How many countries have adopted Arabic as an official language? Arabic language - history and brief description

Arabs write from right to left - almost everyone knows about this. However, only this interesting facts, concerning this very unusual, rich and very popular language are not limited. Much more can be said about him.

1. Arabic belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic group. Today it is one of the most common and its importance is gradually increasing. According to various estimates, there are from 250 to 350 million people in the world who speak this language. It is public in 26 countries in the East and Africa. Also, to one degree or another, this language is familiar to numerous followers of Islam around the world.

2. There are 5 groups of Arabic dialects. Speakers of individual dialects belonging to different groups can hardly understand each other, and more often they do not understand at all. The most common of them is Egyptian, since it is in Egypt that people live greatest number Arabic speakers (about 70 million). At the same time, there is a single literary or standard language.

3. Standard Arabic is one of the 6 official languages ​​of the UN. It is published on huge amount printed products. It is the language of literature and business communication. And thanks to the widespread use of the Internet, the differences between individual dialects and the standard language are gradually disappearing.

4. The oldest work written in Arabic (the classical Arabic literary language) is the Koran. There are many cases where people have successfully studied Arabic precisely for the purpose of reading the Holy Book in the original language. There are also many other wonderful literary monuments. For example, the tales of “A Thousand and One Nights”, the rubai of Omar Khayyam and much more.

5. As modern literary Arabic continues to develop, the number of differences between it and classical Arabic gradually increases. At the same time, not only vocabulary changes, but also grammar.

6. There is an opinion that Arabic is one of the richest languages, containing a huge number of concepts that are very difficult to translate into other languages. It should be noted that Arabs have historically been reluctant to borrow other people's words, preferring to create their own. Fortunately, the word-formation capabilities of this language are truly enormous. However, a lot depends on the dialect. Thus, in the Egyptian dialect there are a lot of borrowings from French.

7. At the same time, many modern concepts and names from Arabic (Arabisms) came to other languages. These are words such as “algebra”, “algorithm”, “Aldebaran”, “giraffe”, “coffee”, “syrup” and many others.

8. The Arabic language has had a huge influence on the modern language. Not surprising, since a significant part of the Iberian Peninsula for a long time was under Arab rule. At least 10% of the words in modern Spanish come from Arabic. In addition, there was a noticeable impact on grammar and phonetics.

9. Arabic writing is a special topic. The alphabet of this language includes 28 letters that allow you not just to compose words, but to create entire written designs and patterns. Needless to say, Arabic calligraphy is a whole area of ​​decorative art, the origin of which has long been debated by scientists. But for now everything remains only a matter of hypotheses.

10. Capital letters are absent in Arabic, punctuation marks are also written from right to left, and underlining is used instead of underlining. Arabic writing was formed in Arabia in the 3rd-4th centuries. AD It is interesting that Arabs studying Western languages ​​often make the same mistake - they forget to capitalize letters.

11. Arabic is considered one of the most difficult languages ​​to learn. This is facilitated by unusual writing, in which it can be difficult to separate some letters from others, as well as very complex grammar. The matter is not limited to cramming alone; you need to radically change your way of thinking and work a lot on pronunciation.

About 240 million people speak Arabic as their native language. It is distributed in more than 30 countries around the world. It is spoken in Afghanistan, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Chad, Somalia, Cyprus, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Kuwait, Syria, Oman, Qatar, Yemen and more many other countries.

As you can see, this is a very common language. Despite the fact that it is considered one of the most. But this, naturally, is from the point of view of Europeans, although it is not easy for the Arabs themselves.

The Arabic language seems unusual and incredibly complex to Europeans due to some of its features. The first thing that catches your eye is the writing is from right to left, and not vice versa, as is customary in our country. The letter itself, the so-called “Arabic script,” is also unusual.

It is interesting that Arabs write letters from right to left, but vice versa, from left to right. And the numbers themselves also differ from those we use. For the first time, when I encountered the fact that Arab countries they use other numbers, I was very surprised, because all my life I thought our numbers were Arabic, because that’s what they are called. But it turned out that the Arabs themselves use completely different ones and call them Indian. This is such a paradox.

Interestingly, each country has its own dialect. Therefore the Arabs from different countries may completely misunderstand each other.

