Arabic (العربية al-ʿarabīyah; or عربي ʿarabi) is a Central Semitic language The Central Semitic languages are an intermediate group of Semitic languages, comprising Arabic and Northwest Semitic (including Canaanite , Aramaic and Ugaritic), thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. They constitute a branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, the only branch of that family spoken in both Africa and Asia such as Hebrew 1United States Census 2000 PHC-T-37. Ability to Speak English by Language Spoken at Home: 2000. Table 1a and Syriac Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from the 4th to the 8th centuries, the classical language of Edessa, preserved in a large body of Syriac literature. In terms of speakers, Arabic is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million[1] people as a first language Sometimes the term first language is used for the language that the speaker speaks best and by 250 million[5] more as a second language A second language is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1). Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas. Most native speakers live in the Middle East The Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The term "Middle East" was popularized around 1900 in the United Kingdom. The corresponding adjective to Middle East is Middle-Eastern and the and North Africa North Africa or more correctly Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories;. Different spoken varieties of Arabic The Arabic language is a Semitic language with many varieties that diverge widely from one another—both from country to country and within a single country. A distinction is to be made between Classical/Standard Arabic and these "colloquial" variants. In sociolinguistic terms, Arabic in its native environment typically occurs in a & exist and differ according to region. Not all of the varieties are mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort. It is sometimes used as one criterion for distinguishing languages from dialects, though sociolinguistic factors are also and speakers may use a sort of medial language with features common to most Arabic varieties to communicate with speakers of mutually unintelligible varieties. Standard Arabic Standard Arabic or Literary Arabic is the standard and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in formal speech. It is part of the Arabic macrolanguage is widely taught in schools, universities, and used in the office and the media.

Modern Standard Arabic derives from Classical Arabic Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times (7th to 9th centuries). It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the direct descendent used today throughout the Arab World in writing and in formal, the only surviving member of the Old North Arabian Ancient North Arabian is a language known from fragmentary inscriptions in Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, dating to between roughly the 6th century BC and the 6th century AD, all written in scripts derived from Epigraphic South Arabian. Preclassical Arabic , the predecessor of Classical Arabic, seems to have coexisted with these languages dialect group, attested in Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions The history of the Arabic alphabet shows that this abjad has changed since it arose. It is thought that the Arabic alphabet is a derivative of the Nabataean variation of the Aramaic alphabet, which descended from the Phoenician alphabet, which among others gave rise to the Hebrew alphabet and the Greek alphabet, (and therefore the Cyrillic and dating back to the 4th century.[6] Classical Arabic has also been a literary language A literary language is a register of a language that is used in literary writing. This may also include liturgical writing. The difference between literary and non-literary forms is more marked in some languages than in others. Where there is a strong divergence, the language is said to exhibit diglossia and the liturgical language A sacred language, or liturgical language, is a language that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life of Islam Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔislæːm] [note 1]) is a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the teachings contained in a religious book, the Qur'an, considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of Allah (the sole divine entity in Islam) as revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a 7th century Arab since its inception in the 7th century.

Arabic has lent many words to other languages of the Islamic Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔislæːm] [note 1]) is a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the teachings contained in a religious book, the Qur'an, considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of Allah (the sole divine entity in Islam) as revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a 7th century Arab world. During the Middle Ages The Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christianity in the Reformation, the rise of humanism in the Italian, Arabic was a major vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As a result, many European languages have also borrowed numerous words from it. Arabic influence is seen in Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The name Mediterranean means "in the middle of the land". It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km² , but languages, particularly Spanish Arabic influence on the Spanish language has been significant, due to the Islamic presence in the Iberian peninsula between 711 and 1492 A.D., Portuguese A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, Maltese Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English, while also serving as an official language of the European Union, the only Semitic language so distinguished. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic (the Arabic dialect that developed in Sicily, Malta and the rest of Southern Italy). About half, and Sicilian Sicilian is a Romance language. Its dialects comprise the Italiano Meridionale-estremo language group, which are spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands; in southern and central Calabria (where it is called Southern Calabro); in the southern parts of Apulia, the Salento (where it is known as Salentino); and Campania, on the, due to both the proximity of European and Arab civilization and 700 years of Arab rule in the Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas. It is bordered on the southeast and east by the (see Al-Andalus Following the conquest, al-Andalus was divided into five administrative areas roughly corresponding to Andalusia, Galicia and Lusitania, Castile and Léon, Aragon and Catalonia, and Septimania. As a political domain or domains, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I ; the Emirate of Có).

Arabic has also borrowed words from many languages, including Hebrew 1United States Census 2000 PHC-T-37. Ability to Speak English by Language Spoken at Home: 2000. Table 1a, Persian Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Bahrain and has official-language status in the first three countries under different names. Persian is a pluricentric language. The Persian language has been a medium for literary and and Syriac Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from the 4th to the 8th centuries, the classical language of Edessa, preserved in a large body of Syriac literature in early centuries, and contemporary European languages in modern times.

