الكتاب يدعى الطريق.

Here يدعى means is called or is named.

So the sentence means that the book has the title الطريق.

Grammatically, يدعى is a passive verb. It comes from the root د ع و. In this sentence, it functions very much like English is called.

Arabic usually does not use a present-tense verb meaning is in simple sentences.

But in this sentence, you already have a verb: يدعى = is called. So Arabic does not need an extra word for is.

Compare:

• الكتاب كبير = The book is big
• الكتاب يدعى الطريق = The book is called The Road

In the second sentence, يدعى already includes the idea of is called.

It is pronounced roughly yudʿā.

A few points:

• yu- = like you, but shorter
• dʿ = the د is followed by ع, which is a throat sound that English does not have
• the final ى gives a long ā sound

So: yudʿā

The hardest part for many English speakers is ع.

The final ى is called alif maqṣūra. It often represents a final long ā sound.

So although يدعى ends in ى, it is still pronounced with ā at the end.

This happens a lot with words related to roots that end in و or ي. So the spelling may look unusual at first, but it is normal Arabic spelling.

Because it is the actual title/name: The Road, not just road.

So:

• طريق = a road / road
• الطريق = the road

In this sentence, الطريق is being used as the book’s title. Arabic does not use capital letters the way English does, so context tells you that this is a title.

Because ط is a sun letter.

When الـ comes before a sun letter, the l sound is not pronounced. Instead, the following consonant is doubled.

So:

• written: الطريق
• pronounced: aṭ-ṭarīq

This is a very common feature of Arabic pronunciation.

By contrast, in الكتاب, the ك is a moon letter, so the l is pronounced:

• al-kitāb

Because Arabic can begin a sentence with a noun or with a verb.

Here, starting with الكتاب puts focus on the book:

الكتاب يدعى الطريق
= The book is called The Road

This is a very normal structure in Arabic. You can think of it as:

As for the book, it is called The Road.

So the sentence begins with the topic, and then gives information about it.

In fully vocalized Arabic, this would normally be:

الكتابُ يُدْعى الطَّريقَ

A learner often sees Arabic without these short final vowels, but they are understood from grammar.

A simple way to think about it:

• الكتابُ has -u because it is the main noun being talked about
• الطريقَ has -a because it is the name/title given to the book after يُدعى

In everyday printed Arabic, these endings are usually not written, so you just see:

الكتاب يدعى الطريق

Yes, this is natural and correct.

But Arabic also has other common ways to express the same idea, for example:

• الكتاب يُسمّى الطريق = The book is called The Road
• اسم الكتاب الطريق = The name of the book is The Road

So يُدعى is not the only option. It is simply one standard way to say is called / is named.

It is passive.

That matters because:

• active: someone calls the book The Road
• passive: the book is called The Road

In this sentence, Arabic does not mention who gave the book that name. It focuses only on the result: the book has that title.

That is why يدعى is a good match for English is called.