The Arabic language has more than 30 dialects, including:

Maghreb dialects (the Maghreb includes: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Libya), Egyptian-Sudanese Arabic, Arabian dialects, Syro-Mesopotamian dialect, Central Asian dialects.

But there is classical Arabic, the language in which the Koran is written. This language differs from spoken dialects in that it has a more complex structure and is somewhat archaic. He was protected from modern changes, so he remained the same as he was thousands of years ago. Not everyone understands it, although, in theory, every Muslim should read the Koran in its original source.

There is also a standard literary Arabic language, which is understandable in all Arab countries. It is in this language that official documents are written, television programs are broadcast, and books are published.

The Arabic language has changed interestingly in Malta, where one of the Maghreb dialects has developed into a separate independent Maltese language. This happened largely because Christianity, not Islam, is the main religion there, so there is no such reverent attitude towards the “language of the Koran.”

Arabic has 28 letters and no capital letters, all letters are the same. Words cannot be tolerated. Punctuation marks are written from left to right. Short vowels are not written, but are indicated by dots. Abjad writing type of Arabic. Most letters change shape depending on where they are in the word.

Not so long ago, in many languages ​​(where Islam predominated) the Arabic script was used, then it was replaced by the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet. These are, for example, Turkish, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Tajik, Tatar, etc. At the beginning of the 20th century, Latinization and Cyrillization of languages ​​were carried out.

In all Arab countries, Arabic is the state language; there are countries, for example the Maghreb countries, where, along with Arabic, the state language is French. Arabic is also the official language of countries such as Israel, Chad, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Comoros, Somaliland.

Arabic is one of the six official languages ​​of the UN. Well, and, of course, this is the language in which the Koran is written.

In this article we present to you full list countries where Arabic is spoken. The list includes not only those countries where Arabic is the official language, but also those where Arabic is the second official language.

The Arab countries included in the first list are arranged in alphabetical order. The article also includes data on gross domestic product (GDP), population and sections for each dialect group of spoken Arabic. You will find the same data in the list of countries in which a significant part of the population speaks Arabic or whose second official language is Arabic.

List of Arab countries in alphabetical order

Jordan

Mauritania

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Palestine

Saudi Arabia

Syria
Tunisia

A Brief History of the Arabic Language and the Arab World

About 420 million people speak Arabic, making it the sixth most widely spoken language in the world. The word “Arab” means “nomad,” and this is understandable, because the Arabic language came from the nomadic tribes inhabiting the desert regions of the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabic language developed in the fourth century AD from the Nabataean and Aramaic scripts. Arabic is written from right to left, the script resembles cursive, and the Arabic alphabet includes 28 letters - almost like English. It has remained unchanged since the seventh century AD thanks to the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad recorded in the Qur'an. From the 8th century, the Arabic language began to spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa as many people began to convert to Islam. Muslims are required to pray only in Arabic. Today, the Arab World is a region that includes the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, and Arabic is the official language there. Arab countries differ from each other in terms of history, culture, politics and dialects.

List of Arabic-speaking countries by GDP

The combined GDP of Arabic-speaking countries is $2,851 trillion. This is approximately 4% of the gross world product (GWP). Many countries in the Arab world are considered emerging economies. The Arab world, especially the Middle East, is most notable for its oil production. Saudi Arabia ranks second in the world in terms of oil production, along with Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait, which occupy 7th, 8th and 11th places, respectively. The economies of many of these countries depend solely on oil revenues. In Qatar, the Arab state with the highest GDP growth (5.6%), oil accounts for more than 70% of total government revenue, more than 60% of gross domestic product and about 85% of export earnings. However, oil production is not the only industry in the Arab world. For example, Jordan does not have oil or other resources for energy production. Their place is taken by services, which in this country account for more than 67% of GDP. Jordan's banking sector is one of the most powerful in the region. Arab Bank, headquartered in the Jordanian capital Amman, is one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East. The standard of living in the countries of the Arab world is very different. Thus, Qatar has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world and is about $93,352, and Yemen has one of the lowest, equal to $1,473.

Arabic-speaking frontier financial markets and least developed countries

Many Arabic-speaking countries fall into either the category of frontier financial markets or are considered least developed countries (LDCs). Frontier financial markets tend to have large market opportunities and high potential for rapid growth. On the other hand, these frontier markets are often more risky than established markets, and the lack of infrastructure can make doing business more difficult. Arab LDCs are Arabic-speaking countries with the lowest economic development. Countries like war-torn Syria are losing foreign currency and seeing their economies decline instead of grow.

