What a surprise! Have Ehab and Mohamed gone on holiday?

I’ve just compared the penultimate sentence of “Send my regards” with the last sentence of “Auntie is coming”. Both sentences seem to have the same meaning, but their syntactic structures are different.

I assume that in “Auntie is coming” ﺴﻠّﻢ (pronounced “SALem”) is the imperative of the verb ﺴﻠّﻢ (sallama) and means “Greet!”, but if this assumption is correct it is odd that the imperative and the third person singular of the preterite should be spelt in exactly the same way. Is ﺴﻠّﻢ a noun or a verb?

The mystery deepens when we turn to the penultimate sentence of “Send my regards”. We immediately note two differences. First, the word ﺴﻠّﻢ has a possessive pronoun suffix (ﻲ which is normally attached to a noun (e.g. ﻋﻠﺒﺘﻲ and which in English is normally rendered by the possessive adjective “my” (e.g. “my bottle”). Second, the word ﺴﻠّﻢﻲ is followed by ﻠﻲ, which normally functions as an independent possessive pronoun meaning “mine” (e.g. al-kitab li = The book is mine). Is ﺴﻠّﻢﻲ a noun (“greeting”?) with a possessive pronoun suffix (“my”)? And if ﺴﻠّﻢﻲ is a noun, what is the function of ﻠﻲ? Isn’t it practically synonymous with the pronominal suffix (ﻲ which has been attached to the word ﺴﻠّﻢ? (Elias says that ﻠﻲ means “for them”, but surely “for them” (or “upon them”) is “alayhum”?)

Perhaps I might add a technical query. Why is it so hard to play the new podcast? Shortly after it was uploaded I managed to get it started, but it stopped abruptly four times after the words “Third time”. Then, for some unfathomable reason, everything began to function normally and I was able to listen to the podcast from beginning to end. Five minutes ago I tried to relisten to the podcast, but I just heard a popping sound, then the word “loading” appeared on the blue bar and there was complete silence. Now I’ve managed to get it started again! It’s beginning to sound like a Sherlock Holmes mystery!

You all found a great image for this lesson. Thanks for the laugh!
Anyways, I've got a question about اهل. Google translator has that word as "folks". In English we use that word to mean family sometimes, in a friendly way, like "How are the folks?" The word generally means people though. Can اهل mean people in a general way too?

where are my teachers ?ouff.....dreadful picture....why the gun? what is happening?

Sorry, could not get into the lesson. Sounds to much like an American Military language program.

Hi Desmond, Elias and I are new to the team. Mohamed and Ehab are still very much around سلّم is a verb used in the imperative and you are correct that it is the same verb as used in the lesson "Auntie is coming." The difference in this case is the addition of the word "لي" which simply means "for me." So instead of merely saying "say hello to them" (سلّم عليهم), I'm saying "say hello to them for me" (سلّم لي عليهم). In the same way, I could say "say hello to them for him" (سلم له عليهم) if I wanted to, say, pass on my brother's greetings to some one else.

If I say سلّمي لي عليهم, well, in that case I'm using the feminine imperative of the verb to speak with a woman. More clear?

As for the technical part, I'm afraid I can't help you with that, so I will refer you to Mohamed.

Hi hexagonmoon, you're correct about أهل meaning family or folks and also people in general. While ArabicPod gets its own dictionary up to speed, I suggest you use a paper dictionary or Dictionary Sakhr (http://dictionary.sakhr.com/SearchResults.aspx), either of which should be more precise than Google Translate. Hope that helps and thanks for listening!

Dear Sierra,

Thanks for the very clear and detailed explanation. At present I've no difficulty in playing the podcast, but the origin of the malfunction I described remains obscure. In 1924 Agatha Christie published a short story entitled "The Mystery of the Blue Jar". This morning I was unable to resolve "the mystery of the blue bar".

I can only join berry and Neill... and the "Mohamed and Ehab touch" is definitely missing in this lesson....

I thought they were ok. It's nice to hear new voices

I agree, nice to experience new voices. I think all what they are missing is more interaction and being themselves, which I love in Ehab and Mohamed's style, you feel like you know them even if you listen to them for the first time.

Yes I agree with 5eagull.

There is a definite advantage in the more concise new lesson-style, in my opinion. Listening to an old-style lesson was interesting the first time. Re-listening to interactions or tales not directly related to grammar or language content became quickly boring, even if it was on cultural background. So far, I had edited all lessons with Audacity before loading them on my i-Pod. Now, I had to cut the introductory and final tunes only. So, please, keep the more concise style up, it will save me hours of editing. Shukran.

Another brilliant episode in my opinion this is. I have always enjoyed the banter back and forth between Ehab and Mohammed and it gives something fresh and more to the dialogue than merely a reading of the transcript. The new folks did quite well, they were trained properly I'm sure.

So anyway, don't change the format is my vote! And the content is just amazing, I studied Arabic for a number of years in University and you just don't get these type of daily/practical dialogues. Thank you.

