Arabic
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Arabic (العربية or عربي) is a name applied to Literary Arabic and its derivations of languages and/or dialects of Central Semitic, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. Spoken Arabic varieties have more speakers than any other group in the Semitic language family. They are spoken by more than 280 million people as a first language, most of whom live in the Middle East and North Africa. Literary Arabic is the official language of 26 states, and the liturgical language of Islam since it is the language of the Qur'an, the Islamic Holy Book. Arabic has many different, geographically distributed spoken varieties, some of which are mutually unintelligible.Modern Standard Arabic (Also called Literary Arabic) is widely taught in schools, universities, and used in workplaces, government and the media.
Modern Standard Arabic derives from Classical Arabic, the only surviving member of the Old North Arabian dialect group, attested in Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions dating back to the 4th century. Classical Arabic has also been a literary language and the liturgical language of Islam since its inception in the 7th century.
Arabic has lent many words to other languages of the Islamic world, like Malay, Turkish, Urdu, Hausa and Persian. 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 Mediterranean languages, particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and Sicilian, owing to both the proximity of European and Arab civilizations and 700 years of Arab rule in some parts of the Iberian peninsula (Al-Andalus).
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. Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet, which is an abjad script, and is written from right-to-left.
Modern Standard Arabic derives from Classical Arabic, the only surviving member of the Old North Arabian dialect group, attested in Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions dating back to the 4th century. Classical Arabic has also been a literary language and the liturgical language of Islam since its inception in the 7th century.
Arabic has lent many words to other languages of the Islamic world, like Malay, Turkish, Urdu, Hausa and Persian. 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 Mediterranean languages, particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and Sicilian, owing to both the proximity of European and Arab civilizations and 700 years of Arab rule in some parts of the Iberian peninsula (Al-Andalus).
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. Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet, which is an abjad script, and is written from right-to-left.
History Of Arabic
Holy Quran finest piece in the Arabic language
The earliest surviving texts in Proto-Arabic, or Ancient North Arabian, are the Hasaean inscriptions of eastern Saudi Arabia, from the 8th century BC, written not in the modern Arabic alphabet, nor in its Nabataean ancestor, but in variants of the epigraphic South Arabian musnad. These are followed by 6th-century BC Lihyanite texts from southeastern Saudi Arabia and the Thamudic texts found throughout Arabia and the Sinai, and not actually connected with Thamud. Later come the Safaitic inscriptions beginning in the 1st century BC, and the many Arabic personal names attested in Nabataean inscriptions (Which are, however, written in Aramaic). From about the 2nd century BC, a few inscriptions from Qaryat Al-Faw (near Sulayyil) reveal a dialect which is no longer considered "Proto-Arabic", but Pre-Classical Arabic. By the fourth century AD, the Arab kingdoms of the Lakhmids in southern Iraq, the Ghassanids in southern Syria the Kindite Kingdom emerged in Central Arabia. Their courts were responsible for some notable examples of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, and for some of the few surviving pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions in the Arabic alphabet.
Arabic usually designates one of three main variants: Classical Arabic; Modern Standard Arabic; colloquial or dialectal Arabic.
Classical Arabic (فصحى ) is the language of the Qur'an. Arabic is closely associated with the religion of Islam because the Quran is written in the language, but it is nevertheless also spoken by Arab Christians, Mizrahi Jews and Iraqi Mandaeans. Most of the world's Muslims do not speak Arabic as their native language but many can read the Quranic script and recite the Qur'an. Among Non-Arab Muslims, translations of the Qur'an are most often accompanied by the original text.
Classical Arabic used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia to that of the Abbasid Caliphate.Classical Arabic is considered normative; modern authors attempt to follow the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (Such as Sibawayh), and use the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (Such as the Lisan Al-Arab).
Modern Standard Arabic is the literary language used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by the Arabic media across North Africa and the Middle East, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. "Literary Arabic" and "Standard Arabic" are less strictly defined terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic.
According to Islamic scholars, Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic adopted several new Arabic style, words and linguistic tools from the Quran which uses Arabic as the medium of prophetic language.
