Learn · 50 words

Your first fifty words.

Fifty Judeo-Arabic words, picked because they're the ones you'll see most when you start reading Saadia. Each card has the JA form, the Arabic-script equivalent, what it means, and a link to the first real verse where it appears. Tap any number to jump.

Creation-story essentials

The first ten content words — God, earth, sky, water, light, darkness. If you read Genesis 1, you'll meet them in the first three verses.

  1. #012034× · 1122v
    אללה
    اللَّه
    God
    אלהים / ה'
    √ʔ-l-h

    Saadia's standard rendering of אלהים. The article אל- is integral; do not strip.

    See in Bereshit 1:1
  2. #02254× · 218v
    אלארץ'
    الأرض
    the earth, the land
    ארץ — same root
    √رصص

    Almost always with the article. ארץ' (with apostrophe) marks ض.

    See in Bereshit 1:1
  3. #0383× · 74v
    אלסמא
    السَّماء
    the sky, the heavens
    שמים
    √s-m-w

    Cognate with שמים but singular in Arabic.

    See in Bereshit 1:9
  4. #04744× · 554v
    אלמא
    الماء
    the water
    מים

    Distinct from the relative/negative particle מא (مَا) — see entry below.

    See in Bereshit 1:1
  5. #05345× · 294v
    אליום
    اليوم
    the day, today
    יום
    √y-w-m
    See in Bereshit 1:5
  6. #0631× · 29v
    אלליל
    اللَّيل
    the night
    לילה
    √l-y-l
    See in Bereshit 1:5
  7. #0715× · 15v
    אלנהאר
    النَّهار
    the day, daytime
    √n-h-r

    Pairs with אלליל — 'night and day'.

    See in Bereshit 1:5
  8. #0839× · 36v
    נור
    نور
    light
    נר ('lamp')
    √n-w-r
    See in Bereshit 1:3
  9. #099× · 8v
    צ'לאם
    ظَلام
    darkness
    צלמות
    √ẓ-l-m

    ظ rendered as צ' (apostrophe). Hebrew צלמות = 'shadow of death' shares the root.

    See in Bereshit 1:2
  10. #1027× · 25v
    אדם
    آدم
    Adam, human
    אדם
    √ـدم
    See in Bereshit 1:27

Function words

The connective tissue of every sentence: 'from', 'in', 'on', 'all', 'and', 'or', 'when'. Most are direct cognates of Hebrew or one short step away.

  1. #112503× · 1284v
    מן
    مِن
    from
    מן / מ־
    See in Bereshit 1:5
  2. #122029× · 1151v
    פי
    في
    in
    ב־
    See in Bereshit 1:6
  3. #13927× · 647v
    עלי
    على
    on, upon
    על
    √علـ
    See in Bereshit 1:2
  4. #141× · 1v
    אלי
    إلى
    to, toward
    אל / אלי
    See in Bereshit 21:19
  5. #15551× · 428v
    בין
    بين
    between
    בין
    √b-y-n

    Same word, same meaning. The Hebrew–Arabic overlap couldn't be cleaner.

    See in Bereshit 1:4
  6. #16159× · 140v
    מע
    مع
    with
    עם
    See in Bereshit 9:9
  7. #17253× · 234v
    כמא
    كَما
    just as, like
    כמו
    √كمم
    See in Bereshit 5:1
  8. #18744× · 554v
    מא
    ما
    what; that which; not
    מה / אשר

    Three jobs: question word ('what?'), relative ('that which'), and negation. Context decides.

    See in Bereshit 1:1
  9. #191029× · 729v
    אן
    أنّ / إن
    that; if
    אשר / אם

    Same spelling, different vowel: أنّ ('that') vs إن ('if'). Saadia uses both; context decides.

    See in Bereshit 1:3
  10. #20292× · 173v
    או
    أو
    or
    או
    See in Bereshit 17:17
  11. #21934× · 574v
    לא
    لا
    no, not
    לא
    See in Bereshit 2:5
  12. #22432× · 347v
    לם
    لم
    did not (past)
    לא ה־

    Past-tense negation. Followed by jussive verb form.

    See in Bereshit 2:5
  13. #23524× · 415v
    כל
    كل
    all, every
    כל
    √k-l-l
    See in Bereshit 1:21
  14. #24633× · 499v
    גמיע
    جميع
    all, the whole of
    כל
    √j-m-ʕ

    Saadia's preferred word for 'all' in many contexts; pairs with כל.