مع تحياتي

تومز

I'm sorry to see the gun. There is no need to associate the Arabic language with violence and hate.

great lesson and welcome to the additional teacher - I always welcome changes (provided they are positioned within the existing settings -
they bring always something new / different -it always widens the scope of things - thanks-

again i ask , what is happening? a major change , and why doesnt my question get a reply?
As for the gun, a good friend , 25 years old was shot in lebanon, this is a valid critism..wake up and smell the coffee.

What I mean is that Ahab and Muhammad have run site with civility and tolerance. Of course the Middle East and the Arab world in general have their share of conflict. But if I want to learn Arabic, I come here, and if I want to read about Israel/Palestine, I would go somewhere else.

I somehow agree with 5eagull's comments. However we are addicted to both Mohammad and Ehab and love them and need them!!!
Plus, guys, could you kindly prepare more higher level lessons.... There are enough beginners and lower intermediate ones... Let's take it altogether to another level

Nice try, folks, but Mohammed and Ehab are far more entertaining.

Sierra and Elias have appeared so abruptly on the scene that they've taken everyone by surprise. Perhaps they ought to introduce themselves in a short video.

I don't know anything about Elias, but I know that Sierra has published an award-winning book entitled "Creative Lives" (Congratulations, Sierra!). The work was presented in a Lebanese TV programme.

I think we all like to be entertained. Some of the podcasts on this site are so funny that the Arabic words and phrases introduced by Ehab are indelibly imprinted on our minds.

Combining wit and erudition is a great art. A good example of this can be found in David Crystal's lecture on anniversaries (YouTube). It's one of the funniest lectures on the Net.

I agree Desmond , some kind of greeting or explanation is usual in arabic contexts, it is reflected in the structures of meeting and greeting etc.luckily I am coming to the end of my subscription , so I will be able to decide if this is still the service I was so pleased with , maybe the new folks will be fine...the content was very good in the first episode.so its all a bit inshallah.

Where's my wonderful teachers?.I got used to them.

I thought the new teachers were pretty interesting. Couple of things I would recommend they do: 1. please translate literally as well as provide the English sum-up of the Arabic idiom (for example, I believe we have "walking" in this one but it is nowhere described in the lesson); 2. slow down a bit - this is a beginner lesson; 3. a little more context would be great - for example, how do the new teachers' accents fit within the Arabic culture. These are things Ehab and Mohammed have traditionally provided. Nice start - I look forward to more. -- Charles

Dear Sierra Millman and Elias Khayssi, welcome aboard, look forward to learning more from you guys.

أهلاً سهلاً

It seems we will not get an answer here as to when Ehab and Mohamed will be back. Luckily they left us enough material in all the older lessons to work on until they are back for another of their fantastic episodes I will skip this lesson, there is not much to learn here and I am sick and tired of looking at this gruesome picture. See you around, و الى اللقاء

hey na 71a..löl..way to go girl.....its amazing this "no comment " thingy...Ehab and Mohamed were so gentle and polite, its a bit like a sauna with a cold shower.löl

That picture is very strange, and it has nothing at all to do with the lesson.

Hi guys,

It’s been great seeing the flowing of comments on this page. Just so it’s clear, myself and Ehab will still be producing the majority of the lessons, we’re here to stay! Sierra and Elias joined the team recently and with the combination of all our efforts we hope to provide more variety and features.

Ok, I can see a lot of comments about the picture. It was meant to be a joke but basically what is happening is that the guy in the picture is about to shoot someone but he asks the person he’s about to shoot to send his regards to someone already dead. Not sure if you seen this in movies before.

Gosh,Mohamed, you scared the living daylights out of me, for being away without explanation.... I am glad you are back!!!!! I hope Ehab is as well???
Dont please ever shock and scare your students again like this anymore OK!!!! Hugs, Na7la

There's never a dull moment here. Mohamed's unexpected return is like the appearance of a "deus ex machina" in a Euripidean tragedy.

..Ehab is fine as well .. I've been following your comments from day one, waiting for the new lesson to come and answer you that WE ARE HERE.

I'm glad you're well, Ehab. As you can see, your disappearing trick has caused quite a stir in the Arabicpod community. By the way, your website has now returned to normal. All the buttons are in the right place, and the videos are functioning correctly.

well..el hamdu llila..you be alive and kicking, and thanks for the explanation of the gun.welcme home.ahlan wa sahlan.

löl its really working , i see what i just wrote and realise i cannot write english anymore....lol..snall steps in the direction of arabic.

Thank you all for the kind words and the feedback. Apologies for not replying sooner but I've been away from my email from most of the week - and didn't expect such an outpouring of comments! Elias and I are new to the community, so we appreciate your patience and support. We'll be contributing occasional lessons from now on - some in Lebanese dialect! - but don't worry. As Mohamed already told you, he and Ehab aren't going anywhere - alhamdullilah

Great! I look forward to hearing about Lebanese dialects. -- Charles

this so good