Contents

Classical, Modern Standard, and colloquial Arabic

Main articles: Classical Arabic Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times (7th to 9th centuries). It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the direct descendent used today throughout the Arab World in writing and in formal, Modern Standard Arabic Standard Arabic or Literary Arabic is the standard and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in formal speech. It is part of the Arabic macrolanguage, and Varieties of Arabic The Arabic language is a Semitic language with many varieties that diverge widely from one another—both from country to country and within a single country. A distinction is to be made between Classical/Standard Arabic and these "colloquial" variants. In sociolinguistic terms, Arabic in its native environment typically occurs in a &

Arabic usually designates one of three main variants: Classical Arabic Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times (7th to 9th centuries). It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the direct descendent used today throughout the Arab World in writing and in formal; Modern Standard Arabic Standard Arabic or Literary Arabic is the standard and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in formal speech. It is part of the Arabic macrolanguage; colloquial or dialectal Arabic The Arabic language is a Semitic language with many varieties that diverge widely from one another—both from country to country and within a single country. A distinction is to be made between Classical/Standard Arabic and these "colloquial" variants. In sociolinguistic terms, Arabic in its native environment typically occurs in a &.

Classical Arabic Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times (7th to 9th centuries). It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the direct descendent used today throughout the Arab World in writing and in formal is the language found in the Qur'an The Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God and used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia The history of Pre-Islamic Arabia before the rise of Islam in the 630s is not known in great detail. Archaeological exploration in the Arabian peninsula has been sparse; indigenous written sources are limited to the many inscriptions and coins from southern Arabia. Existing material consists primarily of written sources from other traditions and to that of the Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al Andalus. Classical Arabic is considered normative; modern authors attempt to follow the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (such as Sibawayh Sibawayh was a linguist of Persian origin born ca. 760 in the town of Bayza (ancient Nesayak) in the Fars province of Iran, died in Shiraz, also in the Fars, around 180 AH (796–797). His full name is: ʕAmr ibn ʕUthmān ibn Qanbar - al-mulaqqab bi-"Sibawayhi". That is: "ʕAmr ibn ʕUthmān ibn Qanbar - a.k.a. Sibawayhi".[), and use the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (such as the Lisān al-Arab).

Based on Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic Standard Arabic or Literary Arabic is the standard and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in formal speech. It is part of the Arabic macrolanguage is the literary language A literary language is a register of a language that is used in literary writing. This may also include liturgical writing. The difference between literary and non-literary forms is more marked in some languages than in others. Where there is a strong divergence, the language is said to exhibit diglossia used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by the Arabic media across North Africa North Africa or more correctly Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; and the Middle East The Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The term "Middle East" was popularized around 1900 in the United Kingdom. The corresponding adjective to Middle East is Middle-Eastern and the, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. "Literary Arabic" and "Standard Arabic" are more general terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic and/or Classical Arabic.

Colloquial or dialectal Arabic The Arabic language is a Semitic language with many varieties that diverge widely from one another—both from country to country and within a single country. A distinction is to be made between Classical/Standard Arabic and these "colloquial" variants. In sociolinguistic terms, Arabic in its native environment typically occurs in a & refers to the many national or regional varieties which constitute the everyday spoken language. Colloquial Arabic has many different regional variants; these sometimes differ enough to be mutually incomprehensible and some linguists consider them distinct languages. The varieties are typically unwritten. They are often used in informal spoken media, such as soap operas A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. Programs described as soap operas have existed as an entertainment long enough for audiences to recognize them simply by the term soap. The name "soap opera" stems from the and talk shows A talk show or chat show (British) is a television or radio program where one person or group of people come together to discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host. Sometimes, talk shows feature a panel of guests, usually consisting of a group of people who are learned or who have great experience in relation to whatever issue is being.[7] The only variety of modern Arabic, through its descent from Siculo-Arabic Siculo Arabic was a variety of Arabic spoken in Sicily and Malta between the ninth and the fourteenth centuries. It is extinct in Sicily, but developed into what is now the Maltese language on the islands of Malta, to have acquired official language status is Maltese Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English, while also serving as an official language of the European Union, the only Semitic language so distinguished. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic (the Arabic dialect that developed in Sicily, Malta and the rest of Southern Italy). About half, spoken in (predominately Roman Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,[note 1] is the world's largest Christian church, and claims over a billion members, representing approximately half of all Christians[note 2] and one-sixth of the world's population. The Catholic Church is a communion of the Western Rite and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches () Malta and written with the Latin alphabet.

The sociolinguistic situation of Arabic in modern times provides a prime example of the linguistic phenomenon of diglossia, which is the normal use of two separate varieties of the same language, usually in different social situations. In the case of Arabic, educated Arabs of any nationality can be assumed to speak both their local dialect and their school-taught Literary Arabic. When speaking with someone from the same country, many speakers switch back and forth between the two varieties of the language (code switching), sometimes even within the same sentence. When educated Arabs of different nationalities engage in conversation (for example, a Moroccan speaking with a Lebanese), both may switch into Literary Arabic for the sake of communication. However, the most common method of communication is for both to speak in their respective dialects, provided they can understand each other. Arabic speakers often improve their familiarity with other dialects via music or film.

Like other languages, Modern Standard Arabic continues to evolve.[8] Many modern terms have entered into common usage; in some cases taken from other languages (for example, فيلم film) or coined from existing lexical resources (for example, هاتف hātif "telephone" < "caller"). Structural influence from foreign languages or from the colloquial varieties has also affected Modern Standard Arabic. For example, MSA texts sometimes use the format "A, B, C, and D" when listing things, whereas Classical Arabic prefers "A and B and C and D",[citation needed] and subject-initial sentences are more common in MSA than in Classical Arabic.[8] For these reasons, Modern Standard Arabic is generally treated separately in non-Arab sources.

