Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Arabic Language and

Culture in Inter-Continental Educational Institutions (PINBA X

IMLA), Vol. 1. The State Institute of Islamic Studies Pontianak in
Cooperation with Arabic Teachers' Association of Indonesia, West
Kalimantan, Indonesia, 26-29 August 2016, pp. 50-70.

Vocabulary Learning and Teaching:

A Radical Linguistic Theory Approach

Zaidan Ali Jassem

Department of English Language and Translation,
Qassim University, KSA
zajassems@gmail.com

Abstract
This paper aims to extend the application of the radical linguistic (or
lexical root) theory to language learning and teaching in the area of
vocabulary especially. As Arabic was found, according to the radical
linguistic theory, the origin of English, German, French, and indo-
European languages, the study argues for the use of cognates in learning
and teaching language in general and words in particular without which
human communication is impossible. Cognates are words with the same
or similar forms and meanings in two or more languages such as German
sein 'to be', Latin essen 'be', and Arabic kaan, yakun 'to be' in which /k/
became /s/, a process called kaskasa in Arabic. The data consists of a
select set of words in certain semantic topics or fields taken from the
researcher's works in this field (Jassem 2012-2016), which handled all
aspects of language relationships between Arabic and English as well as
Indo-European languages phonetically, morphologically, grammatically,
and lexically or semantically. The results indicate that using cognates not
only facilitates and speeds up vocabulary learning and teaching on all its
levels from spelling and pronunciation through forms down to meaning
but also motivates and encourages students as well as opens up windows
of acculturation and enculturation on both sides of the language divide.
The study concludes that the findings have universal applications in other
language settings and calls for similar investigations worldwide.

1. Introduction
1.1 The Role of Vocabulary in Language
Vocabulary is the words of language which is perhaps the most
central and essential element in both first language acquisition and second
language learning and teaching without which human communication is
impossible. There are two reasons for that. First, children begin acquiring

50
and/or learning single words with proper pronunciation and intonation
and so do foreigners and second language learners. Secondly, words carry
different kinds of vital information of an orthographic, phonological,
morphological, grammatical, and semantic nature. In other words, they
carry three main kinds of information, centering around form, meaning,
and use as follows.
a) Form: It deals with spelling, pronunciation, word building, and
grammar. As to spelling, words may have one or two spellings as in
British and American English centre/center, and Shami (Syrian)
and Masri (Egyptian) Arabic ‫مسئول‬/‫مسؤول‬. Countless Arabic words
in particular have different spellings which are considered variants
such as 'air, 'iar, 'uiar ‫' أير‬air' (Jassem 2013f).
As for pronunciation, all words in European languages have
phonetic symbols which indicate how they can be pronounced
exactly because spelling and pronunciation do not match. For
example, English thin and this have different sounds for th, for
which different symbols are used in dictionaries. Arabic does not
suffer from this disease, however.
Regarding word building, words have different
morphological forms, expressing certain functions such as sing,
sang, sung, singing, song, songster and katab ‫كتب‬, kitab ‫كتاب‬, katib
‫كاتب‬, kutiba ‫كتب‬, kutub ‫كتب‬, maktoob ‫' مكتوب‬to write' in Arabic.
Concerning grammar, words have grammatical or syntactic
classes or categories such as noun (e.g., song, kitab), verb (e.g.,
sing, katab), adjective (e.g., sung, maktoob), and adverb (e.g.,
beautifully, maktooban). Each is used in a certain function such as
subject and object.
b) Meaning: All words have meanings which is their most central
property. Without meaning, words do not exist at all. Meanings are
recorded in dictionaries and in people's minds.
c) Use: Words are employed together as phrases, clauses, and
sentences. One can distinguish collocations, context, and style.
Collocations are words often going together in groups just like
friends in human relationships such as salt and pepper, pen and
paper, bread and butter and khubz wa mil2 ‫ خبز وملح‬, samn wa
3asal ‫ سمن وعسل‬in Arabic. Context and style are related where
words may be formal or informal such as perform (f.) and do (inf.)
and 'ajra, 'adda (f.) and 3amila, sawwa (inf.) in Arabic.
In short, it can be seen that meaning is the most central property
which is the pivot around which everything turns. Form and grammar
come next.
There are various approaches to vocabulary learning and teaching
which can be readily seen in any language teaching and methodology

51
textbook (e.g., Oxford 1990; Bialy-Stok and Hakuta 1994; Stahl 1999;
Allen 1999; Shen 2003; McCarten 2007; Kinsella, Stump & Feldman
2016). In fact, all approaches and methods of language teaching without
exception focus on vocabulary one way or another. The communicative
approach and functional approaches in language teaching (see Saville-
Troke 20013: 56-66; Mitchell and Myles 2004: 100-20), for example,
focus on vocabulary as the most basic element in communication, thus
relegating grammar and syntactic rules to a secondary position or even
ignoring them altogether, a method which has, of course, had disastrous
consequences on second language learners' grammatical accuracy (se
Saville-Troke 20013: 48).
Learning and teaching vocabulary is based on meaning which in
second language learning and teaching might be given via translation or
synonyms, depending on the level of the learner. Advanced learners can
understand the meanings of new words through synonyms such as
perform which means do, act, carry out, conduct, operate, and so on.
Intermediate and elementary learners often do that in translation because
it is easier, faster, and a lot more direct such as perform which means in
Arabic 3amila, qaama bi, 'adda, 'ajra, maththala, and so on. These are
the only two approaches in learning and teaching meaning in second and
foreign language teaching. Of course, words may be explained as they are
actually used in text as single words in phrases, clauses, sentences, short
paragraphs, or larger texts.
However, second language learning and teaching methods and
textbooks do not address the question of word meaning in genetically
related languages such as Indo-European (e.g., English, German), Sino-
Tibetan (e.g., Mandarin Chinese), Austro-Melanesian (e.g., Malay,
Tagalog), and Semitic languages (e.g., Arabic, Hebrew). In such
languages, genetically related words should be used which is a very
natural option. For example, English linguistics and French linguistique
are genetically related and so are French copy and English book via
reversal; these are called cognates. Although Functional Typology
examines similarities and differences between languages for the purposes
of finding general patterns (Saville-Troike 2013: 58-60), it does not
examine cognates per se. Using lexical root or radical linguistic theory,
this papers attempts to show how that can be achieved in Arabic and
English, which is found the progenitor of all Indo-European languages,
now generally renamed Eurabian (e.g. Jassem 2016 d-e). Other languages
may be used as well.
Finally, a word or two about acquisition and learning is in order.
According to linguists and applied linguists, acquisition occurs in L1 in
normal situations without teaching as in mother-child talk whereas
learning and teaching a second language happens in formal situations,

52
e.g., teacher-student talk, classrooms, and textbooks. Current applied
linguistic theory uses the two terms interchangeably (e.g., Saville-Troike
20013: 47).

1.2 Radical Linguistic Theory: An Outline

Radical Linguistic Theory is concerned with the examination and
establishment of the Arabic origins of English. German, French, and the
so-called Indo-European languages. Jassem (2012a-f, 2013a-q, 2014a-k,
2015a-h, 2016a-f) has demonstrated in fifty one studies so far that Arabic,
English, German, French, and the so-called Indo-European languages in
general are genetically related very closely phonetically, morphologically,
grammatically, and semantically or lexically so much so that that they can
all be considered dialects of the same language. More precisely, the
Arabic origins or cognates of their words were successfully traced in
thirty lexical studies in key semantic fields like numerals, religious, love,
democratic, military, legal, urban, and fashion terms (Jassem 2012a-d,
2013a-q, 2014a-k, 2015a-h, 2016b); in three morphological studies on
inflectional and derivational markers (Jassem 2012f, 2013a-b); in ten
grammatical papers like pronouns, verb 'to be', wh-questions, case, the
definite article (Jassem 2012c-e, 2013l, 2014c, 2015d, 2016d); and in one
phonetic study about the English, German, French, Latin, and Greek
cognates of Arabic back consonants (Jassem 2013c). Furthermore, the
theory was extended in another five even wider studies to the
examination of the Arabic origins of pronouns in Chinese (Jassem 2014h)
and Basque and Finnish (Jassem 2014i), demonstratives (Jassem 2015h),
negation (Jassem 2015j), and plurality (Jassem 2016a) in eleven major
(and minor) language families in the last three especially, which are
spoken by 95% of the total world population. Finally, two papers applied
the approach to translation studies (Jassem 2014e, 2015b). The current
paper is the first to extend the approach to language learning and
teaching, thus bringing the total to fifty two papers.
The above fifty one studies have initially employed the lexical root
theory (Jassem 2012a-f, 2013a-q, 2014a-g, 2015a-h) and subsequently its
slightly revised and extended version, called radical linguistic theory
(Jassem 2014 h-k, 2015a-j, 2016a-f), both deriving their name originally
from the use of lexical (consonantal) roots or radicals in retracing genetic
relationships between words in world languages. The theory first arose as
a rejection of the Family Tree Model or Comparative Method in historical
linguistics for classifying Arabic as a member of a different language
family than English, German, French, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and the so-
called Indo-European languages (Bergs and Brinton 2012; Algeo 2010;
Crystal 2010: 302; Yule 2014; Campbell 2004: 190-191; Crowley 1997:
22-25, 110-111; Pyles and Algeo 1993: 61-94). In all the above fifty

