Intro
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Hi everybody! Nora here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Arabic questions. |
The Question |
The question for this lesson is: What do country names look like in Arabic? |
Explanation |
Don't you want to know how your country is pronounced in Arabic? Let's see some of the popular ones: |
First, let's see some African country names: |
Algeria /الجَزائِر / al-ǧazāʾir |
Morocco / المَغرِب / al-maġrib |
South Africa / جَنوب أفريقيا / ǧanūb ʾfrīqyā |
Madagascar / مَدغَشقَر / madġašqar |
Ghana / غانا / ġānā |
Egypt / مِصر / miṣr |
What about Egypt’s name, miṣr? It sounds pretty different from English! |
Now, let's see some European and Asian country names: |
Syria / سوريا / sūryā |
Lebanon / لُبنان / lubnān |
Palestine / فَلسطين / falasṭīn |
Iran / إيران / ʾīrān |
Pakistan / باكِستان / bākistān |
India / الهِند / al-hind |
Malaysia / ماليزيا / malīzyā |
Indonesia / إندونيسيا / ʾindūnīsyā |
Russia / روسيا / rūsyā |
China / الصين / al-ṣīn |
Japan / اليابان / al-yābān |
Turkey / تًُركيْا / turkyā |
Greece / اليونان / al-yūnān |
Italy / إيطاليا / ʾīṭalyā |
France / فَرَنسا / faransā |
Spain / أسبانيا / ʾasbānyā |
Germany / أَلمانيا / ʾalmānyā |
UK / المَملَكَة المُتَّحِدَة / al-mamlakah al-muttaḥidah |
What about these two? They sound very different: |
Austria / النِمسا / an-nemsa (this word has Slavic origins) |
Hungary / المَجَر / al-magar (which is another word for “Hungarian”) |
Now let's see some country names in the Americas and the pacific. |
America / أَمريكا / ʾamrīkā |
US / الوِلايات المُتَّحِدَة الأَمريكيَّة / al-wilāyāt al-muttaḥidah al-ʾamrīkyyah |
Canada / كَنَدا / kanadā |
Mexico / المِكسيك / al-miksīk |
Colombia / كولومبيا / kūlūmbyā |
Brazil / البَرازيل / al-barāzīl |
Argentina / الأَرجَنتين / al-ʾarǧantīn |
Australia / أُستُراليا / ʾusturalyā |
New Zealand / نيوزيلندا/ nyūzīlandā |
Outro
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Other than that, many country names in the world are very similar between Arabic and English. You might have to add an "al-" before it or an "a" sound after it, but all in all, they sound pretty similar. |
Pretty interesting, right? |
If you have any more questions, please leave a comment below! |
Bye! إلى اللقاء(ʾilā al-liqaāʾ) |
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