Influence of Arabic on other languages

Main article: Influence of Arabic on other languages

The influence of Arabic has been most important in Islamic countries. Arabic is a major source of vocabulary for languages such as Spanish, Sindhi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Portuguese, Berber, Kurdish, Pashto, Persian, Swahili, Urdu, Hindustani (especially the spoken variety), Turkish, Malay, Rohingya, Bengali, Tagalog, and Indonesian, as well as other languages in countries where these languages are spoken. For example, the Arabic word for book (/kitāb/) has been borrowed in all the languages listed, with the exception of Spanish and Portuguese which use the Latin-derived words "libro" and "livro", respectively, and Tagalog which uses "aklat". In addition, English has quite a few Arabic loan words, and, some directly but most through the medium of other Mediterranean languages. Other languages such as Maltese[9] and Kinubi derive from Arabic, rather than merely borrowing vocabulary or grammar rules.

The terms borrowed range from religious terminology (like Berber taẓallit "prayer" < salat), academic terms (like Uyghur mentiq "logic"), economic items (like English sugar) to placeholders (like Spanish fulano "so-and-so") and everyday conjunctions (like Hindustani lekin "but", or Spanish hasta "until"). Most Berber varieties (such as Kabyle), along with Swahili, borrow some numbers from Arabic. Most Islamic religious terms are direct borrowings from Arabic, such as salat 'prayer' and imam 'prayer leader.' In languages not directly in contact with the Arab world, Arabic loanwords are often transferred indirectly via other languages rather than being transferred directly from Arabic. For example, most Arabic loanwords in Hindustani entered through Persian, and many older Arabic loanwords in Hausa were borrowed from Kanuri. Some words in English and other European languages are derived from Arabic, often through other European languages, especially Spanish and Italian. Among them are commonly-used words like "sugar" (sukkar), "cotton" (quṭn) and "magazine" (maḫāzin). English words more recognizably of Arabic origin include "algebra", "alcohol", "alchemy", "alkali", "zenith" and "nadir". Some words in common use, such as "intention" and "information", were originally calques of Arabic philosophical terms.

Arabic words also made their way into several West African languages as Islam spread across the Sahara. Variants of Arabic words such as kitaab (book) have spread to the languages of African groups who had no direct contact with Arab traders.[10]

Arabic was also influenced by other languages including Persian.

See also: list of Arabic loanwords in English

Arabic and Islam

Arabic is the language of the Qur'an. Arabic is often associated with Islam, but it is also spoken by Arab Christians, Arab Druze, Mizrahi Jews and Iraqi Mandaeans.

Most of the world's Muslims do not speak Arabic as their native language but can read the script and recite the words of religious texts. Some Muslim speakers of Arabic consider their language to be "the language chosen by God to speak to mankind."[11]

History

The earliest surviving texts in Proto-Arabic, or Ancient North Arabian, are the Hasaean inscriptions of eastern Saudi Arabia, from the 8th century BC, written not in the modern Arabic alphabet, nor in its Nabataean ancestor, but in variants of the epigraphic South Arabian musnad. These are followed by 6th-century BC Lihyanite texts from southeastern Saudi Arabia and the Thamudic texts found throughout Arabia and the Sinai, and not actually connected with Thamud. Later come the Safaitic inscriptions beginning in the 1st century BC, and the many Arabic personal names attested in Nabataean inscriptions (which are, however, written in Aramaic). From about the 2nd century BC, a few inscriptions from Qaryat al-Faw (near Sulayyil) reveal a dialect which is no longer considered "Proto-Arabic", but Pre-Classical Arabic. By the fourth century AD, the Arab kingdoms of the Lakhmids in southern Iraq, the Ghassanids in southern Syria the Kindite Kingdom emerged in Central Arabia. Their courts were responsible for some notable examples of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, and for some of the few surviving pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions in the Arabic alphabet.[12]

Dialects and descendants

Main article: Varieties of Arabic

Colloquial Arabic is a collective term for the spoken varieties of Arabic used throughout the Arab world, which differ radically from the literary language. The main dialectal division is between the North African dialects and those of the Middle East, followed by that between sedentary dialects and the much more conservative Bedouin dialects. Speakers of some of these dialects are unable to converse with speakers of another dialect of Arabic. In particular, while Middle Easterners can generally understand one another, they often have trouble understanding North Africans (although the converse is not true, in part due to the popularity of Middle Eastern—especially Egyptian—films and other media).

One factor in the differentiation of the dialects is influence from the languages previously spoken in the areas, which have typically provided a significant number of new words, and have sometimes also influenced pronunciation or word order; however, a much more significant factor for most dialects is, as among Romance languages, retention (or change of meaning) of different classical forms. Thus Iraqi aku, Levantine fīh, and North African kayən all mean "there is", and all come from classical Arabic forms (yakūn, fīhi, kā'in respectively), but now sound very different.

Different Dialects of Arabic in the Arab World

The major dialect groups are:

Other varieties include:

Sounds

Main article: Arabic phonology
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

The phonemes below reflect the pronunciation of Standard Arabic. There are minor variations from country to country. Additionally, these dialects can vary from region to region within a country.