53
studies, the tightly-knit genetic relationship between Arabic and such
languages was, on the contrary, categorically established phonetically,
morphologically, grammatically, and semantically or lexically so much so
that they can be really considered dialects of the same language, where
Arabic was found to be their source or parent language for several
reasons (Jassem (2012a-f, 2013a-q, 2014a-k, 2015a-g). In other words,
Arabic, English, German, and French words of all types and sorts, for
example, were shown to be true cognates with similar or identical forms
and meanings, whose apparent differences are due to natural and
plausible causes and diverse routes of linguistic change. This entails that
all such languages developed, in fact must have developed, from a
prehistoric single, perfect, suddenly-emerged Radical Language from
which all human languages emanated in the first place, and which could
never have died out but rather has fully, though variably, survived into
today's languages, to which they can all be traced, with Arabic in
particular being the closest or most conservative and productive
descendant. To adequately depict the close genetic linkage between Indo-
European and Arabian languages in general, a new larger language family
grouping has been proposed, called Eurabian or Urban (Jassem 2015c:
41; 2015d). Further details are given in 2.3.1 below.
This paper carries on the quest further in being the first to extend
the application of the approach to language learning and teaching. The
remainder of the paper has four sections: (ii) research methods, (iii)
results, (iv) discussion, and (v) conclusion.

2. Research Methods
2.1 The Data
The data consists of select words, phrases, and sentences that are
all drawn from the researcher's studies on the Arabic origins of English,
German, French, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and Indo-European languages
(Jassem 2012-2016). All these are listed in the Results Section below.
As for etymological data, all references to English and Indo-
European languages are for Harper (2016) despite, like all other similar
dictionaries upon which it was based, its severe shortcomings owing to
the seemingly illogical, uncertain, or unknown derivations or meanings of
many words (e.g., Jassem 2016c-e). Therefore, it, along with similar
dictionaries, has to be used with extreme care and discretion.
Concerning Arabic data, the meanings are for Ibn Manzoor (2013)
in the main, Ibn Seedah (1996), Altha3alibi (2011), Albabidi (2011), e-
dictionaries like mu3jam alama3ani (2016), and the author's knowledge
and use of Shami (Syrian) Arabic as a native speaker. All the genetic
linkages between Arabic, English, German, French, Latin, Greek,
Sanskrit, and so on are exclusively mine, unless otherwise stated.

54
 In transcribing the data, normal Romanized spelling is used for all
languages for practical purposes. Nonetheless, certain symbols were used
for unique Arabic sounds: namely, /2 & 3/ for the voiceless and voiced
pharyngeal fricatives respectively, /kh & gh/ for the voiceless and voiced
velar fricatives each, /q/ for the voiceless uvular stop, /'/ for the glottal
stop, and capital letters for the emphatic counterparts of plain
consonants /T (t), D (d), Dh (dh), & S (s)/ (Jassem 2013c). Long vowels
in Arabic are usually doubled- i.e., /aa, ee, & oo/.

2.2 The Participants

The participants are my students whom I have been teaching since
1991 in Malaysian and Saudi Arab universities, especially the latter. The
central group consists mainly of English Language and Translation
Department students for whom I taught Historical Linguistics in
particular for a number of years, over a 1000 in total. Other people of all
walks of life were involved to test the findings as well, including
colleagues, teachers, professors, friends, relatives, and family members,
especially my wife.

2.3 Data Analysis

The data will be described and analyzed qualitatively whose main
aim is to show how cognates can be found, used, and taught or learn. The
use of cognates will be based on the radical linguistic or lexical root
theory. So what is it all about?

2.3.1 Radical Linguistic Theory: A Brief Outline

Data analysis employs the Radical Linguistic Theory (Jassem
2014h-l, 2015a-j, 2016a-f), which is a slightly revised and more
generalized version of the Lexical Root Theory (Jassem 2012a-f, 2013a-
q, 2014a-g). The latter was so called because of employing the lexical
(consonantal) roots or radicals in examining genetic relationships
between words such as the derivation of observation from serve (or
simply srv), from Arabic abSar, baSar 'to see' via reordering and
passing /b & S/ into /b & s/ (Jassem 2013o) or description (subscription,
prescription, inscription, script, scripture) from scribe (scrb; German
schreiben, schrb), from Arabic zabar 'to write; cut' via reordering and
turning or splitting /z/ into /sk (sh)/ (Jassem 2013i, 2014e). The main
reason for that is because the consonantal root carries and determines the
basic meaning of the word irrespective of its affixation and vowels such
as observation (srv). Historically speaking, classical and modern Arabic
dictionaries (e.g., Ibn Manzoor 1974, 2013) used consonantal roots in
listing lexical entries, a practice first founded by Alkhaleel, an 8th century

55
Arabic linguist, lexicographer, musician, and mathematician (Jassem
2012e).
The lexical root theory has a simple, straightforward structure,
which consists of a theoretical principle or hypothesis and five practical
procedures of analysis. The principle states that:
Arabic and English as well as the so-called Indo-European languages
are not only genetically related but also are directly descended from
one language, which may be Arabic in the end. In fact, it claims in
its strongest version that they are all dialects of the same language,
whose differences are due to natural and plausible causes and
different courses of linguistic change.
In the radical linguistic theory, the above principle has been slightly
revised to read:
All human languages are genetically related, which eventually
emanated from a single, perfect, sudden language which developed
over time into countless human dialects and languages, that continue
to become simpler and simpler. That original first language, which
may be called radical or root language, has not died out at all but has
instead survived uninterruptedly into modern day languages to
various degrees where some languages have preserved words and
forms more than others. Perhaps Arabic, on spatial and temporal
grounds, has preserved almost all of its features phonetically,
morphologically, syntactically or grammatically, and semantically or
lexically.
As to the five applied procedures of the lexical root theory which
have been used all along to empirically prove that principle in data
collection and analysis, they remain the same, which are (a)
methodological, (b) lexicological, (c) linguistic, (d) relational, and (e)
comparative/historical. As all have been reasonably described in the
above studies (Jassem 2012a-f, 2013a-q, 2014a-g), a brief summary will
suffice here.
Firstly, the methodological procedure concerns data collection,
selection, and statistical analysis. Apart from loan words, all language
words, affixes, and phonemes are amenable to investigation, and not only
the core vocabulary as is the common practice in the field (Crystal 2010;
Pyles and Algeo 1993: 76-77; Crowley 1997: 88-90, 175-178). However,
data selection is practically inevitable since no single study can
accomplish that at one time, no matter how ambitious it might be. The
most appropriate method for approaching that goal would be to use
semantic fields such as the present and the above topics. Cumulative
evidence from such findings will aid in formulating rules and laws of
language change at a later stage (cf. Jassem 2012f, 2013a-f, 2013l). The
statistical analysis employs the percentage formula (see 2.2 below).

