Arabic Genealogical Word List

Arabic Genealogical Word List
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Genealogical Word Lists

Arabic Genealogical Word List

Introduction

This list contains Arabic words with their English transliterations and translations. The words included here are those likely to be found in genealogical sources. For any words not contained in the list, please see "Additional Arabic Language Resources" below for suggestions on dictionaries and websites.

Arabic is a Semitic language, placing it in the same family as Hebrew and Aramaic. It is spoken as a first language by almost 300 million people in the Middle East and North Africa and is commonly learned as a second language, particularly by non-Arab Muslims due to its role as the liturgical language of Islam.

The term "Arabic language" generally refers to both Modern Standard Arabic, the standardized, formal Arabic used for literature and official purposes, including record keeping; and the diverse array of Arabic dialects spoken as a first language at home and in daily life. Arabic dialects are rarely written down, especially in official documents, so this page focuses on Modern Standard Arabic. However, dialects are commonly used in oral histories, so resources for spoken Arabic are included as well.

Language Characteristics

Arabic Alphabet

Arabic is written using the Arabic alphabet (Ar: أَبْجَدِيّة) which consists of 28 letters and is written from right to left. The Arabic alphabet is considered an abjad, meaning that typically only consonants and long vowels are written, while short vowels are either excluded and inferred by the reader or written as diacritics above or under consonants. The Arabic script is also cursive; most letters connect to the subsequent letter in a word, meaning that most letters vary in form depending on where they fall in a word.

Arabic Consonants and Long Vowels

Independent Form	Initial Form (beginning of a word)	Medial Form (middle of a word)	Final Form (end of a word)	Common English Transliterations
ا	ا	ـا	ـا	a, ā
ب	بـ	ـبـ	ـب	b
ت	تـ	ـتـ	ـت	t
ث	ثـ	ـثـ	ـث	th (similar to "thank")
ج	جـ	ـجـ	ـج	j, dj, g
ح	حـ	ـحـ	ـح	h, ḥ
خ	خـ	ـخـ	ـخ	kh, x, ḵ
د	د	ـد	ـد	d
ذ	ذ	ـذ	ـذ	th, dh (similar to "this")
ر	ر	ـر	ـر	r
ز	ز	ـز	ـز	z
س	سـ	ـسـ	ـس	s
ش	شـ	ـشـ	ـش	sh, š
ص	صـ	ـصـ	ـص	s, ṣ
ض	ضـ	ـضـ	ـض	d, ḍ
ط	طـ	ـطـ	ـط	t, ṭ
ظ	ظـ	ـظـ	ـظ	th, ẓ, z
ع	عـ	ـعـ	ـع	', ʿ, 3
غ	غـ	ـغـ	ـغ	gh, ḡ
ف	فـ	ـفـ	ـف	f
ق	قـ	ـقـ	ـق	q
ك	كـ	ـكـ	ـك	k
ل	لـ	ـلـ	ـل	l
م	مـ	ـمـ	ـم	m
ن	نـ	ـنـ	ـن	n
ه	هـ‎	ـهـ‎‎	ـه‎	h
و	و	ـو	ـو	w
ي	يـ	ـيـ	ـي	y

Arabic Diacritics

Arabic diacritics include short vowels and other symbols written either above or below consonants. Diacritics are rarely used outside of religious texts but are sometimes included to reduce ambiguity.

Diacritic	Name	Transliteration	Characterization
ــَـ	فَتْحَة (Fathah)	a, e	short vowel
ــُـ	ضَمَّة (Dammah)	u,o	short vowel
ــِـ	كَسْرَة (Kasrah)	i	short vowel
ــْـ	سُكون (Sukun)	n/a	"silencer"; indicates that a consonant is not followed by a vowel sound
ــّـ	شَدَّة (Shaddah)	n/a	"doubles" consonants, indicates that final consonant of a syllable is the same as the initial consonant of the next syllable

Additional Letters and Ligatures

In addition to the standard consonants and vowels of the Arabic alphabet, there are several additional letters and ligatures that are commonly used.

Hamza

The hamza is an additional consonant described as a glottal stop. This sound is common in English even though it is unwritten, such as the sound at the beginning of "oh" in "uh oh". The hamza changes form depending on its role in the word and the short vowels that come before or after it. When romanized, hamza is usually depicted as a "'" or "ʾ". This can be confused with the letter 'ayn (ع), which is often romanized as "'" as well, or as the right-facing apostrophe "ʻ". In Arabic, the hamza can appear as follows:

Independent Form	Initial Form	Medial Form	Final Form
ء	none	ء	ء
ؤ	ؤ	ـؤ	ـؤ
ئ	ئـ	ـئـ	ـئ
أ	أ	ـأ	ـأ
إ	إ	ـإ	ـإ

Taa' Marbuta

Taa' marbuta (تاء مربوطة) - literally "tied taa'" appears only at the end of words and primarily indicates a word is grammatically feminine. It indicates an "a" sound at the end of the word is is typically romanized as either "a" or "ah". When the taa' marbuta is the non-final term of an idafa construction it is proncounced as "-at".