Vowels

Arabic has three vowels, with long and short forms of /a/, /i/, and /u/. There are also two diphthongs: /aj/ and /aw/.

Consonants

Standard Arabic consonant phonemes
Labial Inter- dental Dental/Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn- geal3 Glottal
plain emphatic plain emphatic
Nasal م m ن n
Stop voiceless ت ‎ t̪ ط‎ t̪ˁ ك‎ k ق ‎ q ء ʔ
voiced ب‎ b د‎ d̪ ض‎ d̪ˁ ج‎ dʒ~g1
Fricative voiceless ف f ث θ س‎ s ص‎ sˁ ش ʃ خ‎ x~χ4 ح‎ ħ ه‎ h
voiced ذ ð ظ ðˁ~zˁ ز z غ ɣ~ʁ4 ع ʕ
Approximant ل l2 ي j و w
Trill ر r

See Arabic alphabet for explanations on the IPA phonetic symbols found in this chart.

  1. [dʒ] is pronounced as [ɡ] by some speakers. This is especially characteristic of the Egyptian and southern Yemeni dialects. In many parts of North Africa and in the Levant, it is pronounced as [ʒ].
  2. /l/ is pronounced [lˁ] only in /ʔalːaːh/, the name of God, q.e. Allah, when the word follows a, ā, u or ū (after i or ī it is unvelarized: bismi l-lāh /bismilːaːh/).
  3. In many varieties, /ħ, ʕ/ are actually epiglottal [ʜ, ʢ] (despite what is reported in many earlier works).
  4. /x/ and /ɣ/ are often post-velar though velar and uvular pronunciations are also possible.[15]

Arabic has consonants traditionally termed "emphatic" /tˁ, dˁ, sˁ, ðˁ/ exhibit simultaneous pharyngealization [tˁ, dˁ, sˁ, ðˁ] as well as varying degrees of velarization [tˠ, dˠ, sˠ, ðˠ]. This simultaneous articulation is described as "Retracted Tongue Root" by phonologists.[16] In some transcription systems, emphasis is shown by capitalizing the letter, for example, /dˁ/ is written ‹D›; in others the letter is underlined or has a dot below it, for example, ‹ḍ›.

Vowels and consonants can be phonologically short or long. Long (geminate) consonants are normally written doubled in Latin transcription (i.e. bb, dd, etc.), reflecting the presence of the Arabic diacritic mark shaddah, which indicates doubled consonants. In actual pronunciation, doubled consonants are held twice as long as short consonants. This consonant lengthening is phonemically contrastive: qabala "he accepted" vs. qabbala "he kissed."

Syllable structure

Arabic has two kinds of syllables: open syllables (CV) and (CVV) - and closed syllables (CVC). Every syllable begins with a consonant. Syllables cannot begin with a vowel. Arabic phonology recognizes the glottal stop as an independent consonant, so in cases where a word begins with a vowel sound, as the definite article "al", for example, the word is recognized in Arabic as beginning with the consonant [ʔ] (glottal stop). When a word ends in a vowel and the following word begins with a glottal stop, then the glottal stop and the initial vowel of the word are in some cases elided, and the following consonant closes the final syllable of the preceding word, for example, baytu al-mudi:r "house (of) the director," which becomes [baytul-mudiːr].

Stress

Although word stress is not phonemically contrastive in Standard Arabic, it does bear a strong relationship to vowel length. The basic rules are:

For example: ki-TAA-bun "book", KAA-ti-bun "writer", MAK-ta-bun "desk", ma-KAA-ti-bun "desks", mak-TA-ba-tun "library", KA-ta-buu (MSA) "they wrote" = KA-ta-bu (dialect), ka-ta-BUU-hu (MSA) "they wrote it" = ka-ta-BUU (dialect), ka-TA-ba-taa (MSA) "they (dual, fem) wrote", ka-TAB-tu (MSA) "I wrote" = ka-TABT (dialect). Doubled consonants count as two consonants: ma-JAL-la "magazine", ma-HALL "place".

Some dialects have different stress rules. In the Cairo (Egyptian Arabic) dialect, for example, a heavy syllable may not carry stress more than two syllables from the end of a word, hence mad-RA-sa "school", qaa-HI-ra "Cairo". In the Arabic of Sana, stress is often retracted: BAY-tayn "two houses", MAA-sat-hum "their table", ma-KAA-tiib "desks", ZAA-rat-hiin "sometimes", mad-RA-sat-hum "their school". (In this dialect, only syllables with long vowels or diphthongs are considered heavy; in a two-syllable word, the final syllable can be stressed only if the preceding syllable is light; and in longer words, the final syllable cannot be stressed.)

Dialectal variations

Main article: Varieties of Arabic

In some dialects, there may be more or fewer phonemes than those listed in the chart above. For example, non-Arabic [v] is used in the Maghrebi dialects as well in the written language mostly for foreign names. Semitic [p] became [f] extremely early on in Arabic before it was written down; a few modern Arabic dialects, such as Iraqi (influenced by Persian and Turkish) distinguish between [p] and [b].

