Arabic (العربية) - Overview
Everyone knows that Arabic is the big language of the Middle East. But there's more to it than just strategic interests, and furthermore, each country speaks its own dialect, and sometimes, even the same country doesn't speak the same language. Arabic has been influential in not only the Middle East, but also where the Moors have been, and this include Spain (so this language went on to influence Spanish as well), and this might surprise you, but even Sicily, which was at one point an Arab emirate. Arabic is also the world's largest language that reads right to left instead of left to right. It also has a very unique script that many admire for its inherent beauty. In Islam, all Muslims must learn the style of it that is used in the Quran rather than relying on translations.Of course, money talks, so your main two reasons for learning it as an America would be either for oil money, which is one of the area's major exports, or for military and strategic interests, where the government and military are actively seeking qualified speakers. As we have said, Arabic can be divided into many dialects and we have chosen to stick with dialects belonging to the Gulf States. Arabian, in Arabian dialects on the button refers to the Arabian peninsula. This is one of the most well-understood and of most interest to US speakers. Egypt, another major country speaking Arabic, has its own dialect which is radically different. Also, the varities in Afghanistan and away from the Middle East are also different enough to where they can't be easily understood. However, Arabic has been one of the longest-lasting languages and will open up communication with quite a few people.
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Langauge Family | Semitic |
| Script Used | Arabic Script |
| Influences | Earlier Semitic languages |
| Closely Related | Differing Dialects |
| Spoken In | Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Yemen |
| Number of Speakers | 200 million |
| Official Language in | Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Yemen |
| Typical Sentence Order | Subject -> Verb -> Object |
| Tonal | No |
| Written | Right to Left |
| Uses Articles? (a, the) | Yes |
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