Arabic العربية al-‘arabiyyah

1. Arabicالعربيةal-‘arabiyyah

2. Important Arabic Facts • The Arabic Alphabet is a script that is used for the writing of Arabic and other languages such as Persian and Urdu • It is written in a cursive style and is written from right to left • Arabic contains 28 different letters • There is no distinction upper and lower case in Arabic • Arabic is considered a guttural language because many of the sounds come from using the back of the throat • The Arabic numbering system was written by Indian mathematicians but they also adopted the Western system of numbering

3. History of Arabic and the Qu’ran • Arabic is part of the Semitic languages and Semitic languages were started in the Mediterranean Basin, Tigris-Euphrates River Basin, and the Levant • The very first recorded Arabic text are found in Saudi Arabia in the 8th century B.C. • Arabic is the language of the Qu’ran; most of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims don’t speak Arabic but can recite verses from the Qu’ran • The Qu’ran is written in Classical Arabic, the Arabic for religious writings • The Qu’ran is also written in calligraphy, which is an ornate style of writing

5. Arabic Influence In Other Languages Arabic has an influence in places that used to be dominated by Muslims or places that traded a lot with Muslims Arabic is a major source of vocabulary for languages such as Urdu, Persian, Swahili, Hindi, and others The Arabic script is used in Persian and Urdu Turkish, before the script was changed in 1932, used the Arabic script, and the language still has words borrowed from Arabic

7. Arabic Influence- Iberian Peninsula Since Muslims ruled the Iberian Peninsula for almost 800 years, Spanish and Portuguese have their share of words from Arabic, especially Spanish dialects in Southern Spain, near North Africa

8. Dialects of Arabic and Where its Spoken • Arabic is spoken in the Arab world which stretches from North Africa all the way to the Persian Gulf • In general, Middle Easterners can understand each other, but have trouble understanding North Africans

9. Arabic Dialects- North Africa • Egyptian Arabic- Most widely understood Arabic, 76 million speakers • Maghreb Arabic- Spoken by Moroccans, Tunisians, Algerians and Tunisians, 60 million speakers

10. Arabic Dialects- Middle East • Levantine Arabic (Mediterranean Arabic)- Spoken by Syrians, Jordanians, Palestinians, Lebanese, and Cypriots, 35 million speakers but it is widely understood • Gulf Arabic- Spoken in the Gulf States and East & Central Saudi Arabia, 34 million speakers but also, its widely understood • Iraqi Arabic- Spoken by the 29 million Iraqis, it is reasonably different from the other Arabic dialects

11. Basic Arabic Phrases • Marhabbah- Hello, and the reply is Marhabbteen • Sabah al Khair- Good Afternoon/Night • Shukran- Thank You; Aafwaan- You’re Welcome • Ahlan wa sahlan- Welcome • Aysh ismuk- What is your name? Ismi…- My name is … • Inta min weyn- Where are you from? Ana min…- I’m from … • Naam- Yes; Aywa- Ok; La- No • Sida- Straight; Yasar- Left; Yameen- Right • Maasasaamah- Goodbye