Interdental fricatives ([θ] and [ð]) are rendered as stops [t] and [d] in some dialects (such as Egyptian, Levantine, and much of the Maghreb); some of these dialects render them as [s] and [z] in "learned" words from the Standard language. Early in the expansion of Arabic, the separate emphatic phonemes [dˁ] and [ðˁ] coallesced into a single phoneme, becoming one or the other. Predictably, dialects without interdental fricatives use [dˁ] exclusively, while dialects with such fricatives use [ðˁ]. Again, in "learned" words from the Standard language, [ðˁ] is rendered as [zˁ] (in Egypt & the Levant) or [dˁ] (in North Africa) in dialects without interdental fricatives.

Another key distinguishing mark of Arabic dialects is how they render the original velar and uvular stops /q/, /dʒ/ (Proto-Semitic /g/), and /k/:

Grammar

Main article: Arabic grammar

Nouns in Literary Arabic have three grammatical cases (nominative, accusative, and genitive [also used when the noun is governed by a preposition]); three numbers (singular, dual and plural); two genders (masculine and feminine); and three "states" (indefinite, definite, and construct). The cases of singular nouns (other than those that end in long ā) are indicated by suffixed short vowels (/-u/ for nominative, /-a/ for accusative, /-i/ for genitive). The feminine singular is often marked by /-at/, which is reduced to /-ah/ or /-a/ before a pause. Plural is indicated either through endings (the sound plural) or internal modification (the broken plural). Definite nouns include all proper nouns, all nouns in "construct state" and all nouns which are prefixed by the definite article /al-/. Indefinite singular nouns (other than those that end in long ā) add a final /-n/ to the case-marking vowels, giving /-un/, /-an/ or /-in/ (which is also referred to as nunation or tanwīn).

Verbs in Literary Arabic are marked for person (first, second, or third), gender, and number. They are conjugated in two major paradigms (termed perfective and imperfective, or past and non-past); two voices (active and passive); and five moods in the imperfective (indicative, imperative, subjunctive, jussive and energetic). There are also two participles (active and passive) and a verbal noun, but no infinitive. As indicated by the differing terms for the two tense systems, there is some disagreement over whether the distinction between the two systems should be most accurately characterized as tense, aspect or a combination of the two. The perfective aspect is constructed using fused suffixes that combine person, number and gender in a single morpheme, while the imperfective aspect is constructed using a combination of prefixes (primarily encoding person) and suffixes (primarily encoding gender and number). The moods other than imperative are primarily marked by suffixes (/u/ for indicative, /a/ for subjunctive, no ending for jussive, /an/ for energetic). The imperative has the endings of the jussive but lacks any prefixes. The passive is marked through internal vowel changes. Plural forms for the verb are only used when the subject is not mentioned, or is preceding it, and the feminine singular is used for all non-human plurals.

Adjectives in Literary Arabic are marked for case, number, gender and state, as for nouns. However, the plural of all non-human nouns is always combined with a singular feminine adjective, which takes the /-ah/ or /-at/ suffix.

Pronouns in Literary Arabic are marked for person, number and gender. There are two varieties, independent pronouns and enclitics. Enclitic pronouns are attached to the end of a verb, noun or preposition and indicate verbal and prepositional objects or possession of nouns. The first-person singular pronoun has a different enclitic form used for verbs (/-ni/) and for nouns or prepositions (/-ī/ after consonants, /-ya/ after vowels).

Nouns, verbs, pronouns and adjectives agree with each other in all respects. However, non-human plural nouns are grammatically considered to be feminine singular. Furthermore, a verb in a verb-initial sentence is marked as singular regardless of its semantic number when the subject of the verb is explicitly mentioned as a noun. Numerals between three and ten show "chiasmic" agreement, in that grammatically masculine numerals have feminine marking and vice versa.

The spoken dialects have lost the case distinctions and make only limited use of the dual (it occurs only on nouns and its use is no longer required in all circumstances). They have lost the mood distinctions other than imperative, but many have since gained new moods through the use of prefixes (most often /bi-/ for indicative vs. unmarked subjunctive). They have also mostly lost the indefinite "nunation" and the internal passive. Modern Standard Arabic maintains the grammatical distinctions of Literary Arabic except that the energetic mood is almost never used; in addition, Modern Standard Arabic sometimes drop the final short vowels that indicate case and mood.

As in many other Semitic languages, Arabic verb formation is based on a (usually) triconsonantal root, which is not a word in itself but contains the semantic core. The consonants k-t-b, for example, indicate write, q-r-ʾ indicate read, ʾ-k-l indicate eat, etc. Words are formed by supplying the root with a vowel structure and with affixes. (Traditionally, Arabic grammarians have used the root f-ʿ-l, do, as a template to discuss word formation.) From any particular root, up to fifteen different verbs can be formed, each with its own template; these are referred to by Western scholars as "form I", "form II", and so on through "form XV". These forms, and their associated participles and verbal nouns, are the primary means of forming vocabulary in Arabic. Forms XI to XV are incidental.

Writing system

Main article: Arabic alphabet An example of a text written in Arabic calligraphy.

