Arabic vocabulary
How to say “speech” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
هكذا تشهدُ لغةُ العرب؛ فلا يُحكى بالقولِ إلا كلامٌ تام
Thus, the language of the Arabs testifies; only complete speech is spoken.
كَلَامٌ — speech. 'speech', nominative and indefinite — the one thing exempted by 'illa'. As the subject of the passive verb, it is what does get related.
From: Words That Nourish the Heart →فَجَمِيع مَا شَرعه الله من الذّكر إِنَّمَا هُوَ كَلَام تَامّ لَا اسْم مُفْرد وَلَا مظهر وَلَا مُضْمر
For everything that Allah has prescribed as remembrance is complete speech, not a single word nor an explicit or implicit noun.
كَلَامٌ — speech. 'speech', nominative indefinite — the predicate. 'innama ... kalam' = 'is nothing but speech'; the bare noun completes 'X is Y'.
From: The Declaration of Faith →فَجَمِيع مَا شَرعه الله من الذّكر إِنَّمَا هُوَ كَلَام تَامّ لَا اسْم مُفْرد وَلَا مظهر وَلَا مُضمر
Therefore, all that Allah has prescribed of remembrance is indeed complete speech, not a single noun, whether explicit or implicit.
كَلَامٌ — speech. 'speech', nominative indefinite — the predicate. 'innama ... kalam' = 'is nothing but speech'.
From: Small Deeds, Great Reward →وأمثال ذَلِك مِمَّا اسْتعْمل فِيهِ لفظ الْكَلِمَة من الْكتاب وَالسّنة بل وَسَائِر كَلَام الْعَرَب فَإِنَّمَا يُرَاد بِهِ الْجُمْلَة التَّامَّة
And similar uses of the term 'word' in the Book and the Sunnah, as well as in the rest of Arabic speech, refer to a complete sentence.
كَلَامِ — speech. 'the speech of', genitive owner of 'the rest', head of a further 'of' link with 'the Arabs'.
From: Small Deeds, Great Reward →وَقَسم سِيبَوَيْهٍ الْكَلَام إِلَى اسْم وَفعل وحرف جَاءَ لِمَعْنى لَيْسَ باسم وَلَا فعل،
And Sibawayh divided speech into noun, verb, and a particle that conveys a meaning and is neither a noun nor a verb.
الْكَلَامَ — speech. 'speech', accusative as the object of 'divided'. al- makes it speech-in-general, the thing classified.
From: Small Deeds, Great Reward →وزخرفوه بعبارات موجودة في كلام العلماء قد نطقوا بها،
And they adorned it with phrases found in the speech of scholars who have uttered them.
كَلَامِ — the speech of. 'the speech of', genitive after 'fi', head of an 'of' pairing with 'the scholars'.
From: Misguided Methodology →وَصَارَ كَلَامهم بسمع الرَّسُول والصدّيق
And their words reached the ears of the Messenger and the Truthful One.
كَلَامُهُم — their words. 'Speech' with '-hum' (their) attached, the subject of 'came to', nominative — the hunters' talk. The suffix marks whose words.
From: The Night of the Migration →وإن كان مما لا يدرك بالاجتهاد كالأمور التي طريقها النقل وتفسير الألفاظ اللغوية فلا يجوز الكلام فيه إلا بنقل صحيح من جهة المعتمدين من أهله
And if it is something not reachable through juristic effort, like matters whose path is transmission and the explanation of linguistic expressions, then speaking on it is not allowed except with authentic transmission from reliable authorities.
الكَلَامُ — speaking. The doer of 'is allowed' (closing on -u): the act of speaking on the matter. Held back after its verb, it is what the whole ruling is about — loose talk on these transmission-only points.
From: How Scholars Read Scripture →وإن كان مما لا يدرك بالاجتهاد كالأمور التي طريقها النقل وتفسير الألفاظ اللغوية فلا يجوز الكلام فيه إلا بنقل صحيح من جهة المعتمدين من أهله
And if it is not reachable through juristic effort, like matters of transmission and linguistic interpretation, then speaking on it is not allowed except with authentic transmission from trusted authorities.
الْكَلَامُ — speech. The doer of 'is allowed' (the -u), held back after its verb: the act of speaking on the matter — the loose talk the ruling targets.
From: Quran Interpretation and Debate →يُحسنُ الظنَّ بمخالفه، فيُفسِّر كلامَه على أفضلِ محاملِه ما دام يحتمل، ويُفرّق بين نقضِ القولِ وإهانةِ القائل
He thinks well of his opponent, interpreting his words in the best possible light as long as they can bear it, and distinguishes between refuting the statement and insulting the speaker.
كَلَامَهُ — his words. 'his speech / words,' in the -a form as object of 'interprets,' with 'his' for the opponent. He construes what the other SAID — and construes it in the best light, as the next phrase says.
