Information about the Arabic language
Arabic is one of the world’s major Semitic languages commonly spoken by over 300 million people in various Arab countries, that use it as a native tongue. The dialect is the language of Allah and Muhammad and known to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula during the early first millennium AD. The dialect was first spoken as Akkadian in Mesopotamia between 2500BC and 600BC. It is used mostly in West Asia and North Africa.
It is also expansively used as the primary language is some non-Arab countries like the Central African Republic of Chad and even a minority dialect in various countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, and Nigeria. It was adopted as one of the six United Nations official languages, joining English, French, Russian, Chinese, and Spanish in 1974. Over billion Muslims study Arabic as a foreign or second language in places like India, Indonesia, and Tanzania for liturgical and intellectual use. The parlance plays an essential role in scripture to the Islam communities and has a cultural significance and linguistic influence.
Various countries across the world speak the Arabic language. It is considered primarily to be the mother tongue to many countries in the North of Africa such as Algeria, Chad, Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Tunisia, and most parts of Asia including Iraq, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and many immigrant communities in Europe, especially France and the Americans. This dialect in India, Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Somalia, and the Philippines.
Classifications of the Arabic language
Arabic is the language of the Quran and the religious literature of all Muslims. It grouped into two forms, the colloquial and classical Arabic. Classical Arabic, usually called Quranic Arabic, is a basic form of language found in the Quran, with a few adjustments essential for its usage in recent times. Most Muslims thus study it to read and interpret the Quran in its original language. On the other hand, Colloquial Arabic involves a variety of spoken dialects, such as Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, with a few being mutually incomprehensible. However, it is essential to note that the literary language has strongly influenced all the Arabic dialects.
The Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the official language used throughout the Arab world. The dialect, in its written form, is considered relatively reliable nationwide. For instance, the MSA is used more in official documents, in educational settings, and for communication between Arabs of different national backgrounds. Arabic dialects spoken in most informal settings tend to vary widely, with each Arab country having its dialect in most homes, among friends or during shopping. Besides, Egyptian Arabic is thus the most commonly understood.
Arabic alphabets and grammar
The Arabic sound system is quite different from that of English and other European languages. It has several distinctive guttural sounds and a sequence of velarized consonants, usually pronounced with accompanying constriction of the pharynx and raising of the back tongue. The sound system comprises of three short and three long vowels. In most instances, when Arabic words begin with a single consonant, a vowel usually follows, and a single consonant rarely follows long vowels. One can note that Clusters containing more than two consonants do not occur in the language.
Arabic shows the fullest development of typical Semitic word structure. An Arabic word comprises of two major parts: (1) the root, consisting of three consonants and provides the underlying lexical meaning of the word, and (2) the pattern that comprises of vowels and gives grammatical sense to the word clause. The dialect also tends to make use of prefixes and suffixes, which act as subject markers, pronouns, prepositions, and the definite article. The use of verbs in Arabic are regular in conjunction. Tenses exist in two forms, the perfect, usually formed by the addition of suffixes, and often used to express past time. The imperfect, created by the addition of prefixes and at times, including suffixes that indicate the number and gender, often show the present and future time. Besides, there are imperative forms, an active participle, a passive participle, and a verbal noun. Verbs modify for three persons, three numbers, and two genders. The classical dialect also has forms for the passive voice, namely nominative, genitive, and accusative. These are in the declensional system of ancient Arabic nouns. In the modern dialect, names do not get declined, whereas pronouns occur both as suffixes and as independent words.
Importance of Arabic language
Arabic dialect is known to play a significant role in the world. Moreover, the vernacular is, therefore, necessary due to a vast reason. Firstly, to the high demand of Arabic-speakers in the western world. Even though the language is extensive, there are very few Arabic translators and interpreters available in the world of the west. Statistics currently show that there is a very high demand for Arabic translators as well as interpreters required in various government agencies and corporations in need of entering the global arena. Another reason is, the urge to learn about faith with your new dialect. As a primary language of Islamic faith, it is necessary to learn the language since their holy book of Quran is in Arabic.
Through learning the Arabic dialect, one can secure scholarship opportunities to pursue Arabic studies. Most government and agencies have had a propensity of offering scholarships and other opportunities to interested personnel. It is possible because of the higher demand for Arabic speaking individuals. This way, most government agencies can scout for scholars. The Arabic language portrayed as a new growing minority. It explained in the United States, where an estimated percentage of Arabic speakers estimated as four to five million. Even the least of basic knowledge of this parlance or culture can help improve the understanding and acceptance of most personnel, something misrepresented by a group of Americans.