Colloquial or dialectal Arabic refers to the many national or regional varieties which constitute the everyday spoken language. Colloquial Arabic has many different regional variants; these sometimes differ enough to be mutually unintelligible and some linguists consider them distinct languages.The varieties are typically unwritten. They are often used in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows,as well as occasionally in certain forms of written media, such as poetry and printed advertising. The only variety of modern Arabic to have acquired official language status is Maltese, spoken in (predominately Roman Catholic) Malta and written with the Latin alphabet. It is descended from Classical Arabic through Siculo-Arabic and is not mutually intelligible with other varieties of Arabic. Most linguists list it as a separate language rather than as a dialect of Arabic. Historically, Algerian Arabic was taught in French Algeria under the name darija.
Like other languages, Modern Standard Arabic continues to evolve.Many modern terms have entered into common usage, in some cases taken from other languages.Structural influence from foreign languages or from the colloquial varieties has also affected Modern Standard Arabic.For these reasons, Modern Standard Arabic is generally treated separately in non-Arab sources.
Arabic usually designates one of three main variants: Classical Arabic; Modern Standard Arabic; colloquial or dialectal Arabic.
Classical Arabic (فصحى ) is the language of the Qur'an. Arabic is closely associated with the religion of Islam because the Quran is written in the language, but it is nevertheless also spoken by Arab Christians, Mizrahi Jews and Iraqi Mandaeans. Most of the world's Muslims do not speak Arabic as their native language but many can read the Quranic script and recite the Qur'an. Among Non-Arab Muslims, translations of the Qur'an are most often accompanied by the original text.
Classical Arabic used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia to that of the Abbasid Caliphate.Classical Arabic is considered normative; modern authors attempt to follow the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (Such as Sibawayh), and use the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (Such as the Lisan Al-Arab).
Modern Standard Arabic is the literary language used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by the Arabic media across North Africa and the Middle East, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. "Literary Arabic" and "Standard Arabic" are less strictly defined terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic.
According to Islamic scholars, Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic adopted several new Arabic style, words and linguistic tools from the Quran which uses Arabic as the medium of prophetic language.
Colloquial or dialectal Arabic refers to the many national or regional varieties which constitute the everyday spoken language. Colloquial Arabic has many different regional variants; these sometimes differ enough to be mutually unintelligible and some linguists consider them distinct languages.The varieties are typically unwritten. They are often used in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows,as well as occasionally in certain forms of written media, such as poetry and printed advertising. The only variety of modern Arabic to have acquired official language status is Maltese, spoken in (predominately Roman Catholic) Malta and written with the Latin alphabet. It is descended from Classical Arabic through Siculo-Arabic and is not mutually intelligible with other varieties of Arabic. Most linguists list it as a separate language rather than as a dialect of Arabic. Historically, Algerian Arabic was taught in French Algeria under the name darija.
Like other languages, Modern Standard Arabic continues to evolve.Many modern terms have entered into common usage, in some cases taken from other languages.Structural influence from foreign languages or from the colloquial varieties has also affected Modern Standard Arabic.For these reasons, Modern Standard Arabic is generally treated separately in non-Arab sources.
Dialects and descendants
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Colloquial Arabic is a collective term for the spoken varieties of Arabic used throughout the Arab world, which differ radically from the literary language. The main dialectal division is between the North African dialects and those of the Middle East, followed by that between sedentary dialects and the much more conservative Bedouin dialects. Speakers of some of these dialects are unable to converse with speakers of another dialect of Arabic. In particular, while Middle Easterners can generally understand one another, they often have trouble understanding North Africans (Although the converse is not true, in part due to the popularity of Middle Eastern—especially Egyptian—films and other media).
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The major dialect groups are
Egyptian Arabic or Masri,spoken by around 80 million in Egypt. It is one of the most understood varieties of Arabic, due in large part to the widespread distribution of Egyptian films and television shows throughout the Arabic speaking world. Closely related varieties are also spoken in Sudan.