56
 Secondly, the lexicological procedure is the initial step in the
analysis. Words are analyzed by (i) deleting affixes (e.g., explained →
plain), (ii) using primarily consonantal roots or radicals (e.g., plain →
pln), and (iii) searching for correspondence in meaning and form on the
basis of word etymologies and origins as a guide (e.g., Harper 2016),
which should be used with discretion, though. The final outcome of the
above example yields Arabic baien, baan (v) 'clear, plain' via /l/-insertion
or split from /n/ (Jassem 2013i). Observation and description have
already been described this way exactly.
Thirdly, the linguistic procedure handles the analysis of the phonetic,
morphological, grammatical and semantic structures and differences
between words. The phonetic analysis examines sound changes within
and across categories. More precisely, consonants may change their place
and manner of articulation as well as voicing. At the level of place,
bilabial consonants ↔ labio-dental ↔ dental ↔ alveolar ↔ palatal ↔
velar ↔ uvular ↔ pharyngeal ↔ glottal (where ↔ signals change in both
directions); at the level of manner, stops ↔ fricatives ↔ affricates ↔
nasals ↔ laterals ↔ approximants; and at the level of voice, voiced
consonants ↔ voiceless. For example, /t/ may turn into /d/ by voice or /th
& s/ by manner.
In similar fashion, vowels change as well. Although the number of
vowels differ greatly within and between English (Roach 2008; Celce-
Mercia et al 2010) and Arabic (Jassem 2012g, 1987, 1993), all can be
reduced to three basic long vowels, which are /a: (aa), i: (ee), & u: (oo)/
(and their short versions besides the two diphthongs /ai (ay)/ and /au
(aw)/ which are a kind of /i:/ and /u:/ respectively). They may change
according to modifications in (i) tongue part (e.g., front ↔ centre ↔
back), (ii) tongue height (e.g., high ↔ mid ↔ low), (iii) length (e.g., long
↔ short), and (iv) lip shape (e.g., round ↔ unround). In fact, the vowels
can be, more or less, treated like consonants where /i:/ is a kind of /j
(y)/, /u:/ a kind of /w/, and /a:/ a kind of /h/ or vice versa. Their functions
are mainly (i) phonetic such as linking consonants to each other in speech
and (ii) grammatical like indicating tense, word class, and number (e.g.,
sing, sang, sung, song; man/men; Arabic qaal, qul, qeel, qawl, qaala(t),
aqwal, maqal 'to say'). Thus their semantic weight is marginal in
significance, if not at all. For these reasons, vowels may be totally
ignored in the analysis because the limited nature of the changes do not
affect the final semantic result at all.
Sound changes result in natural and plausible processes like
assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, merger, insertion, split, reordering,
substitution, syllable loss, re-syllabification, consonant cluster reduction
or creation and so on. In addition, sound change may operate in a multi-

57
directional, cyclic, and lexically-diffuse or irregular manner (for detail,
see Jassem 2012a-f, 2013c).
Regarding the morphological and grammatical analyses, some
overlap obtains. The former examines the inflectional and derivational
aspects of words in general (Jassem 2012f, 2013a-b, 2015d, 2016a); the
latter handles grammatical classes, categories, and functions like
determiners, pronouns, prepositions, question words, nouns, verbs, and
case (Jassem 2012c-e, 2013l, 2014b-c, 2016d). Since their influence on
the basic meaning of the lexical root is marginal, inflectional and
derivational morphemes may also be ignored altogether. As both
morphological and grammatical features have already been dealt with in
full, there is no need to include them in every single case later.
As regards the semantic analysis, meaning relationships between
words are examined, including lexical stability, multiplicity, convergence,
divergence, shift, split, change, and variability. Stability means that word
meanings have remained constant over time such as cut, from Arabic
qaTTa (or qaTa3, qadda) 'cut', turning /q, T (d), & 3/ into /k, t, & Ø/
(Jassem 2013m). Multiplicity denotes that words might have two or more
meanings such as dwell (Jassem 2015a, 2015i) and write 'cut; write'
(Jassem 2013i), from Arabic qaraTa 'cut' and/or qira'at 'reading' in
which /q & T/ became /w & t/ besides lexical shift. Convergence means
two or more formally and semantically similar Arabic words might have
yielded the same cognate in English like write 'cut; write' (Jassem 2013i),
from Arabic qaraTa 'cut' and/or qira'at 'reading' in which /q & T/
became /w & t/ besides lexical shift. German schön 'nice' might have
come from Arabic zain 'beautiful' in which /z/ became .sh. or from shain
'bad' via sense divergence. Divergence signals that words became
antonyms of one another like English nice, from Arabic na2s 'bad' or najs
'dirty' via /2 (j) & s/-merger or German schön, from Arabic shain 'bad'.
Shift indicates that words switched their sense within the same field such
as write 'cut; write' (Jassem 2013i) above, from Arabic qira'at 'reading' in
which /q/ changed into /w/. Split means a word led to two different
cognates. Change means a new meaning developed or feature added or
lost such as inflecting the definite articles for gender, number, and case in
German (e.g., der, die, das; den, dem) 'this' and Romance languages (e.g.,
French le, la, les), all from Arabic dha (dhi, dhu) 'this; whose' and
invariant al 'the' respectively (Jassem 2012c, 2016e). Variability signals
the presence of two or more variants for the same word such as English
air, aero-, from Arabic air, iar, uiar 'air' (Jassem 2013e) (for detail, see
Jassem 2012a-f). All my previous papers abound with countless cases of
all those types, some being commoner than others, though.

58
 Fourthly, the relational procedure accounts for the relationship
between form and meaning from three angles. The first is formal and
semantic similarity such as three, third, tertiary, tri-, trio- and Arabic
thalath, thulth, thalith 'three, a third; third' (Damascus Arabic talaat) in
which /th & l/ became /t & r/ (Jassem 2012a). The second is formal
similarity and semantic difference like English tail, tell, tall; sheep, ship,
shape (Jassem 2012b); marry, mare, mere, more, mar, marine, mayor
(emperor), mirror, merry, myrrh, moor, admire (Jassem 2016f); all these
words have similar Arabic cognates. For example, the set marry, mare,
mere, more, mar, marine, mayor (emperor), mirror, merry, myrrh, moor,
admire, which all share /m & r/, have identical Arabic cognates, which
are the same or similar in form (with /m & r/) and meaning. More
precisely, mare comes from Arabic muhra(t) 'mare' via /h/-loss; mayor &
emperor (empire, imperial, imperative) from Arabic 'ameer 'emir, prince,
ruler' via /b/-insertion; mar & myrrh from Arabic murr 'bitter; embitter';
marine from Arabic marr(in) 'sea, rain'; mirror & admire from Arabic
mir'a(t) 'mirror' for the former and tamarra (v) 'to look in a mirror; to
admire' for the latter, from the root ra'a (v) 'to see', where /t/ became /d/
besides reordering; mere & more from Arabic marra(t) 'once' and its
irregular plural miraar 'many times'; moor from Arabic mar3a 'grazing
ground' or maraa2 'animals' den; water area; washing' via /3/-loss and
turning /b/ into /m/ (Jassem 2016f). Finally, formal difference and
semantic similarity, e.g., quarter, quadrant, carat, cadre, write 'originally
'cut'' and Arabic qeeraaT 'a fourth; carat', from qaraT 'cut' (Jassem
2012a). As in the morphological and syntactic or grammatical procedures,
there is no need to tackle it in every single case for it will lead to
undesirably lengthy treatments.
Finally, the comparative historical analysis compares every word in
English in particular and German, French, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit in
general with its Arabic cognate phonetically, morphologically, and
semantically on the basis of its history and development by using
historical dictionaries and textbooks in English like Harper (2016) and
Pyles and Algeo (1993) and in Arabic such as Ibn Manzour (2013),
Altha3aalibi (2011), and Ibn Seedah (1996) besides the author's
knowledge of both Arabic as a first language and English as an equal
second language (Jassem 1987, 1993, 1994). Discretion should be
exercised here due to uncertainties, inaccuracies, and deficiencies,
especially in Harper's work, though.
To sum up, the most appropriate operational procedure in relating
words to each other genetically are the following:
(i) Select a word, e.g., Hallelujah, air, ear, area, the, love, you, -s/-t.
(ii) Identify the source, daughter, or sister language meaning (e.g.,
English or Latin) on the basis of especially word history or

59
 etymology. It is essential to start with meanings, not sounds or
sound laws as the former are more stable and change a lot less than
the latter which do so extensively and drastically; for example, all
the sounds of a given word might change beyond recognition while
meanings in a rather limited way; so the meaning first will often
lead one to the correct cognate naturally whereas the sounds first
will get him lost definitely.
(iii) Search for the word with the equivalent meaning and form in the
target, parent, or reference language (e.g., Arabic), looking for
cognates: i.e., sister words with the same or similar forms and
meanings.
(iv) Explain the differences, if any, in both form and meaning between
the cognates lexicologically, phonetically, morphologically, and
semantically as indicated. As a matter of fact, finding the right
cognate on the basis of its meaning first often leads one to the
resultant changes automatically.
(v) Finally, formulate phonological, morphological, grammatical, and
semantic rules after sufficient data has been amassed and analyzed.
That is the whole story simply, briefly, and truly. No fuss, no mess. For
example, consider the, Hallelujah, air, ear, area, ore, Charles, love, or
any word in Section 4 below.

