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Arabic Manual: A Colloquial Handbook in the Syrian Dialect, for the Use of Visitors to Syria and Palestine, Containing a Simplified Grammar, a Comprehensive English and Arabic Vocabulary and Dialogues
An excerpt Author's Preface:
IT is hoped that the present work will supply a want, which has long been felt by those, who, for purposes of business or recreation, have been led to visit Syria and Palestine. The extensive scope of English and American missionary development, and the yearly increase in the influx of tourists to this country may, perhaps, render both useful and acceptable any means, which facilitate the acquisition of colloquial Arabic. This manual has no classical pretensions and is, by no means exhaustive. It is intended, merely, as a practical guide to the spoken language, which may serve to enable those, who wish to deal directly with the natives, to do so, without being obliged to have recourse to the medium of an interpreter. The limited compass of the book has, necessarily, restricted the selection of the vocabulary, and the words chosen will merely satisfy the ordinary and most practical requirements. In using it, allowances must be made for local differences of pronunciation. It should, also, be borne in mind that colloquial Arabic is never written, and that both its pronunciation and terminology are loose and undefined. English characters are used throughout the work, which places it within the reach of those, who have made no study of Oriental languages. As regards spelling and pronunciation, a system of transliteration has been adopted, for purposes of uniformity, but local differences of dialect and the arbitrary disregard, in spoken Arabic, for the rules, which govern the formation of the classical language, necessarily preclude an absolutely rigid adherence to it.
IT is hoped that the present work will supply a want, which has long been felt by those, who, for purposes of business or recreation, have been led to visit Syria and Palestine. The extensive scope of English and American missionary development, and the yearly increase in the influx of tourists to this country may, perhaps, render both useful and acceptable any means, which facilitate the acquisition of colloquial Arabic. This manual has no classical pretensions and is, by no means exhaustive. It is intended, merely, as a practical guide to the spoken language, which may serve to enable those, who wish to deal directly with the natives, to do so, without being obliged to have recourse to the medium of an interpreter. The limited compass of the book has, necessarily, restricted the selection of the vocabulary, and the words chosen will merely satisfy the ordinary and most practical requirements. In using it, allowances must be made for local differences of pronunciation. It should, also, be borne in mind that colloquial Arabic is never written, and that both its pronunciation and terminology are loose and undefined. English characters are used throughout the work, which places it within the reach of those, who have made no study of Oriental languages. As regards spelling and pronunciation, a system of transliteration has been adopted, for purposes of uniformity, but local differences of dialect and the arbitrary disregard, in spoken Arabic, for the rules, which govern the formation of the classical language, necessarily preclude an absolutely rigid adherence to it.
344 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2013
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