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Hizb Allah

Reader comment on item: Hizbullah's Travails in a Graphic
in response to reader comment: That doesn't explain "ullah" instead of "Allah"

Submitted by Sentinel (Saudi Arabia), Aug 23, 2013 at 05:39

Abu Nudnik asks: Why is ALLAH spelled ULLAH in the term HIZBULLAH? Very briefly and simply, here's why:

Unlike English, Arabic uses "case endings" like Latin. That means that words slightly change their spelling, usually at the end of the word, depending on what "function" it serves in a sentence. Is it a noun, an adjective, a pronoun? etc.

The phrase HIZBULLAH is made up of 2 words: HIZB and ALLAH. HIZB is the first word in the phrase and thus is in the "Nominative" case. This means it is spelled and pronounced HIZBU because the rule is if you have a word in initial position, you add a U to it at the end. (Remember, I'm explaining this in very basic terms......the reality is somewhat more complicated and involved).

ALLAH does not change except that the first A disappears and "melts into" the previous U or HIZBU.

Therefore, you get the spelling and pronunciation of HIZBULLAH. It's simply a matter of basic grammar rules and phonetic and pronunciation rules in Arabic. It's much easier to say HIZBULLAH than to say HIZBU-ALLAH.

In fact, English (and all languages) do this kind of thing all the time, Look what happens to the common English phrase COME HERE when spoken in normal rapid English. You say something like KMEER dropping all kinds of things (for example you don't pronounce the H) and abbreviating the 2 words into one.

So what happens with Arabic HIZBULLAH is nothing unusual at all.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (13) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
3Syrian Arabic [221 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
dhimmi no moreJun 3, 2013 14:14206650
Mishan is not Mishan [177 words]SentinelAug 23, 2013 05:05206650
2Meshan and Syrian Arabic [751 words]dhimmi no moreAug 26, 2013 18:41206650
In the UAE [44 words]tttSep 25, 2013 16:24206650
Mishan enta is mangled and poor Arabic [229 words]dhimmi no moreSep 27, 2013 18:50206650
For the love of God [16 words]NourMar 24, 2020 12:48206650
Nour and Mashan Allah [97 words]dhimmi no moreMar 25, 2020 07:18206650
Hezabollah's Travails in a Graphic [6 words]Frances Dash'May 27, 2013 21:32206391
Spelling of Hiz b'Allah [21 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Abu NudnikMay 27, 2013 18:22206386
1Hizb means party [68 words]dhimmi no moreJun 3, 2013 19:33206386
That doesn't explain "ullah" instead of "Allah" [7 words]Abu NudnikJun 21, 2013 09:52206386
Hizb Allah [247 words]SentinelAug 23, 2013 05:39206386
1Hizb Allah and Hizbu Allah [52 words]dhimmi no moreAug 27, 2013 06:37206386

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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