Overview of the Saudi Arabic Basic Course

Of the three major dialects in Saudi Arabic - Hijazi, Najidi, and Shargi - Hijazi is used throughout the country for the government and commercial purposes, and has become the most widely understood dialect in the Arabian peninsula. Even so, there is no 'standard' Hijazi dialect, but the basis for the Saudi Arabic basic course is 'urban' Hijazi, to distinguish it from the bedouin dialects also native to the region. The aim of the course is 'working' proficiency in the language. The course enables you to speak and understand Saudi Arabic speech at a normal rate in a variety of social and business contexts.

Preface

In 1974 in the midst of a growing U.S. interest in the Arabian Peninsula the Foreign Service Institute undertook to fill a significant gap in language learning materials: there was no convenient manual for speakers of English who wished to learn the Hijazi dialect of Saudi Arabia. Spoken natively by about two million people and understood and used by at least three million more, it is the most widely understood dialection on the Arabian Peninsula.

The Saudi Arabic Basic Course (Urban Hijazi Dialect) is principally the work of Dr. Margaret K. Omar of the FSI linguist staff. In two trips to Saudi Arabia she collected language material and conducted the linguistic research on which the Arabic passages and the grammatical statements in this volume are based. Dr. Omar has elsewhere expressed appreciation to four Jidda residents who were particularly helpful as sources of the Hijazi dialect material appearing in this text. One of them, Mrs. Ayesha Al-Marzouki, worked with Dr. Omar in Jidda at an early stage of the product and later reviewed the Arabic portions page by page with Dr. Omar in the United States.

Dr. Omar planned the book, selected the Hijazi materials , fitted them together in their present form, provided the English language glosses, and wrote the explanatory passages. Consultation with a number of specialists in the field assured the accuracy of the work. Dr. Mahmoud Sieny of the University of Riyadh provided counsel on the design and content of the manuscript in its early stages and reviewed it again when it was in near final form. The manuscript also had the benefit of stucy and comment by Dr. Peter Abboud of the University of Texas, Dr. Ernest Adbel-Massih of the University of Michigan and Dr. Hamdi Qafisheh of the University of Arizona.

Dr. Harlie L. Smith of the FSI linguist staff made helpful suggestions as to form and Mr. Naim Owais, FSI Arabic language instructor, edited the Arabic language content. Mr. Augustus A. Koski Edited the English language content and provided support and assistance to Dr. Omar from the earliest stages of planning through the submission of the manuscript for publication.

Typing of the camera copy was done by Mrs. Maryko Deemer, with assistance from Miss Denise Coleman, Cover and title page were prepared by the FSI Audio-Visual Staff, under the direction of Joseph A. Sadote.

The Foreign Service Insitute is indebted to the U.S. Office of Education for financial support which has made it possible to prepare and publish this volume.

Introduction

There are three major groups of dialects in Saudi Arabia -- Hijazi, spoken on the western coast, in Jidda, Taidf, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina; Najdi, spoken in and around Riyadh, in the north central part of the country; and Shargi, spoken in the oil-rich eastern region. While the Najdi dialect enjoys presige by virtue of its conservatism and relative closeness to Classical Arabic and the fact that it is the dialect of the royal family, the Hijazi dialect is used throughout the country for government and commercial purposes, and has become the most widely-understood dialect in the Arabian Peninsula. The Hijazi dialect is not "pure" Saudi Arabic, and reflects recent borrowings from other dialects, especially Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian; for this reason, sometimes one word or expression was selected from several which may be heard, and sometimes alternative expressions are introduced, since two or even three forms may be in frequent use.

Since there is no "standard" Hijazi dialect, this book reflects the dialect as spoken in Jidda. Whenever forced to choose between language usage in the other Hijazi cities and that of Jidda, the Jidda usage was given prefrence. A few of the most common words from Najdi and from other citites are introduced for recognition and identified as such. There has also been a preference for "modern" words and structures, despite the fact that this sometimes means rejecting an older, more "Saudi" usage. This dialect has been designated "urban" Hijazi to distinguish it from Bedouin dialects also native to the Hijaz region.

No doubt Saudi instructors will find that, depending on their place of origin, they may wish to substitute words or alter certain forms used in this text. The student should follow the model of his instructor.

The pronunciation of some sounds in Hijazi is variable. There are three interdental consonants (variations of 'th') which may be pronounced as they are in Classical Arabic and in Najdi, as for example in /thalaatha/, or as they are in Egyptian and Palestinian, which would be /talaata/. Since the latter type of pronunciation is more common in Jidda, it will be presented. This is discussed further in the Pronunciation section.

After completion of this book, the student should have attained a "working" proficiency in the language (approximately S-2 level by the FSI rating system). In other words, the student will be able to satisfy routine social demands and limited business requirements, carry on convesations regarding a wide range of general subjects (asking directions, ordering a meal, giving personal information, making purchases, etc.), and comprehend speech about such subjects at a normal rate of speed. This book will provide a student with all the basic grammatical structures of the dialect, so that he will be ready to proceed on his own to acquire the speed and new vocabulary which lead to real fluency.

Design of Book

The book is divided into 50 lessons. Each lesson (beginning with Lesson 4) has the following parts:

Dialogue: The dialogues have been kept short and were designed to be practical and worth memorizing. Each dialogue should be memorized for recitation and practice among the students.

Structure Sentences: In each lesson, certain words and grammatical structures are presented. Structures which did not appear in the dialogue will be the dialogue sentences, which are necessarily limited in type, with the grammatical explanations coming up in the Grammatical Notes. They contain examples of new structures used in a sentence context.

Grammatical Notes: New structures are presented and explained, with examples.

Vocabulary Notes: Included in this section are only the new words which need the illustration of additional forms (for example, the present tense of a verb, or the plural of a noun). Words which are clear from their presentation elsewhere in the lesson will not be repeated here. The student is held responsible for all new vocabulary regardless of where it appears in a lesson, although it is recognized that some words are more essential for the students' own production than others. The instructor will determine which words should be learned for production and which are sufficient for the student to recognize passively.

Drills: New words and structures are drilled by substitution, by the transformation of sentences (for example, from affirmative to negative), by question and answers, and by translation. The part of a model sentence which is to be substituted is underlined.

Situations: These are typical situations, with the sentence given in English, which the student should be able to say in Arabic after he has mastered the lesson. This section may be used as a self test at the end of every lesson.

Cultural Notes: Where appropriate, comments on speech attitudes, situational behavior , or social etiquette are presented .

Every tenth lesson is a review lesson.

In addition to the 50 lessons, the book contains a series of appendices dealing with specialized vocabulary, social experessions, gestures, and Saudi names. There is also a glossary and an index of grammatical structures.