Arabic

Arabic is the official language of the 22 countries which form the Arab League: It’s the native language of over 200m people residing in this geographical region, which stretches from Southwest Asia to Northwest Africa and is also known as the Arab World. Arabic is also the liturgical language of over a billion Muslims around the world, as it’s the language in which the القرآن, Qur'an, the Holy Book of Islam, was revealed.

The "formal" Arabic language, known as Classical Arabic or الفصحى, Fus-ha, is the language in which the Qur’an is written and is considered to be the base of the syntactic and grammatical norms of the Arabic language. This Classical form of Arabic remains widely used by religious scholars and is taught in schools around the world. However, it is considered today more of a written language than a spoken one.

Modern Standard Arabic, or MSA, is similar but easier than Classical Arabic. It's understood across the Arab world and used by television presenters and politicians, for example, as well as to teach Arabic as a foreign language. You'll also find it in newspapers and works of modern Arabic literature.

In terms of "spoken" Arabic, there are many different dialects. An Arabic speaker from Iraq, for example, can find it almost impossible to understand a local Algerian, and vice versa - even though both individuals are speaking a particular form of Arabic dialect. However, both will be able to communicate in Modern Standard Arabic. /BBC

The following dialects are most commonly found in Arabic speech:
•Sudanese Arabic – Mostly spoken in the Sudan
•Levantine Arabic – This dialect is often heard in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and western Jordan
•Gulf Arabic – Mostly heard throughout the Gulf Coast from Kuwait to Oman
•Najdi Arabic – This dialect is most often heard in the desert and oasis areas of central Saudi Arabia
•Yemeni Arabic – This dialect is most common to Yemen
•Iraqi Arabic – The dialect most commonly spoken in Iraq
•Hijazi Arabic – This dialect is spoken in the area west of present-day Saudi Arabia, which is referred to as the Hejaz region.
•Egyptian Arabic – This is considered the most widely spoken and understood "second dialect." It’s mostly heard in Egypt
•Maghreb Arabic – Spoken mostly in Algeria, Tunis, Morocco, and western Libya
•Hassaniiya – Most often spoken in Mauritania
•Andalusi Arabic – This dialect of the Arabic language is now extinct, but it still holds an important place in literary history.
•Maltese – This form of Arabic dialect is most often found in Malta


Arabic words in English

You may think you don't speak Arabic but there are more words of Arabic origin in English than you might expect ...


admiral
adobe
alchemy
alcohol
alcove
alembic
alfalfa
algebra
algorithm
alkali
almanac
amalgam
aniline
apricot
arsenal
arsenic
artichoke
assassin
aubergine
azure
barbarian?
bedouin
benzine(?)
Betelgeuse
bint
borax
cable
calabash
calibre
caliph
camel
camise
camphor
candy
cane
cannabis
carafe
carat
caraway
carmine

carob
casbah
check
checkmate
cinnabar
cipher
coffee
copt
cotton
crimson
crocus
cumin
damask
dhow
dragoman
elixir
emir
fakir
fellah
garble
gauze
gazelle
ghoul
Gibraltar
giraffe
grab
guitar
gypsum
halva
harem
hashish
hazard
henna
hookah
imam
influenza
jar
jasmine
jerboa
jessamine

jinn
kafir
khamsin
khan
kismet
kohl
lacquer
lake
lemon
lilac
lime
lute
magazine
mahdi
marabout
marzipan
massacre
massage
mastaba
mate
mattress
mecca
minaret
mizzen
mocha
mohair
monsoon
mosque
muezzin
mufti
mullah
mummy
muslim
muslin
myrrh
nabob
nacre
nadir
orange
ottoman

popinjay
racket
safari
saffron
saloop
sash
scallion
senna
sequin
serif
sesame
shackle
sheikh
sherbet
shrub
sirocco
sofa
spinach
sudd
sufi
sugar
sultan
sultana
syrup
tabby
talc
talisman
tamarind
tambourine
tarboosh
tare
tariff
tarragon
Trafalgar
typhoon
vega
vizier
wadi
zenith
zero


See: W Montgomery Watt: The Influence of Medieval Islam on Europe (Edinburgh University Press, 1982)



Read & Write ANYTHING in Arabic in only 6 lessons!: