Inside Arabic Language What You Did Not Know
Communication is the reason why new ideas and inventions come into being and humans develop. If we credit Language for this, it would not be incorrect either since language is the source of communication. The lack of a properly organized language would hinder challenges in communication. Since the beginning of life, people have always managed to share their ideas either through sign languages or spoken languages. One of the most important languages is the Arabic language. Stick around with us to help yourself understand and explore this beautiful language.
Origination
Over time, many world languages eventually died. Arabic is a different case. It has managed to survive the past few centuries and still growing in the number of its speakers. It amasses quite a large number of speakers worldwide and is an influential language. Holds great significance in the Arabic-speaking world and the Muslim community. Let us demonstrate the details about this language for now.
North Africa, a region rich in history and culture, presents a fascinating linguistic landscape where the art of Arabic calligraphy thrives. For English speakers venturing into this part of the world, the Arabic language, with its unique script and absence of capital letters, offers a captivating learning journey. Origin Unlike the Latin alphabet used in English, Arabic letters morph into beautiful forms, each connected to create fluid and aesthetically pleasing texts.
The elegance of Arabic calligraphy, an art form revered throughout North Africa, showcases the deep cultural significance and artistic mastery embedded in the script. This fascinating language, with its intricate letters and artistic expressions, provides a bridge to understanding the rich heritage and traditions of North Africa.
Saudi Arabia, the homeland of the Arabic Language
Saudi Arabia is a country located in Western Asia. Its official name is “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and it covers a large majority of the Arabian peninsula. Being the largest country in the Middle East, it has an area of about 860,000 kilometers square. Also, it is the second-largest country in the Arab World. Jordan and Iraq border it to the North and Kuwait to the North East. Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates border it to the East, Oman to the South East, and Yemen to the South.
The Gulf of Aqaba separates it from Israel and Egypt in the North West. Saudi Arabia is a very Mountainous, Lowland country with a lot of deserts. Riyadh is its capital while Mecca and Medina are important cultural religious sites for Muslims. The territory that we now call Saudi Arabia has been the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations of the World. The ancient history of Saudi Arabia shows some of the earliest traces of human activity in the world. The world’s second-largest religion, Islam, first started in modern-day Saudi Arabia.
Arabic, a Semitic language
Arabic is the national and official language of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is a Semitic language that first surfaced between the 1st to 4th centuries. It got the name “Arabic” because it is the lingua franca of the Arab World. Chiefly, Arabic is of two types: Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. The Arabs do not see Arabic as two different types but the Westerners. It is the official language in 26 states. About 350 million people speak Arabic (both as a mother tongue and second language). Arabic is one of the sixth languages of the United Nations.
Inside the Arabic Language what you did not know
Arabic is one of the most influential languages of the World. Throughout its history, it has influenced numerous other languages such as Persian, Urdu, Hindi, Turkish, Kurdish, Bosnian, Bengali, Malay, Maldivian, Greek, Bulgarian, Spanish, Azerbaijani, Albanian, Armenian, Pashto, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Hausa. In medieval times, it conversely borrowed words from Hebrew, Greek, Persian, Aramaic. In modern times, it borrowed several words from the English language and the French.
Arabic is the liturgical language of Islam as both the Quran and Hadith are in Arabic. It served as the vehicle of culture in the European Continent especially in the field of science, philosophy, and maths during the middle ages. It is the religious language of nearly 2 billion Muslims of the world. Arabic is the fifth most widely spoken language worldwide. It is written in the Arabic alphabet from right to left and uses the Abjad Script while its modern dialect “Maltese” uses the Latin script.
Arabic Dialects
Arabic has about 25 modern dialects yet ten of these are most famous. Here, we are introducing you to these ten modern dialects:
- The Hassaniya Dialect: Nearly, 3 million people speak this dialect worldwide. Usually, people speak this in countries such as Niger, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, and Algeria.
