Re: `bin' or `ibn' Ladin?

 >> I was wondering why the romanisation of Arabic `son' is sometimes
 >> `bin' and sometimes `ibn'.  What is the difference?  Or the mistake
 >> in
 >> one of the romanisations?  Which one is how correct?  What is the
 >> exact pronunciation in Arabic?
 >> **Henrik
 >-
 >
 >I think the alternation between _ibn_ and _bin_ in Arabic is a function
 >of where the word falls in the name-phrase.  I think i remember seeing
 >something about it somewhere, but i'm not sure.

        bin is the full form, and ibn is in the "construct," that is,
it's used when bound tightly to the following noun, which will also be
in the genitive in Classical Arabic.

        What the difference here is in the names I'm not sure.  You've
got Ibn Khaldun, the historian, with the ibn form (which reduces to
just 'bn' when following a word ending in a vowel *grin*), but bin
Laden gets the full form.  That I don't fully inderstand.

 >                                                 I might actually be
 >learning about it soon now that we've finished the alphabet in Arabic 101
 >and have begun to move on to words and real sentences.

        Are they teaching you ruq'a for the script, or just the normal
copybook hand?

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