2.3.2 Statistical Analysis

The percentage formula will be used for calculating the ratio of
cognate words or shared vocabulary, obtainable by dividing the number
of cognates over the total number of investigated words multiplied by a
100. For example, suppose the total number of investigated words is 100,
of which 90 are true cognates. The percentage of cognates is calculated
thus: 90/100 = 9 X 100 = 90%. Finally, the results are checked against
Cowley's (1997: 173, 182) formula to determine whether such words
belong to the same language or family (for a survey, see Jassem 2012a-b).

3. Results: Teaching Word Meaning via a Radical Approach

The results will primarily focus on the Arabic lexical (consonantal)
radicals or roots of English, German, French, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit
words and the changes that occurred to them. The exact quality of the
vowel is, therefore, of generally secondary importance for having little or
no semantic impact on the final output whatsoever (Jassem 2012-2016).

3.1 Teaching Words Radically

In teaching words, one has to pay attention to their characteristics
and the kinds of information they convey as outlined in Section 1 above.
All aspects of words can be taught radically although some lend

60
themselves for that more so than others. In this section, focus will be on
meaning, form, grammar, pronunciation, and spelling in that order.

3.1.1 Teaching Meaning Radically

Teaching meaning radically involves the use of cognates, which are
words in two or more languages with the same form and meaning. That
is, the student learns and the teacher teaches words that have identical or
similar form (spelling, pronunciation, form, and grammar) and meaning.
Here are a few select examples that show how that can be done at the
level of single words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and discourse or
dialogue.

1. Hallelujah is a very common religious expression in Western

Christian culture. Without going into the details of its origin
(Jassem 2012a, 2014f), it means 'There is no god but Allah 'God'',
which is la ilaha illa Allah ‫ ل إله إل ا‬in Arabic, to which
compounding, shortening, and reversal applied. More precisely, it
consists of
(i) Halle, from Arabic Allah 'God' ‫ ا‬via reversal;
(ii) lu, from Arabic la 'no, not' ‫ ل‬where /a/ became /u/; and
(iii) jah, which is a merger, shortening, and combination of Arabic ilaha
illa iah ‫ إله إل إياه‬in all of which /l/ merged into /j (y)/, a common sound
change even in Arabic.
Although Muslim students and teachers feel reluctant to learn
Christian terms, they instantly and completely change once they know
that it is a truly Muslim expression which has been mutilated in European
languages. The reason is the message of Islam is the same in all divine
religions, which has been preserved in its purest form in Arabic.

2. Alms is a religious term which came from Old English ælmesse 'alms',
from Latin (Spanish, Italian) almosna, Church Latin and Greek
eleemosny(a/e) 'alms', from Arabic almu2sineen ‫ المحسنين‬exactly via
lexical shift and /2/-loss (Jassem 2014e).

3. Air, area, ear, ore, aura, era, eros (erotic) are all similar in form (all
have –r) but different in meaning, all of which come from like Arabic
cognates with central /–r/. Air is from Arabic 'air ‫' أير‬air, wind' exactly,
which is obsolete in today's Arabic, though (Jassem 2015e).
Area is from Arabic 3araa' ‫' عراء‬open space' via /3/-loss (Jassem
2015). The adjective areal is from Arabic al-3araa' ‫' العراء‬the open space'
via morphological shift for al-. That is, the suffix –al is from the Arabic
definite article al 'the' via morphological shift (Jassem 2016d).
Ear is from Arabic 3air ‫' عير‬ear' via /3/-loss (Jassem 2013h).

61
 Era is from Arabic 3aSr ‫' عصر‬time, age' via /3/-loss and /3 & S/-
merger into /r/ (Jassem 2013j).
Ore is from Arabic wa3r ‫' وعر‬rough, stony, uncultivated land' via
lexical shift and /3/-loss.
Eros (erotica) is from Arabic 'air ‫' أير‬penis' (cf. 3arees 'bridegroom'
‫عريس‬and 3arS 'sexually loose person' ‫ عرص‬via /3/-loss) (Jassem 2013q).
The suffixes –s and –t are variants, both of which derive from Arabic –t
via morphological split, while –ic from dialectal Arabic –ij (see below).
Aura is from Arabic 'uaar ‫' أوار‬sun's heat' (Jassem 2013e).

4. Cordial (heart) came from the Latin root cord- 'heart', from Arabic
Sadr ‫' صدر‬breast, heart' via reordering and passing /S/ into /k/. English
heart underwent the passage of /S & d/ into /h & t/ (Jassem 2015). The
suffix –al comes from the Arabic definite article al 'the' via
morphological shift (Jassem 2016d).

5. The Salvation Army

This is a Christian charity which helps the poor in Britain, all the
words of which are Arabic as follows.
i) The means 'this' and so it comes from Arabic tha ‫ ذا‬via lexical shift;
many English and European demonstrative words evolved from it
also such as this, that, these, those, they, there (Jassem 2016d).
ii) Salvation (safety) is from the Latin root salva, salvare 'to be safe'
(v.), from Arabic salima, salamatun ‫ سلمة‬،‫' سلم‬to be safe, safety' (v
& n) in which /m/ became /v/ while /l/ was deleted in English
safety. The Latin greeting Salvo and the French Salut belong to the
same root which is Arabic salaam ‫سلما‬. English welcome and
German Wilkommen are from the same root in which reordering
and turning /s/ into /k/ occurred (Jassem 2012a, 2014e).
The English suffix -tion is Arabic –tun (i.e., feminine -t +
indefinite -n) while –ty is Arabic feminine –t itself (Jassem 2012f,
2013a). The final yield or origin is Arabic salamatun where /m/
became /v/.
iii) Army (arms, armada) comes from the root arm which means
'weapon, soldier', from Arabic rum2 'weapon, arrow' ‫ رمح‬or raami
'soldier, thrower' ‫ رماة‬،‫ رامي‬in which /2/ was lost.
So the whole expression is literally Arabic ‫ ذا رماة سلمة‬via
reordering. No fuss, no mess in which both form and meaning are
preserved intact.

6. Domination is salvation, safety.

Again, this short sentence is entirely Arabic as follows.

62
i) Domination comes from the Latin root domin-, dominare (v.) 'to
dominate', which means deen, dainoonatun ‫ دينونة‬،‫' دين‬domination;
religion' in Arabic in which /n/ became /m/. The suffix -tion has
already been accounted for in 5ii) above.
The Christian time expression Anno Domini (A.D.) is from
the same root as far as Domini 'lord, master' is concerned, which is
Arabic daiyan ‫ديان‬. As to anno-, annus 'year', it is Arabic 3aam ‫عاما‬
via /3/-loss and turning /m/ into /n/. That is, AD is 3aam daiyaan
‫ عاما ديان‬in Arabic.
ii) Is is from Arabic yaku, from yakun 'is' in which /k/ became /s/
and /n/ was/ deleted, a process called kaskasa in Arabic (Jassem
2012e, 2016g).
iii) Salvation (safety). See 5ii) above.

7. The essence of politics is democracy.

All the words of the sentence are Arabic as follows.
i) The means 'this' and so it comes from Arabic tha ‫' ذا‬this' above.
ii) Essence comes from the Latin root essen- 'to be, being' and so it
means yakoon ‫ يكون‬in Arabic in which /k/ became /s/. Thus it has
the same origin as is in 6ii) above. The noun suffix –ce has the
same origin as –s above via morphological split and shift. That is,
kainoonat ‫ كينونة‬is the right final origin.
iii) Of is from Arabic fi ‫ في‬via lexical shift and reversal (Jassem
2014c).
iv) Politics comes from the Latin and Greek root polis/polit 'village,
town', which eventually derives from and means balad ‫ بلد‬in Arabic
in which /d/ became /t (s)/. The suffix -ic is from the Arabic
adjectival suffix –ee to which /j/ was added as was the case in some
ancient Arabic dialects (e.g., adab, adabi, adabaij 'literature,
literary' ‫ أدبيج‬،‫ أدبي‬،‫( )أدب‬see Jassem 1987, 1993). The suffix –s is
from Arabic –t with which it varies in English and European
languages as in democrat, democracy; police, polity, politics. So
politics is literally Arabic baladiat ‫ بلديات‬to which lexical shift
and/or change applied.
v) Is has already been described in 6ii) above.
vi) Democracy is a compound of Greek (a) demo- 'Adam, human,
people' (n.), from Arabic 'adam 'adam, human' (n) ‫ آدما‬and (b) kratia
'ability', from Arabic qudrat 'ability, power' ‫ قدرة‬via reordering and
turning /d/ into t/. That is, democracy is qudrat 'adam ‫قدرة آدما‬,
which is what it is in reality the world over. The difference lies in
spelling, reordering, sound change, and use.

