Arabic language

Arabic (al-'arabiyyah, العربية) is a macro-language. It is the most important member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asian language family. Includes all variants of the Classical Arabic spoken mainly in the Middle East and North Africa. The closest living languages are Hebrew and Aramaic. The Arabic term has several meanings. It can be used as a generic term covering all dialects of Arabic. It can also refer to both Classical Arabic as well as modern standard Arabic, and the many regional variants of this language.

The regional variants are mainly spoken, or colloquial, dialects of Arabic. Arabic is a written language since the 6th century AD. It was influenced by other languages it came into contact with. These include Indo-Iranian languages (Persian, Kurdish, Pashto), Indo-Aryan languages (Hindi, Urdu, Bengali), Turkish languages (Turkish), African languages (Swahili, Hausa), to name but a few. These languages adopted the Arabic script and borrowed a lot of words from Arabic. Vocabulary of Arabic origin can be found today in languages all over the world.

Dialects of Arabic

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), al-fuSHaa الفصحى
MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) is the universal language of the Arab world. It is a direct descendant of Classical Arabic. MSA is used in formal events, such as sermons, conferences, news and speeches, and in all kinds of formal writing (correspondence, literature and newspapers). There are no native speakers of MSA. Most educated Arabs learn it during their studies, although many Arabs without an MSA background can understand it to a greater or lesser degree. The MSA is fairly uniform throughout the Arab world and serves as a lingua franca for speakers of various colloquial dialects, many of whom would otherwise not understand each other.

Classical Arabic

Classical Arabic is not a spoken language. The term refers to the written Arabic of the Koran and the literature of the classical period. Classical Arabic became the academic and religious language with the spread of Islam. Its relationship to modern spoken varieties is similar to that of Latin to modern varieties of Romance languages. It is used as the language of religion throughout the Islamic world. It is formally learned at school and its grammar has changed very little since the 7th century AD.

Colloquial Arabic (spoken), العامية (al-)`āmmiyya (east) or الدارجة (ad-)dārija (Western).

This term refers to the regional variations used in everyday communication and popular culture. It is used in films, plays and even literary works. These colloquial variants are the ones that are learned since childhood. There are numerous spoken dialects that vary according to geographical, socio-economic and religious conditions.

Arabs from one region can usually understand dialects from other regions, depending on their geographical proximity and their knowledge of modern standard Arabic. The factors that differentiate the colloquial varieties include the influence of the languages that were spoken in the area before the arrival of the Arabs, the impact of neighbouring languages and the prestigious role of the languages of the colonial powers.

Who speaks Arabic

There are an estimated 223 million speakers of the 30 known dialects of Arabic. Most of them can also speak and understand Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), in addition to the spoken variant learned as a mother tongue. Modern standard Arabic is the official language of all Arab countries and is taught at all educational and academic levels.

Arabic is an official or co-official language in 25 countries including, among others, Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, West Bank and Gaza, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Mauritania, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. In addition to the Arab countries, where Arabic speakers are concentrated, there are a large number of Arabic-speaking people around the world.

Translation agency for Spanish-English-Arabic

Now that you know a little more about the Arabic language, you might be interested to know that we offer professional translation services from both English to Arabic and from Arabic into English. We specialise in translation from and into Spanish.

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