A Dictionary of Syrian Arabic: English-Arabic (Richard Slade Harrell Arabic Series) (Paperback)

by Moukhtar Ani (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This dictionary provides Syrian terms for the language needed in everyday life. The Syrian used is that of educated Muslims in Damascus, which would be understood not only elsewhere in Syria but also in the broader linguistic area of "Syrian Arabic," which encompasses present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Arab-speaking population of Israel. The book includes examples, idioms, and common phrases using the word in question. The Arabic terms are presented in transcription. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Language Notes
Text: English
Original Language: Arabic

Product Details

• Paperback: 269 pages
• Publisher: Georgetown University Press (April 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878400109
• ISBN-13: 978-0878400102
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,305,209 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, January 5, 2006

By	Ashwin Kishore Shirale "The Book Worm" (Kuwait) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Dictionary of Syrian Arabic: English-Arabic (Georgetown Classics in Arabic Language and Linguistics) (Paperback)

I refer to this book once in a while.Its really neat that I can just think of a word, look it up and voila!....there it is in perfect syrian colloquial arabic.The entries also have example sentences to give you an idea of the context and grammatical syntax with which this word is used.I have noticed however that some very common arabic expressions/words that I hear spoken by Syrians and Lebanese are not included as synonyms for the meanings.Im not sure if this is because this book was compiled in the 1960s and the colloquial slang could be slightly different now in 2005....this sort of thing is very rare, though.I wonder how on earth they compiled such a detailed exhaustive list.This is a lifetime keepsake, if you are as crazy about learning levantine arabic as I am!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your guide to Syrian Arabic, March 27, 2003

By	Ilan Yavor (Tel Aviv, Israel) - See all my reviews

This book is superb. Its biggest plus is that it uses thousands of real-life examples of sentences in Syrian Arabic and demonstrate how words are used. It is designed to be a guide to speaking Arabic on a conversational level, and is replete with colloqualisms, figures of speech, and idioms. It is well worth the money.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, March 29, 2002

By	"jwimbo" (USA) - See all my reviews

This is a very good dictionary for the Syrian dialect. It includes broken plurals and it uses most of the words in sentences. Some might complain that it is not written in the Arabic script, but I thought the notation chosen was helpful for pronounciation. One downside is that it is not totally comprehensive, but it contained almost all of the words I wanted to look up.