From: Mercy in Disagreement →وَيُصَدِّقَهُ بِكَلَامِهِ وَقَوْلِهِ، ثُمَّ يُقِيمُ الدَّلِيلَ الْقَاطِعَ عَلَى أَنَّ هَذَا قَوْلُهُ وَكَلَامُهُ
And verify him with His speech and declaration, then establish the definitive proof that this is His statement and speech.
بِكَلَامِهِ — with His speech. This fuses 'with/by' and the noun 'speech' plus an attached 'his', genitive after the preposition. It marks the means, 'by His speech'; the attached owner is God, so it reads 'with His speech'.
From: Proof of the True Messenger →وَيُصَدِّقَهُ بِكَلَامِهِ وَقَوْلِهِ، ثُمَّ يُقِيمُ الدَّلِيلَ الْقَاطِعَ عَلَى أَنَّ هَذَا قَوْلُهُ وَكَلَامُهُ
And verify him with His speech and declaration, then establish the definitive proof that this is His statement and speech.
وَكَلَامُهُ — and speech. This joins 'and' to 'speech' plus an attached 'his', a second predicate coordinate with 'His statement', the owner being God. The 'and' pairs the two, both saying the same thing of the Quran, that it is God's own words.
From: Proof of the True Messenger →وفي إضافته إليه باسم الرسالة أبين دليل أنه كلام المرسل
And in attributing it to him as a message is the clearest evidence that it is the speech of the sender.
كَلَامُ — the speech of. The noun 'speech' heading the pairing 'the speech of the sender'. It drops its own 'the' and takes definiteness from the owner that follows, establishing whose speech it is.
From: God's Eternal Word →ثم بين سبحانه كذب أعدائه وبهتهم في نسبة كلامه تعالى إلى غيره
Then Allah made clear the lies of His enemies and their falsehood in attributing His speech to others.
كَلَامِهِ — His speech. The noun 'speech' with a 'his' ending, heading the pairing 'His speech', the suffix marking it as God's. It then leads into the wider phrase about attributing that speech to others.
From: God's Eternal Word →وهو كلامه لا كلام شاعر ولا مجنون ولا كاهن
And it is His word, not the word of a poet, nor a madman, nor a soothsayer.
كَلَامُهُ — His word. The noun 'word/speech' with a 'his' ending, 'His word', serving as the predicate of the verbless sentence. The suffix marks the speech as God's; no separate 'is' is needed.
From: Proof in All Creation →وهو كلامه لا كلام شاعر ولا مجنون ولا كاهن
And it is His word, not the word of a poet, nor a madman, nor a soothsayer.
كَلَامُ — the word of. The noun 'word/speech' heading the pairing 'the word of a poet'. Under the negation it draws definiteness from the owner that follows; the chain names the first rejected source.
From: Proof in All Creation →وأنه كلامه وهو أصدق الكلام
And that it is His word, and it is the most truthful of speech.
كَلَامُهُ — His word. The noun 'word/speech' with a 'his' ending, 'His word', the predicate of the clause, 'that it is His word'. The suffix marks the speech as God's; no separate 'is' is written.
From: Proof in All Creation →وأنه كلامه وهو أصدق الكلام
And that it is His word, and it is the most truthful of speech.
الْكَلَامِ — of speech. The noun 'speech' with 'the', the owning noun after the superlative, 'most truthful of speech'. It stands in the owner form, the construction Arabic uses to tie a superlative to the category it tops.
From: Proof in All Creation →فقال من هذا الذي يتكلم بكلام الصديقين؟
She said: Who is this that speaks with the words of the truthful?
بِكَلَامِ — with the words. The attached particle governs the following noun into the prepositional form and links the speaking to its content: it marks what he speaks with. That noun also fronts an 'of' pairing, 'speech of the truthful'.
From: Raised in the Prophet’s Household →اذهبوا إلى موسى، فيأتون موسى، فيقولون يا موسى أنت رسول الله فضلك الله برسالاته وبكلامه على الناس، اشفع لنا إلى ربك ألا ترى ما نحن فيه؟
Go to Moses, so they go to him and say: "O Moses, you are the Messenger of Allah. Allah favored you with His messages and His words over the people. Intercede for us with your Lord. Do you not see the state we are in?"
وَبِكَلَامِهِ — and His words. 'wa-' adds a second instrument, 'bi-' again marks it as the means, and '-hi' ties the speech back to Allah; one word stacks 'and with His speech'. The chain of prefixes and suffix all hang on this single noun.
From: The Prophet's Intercession →وذلك يشترك فيه أهل اليد والقدرة وأهل العلم والكلام،
This includes both people of power and capability and people of knowledge and speech.
وَالْكَلَامِ — and speech. The wa- joins a second quality to 'knowledge', and the 'the' after it keeps the noun definite, 'and speech'. Coordinated into the same 'of' pairing, it shares the genitive ending.
From: Obedience to God and Authority →OpenArabic teaches words like كَلَام through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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