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 Post subject: Nominal sentences
PostPosted: 15 Sep 2009, 14:53 
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English sentences are nominal, i.e., they start with a noun followed by a verb. Arabic sentences, on the other hand, are mostly verbal; they start with the verb. Arabic has two types of nominal sentences, however. The first type is composed of a subject and a predicate, which corresponds to English sentences where the verb is verb to be. The other type of nominal sentences in Arabic has a regular verb. This type of sentence is rare and coveys a special meaning, such as emphasis.

To illustrate, let's consider three examples:
1. A regular verbal Arabic sentence:
سمع الله لمن حمده

"God listens to whom praises Him."
If we were to translate it literally, we'd have to say, "Listens God to whom praises Him." Translating a verbal sentence is straightforward; we transpose the noun and the verb.

2. A common nominal Arabic sentence:
الله أكبر

"God is greater."
If we were to translate it literally, we'd have to say, "God greater."
Translating a regular nominal Arabic sentence is straightforward; we insert verb to be between the subject and the predicate.

3. An uncommon nominal Arabic sentence:
الله يجمع بيننا

"God brings us together."
While that would be a correct translation, it loses the fact that it was a nominal sentence in Arabic and not a verbal sentence. The challenge therefore is to convey that bit of information in the translation somehow.

Any ideas?

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 Post subject: Re: Nominal sentences
PostPosted: 18 Jan 2010, 03:18 
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Linguistic wrote:
3. An uncommon nominal Arabic sentence:
الله يجمع بيننا

"God brings us together."
While that would be a correct translation, it loses the fact that it was a nominal sentence in Arabic and not a verbal sentence. The challenge therefore is to convey that bit of information in the translation somehow.

Any ideas?

I suggest adding interjections to convey the emphasis in such case, e.g.,
[It is] God [who] brings us together.

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 Post subject: Re: Nominal sentences
PostPosted: 18 Jan 2010, 06:45 
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Linguistic wrote:
I suggest adding interjections to convey the emphasis in such case, e.g.,
[It is] God [who] brings us together.

I missed this thread earlier. Very interesting observation about nominal sentences. When I thought about it before reading your suggestion, I also thought of "It is God who" but I didn't like the construct because it added too much stuff to what the Arabic construct conveys. I think including the brackets as you proposed is brilliant, because it mitigates this added stuff down to the right level.

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