The Arabic alphabet derives from the Aramaic script (through Syriac and then Nabatean), to which it bears a loose resemblance like that of Coptic or Cyrillic script to Greek script. Traditionally, there were several differences between the Western (North African) and Middle Eastern version of the alphabet—in particular, the fa and qaf had a dot underneath and a single dot above respectively in the Maghreb, and the order of the letters was slightly different (at least when they were used as numerals). However, the old Maghrebi variant has been abandoned except for calligraphic purposes in the Maghreb itself, and remains in use mainly in the Quranic schools (zaouias) of West Africa. Arabic, like all other Semitic languages (except for the Latin-written Maltese, and the languages with the Ge'ez script), is written from right to left. There are several styles of script, notably Naskh which is used in print and by computers, and Ruq'ah which is commonly used in handwriting.[17]

Calligraphy

Main article: Arabic calligraphy

After the definitive fixing of the Arabic script around 786, by Khalil ibn Ahmad al Farahidi, many styles were developed, both for the writing down of the Qur'an and other books, and for inscriptions on monuments as decoration.

Arabic calligraphy has not fallen out of use as calligraphy has in the Western world, and is still considered by Arabs as a major art form; calligraphers are held in great esteem. Being cursive by nature, unlike the Latin alphabet, Arabic script is used to write down a verse of the Qur'an, a Hadith, or simply a proverb, in a spectacular composition. The composition is often abstract, but sometimes the writing is shaped into an actual form such as that of an animal. One of the current masters of the genre is Hassan Massoudy.

Transliteration

Further information: Arabic transliteration, Arabic Chat Alphabet

There are a number of different standards of Arabic transliteration: methods of accurately and efficiently representing Arabic with the Latin alphabet. There are multiple conflicting motivations for transliteration. Scholarly systems are intended to accurately and unambiguously represent the phonemes of Arabic, generally supplying making the phonetics more explicit than the original word in the Arabic alphabet. These systems are heavily reliant on diacritical marks such as "š" for sound equivalently written sh in English. In some cases, the sh or kh sounds can be represented by italicizing or underlining them – that way, they can be distinguished from separate s and h sounds or k and h sounds, respectively. (Compare gashouse to gash.) At first sight, this may be difficult to recognize. Less scientific systems often use digraphs (like sh and kh), which are usually more simple to read, but sacrifice the definiteness of the scientific systems. Such systems may be intended to help readers who are neither Arabic speakers nor linguists to intuitively pronounce Arabic names and phrases. An example of such a system is the Bahá'í orthography. A third type of transliteration seeks to represent an equivalent of the Arabic spelling with Latin letters, for use by Arabic speakers when Arabic writing is not available (for example, when using an ASCII communication device). An example is the system used by the US military, Standard Arabic Technical Transliteration System or SATTS, which represents each Arabic letter with a unique symbol in the ASCII range to provide a one-to-one mapping from Arabic to ASCII and back. This system, while facilitating typing on English keyboards, presents its own ambiguities and disadvantages. During the last few decades and especially since the 1990s, Western-invented text communication technologies have become prevalent in the Arab world, such as personal computers, the World Wide Web, email, Bulletin board systems, IRC, instant messaging and mobile phone text messaging. Most of these technologies originally had the ability to communicate using the Latin alphabet only, and some of them still do not have the Arabic alphabet as an optional feature. As a result, Arabic speaking users communicated in these technologies by transliterating the Arabic text using the Latin script, sometimes known as IM Arabic.

To handle those Arabic letters that cannot be accurately represented using the Latin script, numerals and other characters were appropriated. For example, the numeral "3" may be used to represent the Arabic letter "ع", ayn. There is no universal name for this type of transliteration, but some have named it Arabic Chat Alphabet. Other systems of transliteration exist, such as using dots or capitalization to represent the "emphatic" counterparts of certain consonants. For instance, using capitalization, the letter "د", or daal, may be represented by d. Its emphatic counterpart, "ض", may be written as D.

Numerals

See also: Arabic numerals

In most of present-day North Africa, the Western Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) are used. However in Egypt and Arabic-speaking countries to the east of it, the Eastern Arabic numerals (٠.١.٢.٣.٤.٥.٦.٧.٨.٩) are in use. When representing a number in Arabic, the lowest-valued position is placed on the right, so the order of positions is the same as in left-to-right scripts. Sequences of digits such as telephone numbers are read from left to right, but numbers are spoken in the traditional Arabic fashion, with units and tens reversed from the modern English usage. For example, 24 is said "four and twenty", and 1975 is said "one thousand and nine hundred and five and seventy."

Language-standards regulators

Academy of the Arabic Language is the name of a number of language-regulation bodies formed in Arab countries. The most active are in Damascus and Cairo. They review language development, monitor new words and approve inclusion of new words into their published standard dictionaries. They also publish old and historical Arabic manuscripts.

Studying Arabic

Because the Quran is written in Arabic and all Islamic terms are in Arabic, millions of Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab) study the language. Arabic has been taught in many elementary and secondary schools, especially Muslim schools, worldwide. Universities around the world have classes teaching Arabic as part of their foreign languages, Middle Eastern studies, religious studies courses. Arabic language schools exist to assist students in learning Arabic outside of the academic world. Many Arabic language schools are located in the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Software and books with tapes are also important part of Arabic learning, as many of Arabic learners may live in places where there are no academic or Arabic language school classes available. Radio series of Arabic language classes are also provided from some radio stations. A number of websites on the Internet provide online classes for all levels as a means of distance education.