63
 In short, The essence of politics is democracy is Arabic dha yakoon
fi baladiat yaku qudrat 'adam in which morphological and semantic
change was effected. That is, Arabic words are used differently.

8. Charles: I love you cordially

Charlotte: You hate, abhor me globally.
All the words of the short dialogue are Arabic as follows.
i) The proper name Charles has different spellings in European
languages like Charle, Charlie, Charleston, Carl, Carla, Karl,
Charlene, Carlyle, Charlotte, all of which came via Latin Carolus
'man, husband', from Arabic rajul, rijjaal 'man, husband' via
reordering and turning /j/ into /k (ch)/; or, more logically, it came
from Arabic khaleel ‫' خليييل‬friend, husband' in which /kh & l/
became /ch & r/ (Jassem 2014f). The feminine suffix –otte in
Charlotte and the masculine suffix –s/–us in Charles/Carlus are both
from the Arabic feminine suffix –at as in saleemat ‫' سليمة‬safe (girl)',
rijjalat 'men' ‫ رجالة‬via morphological split and shift (Jassem 2012f,
2016a).
ii) I (Old English and German Ich, Latin Ego, French je) comes from
Arabic iai 'me' ‫ إياي‬to which /j/ was added in Old Arabic dialects,
which accounts for /ch, g, & j/ in German, Latin, and French
(Jassem 2012d).
The pronouns me (my, mine) is from Arabic ana 'I' ‫أنا‬
where /n/ became /m/ or split into /m & n/ in mine.
iii) Love comes from the Germanic root lieb- 'to love' and so it means
'alabba 'to love' ‫ ألب‬which also means 'stay, leave' in Arabic
(Jassem 2013q, 2015i). The English words live, leave, and elope
are related which come from the same Arabic word which has both
meanings as well.
iv) Hate is from Arabic hatta 'to hate' ‫( هت‬Jassem 2013q).
v) Abhor is from Arabic harra (abahirr in Qassimi Arabic) 'to hate' ‫هر‬
(Jassem 2013q). The prefix ab- is from Arabic bi 'in' (Jassem
2014c).
vi) You was ge in Old and Middle English and so it comes from Arabic
ka, iaka ‫ك‬/‫ إياك‬in which /k/ became /g, y/ (Jassem 2012d).
vii) Cordially comes from the Latin root cord- which means 'heart,
breast', from which heart evolved. As such, it comes from and
means Sadr 'breast, heart' ‫ صدر‬in Arabic via reordering and passing
/S/ into /k/. The suffix –al is from the Arabic definite article al- via
morphological shift where it changed its position and function. The
suffix –ly developed from Old English lice 'shape, form', which is
Arabic shakl 'form, shape' ‫ شكل‬via reversal and merging /sh & k/
into /s/ which was later lost. That is, cordially is literally Arabic

64
 shakl alSadr ‫ شكل الصدر‬to which reordering and shortening applied
(Jassem 2015c).
vii) Globally (globe, globule, globulin) is from the Latin root globus
'round mass, ball; crowd; earth', from Arabic qalb 'heart, heart-
shaped, globe' ‫ قلب‬and/or qilaab 'globe; earth' ‫ قلب‬in which /q/
became /g/ (Jassem 2013f, 2015c). The suffixes –ally have already
been described in vii) above. Thus globally is Arabic shakl alqalb
‫ شكل القلب‬via reordering and shortening while globule is alqalb ‫القلب‬
to which the Arabic indefinite suffix –in 'noon tanween' was added
in globulin.
In short, all the dialogue is Arabic in full.

9. Describe, decipher and explain the story. Then write and copy it.
All the words of the text are Arabic as follows.
i) Describe is from the Latin root scrib- 'to cut, write', which is straight
from the Arabic root zabar 'to cut, write' ‫ زبر‬via reordering and
splitting /z/ into /sk/ while the verbal suffix de- is Arabic ta-
(tazburr, tazbeer) 'cut, cutting; writing' ‫ تزبير‬in which /t/ became /d/.
Many English words evolved from this root such as scripture, script,
prescription, inscription, subscription, proscription and their
derivatives (Jassem 2013i).
ii) Decipher means 'to explain', from the Arabic root Sifr 'zero' ‫صفر‬, and
so it comes from Arabic taSfeer 'zeroing' ‫ تصفير‬in which /t & S/
became /d & s/ plus lexical shift (Jassem 2014g).
iii) And came via Old English and/ond 'thereupon, next, over there', Old
High German enti, German und, Latin ante 'before, near, opposite',
Greek anti (anta, anten) 'opposite, before, over against', from Arabic
3inda 'there, at' ‫ عند‬via /3/-loss; or 3ada 'except' ‫ عدا‬via lexical
divergence and turning /3/ into /n/ (Jassem 2014c).
iv) Explain comes from the Latin root plain 'to become clear' and so it
means albaiyen ‫ البين‬in Arabic via reordering. As to ex-, ir comes
from Arabic ist- as in istabyan ‫' استببين‬to ask for clarification' in
which /st/ became /ks/ (Jassem 2013a).
v) the has already been settled in 5i) and 6i) above.
vi) Story comes from Latin and Greek historia 'a record of events',
which derives from Arabic and means 'usToora(t) ‫' أسطورة‬story,
something written' in which /T/ became /t/.
vii) Then is from Arabic thumma 'then; and' ‫ثم‬, turning /m/ into /n/
(Jassem 2016d, 2014c).
viii) Write (Wright, wrought) meant 'cut, write' in Old English, which are

65
 from Arabic qaraT 'to cut' and qira'at 'reading' via lexical shift and
turning /q & T/ into /w (gh) & t/. The French word ecri-, ecrire
'write' is from Arabic qara'a, qira'at (n) 'reading' ‫ قراءة‬،‫ قرأ‬via lexical
shift and passing /q/ into /k/ (Jassem 2013i).
ix) Copy is from French, from Arabic katab, kitaab (n) 'write; book' ،‫كتب‬
‫ كتاب‬via /t/-merger into /k/. The English word book is from the same
Arabic root via reversal and /t & k/-merger.
x) It was hit in Old English, which is from Arabic hatih, hati, ti 'this (f.)'
via /h/-loss (Jassem 2013d).
In short, Describe, decipher and explain the story. Then write and
copy it is entirely Arabic.

10. Dissect the tail of the cat means cut the tail of the cat.
All the words of the sentence are Arabic as follows.
i) Dissect means 'to cut', which comes from the Latin root sec-,
secare (v) 'to cut'. Thus it comes from Arabic shaqqa ‫شق‬,
tashaqqaqat ‫' تشققت‬to cut' in which /t, sh, & q/ became /d, s, & k/
(Jassem 2013m, 2015c).
ii) means comes from Arabic ma3na ‫ معنى‬via /3/-loss. The suffix –s is
Arabic –t as has been already described.
iii) cut is from Arabic qaT3 ‫قطع‬, qaTT ‫قط‬, qadd ‫' قد‬to cut' in which /q, T,
& 3/ became /k, t, & Ø/.
iv) the has already been explained.
v) tail is from Arabic dhail ‫' ذيل‬tail' in which /dh/ became /t/ (Jassem
2013g, 2015c).
vi) of is from Arabic fi 'in' via lexical shift and reversal (Jassem
2014c).
vii) cat sounds like cut above, which is from Arabic qiTT ‫' قط‬cat' in
which /q & T/ became /k & t/ (Jassem 2013g, 2016c). All European
languages have cat albeit with different spellings.
In short, Dissect means cut the tail of the cat is fully Arabic to
which sound, morphological, and semantic change applied.

3.1.2 Teaching Form Radically

All the different forms of words as far as their affixes (suffixes,
infixes, and prefixes) are concerned in English, German, French, Latin,
Greek, and Indo-European languages have true Arabic cognates,
including the grammatical inflections (e.g., -s in cats, means, Charles,

66
Carlus) and derivational endings (e.g., -t in separate, safety, activity,
donination). For example, the derivational suffix -al and its variants as in
cordial, global, globule, logical, marital is from Arabic al 'the' ‫ الي‬via
morphological shift; the suffix -an and its variants (-en, -ine, -ing, -ion)
as in salvation, globulin, is from Arabic –n 'inflectional and derivational
ending' ‫( نون التنوبن والفعال والسماء‬Jassem 2012f, 2013a-b, 2016a); the
suffix -t and its variants (-ate, -ity, -ite, -ess, -s, -ous, -ose, de-) as in
safety, Charlotte, dissect, describe, is from Arabic –t 'inflectional and
derivational ending' (‫تاء التصريف والشتقاق )التأنيت والجمع والفعال والسماء‬
(Jassem 2012f, 2013a-b, 2016a).

