Arabic vocabulary
How to say “speech” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
وأمثال ذَلِك مِمَّا اسْتعْمل فِيهِ لفظ الْكَلِمَة من الْكتاب وَالسّنة بل وَسَائِر كَلَام الْعَرَب فَإِنَّمَا يُرَاد بِهِ الْجُمْلَة التَّامَّة
And the likes of that from the usage of the term (the word) in the Book and the Sunnah, as well as the rest of Arab speech, for it indeed means the complete sentence.
كَلَامِ — speech. 'the speech of', genitive owner of 'the rest', and head of a further 'of' link with 'the Arabs' — 'the speech OF the Arabs'. Stacked possessive.
From: The Declaration of Faith →وَقسم سِيبَوَيْهٍ الْكَلَام إِلَى اسْم وَفعل وحرف جَاءَ لِمَعْنى لَيْسَ باسم وَلَا فعل،
And Sibawayh divided speech into noun, verb, and letter that comes for meaning, not as a noun or a verb.
الْكَلَامَ — speech. 'speech', accusative as the object of 'divided'. al- makes it speech-in-general, the thing being classified.
From: The Declaration of Faith →ومحل اعتراضه أو معارضته، وأين يجب عليه السكوت ولخصمه الكلام والاستدلال
the place of their objections or oppositions, and where one must remain silent while their opponent speaks and reasons.
الكَلَامُ — speaks. 'the speaking', nominative — what belongs to the opponent ('for his opponent [is] the speaking').
From: Rules of Scholarly Debate →وَفِي إِضَافَتِهِ إِلَيْهِ بِاسْمِ الرِّسَالَةِ أَبْيَنُ دَلِيلٍ أَنَّهُ كَلَامُ الْمُرْسِلِ،
And in attributing it to him by the name of messenger is the clearest evidence that it is the speech of the Sender.
كَلَامُ — the speech. A noun 'speech of' opening an 'of' pairing with the next word, the predicate inside the 'that' clause: that it is the speech of the Sender. As the possessed head it carries no 'the' of its own.
From: Proofs of Scripture →وَأَضَافَهُ إِلَى نَفْسِهِ بِلَفْظِ الْكَلَامِ فِي قَوْلِهِ ﴿حَتَّى يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ﴾،
and attributed it to His Own speech in His saying: 'Until he hears the words of Allah',
الْكَلَامِ — speech. This noun carries 'the' and is owned by 'wording' before it: the wording of the speech. As the possessed half it takes the genitive ending; the two nouns sit directly together for 'of'.
From: The Messenger as Conveyor of Revelation →وَأَضَافَهُ إِلَى نَفْسِهِ بِلَفْظِ الْكَلَامِ فِي قَوْلِهِ ﴿حَتَّى يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ﴾،
and attributed it to His Own speech in His saying: 'Until he hears the words of Allah',
كَلَامَ — the words of. This noun names speech or words and opens a possessive pairing with the next word: the speech of God. It is the object of the hearing verb, in the accusative, and governs the following name in the 'of' chain.
From: The Messenger as Conveyor of Revelation →وَلَا أَنَّهُ بِكَلَامِ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ، وَلَا فِي مَوْضِعٍ وَاحِدٍ
Nor is it with the words of a noble Messenger, nor in any single instance.
بِكَلَامِ — with the words of. A 'with' prefix attached to the noun 'words/speech', which heads a possessive pairing, 'the words of a Messenger'. The prefix marks this as the thing it is (or is not), and the noun drops nothing of itself yet leans on the following owner to complete its meaning.
From: The Messenger as Conveyor of Revelation →بَلْ قِيلَ لِلصِّدِّيقِ وَقَدْ تَلَا آيَةً هَذَا كَلَامُكَ وَكَلَامُ صَاحِبِكَ؟
Rather, it was said to the Truthful One as he recited a verse: 'Is this your word and the word of your companion?'
كَلَامُكَ — your word. The noun 'speech/word' with a 'your' ending for one male listener, so the word means 'your word'. The possessor is fused onto the noun; the question challenges whether the recited speech belongs to him.
From: The Messenger as Conveyor of Revelation →بَلْ قِيلَ لِلصِّدِّيقِ وَقَدْ تَلَا آيَةً هَذَا كَلَامُكَ وَكَلَامُ صَاحِبِكَ؟
Rather, it was said to the Truthful One as he recited a verse: 'Is this your word and the word of your companion?'
وَكَلَامُ — and the word of. An 'and' attached to the noun 'speech', which heads a possessive pairing 'the word of your companion'. The noun leans on the owner that follows to complete its sense, and the conjunction links it to the previous phrase.
From: The Messenger as Conveyor of Revelation →فَقَالَ لَيْسَ بِكَلَامِي وَلَا كَلَامِ صَاحِبِي، هَذَا كَلَامُ اللَّهِ
He replied: 'It is neither my word nor the word of my companion; this is the word of Allah.'
كَلَامِ — the word of. The noun 'word' heading a possessive pairing, 'the word of my companion'. It relies on the following owner to be made definite and to receive the 'of' relationship; no separate word for 'of' is used.
From: The Messenger as Conveyor of Revelation →فَقَالَ لَيْسَ بِكَلَامِي وَلَا كَلَامِ صَاحِبِي، هَذَا كَلَامُ اللَّهِ
He replied: 'It is neither my word nor the word of my companion; this is the word of Allah.'
كَلَامُ — the word of. The noun 'word/speech' heading the possessive pairing 'the word of Allah'. It deliberately drops its own 'the' and draws its definiteness from the divine name that follows as owner.
From: The Messenger as Conveyor of Revelation →OpenArabic teaches words like كلام through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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