Examples

English Arabic Romanization IPA
ALA-LC DIN
English الإنكليزية al-inglīzīyah al-inglīzīyah /alingliːziːjah/
Yes نعم na‘am naʿam /naʕam/
No لا lā lā /laː/
Hello مرحباً marḥaban marḥaban /marħaban/
Welcome أهلاً ahlan ahlan /ahlan/
Goodbye مع السلامة ma‘a as-salāmah maʿa as-salāmah /maʕ assalaːmah/
Please أرجوك arjūk arǧūk /ʔardʒuːk/
Thank you شكرًا shukran šukran /ʃukran/
You're welcome عفوًا ‘afwan ʿafwan /ʕafwan/
I'm sorry آسف āsif āsif /ʔaːsif/
What's your name? ما اسمك؟ mā ismuk? mā ismuk? /maː ismuk/
How much? كم؟ kam? kam? /kam/
I don't understand. لا أفهم lā afham lā afham /laː ʔafham/
I don't speak Arabic. لا أتكلم العربية lā atakallamu al-‘arabīyah lā atakallamu al-ʿarabīyah /laː ʔatakallam ulʕarabiːja/
I don't know. لا أعرف lā a‘rif lā aʿrif /laː ʔaʕrif/
I am hungry. أنا جائع anā jā’i‘un anā ǧāʾiʿun /ʔanaː dʒaʔiʕun/
Orange برتقالي burtuqāli burtuqāli /burtuqaːliː/
Black أسود aswad aswad /ʔaswad/
One واحد wāḥid wāḥid /waːħid/
Two اثنان ithnān iṯnān /iθnaːn/
Three ثلاثة‎ thalāthah ṯalāṯah /θalaːθah/
Four أربعة arba‘ah arbaʿah /ʔarbaʕah/
Five خمسة khamsah ḫamsah /xamsah/

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b S. Procházka, 2006, "Arabic", in the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edition
  2. ^ Ethnologue (1999)
  3. ^ Knesset approves Arabic academy - Israel News, Ynetnews
  4. ^ John W. Wright (2001). The New York Times Almanac 2002. Routledge. ISBN 1579583482. http://books.google.ca/books?id=G81HonU81pAC&pg=RA4-PA492&dq=almanac+arabic&lr=&as_brr=3&sig=Oi3cBiQqn4ckF2QVKPnXMEffPio.
  5. ^ Ethnologue (1999)
  6. ^ Versteegh, 1997, p. 33.
  7. ^ Orville Boyd Jenkins (18 March 2000). "Population Analysis of the Arabic Languages". http://strategyleader.org/articles/arabicpercent.html.
  8. ^ a b Alan S. Kaye (1991). "The Hamzat al-Waṣl in Contemporary Modern Standard Arabic". Journal of the American Oriental Society (American Oriental Society) 111 (3): 572–574. http://www.jstor.org/stable/604273.
  9. ^ Maltese language - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  10. ^ Gregersen, Edgar A. (1977). Language in Africa. CRC Press. pp. 237. ISBN 0677043805.
  11. ^ James Coffman (December 1995). "Does the Arabic Language Encourage Radical Islam?". Middle East Quarterly. http://www.meforum.org/article/276. Retrieved on 5 December 2008.
  12. ^ A History of the Arabic Language
  13. ^ Robert B. Kaplan, Richard B. Baldauf, Language Planning and Policy in Africa, (Multilingual Matters: 2007), p.48 Mary Catherine Bateson, Arabic Language Handbook, (Georgetown University Press, 2003), pp. 96-103. Berber: Linguistic "Substratum" of North African Arabic by By Professor Ernest N. McCarus
  14. ^ MED Magazine
  15. ^ Watson (2002:18)
  16. ^ e.g. Thelwall (2003:52)
  17. ^ Hanna, Sami A., Naguib Greis (1972). Writing Arabic: A Linguistic Approach, from Sounds to Script. Brill Archive. pp. 2.

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (October 2008)

External links

Arabic language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikiversity has learning materials about Arabic language
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Arabic
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Arabic language
Links to related articles
Arabic · العربية
Overviews Language · Alphabet · History · Transliteration · Numerology · Influence on other languages
Alphabet Western numerals · Eastern numerals · Diacritics · Hamza
Letters ʾAlif · Bāʾ · Tāʾ · Ṯāʾ · Ǧīm · Ḥāʾ · Ḫāʾ · Dāl · Ḏāl · Rāʾ · Zayn · Sīn · Šīn · Ṣād · Ḍād · Ṭāʾ · Ẓāʾ · ʿAyn · Ġain · Fāʾ · Qāf · Kāf · Lām · Mīm · Nūn · Hāʾ · Wāw · Yāʾ
Eras Ancient North Arabian · Classical · Modern
Major varieties Modern Standard Arabic (formal) · Maghrebi · Egyptian · Sudanese · Levantine · Arabian · Iraqi · Judeo-Arabic
Academic Literature · Names
Calligraphy and scripts Naskh · Kufic · Thuluth · Ruq'ah · Diwani · Muhaqqaq · Maghrebi · Hejazi · Mashq · Jawi
Linguistics Phonology · Sun and moon letters · ʼIʻrab (inflection) · IPA · Grammar · Triliteral root · Mater lectionis
Official languages of the United Nations