3.1.3 Teaching Grammar Radically

Grammar means the use of words as verbs, nouns, adjectives, and
adverbs, which all have Arabic cognates. For example, democracy and
politics are nouns which come from Arabic nouns as follows. The former
is a compound of demo- 'Adam, human, people' (n.), from Arabic 'adam
'adam, human' (n) (‫ آدما )أوادما‬and kratia 'ability', from Arabic qudrat
'ability' power' ‫ قدرة‬via reordering and turning /q & d/ into /k & t/. That is,
democracy is qudrat 'adam (‫قدرة آدما )أوادما‬, which is what it is in reality the
world over. The difference is spelling and use.

3.1.4 Teaching Pronunciation Radically

Teaching pronunciation radically involves the use of sounds that
are still the same or similar in English and Arabic like b, p, m, n or those
that have been lost such as back consonants, including the pharyngeal
consonants (3 ,2) ‫ ع‬،‫ح‬, the velars ‫ غ‬،‫(خ‬kh, gh), the uvular ‫( ق‬q), and the
emphatic ones ‫ ظ‬،‫ ط‬،‫ ض‬،‫( ص‬S, D, T, Dh). These consonants have
changed in different ways in Indo-European languages which is beyond
the scope of this paper (see Jassem 2013c; Jassem 2012-2016)

3.1.5 Teaching Spelling Radically

Teaching spelling radically is simple and direct. All alphabets in
the world have the same Semitic origin (Yule 2013: Ch. 3). Teachers can
tell students that the origin of Romanized and Indo-European alphabets in
particular is obviously Arabic, which is a historical fact. For example,
English L, l and Arabic ‫ ا‬،‫ لي‬are the reverse or mirror-image of each other;
Arabic ‫ ي‬is the same as English Y, read and written vertically from left to
right. The word alphabet itself is the first three letters in Arabic alef, ba,
ta. The order of the letters ABCD, KLMN, QRST is old Arabic teaching
style as in abjad ‫أبجد‬, kaliman ‫كلمن‬, qarasht ‫قرشت‬. Jassem (2012) is a
detailed investigation of the subject.

4. Discussion

67
 The results will be discussed from two angles: (a) vocabulary
learning and teaching in general, (b) radical linguistic theory, and second
language acquisition theory and studies.
As to the first angle, the results indicate that vocabulary is central
to language learning and teaching without which no communication is
feasible. All linguistic messages from phrases, to clauses, sentences, and
conversations are made up of words and their combinations. Although the
main component of vocabulary is meaning, yet they carry orthographic,
morphological, grammatical, and discourse information which are very
important to precise, accurate, and successful human communication.
Thus, because a word carries such different kinds of information,
vocabulary learning and teaching should be handled as a whole: i.e,
orthographically, phonetically, morphologically, grammatically,
semantically, and discoursally. Orthography deals with spelling;
phonetics and/or phonology with pronunciation; morphology with word
forms and word building; grammar with word classes and grammatical
categories such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; semantics with
meaning; and discourse with word relations in text.
All the above elements of vocabulary can be learnt and taught from
a lexical root or radical linguistic theory perspective. According to this
theory, the use of words with the same or similar form and meaning-
called cognates- is fundamental. All the examples in section 3 above
attest to that. For instance, Hallelujah is Arabic la ilaha illa Allah 'There's
no god but God' ‫ل إله إل ا‬, a compound noun which underwent several
sound changes such as reversal and merger. Another cognate is politics,
from polit/polis 'village' which is Arabic baladiat, from balad 'town,
village' ‫بلد‬.
Of course, in describing and explaining meaning, linguistic change
has to be taken into account. Sometimes there is no change in sound and
meaning as in air, from Arabic 'air ‫ أير‬with the same meaning, which is
not used in today's Arabic, though; both are identical cognates. Some
words have similar forms but different meanings as in air, area, ear, ore
to which sound change applied (see above). Sometimes, there is a slight
shift or change in meaning as in politics and baladiat above or the
functions of –al/al- in English as a suffix and in Arabic as a prefixed
definite article.
Meaning can be a little bit confusing because words change their
meanings in different ways over time. Some words retained the same
meanings in Arabic and English as in air, from Arabic 'air ‫ أير‬above,
which is obsolete in Arabic, though. Some have shifted their meanings
such as villain from 'farmer originally' to 'criminal', from Arabic falla2in
'a farmer' via /2/-loss (Jassem 2016); and some have changed completely
such as write 'cut, write', from Arabic qaraT 'cut' ‫ قرط‬and qira'at 'read'

68
‫ قراءة‬via lexical shift and turning /q & T/ into /q & t/ (English quarter
(carat, square) and French quatre 'four, originally cut' come from the
same root as well (Jassem 2014g)). Such changes and relations must be
taken into account.
Grammatical morphemes can be taught radically as well. It was
seen in the results that all grammatical endings, both derivational and
inflectional, have true Arabic cognates. The most common ones are –t
and –n and their variants, all of which have the same functions in Arabic
and European languages. In All cases, Arabic has the most functions for
any single morpheme, thus being their origin all.
As to the second dimension, the results support the adequacy of the
lexical root theory to learning and teaching vocabulary on all levels:
theoretically and analytically. On the theoretical level, it shows the
tightly-knit and close genetic relationship between Arabic and Indo-
European languages such as English, German, French, Latin, and Greek.
On the analytical level, it shows that words can not only be analyzed but
also taught semantically, morphologically, and grammatically that way.
For example, English hate and Arabic hatta ‫ هت‬have the same form and
meaning in both morphologically (i.e., base form), grammatically (i.e.,
verbs/nouns), and semantically (i.e., 'hate'). If you were to write hate in
Arabic letters, the same form ‫ هت‬would be used for both.
In short, the radical approach to vocabulary learning and teaching,
the core of linguistic communication, is based on finding out and using
cognates, which show that the languages at hand are genetically related.
This has huge consequences and advantages for learning and teaching.
For example, it
i) highlights the close genetic links between languages,
ii) facilitates the learning and teaching process,
iii) motivates students to learn the language,
iv) encourages instrumental and integrative attitudes to language
teaching,
v) enables the grouping of words on the basis of their root meanings,
thus enlarging the learner's word stock and enhancing their verbal
skills in language, and
vi) increases the learner's word building strategies by using affixes
(i.e., prefixes, infixes, and suffixes).
Finally, the question of second language acquisition theories and
studies. The results agree with the findings of the main studies in the
field, especially Contrastive Analysis and Functional Typology in which
similarities between languages are found to facilitate language learning
and teaching (see Saville-Troike 2013: Ch. 3). In this study, the languages
are not only similar but also are the same genetically speaking, having all

69
evolved from Arabic. This picture shows that language learning will be
very easy and fast.
The radical linguistic theory supports the acculturation model of
language learning and teaching, which means learning and adapting to the
culture, social values, and behaviour patterns of L2 community
(Schumann 1978; see Saville-Troike 2012: 129). It also supports the
accommodation model according to which the learner adapts his speech
towards that of his listener (Giles, Coupland, and Coupland 2010; see
Saville-Troike 2012: 110). The lexical root theory expedites both by
showing, e.g., that Arabic and English cultures, for example, are the
same. Hallelujah is the best such example, which is Arabic la ilaha illa
Allah 'There's no god but God' ‫ل إله إل ا‬, undergoing several sound
changes such as reversal and merger (see above). This way the student
readily identifies with the culture of the new language and tries to
actively participate in it by manipulating, correcting, demystifying, and
adding to it one way or another. It brings people closer and closer. I
noticed that a lot in teaching my students who often said 'Oh, they took it
from us', which is, of course, not the case exactly. What is true instead is
that these languages and their cultures are the same deep-down, which
developed from the same origin which has been preserved intact in
Arabic.
This, in fact, shows that student attitudes are very important
(Lambert 1991; see Saville-Troike 2012: 129). Throughout all the years I
have been teaching and using the current approach, I found my students
were shocked and impressed to know that, with which they fully agree in
almost all cases. Some students even anticipated the correct answer when
asked about the Arabic origins of such words like marry, marital, claim,
the/that, capture/captive. When they were told that marry, marital meant
'woman originally', they correctly said mar'a, al-mar'at via reordering in
the latter; claim 'talk' from Arabic kalaam; the/that 'this' from Arabic
dha/dhat; and capture/captive from Arabic qabaDa. Colleagues and
friends were impressed as well. Of course, systematic research can be
done in this respect to measure students' attitudes, which could not have
been undertaken here due to space and time limitations.
At last, the results point to the inadequacy of current dictionaries
and textbooks, all of which ignore the genetic relationship between
Arabic and English and European languages altogether. To remedy the
situation, therefore, there is an urgent need to prepare and write language
teaching textbooks and materials as well as dictionaries reflecting this
discovery. Jassem's (2012-2016) works are extremely useful in this
respect.