Maghrebi Arabic or Darija includes Moroccan Arabic, Algerian Arabic, Saharan Arabic, Tunisian Arabic, and Libyan Arabic, and is spoken by around 75 million North Africans in Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, and western Egypt; it is often difficult for speakers of Middle Eastern Arabic varieties to understand. The Berber influence in these dialects varies in degree.
Mesopotamian Arabic or Iraqi, spoken by about 29 million people in Iraq, eastern Syria and western Iran.North Mesopotamian Arabic, spoken by around 7 million people in northern Iraq, northern Syria, northern Iran and southern Turkey.
Levantine Arabic (Arabic: شامي (Shami) and sometimes called Eastern Arabic) includes North Levantine Arabic, South Levantine Arabic, and Cypriot Arabic. It is spoken by almost 35 million people in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, The Palestinian territories, Israel, Cyprus, and Turkey.
Gulf Arabic or Khaliji Arabic, spoken by around 4 million people in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Sultanate of Oman, Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain.
Egyptian Arabic or Masri,spoken by around 80 million in Egypt. It is one of the most understood varieties of Arabic, due in large part to the widespread distribution of Egyptian films and television shows throughout the Arabic speaking world. Closely related varieties are also spoken in Sudan.
Maghrebi Arabic or Darija includes Moroccan Arabic, Algerian Arabic, Saharan Arabic, Tunisian Arabic, and Libyan Arabic, and is spoken by around 75 million North Africans in Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, and western Egypt; it is often difficult for speakers of Middle Eastern Arabic varieties to understand. The Berber influence in these dialects varies in degree.
Mesopotamian Arabic or Iraqi, spoken by about 29 million people in Iraq, eastern Syria and western Iran.North Mesopotamian Arabic, spoken by around 7 million people in northern Iraq, northern Syria, northern Iran and southern Turkey.
Levantine Arabic (Arabic: شامي (Shami) and sometimes called Eastern Arabic) includes North Levantine Arabic, South Levantine Arabic, and Cypriot Arabic. It is spoken by almost 35 million people in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, The Palestinian territories, Israel, Cyprus, and Turkey.
Gulf Arabic or Khaliji Arabic, spoken by around 4 million people in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Sultanate of Oman, Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain.
Arabic Writing System
Due to the influence of Islam, the Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is one of the most widespread writing systems in the world, found in large parts of Africa and Western and Central Asia, as well as in ethnic communities in East Asia, Europe, and the Americas. While originally used to write the Arabic language, the Arabic alphabet has been adopted by other groups to write their own languages, such as Persian, Pashto, Urdu, and more.
Although Arabic inscriptions are most common after the birth of Islam (7th century CE), the origin of the Arabic alphabet lies deeper in time. The Nabataeans, which established a kingdom in what is modern-day Jordan from the 2nd century BCE, were Arabs. They wrote with a highly cursive Aramaic derived alphabet that would eventually evolve into the Arabic alphabet. The Nabataeans endured until the year 106 CE, when they were conquered by the Romans, but Nabataean inscriptions continue to appear until the 4th century CE, coinciding with the first inscriptions in the Arabic alphabet (Which is also found in Jordan).
Generally speaking, there are two variants to the Arabic alphabet: Kufic and Naskhi. The Kufic script is angular, which was most likely a product of inscribing on hard surfaces such as wood or stone, while the Naskhi script is much more cursive. The Kufic script appears to be the older of the scripts, as it was common in the early history of Islam, and used for the earliest copies of the Qu'ran. The following is an example of the Kufic script. This is part of a commemorative tablet dating to the 11th century CE and found in Toledo, Spain (Which was controlled by Arabs at that time).
By the 11th century CE, the Naskhi script appeared and gradually replaced the Kufic script as the most popular script for copying the Qu'ran as well as secular and personal writings. It is from the Naskhi script that modern Arabic script style developed.
One interesting feature of Arabic is the multiple forms of a single letter. Depending on where in a word a letter appears, it could appear as an initial form (beginning of word), final form (end of word), or medial form (anywhere else). In addition, if the word has only one letter, than the isolated form is used.
