Arabic is the language of the Qur’an. A student of Islam will need to be able to use the language of its religion and many of its adherents. This module lays the foundation for reading the sacred text in the original. Students will be introduced to elements of the language, its script, morphology, grammar and syntax.
Methods of Teaching = Seminars, exercises and translations.
Methods of Assessment = Class based exercises.
Requisites = None.

The double module RT1109 is designed to provide an introduction to elementary Classical Arabic grammar and to develop skills in reading the early Makkan suras of the Qur’an and early Arabic historical texts.

Arabic is a language spoken throughout the Middle East and North Africa.  It is also widely read in South Asia and Africa because of the influence of Islam whose scripture, the Qur’an, has had a far-reaching effect on religious thought since the seventh century A.D.  A knowledge of Classical Arabic opens the way to understanding a world civilisation that has produced important literature in historical writing, poetry and philosophy.  Arabic belongs to the Semitic family of languages, whose long history embraces ancient languages of the Near East such as Akkadian, Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, and modern ones like Amharic, the written and spoken tongue of present-day Ethiopia.  Unlike English, the Arabic alphabet is written in a cursive script from right to left and has no vowels as such.  Consequently it can be a difficult language to learn in the early stages.  Once mastered, however, it will allow you to penetrate an important branch of world literature and the everyday life of the Middle East.

On completion of the module a student should be able to:

i. To read aloud from an Arabic text, recognising and enunciating the vowels and consonants according to the rules of Modern Standard Arabic pronunciation.

ii. To decline diptote and triptote nouns and adjectives.

iii. To distinguish between subject and predicate in a nominal sentence, and between the subject and direct object of a verbal sentence.

iv. To identify the triliteral and quadriliteral root of plural nouns, participles, and strong verbs.

v. To conjugate strong verbs in the perfect indicative mood, in the imperfect, indicative, subjunctive, and jussive moods, and in the imperative mood.

vi. To recognise differences of gender and number in nouns, adjectives and verbs.

vii. To decline the personal, demonstrative and relative pronouns, and recognise them in texts.

viii. Correctly to translate the different adverbial modes of nouns and adjectives in the accusative case.

ix. To recognise the triliteral root in the derived stems of strong verbs, and use the dictionary to find their meanings

x. To commit to memory a basic working vocabulary of Classical Arabic words.

xi. To use a dictionary to find the meanings of triliteral roots and of the words derived from them.

Knowledge and Understanding:

To interpret early Islamic texts in the original Arabic vis-à-vis their cultural, historical and social meaning and context.

Intellectual Skills:

Logical thought.

Ability to work collaboratively and effectively as the member of a group through the comparison of prepared material.

Ability to undertake independent learning and thought, and to reflect on the results.

Critical analysis and synthesis of evidence.

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

Readingand translating basic texts in a language of world-wide importance in religion, politics, literature and business.

Using a highly inflected and syntactically complex language.

Reading fluently in a non-Roman script.

Extracting meaning from written documents using the rules of philological and historical criticism. 

Transferable Skills:

Effective oral and written communication.

The ability to pay attention and to detail and assess its significance.

The ability to argue cogently from evidence.

Critical engagement with the beliefs and behaviour of others.

Personal attributes such as self-reliance and adaptability

The basic structures and syntax of the Classical Arabic language as well as the pronunciation of Modern Standard Arabic will be explained in lectures with demonstrations at the board where appropriate.  This will include the detailed presentation of how verbs are conjugated and the grammatical analysis of sentences.  The Autumn Semester will be spent translating the Arabic to English sections of the lessons in the grammar book with the active assistance of the tutor.

The modules will normally progress at the rate of one lesson per week from the textbook.  There will be three weekly meeting hours; of these, one will ordinarily be spent on grammar and syntax, and one on developing pronunciation and vocabulary.  The third hour will be devoted to translating exercises in the textbook in the Autumn Semester (RT 1203).