    See in Bereshit 1:26
  15. #25545× · 435v
    ת'ם
    ثم
    then, afterwards
    אחר־כך
    √ثمم
    See in Bereshit 2:8
  16. #26153× · 148v
    למא
    لمَّا
    when, after
    כאשר

    Often opens a clause: 'when X happened, Y…'

    See in Bereshit 1:5
  17. #27281× · 261v
    קד
    قد
    already; indeed
    כבר

    Marks a completed action — 'has already done X'.

    See in Bereshit 1:29
  18. #28158× · 149v
    איצ'א
    أيضاً
    also, too
    גם
    √ــض
    See in Bereshit 3:6

Pronouns & demonstratives

He, she, this, that, who, which. Same letters as Hebrew most of the time — different vowels.

  1. #29307× · 273v
    הד'א
    هذا
    this (m.)
    זה
    √ه
    See in Bereshit 2:4
  2. #30191× · 180v
    הד'ה
    هذه
    this (f.)
    זאת
    √ه
    See in Bereshit 2:23
  3. #31333× · 294v
    ד'אלך
    ذلك
    that (m.)
    ההוא
    See in Bereshit 1:10
  4. #32873× · 643v
    אלד'י
    الذي
    the one who/which (m.)
    אשר
    √ذــ

    The relative pronoun — 'the man who…', 'the thing that…'.

    See in Bereshit 1:7
  5. #33169× · 160v
    אלתי
    التي
    the one who/which (f.)
    אשר
    See in Bereshit 1:21
  6. #34289× · 262v
    הו
    هو
    he, it (m.)
    הוא

    Look-alike to Hebrew הוא. Same word, near-same sound.

    See in Bereshit 2:11
  7. #35245× · 228v
    אנא
    أنا
    I
    אני
    √ــن
    See in Bereshit 3:10
  8. #36138× · 125v
    אנת
    أنتَ
    you (m.)
    אתה
    See in Bereshit 3:9
  9. #3776× · 72v
    הם
    هم
    they (m.)
    הם
    See in Bereshit 6:3
  10. #386× · 6v
    הא
    ها
    behold; (pronoun) her
    הנה / ־ה

    Two uses: presentative 'here is…' and feminine suffix '־her/it' (e.g., כתאבהא = 'her book').

    See in Bereshit 16:11

Common verbs

Said, was, became, created, knew, saw, took, gave. Saadia uses these everywhere.

  1. #39554× · 478v
    קאל
    قال
    said (he)
    אמר
    √q-w-l

    Saadia's go-to verb for ויאמר. With prefix פ־ becomes פקאל = 'and he said'.

    See in Bereshit 1:22
  2. #40332× · 294v
    כאן
    كان
    was, used to be
    היה
    √كـن
    See in Bereshit 2:5
  3. #41230× · 205v
    יכון
    يكون
    will be, becomes
    יהיה
    √k-w-n
    See in Bereshit 1:3
  4. #425× · 5v
    כ'לק
    خَلَق
    created
    ברא
    √ḫ-l-q

    Saadia's rendering of ברא. Root خ-ل-ق. The first content verb of the Tafsir.

    See in Bereshit 1:1
  5. #4339× · 38v
    ראי
    رأى
    saw
    ראה
    √NTWS

    Direct cognate of ראה — same root, same sense.

    See in Bereshit 6:5
  6. #4417× · 17v
    עלם
    عَلِم
    knew
    √ʕ-l-m

    Saadia often uses 'God knew' (עלם אללה) where the Hebrew says 'God saw'.

    See in Bereshit 1:4
  7. #4532× · 32v
    צאר
    صار
    became
    היה ל־
    √صـر
    See in Bereshit 3:1
  8. #4613× · 12v
    אעטי
    أعطى
    gave
    נתן
    See in Bereshit 12:7
  9. #4756× · 54v
    אכ'ד'
    أخَذ
    took
    לקח

    Root أ-خ-ذ. Both خ and ذ get apostrophes in JA: כ' and ד'. (Trailing apostrophe is stripped by the index normalizer.)

    See in Bereshit 2:15

Names

The cast of characters as Saadia writes them — Moshe → Mūsā, Pharaoh → Firʿawn, Israel → Isrāʾīl.

  1. #48533× · 455v
    אסראיל
    إسرائيل
    Israel
    ישראל

    Note the elision: י־ש־ר־א־ל → א־ס־ר־א־י־ל. The Hebrew yod moves.

    See in Bereshit 32:29
  2. #49495× · 401v
    מוסי
    موسى
    Moses (Mūsā)
    משה
    √مـس

    Same name, Arabic vowel pattern. Mūsā ends in alif-maqsūra (י).

    See in Bereshit 2:10
  3. #50150× · 145v
    פרעון
    فِرعَون
    Pharaoh
    פרעה

    Both languages preserve the Egyptian name. Arabic adds the final ن.

    See in Bereshit 12:15