cousin--
he is the fairy prince who has come into her life. But when she
learns the truth----"

"She'll forgive him if she loves him."

Mrs. Perage shook her head and scowled. "You don't know woman,
Jim. Her very love may make her resent his not having treated her
quite honestly."

"Aren't you taking the matter too seriously, Aunt Emma?"

expostulated Vane with a shrug. "After all, Miss Evans must see that
Owain could only give himself a fair chance by masquerading as he
has done. If he had turned up in propria persona_, she would have
disliked him on the spot."

"Hum!" boomed Mrs. Perage doubtfully. "Perhaps. But not if he had

saved her life. That act would have excused everything had it been
done as Owain Evans."

"What do you mean by excusing everything?"

"I mean as regards the reputation of Owain Evans. Of course Madoc

was always a liar, as I know, and Gwen didn't get on over-well with
him. As a deus ex machina_, Gwen would have disbelieved her
father's stories of her cousin's wickedness."

"But the poor chap isn't wicked at all. He's the whitest man I know."

"Madoc's lies would have smirched the whiteness of an angel,"

retorted the old lady sharply. "But Gwen would have either forgiven
or would have disbelieved had Hench come as her cousin. As it is
she may throw him over if he tells her who he really is."

"Oh, he intends to tell her right enough, and this very day,
somewhere about three o'clock," said Vane coolly. "She may cut up
rough for the minute, but when Owain gets into trouble she'll find
out that she loves him all right."

"Trouble!" Mrs. Perage looked up suddenly. "What trouble?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, Aunt Emma. Owain intends to tell you
himself. But there's a big trouble coming along."
"Hum! Can't it be averted?"

"So far as I can see, it can't."

"Well, Jim,"--the old dame rose from the breakfast table and
brushed the crumbs from her apron,--"I'll wait to hear the young
man's explanation. But I am quite sure that he is honest and kind
and a well-bred gentleman. Nothing will ever make me change my
opinion of him."

"Wait till you hear what the trouble is."

"Do you know all about it?" demanded Mrs. Perage imperatively.

"Yes, I do."

"And you still can call Hench your friend?"

"I can. He's a rattling good chap."

"Then why the dickens should I change my opinion when I learn the
truth?" said Mrs. Perage vigorously. "It can't be anything
dishonourable or you would not champion Hench. Do you think you
are talking to a fool, Jim Vane?"

"Oh Lord, Aunt Emma, don't get on to me. My nerves are weak."

"Your head is," retorted Aunt Emma smartly. "I wish you hadn't
hinted at this trouble, Jim. I'm horribly inquisitive, and will be on
tenterhooks until I know what it's all about."

"I don't expect you'll have to wait long," said Vane gloomily. "There
will be the devil to pay if----"

Mrs. Perage closed her ears and hurried to the door. "Not another
word. You are only making me more and more curious. But I tell you
what, Jim, I am going to stand Hench's friend in any case."
"You're a brick, Aunt Emma."

"I'm an old fool," snapped Mrs. Perage, who was more upset by the
implied mystery than she chose to admit. "My wisest plan would be
to wash my hands of the whole business, known and unknown. But
instead of doing so I am just going to strengthen Gwen's love for
Owain, so that it may not fail her when he makes his revelation."

Mrs. Perage held to this determination, and twice or thrice during

the morning she exchanged words with Miss Evans on the subject of
Hench. The girl for the time being had lost sight of her mission of
clearing her name by discovering the name of the assassin, and was
wholly taken up with love dreams. She was passionately devoted to
the young man, as his attitude tended to increase her belief in the
nobility of his nature. He had saved her life as it was, and now, in
the face of the rumours which credited her with the death of her
father, he was willing to marry her. No man but the noblest who ever
breathed would act in so gloriously honourable a fashion. She said
this and much more to Mrs. Perage in the seclusion of her bedroom,
when she was putting on her prettiest frock and hat to keep the
appointment. And all the time Mrs. Perage was rubbing her beaky
nose irritably.

