Many thanks for all the help. 08:38 Nov 29, 2009
First of all, I wish to render the exact meaning of “imam hatip”. Apologies for not being clear enough. I now realize that the sentence I wish to obtain as my end product is: “The Imam Hatip Schools (Imam Hatip means “prayer leader - preacher”) have undergone a reduction in pupil numbers.”
I very much like what Erkan Bey writes: "imam-hatip", referring to two different functions". I suddenly remembered that the Arabic for “in front of” is أمام “amāma”, and given the way in which Arabic roots work this idea must be embedded in the concept of an إمام imām, who indeed leads from the front in prayer.
Therefore, it looks to me as if what we have is a combination of two nouns, a bit like the English “singer-songwriter”, which describes people like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen etc. |