- The Egyptian Dialect: The Coptic language, the language before Egypt before the Arab conquests, highly influences this dialect of Arabic. It is one of the most widely spoken dialects of Arabic with about 55 million native speakers. People speak it mainly in Egypt.
- Maghrebi Arabic: This dialect is very different from the modern standard Arabic. There are over 70 million Maghrebi Arabic speakers.
- The Levantine Dialect: People use the Levantine dialect only in spoken form. The Levantine dialect has over 21 million speakers.
- Sudanese Arabic: People speak this dialect throughout the country of Sudan. It has over 17 million speakers. It closely resembles the Egyptian dialect but both have their own uniqueness.
- The Mesopotamian Dialect: People know it as Iraqi Arabic. There are over 15 million Iraqi Arabic speakers. It is made up of a continuum of Arabic varieties native to the Mesopotamian Basin.
- Gulf Arabic: This dialect is chiefly spoken in Eastern Arabia, in countries such as The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Oman. It amasses about 36 million speakers.
- The Hijazi Dialect: People speak this dialect chiefly in the cities of Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. It has over 14 million speakers. It is also known as Hejazi Arabic or West Arabian Arabic.
- The Yemeni Dialect: Nearly, 15 million people speak this dialect in Yemen, Southwestern Arabia, Djibouti, and Somalia.
- Maltese: Maltese is an Arabic dialect that, unlike other dialects, we write from left to right. It uses the Latin script.
Significance of the Arabic Language
The Arabic language holds great significance for the Muslim community. They consider it a divine language. They believe that on the day of judgment, this language will be used. Many Muslims know quite a lot of Arabic vocabulary since they read Quran which is in the Arabic language. Some of them are unable to understand or speak Arabic fluently. Arabic is the most common language across the Muslim world.
Is Arabic an easy language to learn?
Arabic is a very different language in comparison with other world languages. It uses different alphabets and writing scripts. The Arabic script is difficult to learn. Also, it is a very complex language. Along with Chinese, it is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. But if you have the motivation and the patience to learn it, then you should not hold back. You can take it as an adventure. Also, if you want to learn Arabic, then you should get familiarized with the Arabian culture and history first.
Arabic Translation Services
Arabic is a very important language when it comes to deal with business. By browsing the internet, you can find different companies who will help you in translating documents such as resumes, cover letters, job applications, academic papers, etc. They offer very accurate and error-free Arabic translations of your documents with respect to the dialect. Trustworthy companies in the Translation industry have been providing customers with Arabic translations. Also, Arabic is a very difficult language to learn but professional translators having good grip and expertise in this literary language can help you with that.
Wrap up
When we talk about Arabic, our mind automatically gives us the idea of how classical of a literary language it is. It is a very poetic language that is continuously growing in the number of its speakers. For sure, Arabic is a very beautiful language. Long story short, you would not be at loss at all if you learn this classical literary language. You will find the drudgery to be worth it.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Arabic language is a Semitic language that serves as a lingual bridge across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It is the official language of 22 countries, collectively known as the Arab world, and one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
Arabic is spoken by more than 300 million people as a first language and by an additional 250 million people as a second language, making it one of the world’s most widely spoken languages.
Arabic is broadly classified into Classical Arabic, the language of the Quran and early Islamic literature, and Modern Standard Arabic, used in formal settings, media, and education. Additionally, there are numerous regional dialects that vary significantly across different Arab countries, such as Egyptian Arabic, Gulf Arabic, Maghrebi Arabic, and Levantine Arabic.
The Arabic script is written from right to left and is known for its cursive flow, where most letters connect to one another within arabic words. It is unique in its emphasis on calligraphy, often considered an art form, reflecting the cultural and religious significance of the written word in Arabic culture.
Unlike English, Arabic does not have capital letters. The script uses different forms of letters depending on their position in a word (initial, medial, final, or isolated), but there is no concept of capitalization in the Arabic writing system.