When conducting tourism escapades, one is usually prone to visiting random foreign countries, whose dialect is new and strange. As a result, most foreign tourists experience lots of swindling encounters from locally based conmen. However, if one chooses to learn and embrace the dialect, it comes in handy whenever one tries to find their way around and engage the local people when touring the Middle Eastern countries. Additionally, seeking to secure business opportunities in Arabic-speaking countries is an added advantage for persons well equated with the dialect. Also, one is considered lucky to be able to enjoy the Arabic economy, which is regarded as one of the world’s biggest, therefore rendering it a great place to expand any business.
An individual could as well be interested in learning new dialects as a hobby. Learning numerous languages for the fun of it helps to keep you somewhat informed and comfortable interpreter of information. It is also interesting to learn rich cultural history with new tongues. Archaeologists are still scavenging to uncover the wealth of knowledge in Arabic. It is one of the oldest in the world. For instance, Arabic has deeper roots back to the sixth century, with the middle east possessing a rich history in storytelling and production of memorable stories like Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Arabian Nights. The knowledge extends deeper, unveiling the significant contribution of the Arabs in literature, mathematics, navigation, and architecture. Learning the Arabic dialect also helps to understand the intercultural understanding. Arabic-speaking people have been demonized with one-dimensional undesirable stereotyping, mainly done through media platforms and other outlets as well. This act of miscommunication has brought about much disconnection from reality, thus resulting in difficulty in the attempt to separate facts from fiction. One should, therefore, learn the dialect to understand the Arabic world by ending the gap between cultural and linguistic niches to restrain from having intercultural conflicts.
The spread of the Arabic language
During the beginning of the eighth century, the Islamic Arab Empire had vastly spread from Persia to Spain, thereby leading to interactions between the Arabs and the local population who had a different language. The growth of the Arabic language resulted from socio-economic activities between the Arabs and the neighboring communities. For instance, some various nomadic tribes and communities migrated from one point and traveled for longer distances, to the Arabic peninsula. At the peninsula, they met sudden hardships such as scarcity of water and pasture for their animals. Due to these severe living conditions, most families agreed to come together and cooperate, thereby strengthening their clan system. Other social practices such as intermarriages between Arabs and the native’s communities led to a verse growth of the language, giving rise to numerous Arabic dialects in the process. A perfect example is the existing Arab communities along the coast of Mombasa, that came into emerged after intermarriages between the Swahili towns along the coastal beach and the Arab traders.
Religious practices also played a significant role in the spread of the Arabic language. The Muslims got involved in converting pagan Arabs and Jews who were called Asnar. For instance, the local pagan Arab tribes, the Muslims from Mecca, the local Muslims, and the Jews of the area got involved in signing an agreement, the constitution of Medina. The intended role of the deal was to ensure all parties committed to cooperation under Muhammad’s leadership.
The Arab communities also participated in numerous economic activities, with trading being one of the primary specialties. During pre-Islamic Arabia, several cities like Mecca, Medina, Karbala, and Damascus emerged as trading centers. It encouraged the formation of strong alliances between the merchants’ Mecca and the local nomadic tribes. Also conducting conflict resolutions and signing peace treaties among local fighting tribes, helped to spread the language further.
Comparison of Arabic to English
In trying to compare the two dialects, one will notice the difference in appearances. For instance, in English, scripts read from left to right and presented in print, which is the standard way of showing technique. Arabic, on the other hand, involves writing of scripts in curves and fluid, from right to left. Also, Arab speakers do not include most verbs used on the page. Instead, they write a type of shorthand, leaving the vowels out and trusting that the reader will insert them where needed to form the correct word.
The two sets of languages also differ quite when it comes to consonants. For instance, English does not have the six distinct sounds present in Arabic, making it challenging to translate most Arabic words into English. On the same note, most English speakers often struggle during the pronunciation of Arabic sounds, which rely much on the epiglottis to articulate. The English language comprises only five vowels, unlike the Arabic dialect, which has six regular vowels and two occasional ones. It means that English has close to three times as many vowels sound like Arabic. As a result, it is challenging for native Arabic speakers to learn English, especially during the pronunciation of words with similar sounds. Besides, the English language has several verb tenses that do not occur in Arabic. The Arabic language also lacks a present perfect tense. For instance, an Arabic speaker would say, “I finished my meal” instead of “I have finished my meal.”