Subject: RE: any idea
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 19:51:42 +0000





>As for other uses of "al", it's a bit difficult to explain briefly, but
>I'll try: The definite article "al" is most often translated by use of
>"the", however "al" also connotes a relationship between words called
>"idhafa" (which means, roughly, "addition"). It implies ownership, most
>often; maktab al-modir (maktab=office; modir=director) means "the
>director's office; or: office of the director. The relationship between
>the words is carried throught the definite article on the second. So
>sometimes in translating that idiomatically, one would use a possessive
>suffix and not "the".
i am afraid this is not very accurate. the relationship of addition is the 
result of any given 2 words coming one after or before the other.
So to use the example given: maktab modir = a director's office / maktab al 
modir = THE director's office.

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"i am no longer a credit/to my race" Amiri Baraka

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