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arabicfornerds.bsky.social
Arabic for Nerds
@arabicfornerds.bsky.social
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News and interesting stuff from the ض-universe.
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Not Gaza, But Gas? Gaza's Internal Battles and Kuwait's «جزة» | MAB 10/25Not Gaza, But Gas? Gaza's Internal Battles and Kuwait's «جزة» | MAB 10/25
This month in the Media Arabic Bosster: We decode a puzzling Kuwaiti headline. Is the massive new gas field named "Gaza" or "Jizzah"? And we analyze a As
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Grammatical Imposters and Double Agents: Unmasking the True Identity of وَسِيطٌ and عَدُوٌّ | UA #5Grammatical Imposters and Double Agents: Unmasking the True Identity of وَسِيطٌ and عَدُوٌّ | UA #5
Ever memorized an Arabic pattern only to find it doesn't work as expected? We dissect two tricky words, عَدُوٌّ (enemy)
A CLASSIC ︱The History of the Minaret: From Prayer Call to Islamic Icon
The minaret is a key symbol of Islam, but early mosques likely lacked them. This article traces the history of the Islamic prayer call (Adhan) and the development of minarets, discussing their origins and meaning in Islamic arch
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A CLASSIC ︱How to Use NotebookLM to Study Arabic
Google's NotebookLM can help you move from intermediate to advanced Arabic skills, writes Christoph Weyer in a guest post. He uses AI tools to improve his skills through video summaries and generated vocabulary lists.#Guest Article #Learning Hacks
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A CLASSIC ︱"How a dive trip to Egypt led a 14-year-old to teach himself Arabic" | Georg Binder | 9273 Roots #29
Long before the internet, a dive trip to Egypt inspired 14-year-old Georg Binder to teach himself Arabic in his small Austrian town. He discusses his lifelong passion, his love for Khalil
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A CLASSIC ︱"Arabic is the 'endurance sport' of the world’s languages" | Dominic Herbert | 9273 Roots #32
For triathlete and Cambridge-educated financier Dominic Herbert, learning Arabic is the ultimate endurance sport. He discusses his 30-year journey, from falling for the script in Pakistan to full
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Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine
A full-blown machine translation meltdown on the official website of the German city of Erlangen officially rebranded the peaceful town as the new global headquarters for rage - at least, according to its own disastrous Arabic version.#Errabic
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A CLASSIC ︱A Guide to Compound Tenses in Egyptian Arabic: "Should Have" and "Will Have"
Arabic verbs have only two morphological forms, making compound tenses tricky. This article details "should have" and "will have done" constructions in Egyptian Arabic, with clear examples for learners.#Egyptian
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Warning Words, Nuclear Pacts, and a Middle East on Edge | MAB 09/25
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A CLASSIC ︱Al-Suli: The Chess Master in the Islamic Golden Age
Al-Suli, a key chess master from the 10th century, played an important role in developing modern chess and is seen as one of its first champions. Who was Al-Suli, and how are chess terms expressed in Arabic?#History
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The Saracens in the Swiss Alps: An Arabic Legacy or a European Legend?
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A CLASSIC ︱Bride or Groom? Unlocking the Meaning of ʻArūs (عَرُوسٌ) in Arabic | UA #3
The Arabic word عَرُوسٌ (arūs) is surprisingly ambiguous. This analysis unpacks the gender of عَرُوسٌ and reveals the correct way to form the plural of عُرْسٌ (urs), the word for a wedding.#Grammar #Unlocking Arabic
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A CLASSIC ︱Foreign Words in Arabic: Farsi, Greek, & Turkish (Part 3)
This is Part 3 of a series on the etymology of foreign words in Arabic, focusing on traces left by Farsi, Greek, and Ottoman Turkish. Discover the origins of common Arabic words like بَقْشِيش (baksheesh), باشا (Pasha), أَفَنْدِي (effendi)
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The 'Hunted Infinitive': The المَصْدَرُ الْمُتَصَيَّدُ and the Hidden Logic in Arabic Sentences | UA #2
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A CLASSIC ︱How to Form Plural Adjectives in Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic adjective plurals can be tricky. We analyze common patterns and show examples for both human and non-human nouns.#Dialects #Egyptian Arabic
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Terror Plots, Tragedies, and Water Wars in Iraq | MAB 08/25
This issue breaks down how Arab media reports on national crises, with a deep dive into Iraq’s escalating water shortage and Turkey’s controversial role. We also analyze the linguistic battle over the term DAESH.

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Terror Plots, Tragedies, and Water Wars in Iraq | MAB 08/25 | Arabic for Nerds
Media Arabic Booster 08/25: We analyze Iraq's water crisis, a tragic bus crash, and the linguistic battle over the term DAESH (ISIS).
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A CLASSIC ︱How to Say "Me" in Arabic: A Guide to Accusative Pronouns (like إِيّايَ)
While rare in everyday speech, Arabic expresses "me" (إِيّايَ) and other direct/indirect objects using specific accusative (مَنْصُوب) and genitive (مَجْرُور) forms of personal pronouns, such as إِيّاهُ ("him") or إِيّاكَ ("you"). This
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In this interview, Wan Amirul Asyraf from Malaysia shares how he bridges a career in finance with a passion for linguistics. He speaks on his journey with Classical Arabic, the influence of his native Malay, and the timeless advice about creating value.

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"That sense of purpose, however small, is what makes me feel most alive" | Wan Amirul Asyraf | 9273 Roots #37 | Arabic for Nerds
Malaysian financier Wan Amirul Asyraf shares his unique path to Classical Arabic and the philosophy of purpose that guides his life and work.
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Arab Rulers Under Pressure: Gaza’s Hunger, Cairo’s Fire & Tunisia’s Decline | MAB 07/25

Media Arabic Booster 07/25 explores two nations in crisis. From a Cairo fire symbolizing state decay to Tunisia’s slide into autocracy, we analyze useful Arabic terms.
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Arab Rulers Under Pressure: Gaza's Hunger, Cairo's Fire & Tunisia's Decline | MAB 07/25 | Arabic for Nerds
Media Arabic Booster 07/25 dissects the language of crisis. We analyze Arabic media on Egypt's infrastructure failure & Tunisia's political decline.
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“If you’re not studying, you’re dead” | Pierrick Jaouen | 9273 Roots #36

What connects a 1960s Egyptian radio program to language learning in Vietnam? For Pierrick Jaouen, it’s part of the journey. Explore his favorite resources and advice for mastering Arabic.

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"If you're not studying, you're dead" | Pierrick Jaouen | 9273 Roots #36 | Arabic for Nerds
In our interview, Pierrick Jaouen shares his best advice for self-studying Arabic, from his favorite resources to his unique and inspiring philosophy.
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Why Arabic is the Master Key to Learning Swahili, Farsi, Hebrew & More

Ever noticed the echoes of Arabic in Swahili or Farsi? In this guest article, Dr. Roger Anderson explores the often surprising lexical ties to Swahili, Indonesian, Hebrew, and Farsi.

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Why Arabic is the Master Key to Learning Swahili, Farsi, Hebrew & More | Arabic for Nerds
Arabic is a polyglot's master key. Unlock surprising word connections in languages across Africa & Asia and get a head start on learning.
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