10 Facts That make the Arabic Language Unique
It isn’t intelligent to expect every language and culture to be the same. Our world is diverse, which is why our differences are familiar. 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 know 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. Studying a vernacular can teach us about its speakers and their lifestyles.
The Arabic Language:
Although it is pretty 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 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 vocabulary. However, it is not easy, especially not for English speakers. There are various ways in which the language is unique.
10 Facts That Make the Arabic Language Unique:
There are a lot of facts about this vocabulary 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:
Most languages adopt terms from other vocabularies for technological inventions and modern devices. For instance, anyone worldwide will understand the word computer because it sounds the same in their speech. However, there is no rule in Arabic that foreign words be adopted for modern things. The vocabulary is known for creating terms that can be translated into other tongues. This means you can find a different Arabic word for every current 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 are 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 written from right to left, it is still a unique feature. Arabic influenced many other tongues, written from right to left in one way or another.
- Alphabet or Abjad:
Some 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 pretty confusing.
- Punctuation:
Another unique feature of the language is its punctuation marks. Although it has punctuation marks, they differ from those used in English. They were created to facilitate the right-to-left writing system.
- Difficult to Learn:
A simple and easy vocabulary can be learned in 24 weeks of study. Now, consider that a student must study Arabic for an average of 1.69 years to achieve fluency. It could take even more time than that because of the difficulty level of the vocabulary. And it is not only tricky for English speakers but for everyone else too.
- Religious Value:
Another factor that differentiates it from English and Spanish is its religious value. It is the liturgical language of 1.8 billion Muslims of the world. The Holy Book of the Muslim is in Arabic, so many can read the vocabulary 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 vocabulary.
- Influence on Spanish:
Although the influence of the vocabulary 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 vocabulary 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 says the standard form.
- No Separate Letters:
Every letter in this tongue connects with other notes. This is true in both written and printed texts. So, if you see an Arabic sentence where letters are separate, it would mean a problem with the computer software. The only exception to this rule is the six letters of the alphabet that always stay separate.
- Changes:
No huge changes have been made in Arabic for 1400 years. To preserve the Holy texts as they were, the Arabas ensured that their vernacular did not undergo many changes. This is another aspect of the language that makes it unique. This makes it different from languages like Spanish, which 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.
