Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book. This includes both the literary language and the spoken Arabic varieties, spoken in a wide arc of territory stretching across the Middle East and North Africa. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to Hebrew and theNeo-Aramaic languages, and also related to the South Semitic languages (e.g. Amharic in Ethiopia, Tigrinya in Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Mehri in Yemen and Oman) and the extinct East Semitic languages (e.g. Akkadian, first attested nearly 5,000 years ago). The written language is distinct from and more conservative than all of the spoken varieties, and the two exist in a state known as diglossia, used side-by-side for different societal functions.
Many of the spoken varieties are mutually unintelligible, and the varieties as a whole constitute a sociolinguistic language. This means that on purely linguistic grounds they would likely be considered to constitute more than one language, but are commonly grouped together as a single language for political and/or ethnic reasons. If considered multiple languages, it is unclear how many languages there would be, as the spoken varieties form a dialect chain with no clear boundaries. If Arabic is considered a single language, it counts more than 200 million first language speakers (according to some estimates, as high as 280 million), more than that of any other Semitic language. If considered separate languages, the most-spoken variety would likely be Egyptian Arabic, with more than 50,000,000 native speakers — still greater than any other Semitic language.
The modern written language (Modern Standard Arabic) is derived from the language of the Quran (known as Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic). It is widely taught in schools, universities, and used to varying degrees in workplaces, government and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the official language of 26 states and the liturgical language of Islam. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the grammatical standards of Quranic Arabic and uses much of the same vocabulary. However, it has discarded some grammatical constructions and vocabulary that no longer have any counterpoint in the spoken varieties, and adopted certain new constructions and vocabulary from the spoken varieties. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, especially in modern times.
Arabic is the only surviving member of the Old North Arabian dialect group, attested in Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions dating back to the 4th century. Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet, which is an abjad script, and is written from right-to-left.
Arabic has lent many words to other languages of the Islamic world, like Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Malay, Hausa and Hindi. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a major vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As a result, many European languages have also borrowed many words from it. Arabic influence is seen in Romance languages, particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and Sicilian, owing to both the proximity of European and Arab civilizations and 700 years of Muslim/Moorish rule in some parts of the Iberian peninsula.
Arabic has also borrowed words from many languages, including Hebrew, Greek, Persian and Syriac in early centuries,Turkish in medieval times and contemporary European languages in modern times. However, the current tendency is to coin new words using the existing lexical resources of the language, or to repurpose old words, rather than directly borrowing foreign words.
