Arabic vocabulary
بَدَايَةٌbeginning in Arabic
بَدَايَةٌ is how you say “beginning” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root ب د ي (b-d-y)nounPronounced badāyah
Meaning of beginning in Arabic
- beginning, start, commencement — used in the same sense as بَدْءٌ (badʾ), the more classical noun from the separate root بدأ
This noun is bound up with the verb بَدِيتُ, a dialectal form used by the Ansár for "I began," in place of the more standard بَدَأْتُ / اِبْتَدَأْتُ. Lexicographers disagreed sharply on the status of the noun itself: Muṭarrizī labelled it vulgar and Ibn Barrī called it erroneous, while Ibn al-Qattāʿ defended it as authentic Ansári usage — so classical sources treat it as a dialectal counterpart to بَدْءٌ rather than the fully standard literary noun.
Words from the same root
- بَدِيتُI began, started (with something) — a dialectal variant of بَدَأْتُ, said to be used only by the Ansár
- بِدَايَةٌa beginning — the same noun in its more common vocalisation; some grammarians (e.g. Muṭarrizī) called it a vulgar or erroneous form, while Ibn al-Qattāʿ held it to be genuine Ansári dialect
Common questions
- How do you say "beginning" in Arabic?
- بَدَايَةٌ (badāyah).
- Is بَدَايَةٌ the same as بَدْءٌ?
- It carries the same meaning, "beginning," but comes from a different root (بدي rather than بدأ); Lane's notes it as a dialectal form some grammarians disputed and others attributed to the Ansár.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
وهكذا يصبح الصمتُ بدايةَ البلاغة، لا نقيضَها؛
Thus, silence becomes the beginning of eloquence, not its opposite;
بَدَايَةَ — the beginning of. 'the beginning / start,' in the -a form because 'becomes' forces its predicate there. It heads an 'of' pair with 'eloquence': silence becomes the START of eloquent speech, not its opposite.
From: On Silence →
Related words
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