5. Conclusion and Recommendations

70
 The main findings of the paper can be summed up as follows:
a) Vocabulary is the core of language learning and teaching, the
central part of which is meaning in the main and form and
grammar, to a lesser extent.
b) Learning and teaching the meanings, forms, and grammars of
words can be effectively and successfully accomplished by using
cognates, words with the same or similar form and meaning such
as English the/that and Arabic dha/dhat ‫ذات‬/‫ذا‬. Language change
has to be taken into account in this respect.
c) The results support the lexical root or radical linguistic theory on
all theoretical and analytical levels, which claims that Arabic is the
origin of English, German, French, and all Indo-European
languages.
d) The results agree with the findings of second language acquisition
theories and studies, especially Contrastive Analysis and
Functional Typology, according to which similarities facilitate
learning and teaching. They also agree with the Acculturation and
Accommodation Models where, because the languages are
originally descended from Arabic, students readily identify
themselves with the new culture, which again enhances learning
and teaching.
e) The study calls for further research in this field at all levels of
language learning and teaching: spelling, pronunciation,
morphology, grammar, meaning, discourse, attitudes, lexicography,
dictionaries, translation, acculturation, and accommodation.

Acknowledgements
Sincere thanks are warmly extended to everyone who contributed to this
research in any way worldwide. For my supportive and inspiring wife,
Amanie M. Ibrahim, I remain indebted as ever.

References
Algeo, J. (2010). The origins and development of the English language.
(6th edn.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Allen, J. (1999). Words, words, words: Teaching vocabulary in Grade 4-
12. York, ME: Stenhouse.
Altha3aalibi, Abu ManSoor. (2011). Fiqhu allughat wa asraar
al3arabiyyat. Ed. by Alayoobi, Dr. Yaseen. Beirut and Saida: Al-
Maktabat Al-3aSriyyat.
Bergs, Alexander and Brinton, Laurel (eds). (2012). Handbook of English
historical linguistics. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

71
Bialystok, E. & Hakuta, K. (1994). In Other Words: The Science and
Psychology of Second language Acquisition. New York: Basic
Books.
Campbell, L. (2006). Historical linguistics: An introduction. (2nd edn).
Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.
Celce-Murcia, M. et al. (2010). Teaching pronunciation: A course book
and reference guide. (2nd edn). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Crowley, T. (1997). An Introduction to historical linguistics. (3rd edn).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crystal, D. (2010). The Cambridge encyclopedia of language. (3rd ed).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Giles, H., Coupland, J., and Coupland, N. (eds). (2010). Contexts of
accommodation: Developments in applied sociolinguistics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Harper, Douglas. (2015). Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved
http://www.etymonline.com (July 30, 2016).
Ibn Manzoor, Abi Alfadl Almisri. (2013). Lisan al3arab. Beirut: Dar
Sadir. Retrieved http://www.lisan.com (July 30, 2016).
Ibn Seedah, Ali bin Ismail. (1996). AlmukhaSSaS. Beirut: Daar I2ya
Alturath Al3arabi and Muassasat Altareekh al3arabi.
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (1987). Phonological variation and change in
immigrant speech: A sociolinguistic study of a 1967 Arab-Israeli
war immigrant speech community in Damascus, Syria. PhD Thesis,
Durham University, UK. Retrieved
http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1682/1/1682.pdf (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (1993). Dirasa fi 3ilmi allugha al-ijtima3i: Bahth
lughawi Sauti ijtima3i fi allahajat al3arabia alshamia muqaranatan
ma3a alingleeziyya wa ghairiha. Kuala Lumpur: Pustaka Antara.
Retrieved http://www.academia.edu (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (1994a). Impact of the Arab-Israeli wars on language
and social change in the Arab world: The case of Syrian Arabic.
Kuala Lumpur: Pustaka Antara.
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (1994b). Lectures in English and Arabic
sociolinguistics, 2 Vols. Kuala Lumpur: Pustaka Antara.
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2012a). The Arabic origins of numeral words in
English and European languages. International Journal of
Linguistics 4 (3), 225-41. Retrieved URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v4i3.1276 (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2012b). The Arabic origins of common religious
terms in English: A lexical root theory approach. International
Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature 1 (6), 59-71.

72
 Retrieved URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.6p.59 (July 30,
2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2012c). The Arabic origins of English pronouns: A
lexical root theory approach. International Journal of Linguistics 4
(4), 83-103. Retrieved URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v4i4.227
(July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2012d). The Arabic origins of determiners in English
and European languages: A lexical root theory approach. Language
in India 12 (11), 323-359. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2012e). The Arabic Origins of Verb ''To Be'' in
English, German, and French: A Lexical Root Theory Approach.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature
1 (7), 185-196. Retrieved URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.7p.185 (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2012f). The Arabic origins of number and gender
markers in English, German, French, and Latin: a lexical root theory
approach. Language in India 12 (12), 89-119. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2012g). Good English pronunciation. Retrieved
URL: http://www.iktab.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013a). The Arabic origins of derivational
morphemes in English, German, and French: A lexical root theory
approach. Language in India 13 (1), 48-72. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013b). The Arabic origins of negative particles in
English, German, and French: A lexical root theory approach.
Language in India 13 (1), 234-48. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013c). The English, German, and French cognates
of Arabic back consonants: A lexical root theory approach.
International Journal of English and Education 2 (2): 108-128.
Retrieved URL: http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013d). The Arabic origins of "water and sea" terms
in English, German, and French: A lexical root theory approach.
Language in India 13 (2): 126-151. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013e). The Arabic origins of "air and fire" terms in
English, German, and French: A lexical root theory approach.
Language in India 13 (3): 631-651. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013f). The Arabic origins of "celestial and
terrestrial" terms in English, German, and French: A lexical root

73
 theory approach. International Journal of English and Education 2
(2): 323-345. Retrieved URL: http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013g). The Arabic origins of "animal" terms in
English and European languages: A lexical root theory approach.
Language in India 13 (4): 68-106. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013h). The Arabic origins of "body part" terms in
English and European languages: A lexical root theory approach.
International Journal of Current Applied Linguistics and English
Literature (1). Retrieved URL: http://www.bretj.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013i). The Arabic origins of "speech and writing"
terms in English and European languages: A lexical root theory
approach. Language in India 13 (5): 108-159. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013j). The Arabic origins of "time words" in
English and European languages: A lexical root theory approach.
Language in India 13 (6): 274-97. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013k). The Arabic origins of "family words" in
English and European languages: A lexical root theory approach.
International Journal of English and Education 2 (3): 261-77.
Retrieved URL: http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013l). al'uSool al3arabiat lilDamaa'ir alshakSiat fi
alingleeziat, walfiransiat, walalmaniat (The Arabic origins of
"personal pronouns" in English, German, and French: A lexical root
theory approach (In Arabic). Almu'tamar aldawli althamin, tajdeed
alkhiTaab al3arabi, jaami3at imam bonjul, Indonesia 28-31 August
2013 (8th International Conference of Arabic Speech Renewal, Imam
Bonjul University, Indonesia, 28-31 August 2013). Retrieved URL:
http://www.academia.edu (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013m). The Arabic origins of "cutting and breaking
words" in English and European languages: A lexical root theory
approach. Research Journal of English Language and Literature 1
(2): 155-68. Retrieved URL: http://rjelal.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013n). The Arabic origins of "movement and action
words" in English and European languages: A lexical root theory
approach. Research Journal of English Language and Literature 1
(3): 187-202. Retrieved URL: http://rjelal.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013o). The Arabic origins of "perceptual and
sensual words" in English and European languages: A lexical root
theory approach. Research Journal of English Language and
Literature 1 (4): 212-24. Retrieved URL: http://rjelal.com (July 30,
2016).