| Variety | I love reading a lot | When I went to the library | I only found this old book | I wanted to read a book about the history of women in France. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classical Arabic(liturgical or poetic only) | ʾanā ʾuḥibbu l-qirāʾata kaṯīran | ʿindamā ḏahabtu ʾilā l-maktabati | lam ʾajid ʾillā hāḏā l-kitāba l-qadīma | kuntu ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaqraʾa kitāban ʿan tārīḫi l-marʾati fī-farānsā |
| Modern Standard Arabic | ʾanā ʾuḥibb al-qirāʾa kaṯīran | ʿindamā ḏahabtu ʾilā l-maktabah | lam ʾajid ʾillā hāḏā l-kitāb al-qadīm | kuntu ʾurīd ʾan ʾaqraʾ kitāb ʿan tārīḫ al-marʾa fī-farānsā |
| Moroccan | ana ʕziz ʕlija bzzaf nqra | melli mʃit l-lmaktaba | lqit ɣir had l-ktab l-qdim | kent baɣi nqra ktab ʕla tarix l-ʕjalat f-fransa |
| Tunisian | e:ne nħibb il-qre:je barʃa | waqtelli mʃi:t l il-maktba | ma-lqi:t-ʃ ke:n ha l-kte:b l-qdi:m | kunt nħibb naqra kte:b ʕala tari:x l-mra fi fra:nsa |
| western libyan | ʾaniː nħieb ǀi-ɡraːja haǀba | lamma mʃeːt lil-maktba | malgeːtiʃ ʾiːlla ha li-ktaːb le-gdiːm | kunt nibi nagra ktaːb ʔleː tariːx e-nsawiːn fiː fraːnsa |
| Egyptian | ana baħebb el-ʔera:ja ʔawi | 'lamma roħt el-mak'taba | ma-l'ʔet-ʃ 'ella l-ke'ta:b el-ʔa'di:m da | ana kont-e ʕawz-aʔra kta:b ʕan tari:x el-setta:t fe fa'ransa |
| Urban Palestinian | ba'ħɪbb ᵊl-ʔɪ'ra:je kti:r | 'lamma 'rʊħᵊt ʕal-'maktabe | ma la'ʔe:tᵊʃ 'illa ha-l-ᵊk'ta:b l-ᵊʔ'dīm | ka:n 'bɪddɪ 'ʔaʔra kta:b ʕan ta'rīx ᵊl-'mara fɪ f'ra:nsa |
| Lebanese | kti:r bħibb il-ʔi'ræ:je | 'lamma 'reħit ʕal-'maktebe | ma lʔēt 'illa ha-l-ik'tæ:b le-ʔ'di:m | kæ:n 'beddi 'ʔeʔra ktæ:b ʕan te'rīx l-'mara b-'fræ:nse |
| Iraqi | 'a:ni a'ħibb el-q'ra:ja 'kulliʃ | 'lamman 'reħit lel-maktaba | ma li'ge:t ɣe:r ha:ða l-keta:b al-qadi:m | redet aqra keta:b ʕan tari:x al-ħarim eb-fransa |
| Saudi (Hijazi) | 'ana a'ħob il-gra:ja kθi:r | 'lamma roħt l-'mekteba | ma lge:t ɣe:r ha:ða l-kta:b il-gedi:m | kont abɣa agra kta:b ʕan tari:x il-ħari:m fi fransa[16] |
| Kuwaiti | ʔa:na wa:yed aħibb agra: | lamman reħt al-maktaba | ma lige:t illa hal keta:b al-gadi:m | kent abi: agra keta:b an tari:x el-ħari:m eb fransa |
| Form | Past | Meaning | Non-past | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | kataba | "he wrote" | yaktubu | "he writes" |
| II | kattaba | "he made (someone) write" | yukattibu | "he makes (someone) write" |
| III | kātaba | "he corresponded with, wrote to (someone)" | yukātibu | "he corresponds with, writes to (someone)" |
| IV | ʾaktaba | "he dictated" | yuktibu | "he dictates" |
| V | takattaba | nonexistent | yatakattabu | nonexistent |
| VI | takātaba | "he corresponded (with someone, esp. mutually)" | yatakātabu | "he corresponds (with someone, esp. mutually)" |
| VII | inkataba | "he subscribed" | yankatibu | "he subscribes" |
| VIII | iktataba | "he copied" | yaktatibu | "he copies" |
| IX | iḥmarra | "he turned red" | yaḥmarru | "he turns red" |
| X | istaktaba | "he asked (someone) to write" | yastaktibu | "he asks (someone) to write" |
| Hi! | Salam! سلام |
| Good morning! | Sabah el kheer صباح الخير |
| Good evening! | Masaa el kheer مساء الخير |
| Welcome! (to greet someone) | Marhaban مرحبا |
| How are you? | Kaifa haloka/ haloki ( female) كيف حالك؟ |
| I'm fine, thanks! | Ana bekhair, shokran! أنا بخير شكرا |
| And you? | Wa ant? / Wa anti? (female) و أنت؟ |
| Good/ So-So. | Jayed/ 'aadee جيد / عادي |
| Thank you (very much)! | Shokran (jazeelan) (شكرا (جزيلا |
| You're welcome! (for "thank you") | Al’afw ألعفو |
| Hey! Friend! | Ahlan sadiqi/ sadiqati! (female) أهلا صديقي /صديقتي! |
| I missed you so much! | Eshtaqto elaika/ elaiki (female) katheeran إشتقت إليك كثيرا |
| What's new? | Maljadeed? مالجديد؟ |
| Nothing much | Lashai jadeed لا شيء جديد |
| Good night! | Tosbeho/ tosbeheena (female) ‘ala khair/ تصبح/ تصبحين على خير |
| See you later! | Araka/ Araki (female) fi ma ba'd أراك في مابعد |
| Good bye! | Ma’a salama مع السلامة |
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