Shapes of Taa' Marbuta

Independent	Connected
ة	ـة

Additional Arabic Language Resources

Arabic Paleography

• Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML) - Arabic Paleography

Dictionaries

• The Concise Oxford English-Arabic Dictionary of Current Usage
• The School Dictionary, English-Arabic
• Online Arabic dictionary

Language Helps

• Arabic languages overviews
• Arabic script
• Arabic language resources
• Islamic Calendar converter
• Arabic Transliteration information
• Arabic to Latin Converter

General Word List

English	Arabic	Transliteration
birth	وِلادة, ميلاد	wilādah, mīlād
death	مَوْت , وَفاة	mawt, wafāh
marriage	زَواج , قِران , زِفاف	zawāj, qirān, zifāf
burial	دَفْن	dafn
month	شَهْر	šahr
day	يَوْم	yawm
year	سِنة	sinah
family name	اِسْم العائِلة	ism al-ʿāʾilah
first name	الاِسْم الأَوَّل	al-ism al-awwal
village	قَرِية	qariyah
town	بَلْدة	baldah
city	مَدينة	madīnah
country	بَلَد , دَوْلة	balad, dawlah
1 - one	واحِد	wāḥid
2 - two	اِثْنان، اِثْنَيْن	ithnān, ithnayn
3 - three	ثَلاثة	thalāthah
4 - four	أَرْبَعة	ʾarbaʿah
5 - five	خَمْسة	khamsah
6 - six	سِتّة	sittah
7 - seven	سَبْعة	sabʿah
8 - eight	ثَمانية	thamāniyah
9 - nine	تِسْعة	tisʿah
10 - ten	عَشَرة	ʿašarah
11 - eleven	أَحَد عَشَر	ʾaḥad ʿašar
12 - twelve	اِثْنا/اِثْنَي عَشَر	ithna/ithnay ʿašar
13 - thirteen	ثَلاثة عَشَر	thalāthat ʿašar
14 - fourteen	أَرْبَعة عَشَر	ʾarbaʿat ʿašar
15 - fifteen	خَمْسَة عَشَر	khamsat ʿašar
16 - sixteen	سِتّة عَشَر	sittat ʿašar
17 - seventeen	سَبْعة عَشَر	sabʿat ʿašar
18 - eighteen	ثَمانية عَشَر	thamāniyat ʿašar
19 - nineteen	تِسْعة عَشَر	tisʿat ʿašar
20 - twenty	عِشْرون	ʿišrūn
30 - thirty	ثَلاثون	thalāthūn
40 - forty	أَرْبَعون	ʾarbaʿūn
50 - fifty	خَمْسون	khamsūn
60 - sixty	سِتّون	sittūn
70 - seventy	سَبْعون	sabʿūn
80 - eighty	ثَمانون	thamānūn
90 - ninety	تِسْعون	tisʿūn
100 - one hundred	مِئة / مائة	miʾah

Family Relationships

English	Arabic	Transliteration
father	أَب	ʾab
mother	أُمّ	ʾumm
son	اِبْن، وَلَد	ibn, walad
daughter	اِبْنة، بِنْت	ibnah, bint
brother	أَخ , شَقيق	ʾakh, šaqīq
sister	أُخْت، شَقيقة	ʾukht, šaqīqah
wife	زَوْجة	zawjah
husband	زَوْج	zawj
grandfather	جَدّ	jadd
grandmother	جَدّة	jaddah
grandson	حَفيد	ḥafīd
granddaughter	حَفيدة	ḥafīdah
paternal uncle	عَمّ	ʿamm
maternal uncle	خال	khāl
paternal aunt	عَمّة	ʿammah
maternal aunt	خالة	khālah
paternal male cousin	اِبْن العَمّ	ibn al-ʿamm
maternal male cousin	اِبْن الخال	ibn al-khāl
paternal female cousin	بِنْت العَمّ	bint al-ʿamm
maternal female cousin	بِنْت الخال	bint al-khāl
nephew (brother's son)	اِبْن الأَخ	ibn al-ʾakh
nephew (sister's son)	اِبْن الأُخْت	ibn al-ʾukht
niece (brother’s daughter)	اِبْنة/بِنْت الأَخ	ibnat/bint al-ʾakh
niece (sister’s daughter)	اِبْنة/بِنْت الأُخْت	ibnat/bint al-ʾukht

Dates/Time

Aramaic months used in the Levant

English	Arabic	Pronunciation
January	كانون الثاني	Kānūn al-Thānī
February	شُباط	Šubāṭ
March	آذار	‘Ādār
April	نيسان	Nīsān
May	أَيّار	‘Ayyār
June	حَزيران	Ḥazīrān
July	تَمّوز	Tammūz
August	آب	‘Āb
September	أَيْلول	Aylūl
October	تِشْرين الأَوَّل	Tišrīn al-Awwal
November	تِشْرين الثاني	Tišrīn al-Thānī
December	كانون الأَوَّل	Kānūn al-Awwal

Gregorian calendar months

• Islamic Calendar converter

English	Arabic	Pronunciatioin
January	يَنايِر	yanāyir
February	فِبْرايِر	fibrāyir
March	مارِس	māris
April	أَبْريل/إِبْريل	abrīl/ibrīl
May	مايو	māyū
June	يونيو/يونيه	yūnyū/yūnya
July	يوليو/يوليه	yūlyū/yūlia
August	أَغُسْطُس	aġustus
September	سِبْتَمْبِر	sibtambir
October	أُكْتوبَر	uktūbar
November	نوفَمْبِر	nūfambir
December	ديسَمْبِر	dīsambir

Days of the Week

English	Arabic	Pronunciation
Saturday	السَبْت	Al-sabt
Sunday	الأَحَد	Al-ʾaḥad
Monday	الاِثْنَيْن	Al-ithnayn
Tuesday	الثُلاثاء	Al-thulāthāʾ
Wednesday	الأَرْبَعاء	Al-ʾarbaʿāʾ
Thursday	الخَميس	Al-khamīs
Friday	الجُمْعَة	Al-jumʿah