User talk:Carmen1973

Welcome[edit]

Hello Carmen1973, and welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions (well, your thoughts about transliteration of Arabic). I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using three tildes, like this: ~~~. Four tildes (~~~~) produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome!

--Gareth Hughes 11:47, 15 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Re: MSA and the rest[edit]

Hi Carmen. Thanks for the message. Checking your very first edits in WP, I believe you are a very good contributor and hope you'd not feel stressed ;). So, I thought you may deserve a nice welcoming by awarding you a barnstar at your user page. Cheers -- Svest 23:50, 23 October 2005 (UTC) ^{Wiki me up}[reply]

You are welcome. No worries for the translation if you need help. Afterall, we are here to contribute, help and exchange ideas and knowledge. Feel free to email me when I am not here. Cheers -- Svest 00:07, 24 October 2005 (UTC) ^{Me again}[reply]

Translation[edit]

Hard but interesting questions! Not that hard. ;-)

The weather is too cold --> الطقس بارد أكثر مما ينبغي is accurate but it is better to use الطقس قاسي جدا)
The Eagle Scout is called الرائد الأكبر.
Master's of Divinity --> الماجستير في علم التوحيد. Deity = اللاهوت.
Interfaith Contemplative Minister --> وزير التواصل الديني. (If I really understood the context)
Boy Scouts' Nature --> (in which context?)
World boyscout Merit Badge --> شارة الإستحقاق للكشافة الدوليّة.

Don't hesitate if you need more help. -- Cheers -- Svest 21:20, 24 October 2005 (UTC) ^{Me again}[reply]

Arabic Case Endings Table[edit]

An Arabic noun can take three cases: nominative, genitive and accusative, and three numbers: singular, dual and plural. Normally, nouns take the ending –u(n) in the nominative, -i(in) in the genitive and –a(n) in the accusative. The case endings are only present in formal or literary language. Technically, every noun has such an ending, although it is not pronounced at the end of a sentence. These endings are summarized in the following table using the word kitāb "book":

	Nominative	Genitive	Accusative
Definite	kitāb-u	kitāb-i	kitāb-a
Indefinite	al-kitāb-un	al-kitāb-in	al-kitāb-an

Examples (the case endings are in red):

katab-a l-walad-u risālat-un fī-l-maktaba The boy wrote a letter in the library.
jalas-at ṭālibat-un bi-jānibī fī d-dars A (female) student sat beside me in class.
ḏahab-a ilá l-masjid-i ams He went to the mosque yesterday.
taḥḥdaṯ-tu ma^ca rajul-in fī l-maṭār I spoke with a man at the airport.
ištaray-nā l-qamīṡ-a min s-sūq We bought a shirt from the market

Carmen 01:49, 29 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Carmen. Great work! I'd like to correct some stuff. I highlighted them.

...risālat-an fī-l-maktabati

jalas-ati ṭālibat-u

...l-qamīṡ-a min s-sūqi -- Svest 02:28, 29 October 2005 (UTC) ^{Me again}[reply]

Dear Svest:

Thanks so much for your comments!! I really enjoyed reading them, and they are very much appreciated :) I just have two points needing clarification:

How would you write in transliteration "A (female) student sat beside me in class"? Isn't jalas-at ṭālibat-un bi-jānibī fī d-dars correct. (My next question deals with the case endings below). So, would we need the helping vowel ī after jalas-at since there wouldn't be three consonants in a row (jalas-at ṭālibat-un) and not (jalas-ati ṭālibat-u, since "female student" isn't definite)?
A previous editor mentioned that the short vowels are not present in pause, which is why I didn't put them at the end of the sentences. Is "at the end of the sentence" considered pause?

Please don't think I'm questioning your knowledge and expertise. I really respect you as a serious editor on Wikipedia.

Hi Carmen. Never worry!

jalas-at ṭālibat-u bi-jānibī fī d-dars (definite)

NO IT'S NOT DEFINITE. THE ENDING SHOULD BE "un".

I couldn't understand the 2nd question.

-- Svest 03:56, 30 October 2005 (UTC) ^{Me again} YES AT THE END OF A SENTENCE IS CONSIDERED PAUSE, BUT VOWELS ARE STILL WRITTEN EVEN WHEN IN PAUSE.[reply]

Hello, Svest:

I will illustrate what I meant in Question 2 with an example:

ṡādaf-tu ṡadiqat-ī fī l-maktabat-i wa ḏahab-nā ilá l-maṭ^cam I ran into my friend in the library, and we went to the restaurant. I know there is a kasra on al-maṭ^cam, but, since it is the last word in the sentence, would it be written (l-maṭ^cam-i)?

--Carmen 15:02, 30 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Script on Coin[edit]

Hello,

I hope I have posted this question in the right place. A library patron at the Fresno County Library brought in what he thinks is a foreign coin. He would like to know the language on the coin. He did some research and looked through the sections for Arabic-speaking countries in the 2005 Standard Catalog of World Coins, but to no avail. In my opinion, the coin looks much older than to have been minted in recent years, but there appears to be no date on it. Also, several scholars in the field of Arab studies have looked at it and think the language may be Urdu, but they aren't sure. Both sides of the coin have been scanned and can be found here, along with a more lengthy description. Any information is very much appreciated.

--205.247.237.96 21:09, 26 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It's a wee bit difficult to read, but the first side says something like rāj kūbsīwä, and the second says rāj ‘ās. This makes me think that it's Urdu, which I can't read. --Gareth Hughes 21:29, 26 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Which sounds about right. You can try searching those in this Hindi/Urdu dictionary. Raj is of course royalty, reign or kingdom, and if it was raja, that's a king or ruler. kūbsīwä doesn't come up as anything for me, even kub as the start doesn't come up with much. Gareth, do you have any other ideas of what that might be? ās comes back as "as", so that may be something like "as (the) kingdom", etc. Based on the lack of numbers it is probably a medal of some sort. - Taxman ^Talk 13:12, 27 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks!!!

--Carmen 22:17, 26 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I have been on extended WikiVacation, and just saw this. There's an "a'in" or a "ghain" at the end of the first inscription that hasn't been commented on. And it could be three words, making it "Raj ko Basiyo'" or "Raj ko Basiyogh" or something. The thing is, even if this is from South Asia (India/Pakistan/Bangladesha area), there's a good chance it is in Persian--or a local title/phrase rendered in Persian/Farsi script.

Sorry I can't say much more.

—iFaqeer (Talk to me!) 19:13, 6 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]