Like other Proto-Sinaitic-derived scripts, Arabic doesn't have letters for vowels. However, there is a system to marking vowels. Short vowels are represented by diacritics above or below a letter. Long vowels are represented by using the short-vowel diacritics plus the letters alif, wa:w, ya: to represent the sounds [a:], [u:], and [i:], respectively.
In addition to the vowel markers, Arabic also has several other diacritics. The hamza, which looks like C, denotes the glottal stop (The letter alif used to represent the glottal stop, but has become more of a placeholder for vowel-initial words). The hamza requires a "seat" letter (such as alif but also wa:w and ya:) to anchor onto. Another diacritic is the suku:n, which looks like a circle and is placed on top of a letter to denote the absense of any vowel. Finally, the diacritic shadda, which resembles W, represents the doubling of a consonant.The Arabic script is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 29 basic letters.And finally, Arabic uses a 10-base positional number system.Kufic is the oldest script form of the various Arabic scripts and consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script. Its name is derived from the city of Kufa, Iraq, although it was known in Mesopotamia at least 100 years before the foundation of Kufa. At the time of the emergence of Islam, this type of script was already in use in various parts of the Arabian Peninsula. It was in this script that the first copies of the Qur'an were written.
Kufic (خط کوفی)
Kufic is a form of script consisting of straight lines and angles, often with elongated verticals and horizontals. It originally did not have consonant pointing distinguishing, for example, b, t, and th. It is still employed in Islamic countries though it has undergone a number of alterations over the years and also displays regional differences. The difference between the Kufic script used in the Arabian Peninsula and that employed in North African states is very marked.
Kufic was prevalent in manuscripts from the 8th-10th centuries.
Kufic is commonly seen on Seljuk coins and monuments and on early Ottoman coins. Its decorative character led to its use as a decorative element in several public and domestic buildings constructed prior to the Republican period in Turkey.
The current Flag of Iraq uses Kufic script to write اﷲ أكبر Allahu Akbar.
The current Flag of Iran also uses Kufic script to write اﷲ أكبر Allahu Akbar along the top and bottom bands.
Naskh (خط نسخ)
Naskh (Arabic: نسخ nash; also known as Naskhi or by its Turkish name Nesih) is a specific writing style for writing in the Arabic alphabet, thought to be invented by Ibn Muqlah Shirazi (Persian: ابن مقلهٔ شیرازی) Iranien Origine (Born 886 in Baghdad-Died 20 July 940 there). The root of this Arabic term Nasaha (نسخ) means "To copy". It either refers to the fact that it replaced its predecessor, Kufic script, or that this style allows faster copying of texts. With small modifications, it is the style most commonly used for printing Arabic, Persian, Pashto, etc.
This type of script was derived from Thuluth by introducing a number of modifications resulting in smaller size and greater delicacy. It is written using a small, very fine pen known as a cava pen, which makes the script eminently suitable for use in book production. Naskhi was used in copying Qur'ans, Delails, En-ams and Hadiths. It was also used in commentaries on the Qur'an (Tefsir) and in collections of poetry (Divan). It was and is a very widely used form of script.
Naskh, along with Ta'liq, is also famous for giving rise to the Nastaliq script, the script used for writing Urdu, Persian, Kashmiri, and sometimes Pashto and Uyghur.Computers typically use Naskh or a Naskh-like script, for instance: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم .
Although Arabic inscriptions are most common after the birth of Islam (7th century CE), the origin of the Arabic alphabet lies deeper in time. The Nabataeans, which established a kingdom in what is modern-day Jordan from the 2nd century BCE, were Arabs. They wrote with a highly cursive Aramaic derived alphabet that would eventually evolve into the Arabic alphabet. The Nabataeans endured until the year 106 CE, when they were conquered by the Romans, but Nabataean inscriptions continue to appear until the 4th century CE, coinciding with the first inscriptions in the Arabic alphabet (Which is also found in Jordan).
