The Arabic Alphabet
Here at CAS, we have started an non-credit Arabic language class at the local university. The two lessons this week have focused on the Arabic alphabet, which while confusing to most Americans, actually makes good sense when one considers that the Arabic alphabet was designed to be written in "cursive" script and not printed or type set.
Our first language introduced us to the complete Arabic alphabet which consists of 28 "consonants". Like Hebrew and other semitic languages, the are no "vowels" in the traditional Arabic alphabet, but there are some marks that can be used to indicate particular vowel sounds.
Our second class focused on the first four letters of the Arabic alphabet and included instruction on how to write the letters depending on the letter's location in a word. Similar to the English upper- and lower-case letters, letters in the Arabic alphabet are written differently depending on if the letters starts, ends, or appears in the middle of a word. Just to make the Arabic alphabet interesting, some letters don't have a "middle" and therefore don't connect to the following letter as in English cursive writing.
This is not our first introduction to Arabicand its alphabet. We previously lived among the peoples of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for most of a year. While we never got the hang of the Arabic alphabet during our stay, due to the large English speaking communities in both countries, we did gain much insight into Arabic and Islamic culture.
Our instructor is a young Palestinian man from Gaza and a Muslim. His immediate family came through the recent Israel military operation unharmed, but he has several cousins that suffered some injuries. Among these is a young child who had glass blown into their face and badly cut. Please join us in prayer for the healing of his loved ones.
Hopefully, our mastering the Arabic alphabet will lead to us mastering enough Arabic to read and cite from the Koran in our apologetics ministry. We doubt we'll ever have the Arabic and apologetic skills of Father Zakaria Boutros. But, we have a good benchmark!
Related Posts:
Father Zakaria Botros Radio Broadcast Angers Michigan Muslims
Answering Zakaria Botros
Christian Apologetics for Muslims
Source: YouTube - ArabicEducation - Arabic Alphabet Part 1
Our first language introduced us to the complete Arabic alphabet which consists of 28 "consonants". Like Hebrew and other semitic languages, the are no "vowels" in the traditional Arabic alphabet, but there are some marks that can be used to indicate particular vowel sounds.
Our second class focused on the first four letters of the Arabic alphabet and included instruction on how to write the letters depending on the letter's location in a word. Similar to the English upper- and lower-case letters, letters in the Arabic alphabet are written differently depending on if the letters starts, ends, or appears in the middle of a word. Just to make the Arabic alphabet interesting, some letters don't have a "middle" and therefore don't connect to the following letter as in English cursive writing.
This is not our first introduction to Arabicand its alphabet. We previously lived among the peoples of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for most of a year. While we never got the hang of the Arabic alphabet during our stay, due to the large English speaking communities in both countries, we did gain much insight into Arabic and Islamic culture.
Our instructor is a young Palestinian man from Gaza and a Muslim. His immediate family came through the recent Israel military operation unharmed, but he has several cousins that suffered some injuries. Among these is a young child who had glass blown into their face and badly cut. Please join us in prayer for the healing of his loved ones.
Hopefully, our mastering the Arabic alphabet will lead to us mastering enough Arabic to read and cite from the Koran in our apologetics ministry. We doubt we'll ever have the Arabic and apologetic skills of Father Zakaria Boutros. But, we have a good benchmark!
Related Posts:
Father Zakaria Botros Radio Broadcast Angers Michigan Muslims
Answering Zakaria Botros
Christian Apologetics for Muslims
Source: YouTube - ArabicEducation - Arabic Alphabet Part 1
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