"Don't build the pedestal too high, Gwen," she advised dryly. "Your
idol may have feet of clay and come toppling over."

"No," said the girl firmly. "Nothing will ever make me believe that Mr.
Hench is not the best of men. What is his Christian name, Mrs.
Perage? It is strange that he did not tell me yesterday."

Mrs. Perage was much too wary to give the name, lest it should lead
to uncomfortable questions and forestall Owain's explanations. "How
the deuce should I know the man's name?" she asked crossly and
evasively. "I never met him until you introduced him to me as your
hero."

"And he is a hero, isn't he?"

"Hum! I suppose so! The rescue was rather flamboyant--a kind of
playing to the gallery."

"How unjust," cried Gwen, flaming up, which was exactly what Mrs.
Perage wanted her to do. "As if he could help the way in which my
rescue took place. I am quite sure that he is the most modest of
men."

"Pooh! No man is modest; they are all as conceited as pigs."

"I never knew that pigs were considered vain, Mrs. Perage," said
Gwen coldly. "And I don't see why you should compare Mr. Hench to
one."

"I spoke generally. Don't be silly."

"Ah, you call me silly because I'm in love."

"Are you really and truly in love?" asked the old lady doubtfully.
"Mind you, I don't mean that easy romantic passion which seems
everything and means nothing. But real love, true love, staunch love,
the sort which will hold to its object in the face of all detraction."

"I wouldn't believe a word against Mr. Hench, if that is what you
mean. But I don't know why you should use the word detraction."

"I don't know myself," said Mrs. Perage grimly. "Unless it is that I
find most men are broken cisterns. There, there, child, go away and
meet your Prince. I don't wish to be your Jeremiah and prophesy
woe."

"I wouldn't believe you if you did," said the girl very decidedly. "All
my woe was undergone with the death of my father and the loss of
my old home. I am sure that there is nothing but sunshine ahead."

Mrs. Perage sniffed and thought anxiously about Vane's hints. But it
was not her business to give chapter and verse for her forebodings.
And, at all events, she had somewhat strengthened Gwen's love for
the young man by depreciating him in a hinting kind of way. When
the girl, flushed with love, and looking as pretty as a picture, set
forth to keep the appointment, Mrs. Perage stood at the window and
breathed a prayer that all would be well. It was a bright warm day,
but clouds were drifting across the sky. Even as the old dame prayed
a cloud concealed the brightness of the sun and Mrs. Perage
shuddered. It was an omen of ill, she thought; but when a few
moments later the cloud passed and the glow of the sunshine
reasserted itself, she cheered up. It seemed to her that trouble was
coming, but would pass without being of any great duration. She
fervently hoped so, and went about her daily business calling herself
hard names for being so superstitious.

Meantime, Gwen, with a smiling face and a light heart, was walking
swiftly towards the place of meeting. Every moment spent away
from Hench, now that he had declared himself, seemed to be
wasted, and she promised herself three or four golden hours with
her lover. They would talk in the churchyard for a time, and then
would take a long walk, in any direction, for whatever path they
chose would lead to the Elysian Fields. Then he would tell her how
much he loved her, and she would respond coyly to his caresses,
until earth and sea and sky would be transfigured, and they would
be blessed above all lovers who ever were or who ever would be.
Afterwards would come marriage, and they would enter into the
kingdom of heaven to remain there for ever and ever. Gwen rather
blushed at the extravagance of her thoughts when she entered the
churchyard, and blushed still more when she came suddenly upon
the ancient Saxon Cross, against which the man of men was leaning.
She thought for a single nervous moment that he looked rather
pinched and worried, but had no cause to complain of the warmth of
his greeting. Once she was in his arms with only the jackdaws for
spectators, it seemed as though he would never let her go. All the
poetry of Romeo and Juliet was in his embrace. And those lovers
met in a vault at the last which was even more weird than meeting
in a churchyard.
"Though I'm not sure if I like it," murmured Gwen following the
course of her thoughts, as they sat down on a flat tombstone.