Generally speaking, there are two variants to the Arabic alphabet: Kufic and Naskhi. The Kufic script is angular, which was most likely a product of inscribing on hard surfaces such as wood or stone, while the Naskhi script is much more cursive. The Kufic script appears to be the older of the scripts, as it was common in the early history of Islam, and used for the earliest copies of the Qu'ran. The following is an example of the Kufic script. This is part of a commemorative tablet dating to the 11th century CE and found in Toledo, Spain (Which was controlled by Arabs at that time).
By the 11th century CE, the Naskhi script appeared and gradually replaced the Kufic script as the most popular script for copying the Qu'ran as well as secular and personal writings. It is from the Naskhi script that modern Arabic script style developed.
One interesting feature of Arabic is the multiple forms of a single letter. Depending on where in a word a letter appears, it could appear as an initial form (beginning of word), final form (end of word), or medial form (anywhere else). In addition, if the word has only one letter, than the isolated form is used.
Like other Proto-Sinaitic-derived scripts, Arabic doesn't have letters for vowels. However, there is a system to marking vowels. Short vowels are represented by diacritics above or below a letter. Long vowels are represented by using the short-vowel diacritics plus the letters alif, wa:w, ya: to represent the sounds [a:], [u:], and [i:], respectively.
In addition to the vowel markers, Arabic also has several other diacritics. The hamza, which looks like C, denotes the glottal stop (The letter alif used to represent the glottal stop, but has become more of a placeholder for vowel-initial words). The hamza requires a "seat" letter (such as alif but also wa:w and ya:) to anchor onto. Another diacritic is the suku:n, which looks like a circle and is placed on top of a letter to denote the absense of any vowel. Finally, the diacritic shadda, which resembles W, represents the doubling of a consonant.The Arabic script is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 29 basic letters.And finally, Arabic uses a 10-base positional number system.Kufic is the oldest script form of the various Arabic scripts and consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script. Its name is derived from the city of Kufa, Iraq, although it was known in Mesopotamia at least 100 years before the foundation of Kufa. At the time of the emergence of Islam, this type of script was already in use in various parts of the Arabian Peninsula. It was in this script that the first copies of the Qur'an were written.
Kufic (خط کوفی)
Kufic is a form of script consisting of straight lines and angles, often with elongated verticals and horizontals. It originally did not have consonant pointing distinguishing, for example, b, t, and th. It is still employed in Islamic countries though it has undergone a number of alterations over the years and also displays regional differences. The difference between the Kufic script used in the Arabian Peninsula and that employed in North African states is very marked.
Kufic was prevalent in manuscripts from the 8th-10th centuries.
Kufic is commonly seen on Seljuk coins and monuments and on early Ottoman coins. Its decorative character led to its use as a decorative element in several public and domestic buildings constructed prior to the Republican period in Turkey.
The current Flag of Iraq uses Kufic script to write اﷲ أكبر Allahu Akbar.
The current Flag of Iran also uses Kufic script to write اﷲ أكبر Allahu Akbar along the top and bottom bands.
Naskh (خط نسخ)
Naskh (Arabic: نسخ nash; also known as Naskhi or by its Turkish name Nesih) is a specific writing style for writing in the Arabic alphabet, thought to be invented by Ibn Muqlah Shirazi (Persian: ابن مقلهٔ شیرازی) Iranien Origine (Born 886 in Baghdad-Died 20 July 940 there). The root of this Arabic term Nasaha (نسخ) means "To copy". It either refers to the fact that it replaced its predecessor, Kufic script, or that this style allows faster copying of texts. With small modifications, it is the style most commonly used for printing Arabic, Persian, Pashto, etc.
This type of script was derived from Thuluth by introducing a number of modifications resulting in smaller size and greater delicacy. It is written using a small, very fine pen known as a cava pen, which makes the script eminently suitable for use in book production. Naskhi was used in copying Qur'ans, Delails, En-ams and Hadiths. It was also used in commentaries on the Qur'an (Tefsir) and in collections of poetry (Divan). It was and is a very widely used form of script.
Naskh, along with Ta'liq, is also famous for giving rise to the Nastaliq script, the script used for writing Urdu, Persian, Kashmiri, and sometimes Pashto and Uyghur.Computers typically use Naskh or a Naskh-like script, for instance: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم .