GETTING TO KNOW THE ARABIC LANGUAGE © A Brief Overview

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?

(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.

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)

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

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 is 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

(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)

Diacritical marks بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ bismi llāhi r-ra ḥ māni r-ra ḥ īmi In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. -Qur’an, (Al-Fatiha 1:1) Text is written from right to left

(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. Sometimes the letters are connected, but not always – it depends.

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

abet.mp3 Arabic alphabet

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)

Greetings in Arabic Hello or Welcome/Márhaba, ahlan (reply)/áhlayn Greetings/As-salám aláykum (peace be with you) (reply)/Waláykum as-salám (and to you peace) Good morning/Sabáh al-kháyr (reply)/Sabáh an-núr (a morning of light) Good evening/Misá al-kháyr (reply)/Misá an núr Good night/Tisbáh al-kháyr (wake up well) (reply)/Wa ínta min áhlu (and you are from His people) Goodbye/Máa Saláma

How are you?/Káyf hálak? (to a man)/Káyf hálik? (to a woman) Fine, thank you/Zayn, al-hámdu, li-la Please/Min fádlak (to a man)/ Min fádlik (to a woman) Thank you/Shúkran Greetings in Arabic Omani male greeting

A: What is your name?/Shú ismak? (to a man)/Shú ismik? (to a woman) B: My name is…/Ismi… Or: I am…/ Ana A: Where are you from?/Min wáyn inta? (for a man)/Min wáyn inti? (for a woman) B: I am from the United States/Ána min Amérika B: I am a student./ Ana talib (m), ana taliba (f) Both: Good bye!/ Ma’a salaama (peace with you) Now, meet the person next to you!

Homework 1. Review PowerPoint Presentation and watch video: Learn and practice pronouncing most commonly used phrases, greetings, and conversation questions (slides ) 4. Read handout on “Oman Customs” 5. Complete the following writing activity: Situation: On your second day of class, you and another foreign student are sitting in the Arabic classroom waiting for the others to arrive. It is still early in the morning and after a few minutes of silence, the other student turns to you and greets in you Arabic. What a great way for you to practice your Arabic! …. Your task: Make up a dialogue (6 – 8 lines) for this situation using the phrases you learned in class.