Melange vol.6 October

Editorial

Poems
Day-dreaming Reality
Betrayal
1981-2001
ho.ta.ru. — la luciole —

Multilingual Page
> Arabic

Novel
Adonis Blue (5)

Guest Writers' Corner
Harlequins Dance
Broadening Your Mind — Ecotourism in Busan

Notes on Group Writers

Development of Arabic
• Arabic is originally a language spoken in the Arabian Peninsula, including Saudi Arabia
• Islam's prophet, Mohammed (570?- 632) was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia — now the sacred place for Islam, and Muslims pray 3 times a day for this direction & go to pilgrim once a year — that's why Arabic is spread other than countries in the Middle East
• After prophet Mohammed died, his followers spread Muslim beliefs beyond the Middle East, eg North Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia
  — so was Arabic diffused together

  Arabic is Official language of:
  Saudi Arabia Yemen Oman Kuwait Bahrain Qatar Iraq	Syria Jordan Lebanon Egypt Sudan Libya Tunisia	Algeria Morocco UAE (United Arab Emirates)
  Mother tongue of 215 million people + many millions of Moslems in other countries Source: http://www.worldlanguage.com/language/Arabic.html

• 
  According to Muslim teachings, all Muslims must read and understand the holy Koran [al-Qur'an, al-Quran, Alcoran — the sacred book of Islam, cf the Bible] in Arabic — so those who are Muslims but don't speak Arabic as their mother tongue also learn Arabic in their religious education
  

Arabic letters

Examples of Arabic letters — Arabic Alphabet (cf A B C...) <<from Right Numbers (letters handwritten by Mohammed)

• Written from right to left
• All letters are usually connected, written in a running hand
  
• Arabic numerals
  — now used all over the world
  — the most excellent feature: 'zero' (Roman numerals don't have it)

  eg ma mi mee mu



• Common characters
  — A Pakistani language (Urdu?) and Persian use the same letters, so they can read the letters of each other, but can't understand what the letters mean

Variances in Arabic

• Dialects in Arabic
  — Many different accents exist between different areas
  — But no difference in writing
  
• Transition of Arabic
  — Not a great deal
  — Not greatly influenced by other languages like English
  
• Arabic vs English
  English words brought into Arabic:
  — Not many, only few
  eg 'OK', 'bye-bye', 'TV' (because Arabic doesn't have a word for television)

  English words derived from Arabic SUKER SUGAR IN (nose) FLU ( ) ENZA (sheep) INFLUENZA

  
  
• Arabic affects English:
  — Instead, we can find some English words originally from Arabic

Language education in an Arabic country: in case of Palestine
• English is a compulsory subject & is used to teach many science subjects eg mathematics, physics, chemistry, medicine
  — Arabic is used to teach arts and humanities subjects such as literature, history
• Difficulties for Arabic speakers in learning English
  — English spelling is difficult - writing direction is opposite (from right to left)

(the Arabic writes 'Mohammed)   Mohammed Daoud Born in Palestine Now retired After completing his high school in Egypt, he had worked as an engineer and moved about such as Palestine, Kuwait, Egypt, India and migrated to New Zealand five years ago, while here getting a certificate in communication from Massey University. He now lives with his wife, enjoys gardening, and looks forward to his three children and two grandchildren visiting him on weekends.

Arabic literature
• Fable
  — Arabian nights (author unknown)
• Classic writers
  — Ibn Sina (scientist)
  — Jaber Ben Hayyan
  — Mutta Nabbi (poet)
  
• Contemporary writers:
  —Youseb Idrees
  
• Film makers
  — Zubaidi
  — Hammor Bult

Thank you Mohammed for your kind cooperation.
Interviewers: Megumi & 'Emily'

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