"Like what?" inquired Hench fatuously; "me?"

"I wasn't thinking of you at the moment."

"Oh, Gwen!" This was breathed with an air of reproach.

"I deserve that, I deserve that," she cried penitently. "But really I
was thinking that a churchyard is rather a dismal place to meet in."

"Any place is Paradise where you are," Hench assured her. "But we
can go away for a walk in a few minutes."

"Into Parley Wood?"

Hench shivered. "No. I don't like Parley Wood--on your account," he

added in a hasty manner. "For there----"

"Yes, I know." Gwen stopped him and shivered also. "I didn't think
of what I was saying. But we can't stay here amongst the tombs."

"Why not? Have you any sad recollections about these tombs? Your
father is not buried here, I know."

"He is buried at Rhaiadr, in Wales, where his ancestors lie," said the
girl in an altered tone. "But I wish you would not speak of my father.
He was so cruel to me that I wish to forget all about him for the
time being. We will have to talk of him later, when it is necessary to
learn who killed him. Meantime, let us have our golden hour. But
no"--she made a gesture of despair--"we have lost that as it is."

"Why so?"

"Because you have called up the spectre of my father," said Gwen

sadly. "You have reminded me that I am looked at askance by the
villagers."
"Dear, you are quite wrong about that. Mrs. Bell speaks of you in the
highest terms of respect. I think you are making a mistake."

"No, I am not," said Gwen decisively. "I don't say that any one has
openly declared that I have anything to do with the--the crime"--her
breath came and went quickly--"but people look and people talk
secretly."

"What does it matter so long as they don't talk openly?" said Hench,
soothing her gently.

"I wish they would," she cried vehemently. "For then I could meet
the rumours better. As it is I am fighting in the dark--and all alone,
too."

"No! No!" Hench gathered her into his strong arms. "You have me to
fight for you now. Be calm, dearest; everything will be put right
now."

"Eh, my faith, but that is most true," said a voice immediately behind
them, and the lovers jumped up in dismay to find that they were
observed.

The speaker had suddenly emerged from behind a tall tombstone

near at hand, and stood staring hard at them--a dumpy little woman
with a swarthy face and big black eyes now filled with anger. It did
not require the orange-spotted dress, the shabby bead-trimmed
mantle and the picture hat to inform either of the young people who
the spy was. Hench recognized Madame Alpenny at once, and Gwen
beheld the unknown visitor who had called at the Grange. To a
woman the dress was sufficient to fix the identity.

"You are the woman who came to see my father," said Gwen,
turning white, for the sight of this visitor revived her recollections of
the painful days before Squire Evans was murdered.
"Yes, I am the woman. Very clever of you, Mademoiselle, to
remember me."

"I remember your dress. Who are you?"

Madame Alpenny nodded suavely towards the silent Hench. "Ask

him."

Gwen turned round and looked hard at her lover's colourless face.
"Who is this woman?" she asked almost inaudibly. "Do you know
her?"

"None better," snapped the Hungarian lady. "Come, Mr. Hench, say
who I am, and then I shall tell Mademoiselle who you are."

"Tell him who he is; tell me who he is," stuttered Gwen incoherently.
"What do you mean?"

"Ask him," said Madame Alpenny once more. "Mr. Hench----"

"Ah"--the Hungarian lady broke into a hard laugh--"then he has not

told you his Christian name."

"I will tell her now," said Hench, taking Gwen's cold hand, and
speaking with an effort. "This lady is Madame Alpenny, who lived in
the same boarding-house as I did in Bethnal Green."

"But what had she to do with my father, and what has she to do
with you?"

"I think your Christian name will explain all in one word," remarked
Madame Alpenny, looking up at the blue sky.

"I intended to tell you myself, Gwen, this very morning," cried
Hench, striving to preserve his calmness, which was sorely shaken.

