10 Facts That make the Arabic Language Unique
It is foolish to expect every language and culture to be the same. Our world is diverse, which is why the differences between us are common. However, we don’t have to let these differences dictate our actions. Instead, we can learn about them to better understand each other. The more we learn about the uniqueness of different cultures and languages, the better we can begin to develop an understanding of them. One of the fascinating things about languages is that they depict different cultures beautifully. Just by studying a vernacular, we can learn about its speakers and their lifestyle.
The Arabic Language:
Although it is quite popular in today’s world too, Arabic used to be very influential in the past. When Muslims conquered different parts of the world, they influenced different cultures. As a result, various vernaculars have Arabic words in their vocabulary. There are also a few daughter languages, creoles, and pidgins of Arabic. Due to its importance in the Arab world and the economic success of those countries, many people wish to learn the vernacular. However, it is not easy and especially not for English speakers. There are various ways in which the vernacular is quite unique.
10 Facts That make the Arabic Language Unique:
There are a lot of facts about this vernacular that people are unaware of. But the ones that make it unique should be studied by everyone. That’s how we can begin to appreciate it. Here are ten facts that make Arabic a unique language:
- Arabic Words:
For technological inventions and modern devices, most languages adopt terms from other vernaculars. For instance, anyone in the world will understand the word computer because it sounds pretty much the same in their vernacular. However, there is no rule in Arabic that foreign words be adopted for modern things. The vernacular is known for creating its own words that can then be translated into other tongues. This means that you can find a different Arabic word for every modern invention that won’t resemble the English alternative. This is another reason why English speakers have difficulty learning the language. When they can’t find similar words, they get confused and find it harder to pick the foreign tongue they wish to learn.
- Right to Left:
Unlike all the Latin-based languages, this one is written from right to left. Although it isn’t the only vernacular to be written from right to left, it is still a pretty unique feature. In fact, plenty of other tongues written from right to left were influenced by Arabic in one way or another.
- Alphabet or Abjad:
Some people call it the alphabet, while others refer to the Arabic script as an abjad. It is not considered an alphabet because each speaker has to provide the vowels using vowel marks. The consonants and vowels in this tongue can be quite confusing.
- Punctuation:
Another unique feature of the language is its punctuation marks. Although it has punctuation marks, they are different from the ones that are used in English. They were created to facilitate the right to left writing system.
- Difficult to Learn:
A simple and easy vernacular can be learned in 24 weeks of study. Now consider the fact that in order to achieve fluency, a student will have to study Arabic for an average of 1.69 years. It could take even more time than that because of the difficulty level of the vernacular. And it is not only difficult for English speakers but for everyone else too.
- Religious Value:
Another factor that makes it different from English and Spanish is that it has religious value. It is the liturgical language of 1.8 billion Muslims of the world. The Holy Book of the Muslim is in Arabic, which is why many of them can read the vernacular without understanding it. The Muslims who live outside the Arab world learn to read the tongue at a young age but don’t learn it as a vernacular.
- Influence on Spanish:
Although the influence of the vernacular on South Asian languages makes sense, it has also shared its words with Spanish. There are still thousands of words in Spanish that have Arabic origins.
- Unusual Sounds:
The vernacular is also known for its unusual sounds. These sounds make it different from European tongues. Some sounds have different pronunciations depending on the location where they are being spoken. This means that the vernacular has different varieties, and not every country in the Arab world speaks the standard form.
- No Separate Letters:
Every letter in this tongue connects with other letters. This is true in both written and printed texts. So, if you see an Arabic sentence where letters are separate from each other, it would mean that there is a problem with the computer software. The only exception to this rule is six letters of the alphabet that stay separate at all times.
- Changes:
No huge changes have been made in Arabic for 1400 years. In order to preserve the Holy texts as they were, the Arabas made sure that their vernacular did not undergo a lot of changes. This is another aspect of the language that makes it unique. This makes it different from languages like Spanish that have a different version in every country where they are spoken. Although there are a few small differences between the Arabic of different countries, the people of those states can understand each other easily.