Arabic · Chinese · English · French · Russian · Spanish
Languages of the African Union
Working Arabic · English · French · Portuguese · Spanish · Swahili
Transnational Hausa · Somali · Yoruba · Igbo · Oromo · Kinyarwanda/Kirundi · Swati · Tswana · Sotho · Wolof · Kongo/Kituba · Kanuri · Fula · Chichewa · Lingala · Malagasy · Afrikaans · Shona · Tigrinya · Mòoré · Zulu
National Amharic · Sango
Modern Semitic languages

Amharic · Arabic · Aramaic · Chaha · Harari · Hebrew · Inor · Maltese · Mandaic · Silt'e · Soddo · South Arabian · Tigre · Tigrinya
Varieties of Arabic
Pre-Muslim conquests Ancient North Arabian† (Safaitic†, Lihyanitic†, Thamudic†, Hasaitic†) · Classical Arabic
Modern Literary Variety Modern Standard Arabic
Maghreb Moroccan Arabic · Algerian Arabic · Tunisian Arabic · Andalusian Arabic† · Libyan Arabic · Jebli Arabic · Jijel Arabic · Saharan Arabic · Hassānīya · Darija
Levant Lebanese Arabic · Syrian Arabic · North Syrian Arabic · Palestinian Arabic · Bedawi Arabic · Cypriot Maronite Arabic
Mesopotamia Iraqi Arabic (Baghdad Arabic) · North Mesopotamian Arabic
Arabia Gulf Arabic · Bahrani Arabic · Najdi Arabic · Hejazi Arabic · Sharqi Arabic · Yemeni Arabic · Hadhrami Arabic · Dhofari Arabic · Omani Arabic · Shihhi Arabic
Nile Valley Egyptian Arabic · Sa'idi Arabic · Sudanese Arabic
Peripheral Nigerian Arabic . Chadian Arabic · Khuzestani Arabic · Shirvani Arabic† · Central Asian Arabic · Tajiki Arabic · Uzbeki Arabic
Judeo-Arabic Judeo-Moroccan Arabic · Judeo-Yemeni Arabic · Judeo-Iraqi Arabic (Baghdad Arabic (Jewish)) · Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic · Judeo-Tunisian Arabic
Italo-Maltese Maltese · Siculo-Arabic†
Creoles Nubi language · Babalia Creole Arabic · Juba Arabic
† Extinct
Semitic languages
East
Akkadian · Eblaite
West · Central
Northwest
Canaanite
Hebrew Biblical · Mishnaic · Medieval · Mizrahi · Yemenite · Sephardi · Ashkenazi · Samaritan · Modern
Phoenician Punic
Others Ammonite · Moabite · Edomite
Aramaic
Western
Western Middle Jewish Middle Palestinian · Samaritan · Christian Palestinian
Eastern Biblical · Hatran · Syriac · Jewish Babylonian Aramaic · Chaldean Neo-Aramaic · Assyrian Neo-Aramaic · Senaya · Koy Sanjaq Surat · Hértevin · Turoyo · Mlahsô · Mandaic · Judeo-Aramaic
Others Nabataean · Western Neo-Aramaic
Others Amorite · Ugaritic
Arabic
Literary Classical · Middle · Modern Standard
Dialects
Eastern
Arabian Peninsular Dhofari · Hejazi · Najdi · Omani · Yemeni · Judeo-Yemenite
Bedouin / Bedawi Eastern Egyptian and Peninsular Bedawi ·
Others Central Asian (Khuzestani · Shirvani) · Egyptian (Sa'idi Arabic) · Gulf (Bahrani · Shihhi) · Levantine (Cypriot Maronite · Lebanese · Palestinian) · Iraqi (Judeo-Iraqi) · Sudanese
Maghrebi Algerian · Saharan · Shuwa · Hassānīya · Andalusian · Libyan Arabic (Judeo-Tripolitanian) · Siculo-Arabic (Maltese) · Moroccan Arabic (Judeo-Moroccan) · Tunisian Arabic (Judeo-Tunisian)
Others Ancient North Arabian
South
Western South
Old South Sabaean · Minaean · Qatabanian · Hadramautic
Ethiopian
North Ge'ez · Tigrinya · Tigre · Dahlik
South
Amharic Argobba
Harari Silt'e (Wolane, Ulbareg, Inneqor) · Zay
Outer
n-group Gafat · Soddo
tt-group Mesmes · Muher · West Gurage (Masqan · Ezha · Chaha · Gura · Gumer · Gyeto · Ennemor · Endegen)
Eastern South
Bathari · Harsusi · Hobyot · Jibbali · Mehri · Soqotri

Categories: Arabic language | Central Semitic languages | Languages of Algeria | Languages of Bahrain | Languages of Chad | Languages of Comoros | Languages of Djibouti | Languages of Eritrea | Languages of Iraq | Languages of Israel | Languages of Jordan | Languages of Kuwait | Languages of Lebanon | Languages of Libya | Languages of Mauritania | Languages of Morocco | Languages of Oman | Languages of Qatar | Languages of Saudi Arabia | Languages of Somalia | Languages of Sudan | Languages of Syria | Languages of Tunisia | Languages of the United Arab Emirates | Languages of Yemen

 

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