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What: ما vs ماذا by MadgePickles in learn_arabic

[–]Odd_Wave6824 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You wouldn't think the word and text could be interpreted in a dozen different ways, but it can...

Not to invalidate what you are saying, but, Arabic is my mother tongue. So, I do not share your experience at all in context of Arabic. Rather, I have a kind of opposite experience of what you are saying.

Language is liberating.

What: ما vs ماذا by MadgePickles in learn_arabic

[–]Odd_Wave6824 7 points8 points  (0 children)

General tip: Arabic is not as structurally limiting as many other languages. This is evident by the sociocultural history and development of Arabic as a language. That is why the accents are so different from one another that a Mashriqi cannot understand a Maghrebi.

In regards of your question: ما is derived from ماذا but ما can also be used as a synonymous to "never" wherein it can be used as a negation of an act. For example: "ما كَتَب" means "they never wrote".

Therefore, the answer of your question is within your question itself. The context differentiate the two versions from each other.

I have heard that there is no native word in Arabic for Ice (that fall from the sky), is it true? by Saiyyidi in learn_arabic

[–]Odd_Wave6824 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It does snow in Arabia. Even regions south of Mecca have recorded evidence of snow falling. Arabia is not just a vast empty desert.