74
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013p). The Arabic origins of "cognitive and mental
words" in English and European languages: A lexical root theory
approach. International Journal of English and Education 2 (4): 65-
83. Retrieved URL: http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2013q). The Arabic origins of "love and sexual
words" in English and European languages: A lexical root theory
approach. International Journal of Language and Linguistics 1 (4):
97-114. Retrieved URL: http://www.ijll.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014a). The Arabic origins of "wining and dining
words" in English and European languages: A lexical root theory
approach. International Journal of English and Education 1 (4):
146-74. Retrieved URL: http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014b). The Arabic origins of "question and
auxiliary words" in English and European languages: A lexical root
theory approach. International Journal of Language and Linguistics
2 (1). Retrieved URL: http://www.ijll.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014c). The Arabic origins of "prepositions and
conjunctions" in English and European languages: A lexical root
theory approach. Journal for the Study of English Linguistics 2 (1).
Retrieved URL: http://www.jsel.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014d). Translating cultural universals radically: A
lexical root theory approach for translating English, French, and
German cultural terms into Arabic. In ‫ بحوث‬:‫الترجمة وإشكالت المثاقفة‬
‫( ومشاركات المؤتمر‬Proceedings of the International Conference on
Translation and the Problematics of Cross-Cultural Understanding,
the Forum for Arab and International Relations, Doha, Qatar 26-27
February 2014: 643-695, 505-60).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014e). The Arabic origins of "divine and
theological terms" in English, German, and French: A lexical root
theory approach. Language in India 14 (3): 155-195. Retrieved
URL: http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014f). The Arabic origins of "proper names" in
English and European languages: A lexical root theory approach.
Research Journal of ELT and Poetry 2 (2): 201-22. Retrieved URL:
http://www.journalofelt.in (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014g). The Arabic origins of "mathematical and
computational terms" in English and European languages: A lexical
root theory approach. International Journal on Studies in English
and Literature 2 (5): 21-40. Retrieved URL:
http://www.arcjournals.org/ijsell (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014h). The Arabic origins of "Mandarin Chinese
Pronouns": A radical linguistic theory approach. International

75
 Journal of English and Education 3 (3). Retrieved URL:
http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014i). The Arabic origins of "Finnish and Basque
Pronouns": A radical linguistic theory approach. Journal of English
language and literature 2 (1): 109-20. Retrieved URL:
http://www.jellonline.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014j). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "colour and artistic terms": A radical linguistic theory
approach. International Journal of English language, literature, and
Translation 1 (1): 1-14. Retrieved URL: http://www.ijels.com (July
30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2014k). I buy, Ich kaufe, & J'achéte as Arabic
Dialectal Variants: A radical linguistic theory approach.
International Journal of language and linguistics 2 (5): 317-27.
Retrieved URL: http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/ijll. Doi:
10.11648/j.ijll.20140205.15 (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015a). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "life and death terms": A radical linguistic theory
approach. International Journal of English and Education 4/1: 322-
345. Retrieved URL: http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015b). Towards a radical translation theory for
names: A comparative historical linguistics approach. International
Journal of English and Education 4/1: 298-321. Retrieved URL:
http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015c). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "medical terms": A radical linguistic theory approach.
Journal of English Language and Literature 2/1: 18-47. Retrieved
URL: http://www.joell.in (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015d). The Arabic origins or cognates of English
and Indo-European "case markings and word order": A radical
linguistic theory approach. Language in India 15/3: 104-40.
Retrieved URL: http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015e). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "democratic terms": A radical linguistic theory approach.
Journal of English Language and Literature 2/2: 111-139. Retrieved
URL: http://www.joell.in (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015f). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "military terms": A radical linguistic theory approach.
Language in India 15/5: 105-139. Retrieved URL:
http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015g). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "legal terms": A radical linguistic theory approach.

76
 Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation 1/1: 10-29. Retrieved
URL: http://www.languageinindia.com (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015h). allugha alarabia wa allugha al3alamia
aljadhria alwaritha al2afiDha: asmaa' alishara fi lughat al3alam
qadiman wa2adithan min manDhoor 3ilm allugha aljadhri (In
Arabic, Arabic as the conservative radical world language: A radical
linguistic theory approach to demonstratives in old and modern
world languages). Proceedings of almultaqa al3ilmi al3aalami
altaasi3 lilughati alarabia wa-l-mu'tamar alkhamis li-itti2ad
mu3allimi allugha alarabia, Mawlana Malik Ibrahim Islamic
University, Malang, Eastern Java, Indonesia, August 27-29, 2015.
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015i). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "urban terms": A radical linguistic theory approach.
English Review: Journal of English Education 3/2: 146-166.
Retrieved URL: http://www.journal.uniku.ac.ind/index.php/ERJEE
(July 30, 2016)
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2015j). Negation in world languages: A radical
linguistic theory approach. Veda's Journal of English Language and
Literature 2/4: 1-17. Retrieved URL: http://www.joell.in (July 30,
2016)
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2016a). The Arabic origins of "plural markers" in
world languages: A radical linguistic theory approach. International
Journal of English and Education 5/1: 193-223. Retrieved URL:
http://www.ijee.org (July 30, 2016). (Also in Indonesian EFL
Journal 1 (2): 144-163, 2015.)
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2016b). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "floral terms": A radical linguistic theory approach.
International Journal on Studies in English and Literature 4 (2): 81-
99. Retrieved URL: http://www.arcjournals.org/ijsell (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2016c). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "fashion and modeling terms": A radical linguistic theory
approach. International Journal on Studies in English and Literature
4 (6): 40-60. Retrieved URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2347-
3134.0405007 (July 30, 2016).
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2016d). The Arabic origins of English and Indo-
European "definite articles": A radical linguistic theory approach.
International Journal of English Language, Literature and
Humanities 4/6: 530-55. Retrieved URL: http://www.ijellh.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/06/64.-Zaidan-Ali-Jassem-paper-final.pdf?
cec.7d6 (July 30, 2016)
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2016e). English, German, French, Latin, Greek, and
Sanskrit are entirely Arabic- Free Good Lovely Comely Merry
Beautiful Girls Marry Noble Villains in Wedding and Engagement

77
 Rings Ceremoniously: A radical linguistic theory approach.
International Journal of English and Education 5/3: 335-56.
Retrieved URL:
http://www.ijee.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/26.19215751.pdf
(July 30, 2016)
Jassem, Zaidan Ali. (2016f). The Arabic origins and development of
English, German, and French: A radical linguistic theory approach.
Proceedings of International Conference on Allugha walfikr alinsani
'language and human thought'. University of Jakarta in Cooperation
with The University of Science and Technology of Jordan, and
Indonesia's Arabic Teachers' Union, Jakarta, Indonesia, 9-10 August
2016.
Kinsella, Dr. Kate, Stump, Dr. Colleen Shea, & Feldman, Dr. Kevin.
(2016). Strategies for vocabulary development. Retrieved URL:
http://www.phschool.eteach/language_arts/2002_03/essay.html (July
30, 2016).
Lambert, W.E. (1991). And then add your two cents' worth. In A. G.
Reynolds (ed.). Bilingualism, multilingualism, and second language
learning (pp. 217-49). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
McCarten, Jeanne. (2007). Teaching vocabulary: Lessons from the
corpus, lessons for the classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Mitchell, R. & Myles, F. (2004). Second Language Learning Theories
(2nd edn.). London: Arnold.
Mu3jam alama3ani (2016). Retrieved URL: http://www.almaany.com
(July 30, 2016).
Oxford, Rebecca L. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every
teacher should know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pyles, T. and J. Algeo. (1993). The origins and development of the
English language. (4th edn). San Diego: HBJ.
Roach, P. (2008). English phonetics and phonology: A practical course.
(4th edn). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saville-Troike, Muriel C. (2012). Introducing second language
acquisition, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schumann, John H. (1978). The acculturation model for second language
acquisition. In R. C. Gingras (ed.). Second language acquisition and
foreign language teaching (pp. 27-50). Arlington, VA: Center for
Applied Linguistics.
Shen, Wei-Wei. (2003). Current trends of vocabulary teaching and
learning strategies for EFL settings. Feng Chia Journal of
Humanities and Social Sciences 7: 187-224.

78
Stahl, S. A. (1999). Vocabulary development. Cambridge, MA: Brookline
Books.
Yule, G. (2014). The study of language. (5th ed). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

79