Description
The author has made an elaborate attempt to present the enlarged edition of this book is to all intents and purposes a new work. It has practically been rewritten throughout and much entirely new matter has been added, whilst those portions of the original English text that have been retained have undergone thorough revision with a view to adapting them to modern requirements. The vocabularies and conversations have been carefully selected for practical use in the daily life of tourists, travellers, missionaries, business men, and all who come into contact with the natives of Syria. The work forms an easy guide to spoken (colloquial) Arabic, and gives the student a practical and valuable introduction to the thorough study of the language. The system of transliteration here employed, carefully devised to give the phonetic pronunciation of Arabic in accordance with the scheme adopted by the Congress of Orientalists, has been simplified to the last degree, and the key to the vowel sounds, diphthongs, and hard consonants, given at the foot of the pages throughout the vocabularies and conversations, will greatly facilitate the intelligible pronunciation of the Arabic words at sight.
