RT1311: Arabic Texts 2

School Religion
Department Code SHARE
Module Code RT1311
External Subject Code Q220
Number of Credits 20
Level L6
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Professor Frank Trombley
Semester Spring Semester
Academic Year 2014/5

Outline Description of Module

The double module RT 1311 is designed to provide an introduction to advanced Classical Arabic grammar and to progress skills in reading the early Makkan suras of the Qur’an and early Arabic and/or Christian 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, and recognise them in Arabic texts.

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 in texts verbs with one or more weak radicals  in the different moods (as in v. above).

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

xi. Correctly to translate subordinate clauses in sentences that express indirect speech, result, purpose and temporality.

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

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

xiv. To translate relatively straightforward passages in the Qur’an and Islamic and/or Christian historical texts, with the aid of a glossary or dictionary.

xv. To interpret early Islamic texts vis-à-vis cultural, historical and social context.

Knowledge and Understanding:

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

How the module will be delivered

The basic structures and syntax of the Classical Arabic language as well as the pronunciation of Modern Standard Arabic will be explained and reviewed 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 semester will be spent translating the texts assigned in the syllabus 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 Qur’anic and early Arabic historical texts.

Skills that will be practised and developed

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

How the module will be assessed

The rationale for learning Classical Arabic is to acquire skill in the translation and interpretation texts to achieve an understanding of their historical meaning.  Before this can be done, however, a basic grasp of grammatical paradigms and syntactical usage is required.  Hence in the first instance the emphasis will be on mastering these elementary structures.  Once beyond this threshold, it will be possible to begin approaching early Arabic texts as objects of interpretation.  We will be working in the most widely studied branch of the philology of Semitic languages. 

RT 1311 Arabic Texts II:

Formative assessment (enhancing student learning)will consist of tutor and group commentary on each student’s translation work, with individual and group feedback. You will normally be expected to translate straightforward texts from Arabic into English and give philological commentary, where appropriate. The content and proportion of these exercises will vary from year to year, being related to the needs of particular groups of students.

Summative assessment (evaluating student performance).The examination will be a three-hour unseen paper at the end of Spring Semester.  It will require the translation of Arabic texts into English and, normally, interpretive comment on the historical or religious meaning of certain Arabic terms.

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Exam - Spring Semester 100 Arabic Texts Ii 3

Syllabus content

  1. Grammar: temporal conjunctions

Text: al-mutalamis (al-Ya‘qubi)

  1. Grammar: circumstantial clauses

Text: ‘Adiy b. Zayd (Part I) (al-Ya‘qubi)

  1. Grammar: prepositions

Text: ‘Adiy b. Zayd (Part II) (al-Ya‘qubi)

  1. Grammar: calendar

Text: The fight of the Muslims against the Romans (Part I) (al-Ya‘qubi)

  1. Grammar: numerals

Text: The fight of the Muslims against the Romans (Part II) (al-Ya‘qubi)

6.     Reading Week

  1. Grammar: exclamations

Text: The treaty with the people of Jerusalem (Part I) (al-Tabari)

  1. Grammar: verbs with the glottal stop

Text: The treaty with the people of Jerusalem (Part II) (al-Tabari)

  1. Grammar: Verbs – third weak radical

Text: the conquest of Egypt (al-Ya‘qubi)

  1. Grammar: verbs with two weak radicals

Text: ‘The Arabs’ knowledge of poetry’ (Part I) (Kitab al-Aghani)

  1. Grammar: revision

Text: ‘The Arabs’ knowledge of poetry’ (Part II) (Kitab al-Aghani)

12.  Revision for examination

*The teaching schedule assumes medial or typical student progress in grammar, vocabulary acquisition and reading skills.  The tutor reserves the option to take students through these materials at a reduced pace, where appropriate, in the interest of student learning.

Essential Reading and Resource List

Please see Background Reading List for an indicative list.

Background Reading and Resource List

Brünnow, R., Arabische Chrestomathie (Leipzig, 1974). 

Cowan, D., Modern Literary Arabic (Cambridge, 1958).

Fischer, W., A Grammar of Classical Arabic (New Haven – London, 2002).

Haywood, J. A., and Nahmad, H. M., A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language (London, 1965).

Scheindlin, R., 201 Arabic Verbs (New York, 1978).

Smart, J. R., Arabic. A Complete Course for Beginners (London, 1986).

Thatcher, G. W., Arabic Grammar of the Written Language (Heidelberg, 1927).

Tritton, A. S., Teach Yourself Arabic (London, 1943).

Yellin, A., and Billig., L., An Arabic Reader (London, 1976).

Wehr, H., Arabic-English Dictionary, ed. J, M. Cowan, 3rd. ed. (Wiesbaden, 1961).


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