Monthly Archives: December 2014

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 31, 2014

Posted under

Arabic Word of the Day

Comments

Leave a comment

سنة جديدة سعيدة

Happy New Year 2015, everybody! Please enjoy this post from a couple of New Years ago!

Arabic Word a Day

Sorry for the break in posting! Visiting family and a nasty cold will do that to you.

Most Arabs mark at least two “New Years” on their calendars, the Islamic and the Gregorian (many, especially in Iraq, may celebrate a third, Nowruz). As the Islamic calendar is lunar, and therefore shorter than the Gregorian calendar, the Gregorian date of the Islamic New Year floats; for example, we are currently in the year 1434 on the Islamic (Hijri) calendar, and the year 1435 will begin roughly around November 4, 2013. I say “roughly” because lunar calendar dates depend on the phases of the moon, so any attempt to map them to Gregorian dates in the future may be off by a day or so in either direction. The Islamic New Year is marked quietly, with prayer and reflection on the Hijra, or the Flight of Muhammad from…

View original post 217 more words

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 7, 2014

Posted under

Arabic Word of the Day

Comments

2 Comments

Vegetables: خضراوات

Back to food, let’s get healthy and talk vegetables.

Have I missed your favorite? Leave it in comments and I’ll add it!

“Vegetables” is خضراوات (khaḍrāwāt), which comes from the root خضر, “to be green.” A particular vegetable (especially if you’re growing it and are referring to it in the botanical sense) could also be called نَباتي (nabātī), from the root نبت, “to grow, sprout.”

  • artichoke: خُرشوف (khurshūf)
  • asparagus: هِليَون (hilyawn)
  • avocado: أفوكادو (afūkādū)
  • beets: بَنجَر (banjar, From Greek, I think? Where beetroot is “panjar,” apparently?)
  • broccoli: بروكلي (brūkulī)
  • cabbage (includes things like kale): كُرُنب (kurunb)
  • carrot: جزر (jazar)
  • cauliflower: قَرنَبيط (qarnabīṭ)
  • celery: كَرَفس (karafs)
  • chicory (includes things like endive and radicchio for you fancy salad types): هِندِباء (hindibāʾ)
  • cucumber: خيار (khiyār)
  • eggplant: باذَنجان (bādhanjān)
  • garlic: ثوم (thūm)
  • leeks: كَراث (karāth)
  • lettuce: خَس (khass)
  • mushroom: فُطر (fuṭr)
  • okra: بامية (bāmīyah)
  • onion: بَصَل (baṣal)
  • parsnip: جزر أبيض (jazar abyaḍ, “white carrot”)
  • peas: بازِلاء (bāzilāʾ)
  • pepper (red, green): فِلفِل (filfil)
    • green pepper: فلفل أخضر (filfil akhḍar)
    • red pepper: فلفل أحمر (filfil aḥmar)
    • yellow pepper: فلفل أصفر (filfil aṣfar)
  • potato: بَطاطا (baṭāṭā) or بَطاطَس (baṭāṭas)
  • pumpkin: قَرعة (qarʿah)
  • radish: فُجُل (fujl)
  • spinach: سَبانِخ (sabānikh)
  • squash: قَرعة (qarʿah) or possibly إسكواش (iskwāsh)
  • string beans: فاصوليا (fāṣūliyā)
  • sweet potato/yam (I know they’re different but as far as I know Arabic doesn’t distinguish): بَطاطا حَلوة (baṭāṭā ḥalwah)
  • tomato: طَماطِم (ṭamāṭim)
  • turnip: لِفت (lift; careful not to say “laft” because that could mean “admonition” or “warning”)
  • zucchini: كوسة (kūsah)