Al-Kitaab Fii Tacallum al-Arabiyya

Abstract

The latest in the series of Al-Kitaab fii Ta calf um al-cArabiyya books, Kitaab3 offers some new activities to challenge advanced Arabic learners. Of thefamiliar, tested themes, al-cibaaraat al-jadiida (new expressions) rankamong my favorites. Native speakers take idioms for granted, while studentsare often confused by them. The authors provide a generous list oftranslated idioms and how to use them. One of those oft-repeated exercisesshows students several rows of four Arabic words and asks them tochoose which word does not belong there. The students have to justify theirchoice in Arabic, as the authors want them to "reach the level of the educatednative speaker."Kitaab 3 consists of IO chapters. Chapter 1, "Islam and Politics," fea turestwo articles on "Islamic fundamentalism": "Resolving the Disputewith the Islamic Situation" (Fahrni Hewaydi) and "Whither This IslamicSpread?" (Ahmad Kamal Abul Majd). In the area of grammar, it coversspecial uses of the demonstrative pronoun, the hollow verb, and the verbaland adverbial maa. In chapter 2, "Between Classic and Popular Heritage,"we read "The Anecdotes of Goha," that lovable fool who has kept Arabs ofall ages laughing since time immemorial. The same chapter highlightsYoussef Idris in his "On Egyptian Theatre," and Nizar Qabbani's poem"qaari 'at al-finjaan" [The Reader of the Cup]. More discussion of maaensues, this time its nominal and conditional meanings, along with thedefective verb's morphology ...