This week's articles were very interesting. I especially liked the part about distinguishing sense and reference. It made me reflect on the different meanings of words that I know across the three languages I know, especially between Arabic and English. The floor or the ground is always seen as something negative or dirty in Arabic while it might symbolize stability in English. The moon for example, is considered a symbol for beauty in Arabic. "You are a moon" is a great compliment in Arabic while in English it does not make a lot of sense.
One of the things I still struggle with when speaking English is the lack of vocabulary it has compared to Arabic. For example, there more than 15 words for love in Arabic that not interchangeable. We also have, like the article mentioned, very specific names for our relatives. The word 'cousin' does not exist. It has to be more specific.For example, our way of calling a cousin translates into "the daughter of my maternal aunt". People who are blood related are called "Qara'eb" while others who are related by marrying into their family are called "Nisayib".
I look forward to learning more of these differences as I start learning Urdu. Language says a lot about culture. And to me, that's always the best part.
I've started learning a little bit about the Urdu alphabet. It's very similar to the Arabic alphabet which helps me a lot. I hope to learn more this week to start reading simple phrases.
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