Getting to Know the Arabic Language © A Brief Overview Susan A. Hodge September 2011

Did you know? -Arabic is one of the 6 official languages of the United Nations (+ English, French, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish) -Arabic is the fourth most widely-spoken language, after English, Spanish, and Chinese -number of native speakers: million

(Did you know?) There are 3 functional types of Arabic language: – Classical Arabic is the language of the Qur’an, and is used primarily for reading and reciting Islamic holy text – Spoken Arabic has 4 regional dialects, but over 30 actual varieties of colloquial (spoken) Arabic around the world – Modern Standard Arabic is used in the news and on TV—the “common language” used by speakers of different dialects

Dialect A dialect is a different way of speaking the SAME language to say the SAME thing A dialect is not right or wrong, just different Can you name a dialect of English? Do you think that Rasha, Sami, Yasmin, and Akram speak the same dialect?

(Did you know?) Countries where Arabic is the primary spoken language: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Palestinian territories in Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian West Bank & Gaza, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. (Classical Arabic is read everywhere that Islam is practiced.)

(Did you know?) Speakers of colloquial Arabic from different parts of the world use dialects and may not understand each other! (They can use Modern Standard Arabic to communicate with each other.) Native speakers of Arabic include Muslims, Christians, and people of other faiths…but Arabic is the liturgical (religious) language of Islam. Which character in Bayoumi’s book is Christian?

Arabic literature Arabic has been a highly developed literary language for over 1,500 years (including poetry). Some writers: – Hafiz (poet) – Khalil Gibran (poet) – Mourid Barghouti – Naguib Mahfouz – living novelist from Egypt (Nobel Prize for literature, 1988)

Words derived from Arabic Algebra (al Jabr) Cipher (sifr, the name for “zero”) Alcohol (al quhul) Sugar (sukkar) Cotton (qutun) Coffee (kahwa) Lemon (limon) Checkmate (shek mat, “the king is dead”)

Characteristics of Arabic language Arabic an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic group Arabic is considered one of the “younger” Semitic languages (4 th century) As the religious language of the Qur’an (7 th century), it expanded rapidly during the rise of Islam in the 8 th century Can you name another Semitic language? … Hebrew … Aramaic

(characteristics of Arabic language) Semitic languages share this characteristic: Verbs (and related adjectives) are based on a group of 3 consonants For example: k-t-b : “write” ‘aktubu = I writekatib = writer maktub = writtenkuttab = writers kitab = bookmaktab = office kutub = booksmaktabah = library

Text is written from right to left Spartanburg = “sbartanboorgk” 

An Arabic name and an American name – both written in Arabic Kareem Robert

Numbers are also listed from right to left, but a number with meaning is written left to right: 12,345,678,910 

(Characteristics of Arabic language) 28 letters (plus variations to make the sounds for /p/ and /g/) no distinction between capital and small letters Only 3 long vowels (a, i, u) Other vowels are indicated by diacritical marks (slashes, small circles, squiggles)

Arabic alphabet Letter and its name ا alephا ب bet ب ت taw ت ث ta’ ث ج gimel ج ح hethح خ ha’خ د daletد ذ dal ذ ز zayinز ر reshر Letter and its name ز zayinز س sinس ش shinش ص tsadص ض daad ض ط tethط ظ za’ظ ع ayin ع غ ghain غ ف peف ق Qophق

Arabic alphabet, continued ك kaphك ل lamedhل م mimم ن nun ن ه he ه و waw و ي yaaي Vowels: /a/ ا aleph ا /i/ ي yaa ي /u/ و waw و

Summary of the alphabet

Diacritical marks بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. -Qur’an, (Al-Fatiha 1:1)

(Characteristics of Arabic writing) Most letters change form and look different when they appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a word. Ex: hā’ h /h/ ـهـهـ هـ هh Sometimes the letters are connected, but not always – it depends.

“M’brook” = “congratulations!” (notice: only some letters connect)

Writing as religious art – Bism’allah (“In the name of God the Merciful the Compassionate”- Qur’an)

Dr. Bayoumi’s book title “Kaifa tashour wa ladaika ahnsas anaka mushkela” (Mushkela = problem)

Some commonly used expressions In sha’ Allah= God willing (said seriously or even informally) Bism’ Allah=in the name of God (said when beginning a trip, reading, walking, or even eating) Alhamdulillah! = Praise to Allah! (said to express satisfaction, even after eating)

Meeting friends, in Arabic Please:min fadlak (m), fadliki (f) Thank you:shukran You’re welcome:afwan Hello! (informal)ahlan wa sahlan! Welcome!Marhaba! Hello (peace to you):Salaam. How are you?:kheif halak? (m), haliki (f) I’m very well:ana bekhair And you?Wa anta? (m), anti (f)

Now, meet the person next to you! A: What is your name?ma ismuk? (m), ismuki? (f) B: My name is ___ismee _____ A: I live in _____askun fi __________ B: I am a studentana talib (m), ana taliba (f) Both: Good bye!Ma’a salaama (peace with you)

Sources Contact Susan Hodge at: if you would like a list of websites for further investigation, or a copy of these slides. Special thanks to my teachers: Dr. Mirko Hall (Converse College) Mrs. Laila Miraziz (USC Upstate) and to Mr. John Miraziz Shukran jiddan! (Thank you very much!)