"Tell me what?" said Gwen, who was very white and unstrung.
"That my Christian name is--Owain."

"Owain----?"

"Owain Evans," said Madame Alpenny sharply. "Let there be an end

to his deceit, Mademoiselle. He is your cousin, the same who has
robbed you of your heritage, the same who has----"

"Hold your tongue!" interrupted Hench fiercely. "It is for Miss Evans
to speak and not you."

"_Miss Evans," sneered the woman, with sparkling eyes. "Why so,
when you called her by her Christian name lately, as she can now
call you by yours? Oh, it is very well, very well indeed, this bal
masque of lies and wickedness."

By this time, Gwen, who had been staring silently at Hench, spoke in
a low tone, but in so absolutely unemotional a manner that he could
not tell what her feelings were. "Are you really my cousin?"

"Yes! I knew that you were prejudiced against me owing to the false
stories told to you by your father, therefore I wished to make your
acquaintance under the name my father took when he was sent
away from home. Until a few weeks ago I believed it was my true
name. Don't blame me over-much, Gwen," he implored. "After all, I
wouldn't have had a fair chance had I come as your cousin."

"Perhaps not," she said softly, and a touch of colour came into her
face. "And after all, you saved my life."

"No! No! Let us put all obligation out of the question!" cried Hench
resolutely. "I wish to be judged on my merits."

"That will be difficult, seeing what a hero you are," said Madame
Alpenny in a hatefully smooth voice.
"Hold your tongue!" cried Gwen, turning on her just as Hench had
done. "You came down here to make mischief this time, as you
came before to make mischief. How you succeeded before you best
know yourself, although I truly believe that your last visit had
something to do with my father's death."

"It is a lie!" said Madame Alpenny fiercely, and stepped forward.

Gwen did the same, and the two were face to face, very close
indeed to one another. "I believe that it is the truth. But of that we
can talk later. As to making mischief this time, you shan't succeed. I
quite understand why my cousin wished to give himself a chance of
being judged fairly. And, after all, he came under the name his
father used for many years."

"Oh, Gwen"--Hench caught her hand--"do you forgive me?"

"You silly fellow, there is nothing to forgive," she replied gently. "You
were right, as I was greatly prejudiced against you by my father. But
now----"

"Now?" he asked, looking at her anxiously.

"I believe you to be honourable and honest, and----"

"Ah"--Madame Alpenny broke in with a snarl, since things were not

going as she desired--"honourable, honest. Oh, it is very fine; most
excellent, I call it. Do not be sure, Mademoiselle, that he is what you
call him."

"I am sure"--Gwen stamped--"and to prove the truth of my belief, I

am ready to marry him, as my cousin, Owain Evans. There!"

"Oh, Gwen! Oh, Gwen!" said Hench, scarcely believing his ears.

"Ah, it is so," taunted the marplot. "Do you marry him for the
heritage you have lost by his coming?"
"I marry him because I love him, as he loves me," said Gwen quietly,
and placing her hand in that of her lover, she faced Madame Alpenny
steadily.

"What a comparison"--the woman threw up her hands--"when he

loves you not in the least little bit."

"I love her with all my heart and soul!" cried the young man
furiously.

"Ah, and so did you speak to my daughter, Zara."

Gwen pulled her hand away from that of Owain, and looked from
him to the scoffing woman. "My daughter, Zara," she repeated. "And
who is she?"

"Do I not speak English?" questioned Madame Alpenny mockingly.

"Ah, then I do pray your forgiveness, as I am what you call--yes--an
alien."

"It is nonsense you are talking," said Hench angrily. "Your daughter--
--"

Then she turned on him furiously, letting her temper flame out for
the first time during the interview. "Yes, my daughter. You dare to
stand there and declare that you do not love her. She is heart-
broken, poor girl, because you have deserted her. I came here
bearing a message, and when I visited where you are staying, your
landlady told me you had gone to this place. I followed quietly and
hid myself there"--she flung out an arm towards the tall tombstone--
"to hear what?--you making love with another girl. But it shall not be
so, I tell you. Zara, my daughter, you shall marry, and not this--this--
--"

"Stop!" cried Hench, finally managing to stay this torrent of words.

"If you begin to call names you will be sorry for it. I do not love your
daughter--I never loved your daughter. It is true that I admired her,
but she told me how she desired to marry Bracken."

"You false one!" raged Madame Alpenny. "Zara told me you did ask
her hand in marriage."

"That is true," acknowledged Hench boldly. "But I----" he paused, for

a low cry of pain broke on his ear. He turned impetuously to
reassure Gwen of his devotion, only to see her gliding up the path
towards the gate with surprising swiftness. Evidently his foolish
admission had given her to understand that Madame Alpenny's
accusation was true, and without waiting to hear any explanation,
she had slipped away in despair. "Gwen! Gwen!" cried the young
man in hoarse tones, and hastening after the girl. "Wait; wait; it is
not what you think, my dear; it is----" his voice broke, as Gwen,
without turning her head, reached the gate and ran along the road.

"Ah, but no. You shall not go after," hissed a bitter voice at his
elbow, and Madame Alpenny grasped his arm firmly. "Here you stay
to speak with me."

"You old fiend!" cried Hench, turning on her furiously, for he saw
that it was useless to follow Gwen and explain at the present
moment.

"As you please," retorted the Hungarian lady, releasing him. "Names
do not do harm, my friend. I can afford to laugh, and I do."

While she was laughing, Hench suddenly became quite cool. He saw
that he was in both a dangerous and uncomfortable position, as the
woman had chosen her time excellently to complicate matters. Gwen
had pardoned his masquerade, but she was far too feminine, as he
believed, to pardon his proposing to another woman. In a moment
Hench determined to settle Madame Alpenny and then go at once to
enlist Mrs. Perage on his side. "Well," he said calmly to the marplot,
"you have found me and you have done your worst. What now?"
"Don't say that much, Monsieur," said Madame Alpenny shrilly. "Done
my worst, do you declare? Ah, but no. Not yet have I said what I
came to say."

"I know what you have come to say," retorted Hench, taking the bull
by the horns, which was the best thing to do. "You mean to accuse
me of murdering my uncle."

Madame Alpenny looked rather taken aback by this cool defiance,

but accepted the situation with a vicious pluck. "And is it not so?"

"It isn't worth my while to reply to so ridiculous a question," said

Hench, shrugging his square shoulders. "You accuse me. On what
grounds, pray?"

"Plenty of grounds, Monsieur; plenty of grounds. You obeyed that

advertisement and met your uncle to murder him and get the
property."

"When I didn't know that he was my uncle, or that I would inherit

any property in the event of his death?"

"You did know that he was your uncle," said the woman furiously.
"Those papers at your lawyers'----"

"I did not see them until nine days later," interrupted the young
man.

"_You say so," she sneered, "How can you prove that?"

"My lawyers can prove it."

"Ah, what folly!" Madame Alpenny brushed away this defence with a
gesture. "It was Mr. Evans who told you in that wood how he was
your uncle----"

"He did not. I never met him while he was alive."

"_You say so----" began Madame, again, only to be cut short.

"Hold your tongue and listen," said Hench in a peremptory tone.

"You are very clever and cunning, Madame, and have trapped me by
means of that advertisement in the hopes that you can force me to
marry your daughter. I absolutely decline to do so."

"Then I tell the policemen that you are a murderer," she retorted
quickly. Hench laughed. "Oh no, you won't. You would have done
that long ago, but that you wished to blackmail me. But I refuse to
be blackmailed also. And you, Madame, will have to explain why you
came down here to request my uncle to insert that advertisement,
instead of writing to me openly. Stop"--Hench waved his hand, as
she was about to speak--"I have no time to enter into details now.
On another occasion we can speak."

Madame Alpenny looked at him sullenly, as she was unprepared for

this defiance and saw the need of gaining time. "I will wait for one
week and then come to you again," she said savagely. "But you
marry Zara, or you hang!"

"I shall do neither," said Hench calmly, and turned on his heel with
contempt.

"One week," called out the woman furiously; "in one week I come
again!"

CHAPTER XV

A FRIEND IN NEED
Now that the long-expected blow had fallen, Hench was surprised to
find how lightly he had been struck. Madame Alpenny having come
at an inopportune moment for him, had made mischief, and for the
time being it looked as though she was triumphing. But Owain felt
certain that she was afraid; he had seen fear in her eyes when he
met her so defiantly. If she had been quite sure of her position, she
would not have given him a week to consider matters. It was not
difficult to understand why she had done so. For the murder of
Evans the woman cared very little, save as a means to force the man
she accused to do what she wanted. Her aim was to secure a
wealthy son-in-law, and she could only do that by threatening to tell
the police about his fatal visit to Cookley. But if he refused to do her
bidding and she did tell the police, then, so far as she was
concerned, everything was at an end. She would certainly get him
into trouble, but she would not have him as her daughter's husband,
nor would she get any money. Unwilling to push things too far,
Madame Alpenny had therefore compromised by giving Hench seven
days of grace.

Of course, at the end of that time, the young man knew that his
answer to her would be the same, and then she might revenge
herself by acquainting the authorities with her plausible story. But it
was questionable if she would do so even then, as the fear in her
eyes hinted that she knew more about the crime than she dared to
admit. If anything was made public, Hench had an idea that
Madame Alpenny might be placed in the dock instead of himself. He
could not be sure of this, as even though she had called on Evans to
set the advertisement trap, there was nothing to show that she had
come to Cookley on the evening of the murder. In that case it would
be difficult for her to prove that he had really kept the appointment
in Parley Wood. But, as Hench recognized, the fact of the
advertisement being addressed to him, together with the undoubted
fact that he benefited to the extent of ten thousand a year by the
death of his uncle, would undoubtedly throw suspicion on him. The
girl at the Bull Inn might remember his voice as that of the tramp;
and then the fact of his shaving off his beard would suggest that he
had some reason to escape the accusation. On the whole, it was
tolerably certain that if Madame Alpenny did go to the police, there
would be trouble out of which it would not be easy to emerge
scathless. But, owing to his belief that Madame Alpenny knew more
about the matter than she would admit, Hench felt sure she would
not seek the assistance of the authorities. And in any case he was
absolutely safe for one whole week. Much could be done in that
time.

It was best, meanwhile, to explain things to Gwen, so that she might

be sure of his love. When she learned exactly how he had come to
propose to Zara, then she would understand that his desire to marry
the dancer had only been the longing of a lonely man for home and
companionship. With comprehension of this fact, as Hench devoutly
hoped, the love of Gwen would return, and she would stand by him
in the coming trouble. He needed all the friends he could gather
round him to face things, and particularly felt that having his cousin
to defend him would brace him up to defend himself. Without her
love the young man felt that it would not be worth while to fight.
Ten thousand a year and a clearance of his name from suspicion
would not make up for the loss of the girl, who was now all in all to
him. Therefore the first thing to do was to win back Gwen's heart;
after that the deluge could come, so far as Hench was concerned.

He returned to his lodgings, and glancing through the window, saw

Madame Alpenny waddling along the street on her way to the
station. She cast one vengeful look on the cottage of Mrs. Bell, but
did not attempt to enter, which was another sign that she did not
feel herself strong enough to go into details. And, as a matter of
fact, such was the case. Madame Alpenny had hoped to dominate
Hench immediately, and his defiance had taken her entirely by
surprise. Therefore, she had wisely retreated in order to collect
herself, and intended to descend on him at the end of seven days
with overwhelming proofs of his guilty deed. Hench was relieved
when he saw her pass by the cottage, as he did not wish her to
enter and make trouble. Also he was relieved because he saw in her
passing a confession of weakness. Therefore did he feel much more
cheerful and hopeful than he had done for many a long day.

Mrs. Bell explained that a lady had called to see her lodger and that
she had sent her on to the churchyard, whither Hench had intimated
he was going. She hoped that she had not done wrong. Owain told
her that the visitor had only come down to see him on business; that
the business had been easily dispatched; that the lady had returned
to London, and that Mrs. Bell had acted quite judiciously.

The little pale woman accepted the explanation in all good faith, and
then went to open the door for the entrance of another lady. Hench,
busy with his afternoon tea, was not surprised when Mrs. Perage
entered, full of wrath. He had rather expected she would come, as it
occurred to him that Gwen's unexpected return from the churchyard
would lead to questions and explanations. From the very first remark
of Mrs. Perage, it was certain that she knew all about the matter.

"Well," said the fierce old lady, who looked something like Meg
Merrilees in her half-masculine, half-feminine garb, "this is a nice
state of affairs, young man. Gwen goes to meet you with her heart
full of love, and returns with that same heart broken into little
pieces. Your work."

"Sit down, Mrs. Perage, and let us talk quietly," said Hench
entreatingly.

"Talk quietly!" echoed Mrs. Perage, sitting down nevertheless. "Why,

I'm seething with rage, and want to break things--you amongst
them."

"Then you doubt me?"

Mrs. Perage looked at him with a softer eye, and remembered how
she had been prepared to stand by him whatever was said. She had
declared as much to Jim Vane, and could do nothing else but fulfil
her declaration. "Perhaps you have some excuse, young man?" she
said truculently.

"I have no excuse, but I have an explanation," said Hench dryly.

"Then you did propose to that other girl!" shrieked Mrs. Perage
furiously.

"Yes. I told you that I----"

"You didn't; you didn't." Mrs. Perage would not give him time to
finish his remark. "You told me that you admired another girl, but
that she loved some one else, so you went away. Pfui! Do you think
that my memory has gone with age?"

"What you say is quite true----"

"That my memory has gone with age?" demanded the old lady
acidly.

"No! No! No! But your recollection of what I said about my former---
-"

"Love-affairs!" interpolated Mrs. Perage, who declined to be

suppressed.

"No! No! No!" cried Hench again and earnestly. "I never was in love
until I met Gwen. I told you so. But I did say that I admired another
girl."

"You didn't say that you had proposed to her," said Mrs. Perage
grimly.

"No, I didn't, because----"

"Because you loved her."

"I didn't!" cried Owain, thoroughly exasperated by these constant
interruptions. "As I have already stated, I didn't know the meaning
of the word love until I met with Gwen."

"Then why did you propose to this Zara creature? One doesn't
propose unless love has something to do with the matter."

"Has your experience of life only taught you that much, Mrs. Perage?
A man proposes for the sake of money."

"Was this Zara creature rich?"

"No. She was very poor."

"Then you didn't propose to her on that account. Come"--Mrs.

Perage spoke in her roughest manner--"don't waste my time. Why
did you propose?"

"Because I was a lonely man and wanted a home and a comrade. I

had been wandering all over the world by myself, and found life
dismal in the extreme. I didn't love Zara Alpenny one little bit. But I
admired her as a thoroughly good woman----"

"Oh"--Mrs. Perage rubbed her nose--"she was a good woman, was

she?"

"A thoroughly good woman," repeated Hench, again emphasizing his

remark. "And when I asked her to be my wife, she told me that I
didn't love her, but only wanted a home, adding that she loved some
one else. I recognized the truth of her statement with regard to my
own feelings, and therefore I went away from Bethnal Green. I still
respect her, Mrs. Perage, and if I can forward her marriage with the
man of her choice in any way, I will do so. After all, Madame
Alpenny wants a rich son-in-law, and I am wealthy enough to
smooth matters over in that way for Ned Bracken."

"Who is he?"
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

[Link]