It is important to note that even in these markets there are still some emerging industries and products in increasing demand.

The study of economics shows that as income decreases, the demand for low-quality goods increases. Traveling by bus is an example of an inferior good that is chosen by those whose incomes have decreased. However, even in countries where the economy is in decline, demand for some expensive goods may increase. Take, for example, armored personnel carriers. In war-torn Arab countries, where security is a top priority, they are in great demand.

Below is a list of four Arab countries included in this category:

Population of Arabic-speaking countries

According to 2013 data, the total population of the Arab world is estimated to be 369.8 million people. This region extends from Morocco in North Africa to Dubai in the Persian Gulf. The most populous country in the region is Egypt, and the least populated is Bahrain. Many countries in the Arab world have very high population growth rates. For example, Oman and Qatar have the highest population growth rates in the world at 9.2% and 5.65 respectively. About 90 percent of people in the Arab world consider themselves Muslims, six percent are Christians, and four percent practice other religions. Most of all these people are ethnic Arabs; other major ethnic groups include Berbers and Kurds.

Below is a complete list of Arabic-speaking countries, organized according to population:

Other Arabic speaking countries

Many countries either have Arabic as a second official language or have significant Arabic-speaking communities. However, in all these countries, Arabic is a minority language. For example, Chad has two official languages, French and literary Arabic, as well as more than 120 indigenous languages.

Arabic dialects

There are three forms of Arabic: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Classical/Quranic Arabic, and Colloquial Arabic. MSA - official modern language Arab world, based on the language of the Koran. MSA is widely taught in schools and universities in Arabic-speaking countries. It is also used to varying degrees in workplaces, government and media mass media the entire Arab world.

Despite the existence of MSA, Arabic speakers grow up speaking the dialect of the region in which they live. Each Arabic-speaking country has its own form of spoken Arabic, which differs significantly from MSA. A single dialect of spoken Arabic can be used throughout an entire region or even a country. The main dialect groups of Arabic are as follows:

Map of Arabic dialects

Gulf Arabic – Dialects of the Persian Gulf

Bahrani – Bahraini

Najdi - Najdi

Omani - Omani

Hijazi and Rashaida – Hijazi

Dhofari - Dhofar

Yemeni and Somali - Yemeni and Somali

Chadic and Shuwa – Chadic

Sudanese - Sudanese

Sa'idi - Said

Egyptian - Egyptian

Judeo-Arabic – Jewish-Arabic

Nubi – Nubian

Cypriot Arabic – Cypriot Arabic

Iraqui – Iraqi

Levantine – Levantine (Levantine)

North Mesopotanian - North Mesopotamian

Morrocan - Moroccan

Tunisian - Tunisian

Algerian - Algerian

Lybian – Libyan

Hassaniya – Moorish

Saharans - Saharan

The modern world is conventionally divided into several parts, characterized by certain features. Western and Eastern, European and Arab cultures have their own geopolitical “link”. Today, the term “Arab countries” refers to states where the bulk of the population speaks Arabic.

Unification of Arab States

22 such countries united into an international organization - the League of Arab States. The total area of ​​the territory where the Arabic-speaking population lives is approximately 13 million km 2. This formation is located in the zone of connection of three continents - Asia, Africa and Europe. Thus, the Arab countries represent practically a single geocultural space, located from the Persian Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean, the majority of the population of which has Arab roots.

Linguistic and cultural characteristics

The main formative element of any Arab state is the language and culture developing on its basis. Today such a culture is open and exposed to others, such as Indian, Mongolian, Andalusian. However, Western traditions have the strongest influence.

Religion

In the Arab community, religion such as Islam plays a dual role. On the one hand, it unites Arabs in social and political life, and on the other, it causes disagreements and even armed conflicts between supporters of different movements within. It should be understood that Arab and Muslim countries are not identical concepts. Not all Arab states in the world profess Islam; in some, several religious denominations coexist at the same time. In addition, it should be remembered that Muslim countries also include those where the majority of residents are not Arabs.

Islam is a powerful cultural factor, thanks to which, along with language, the unity of everything occurs Arab world, but it can also divide and lead to bloody wars.

Countries of the Arab world

There are 23 Arab countries in total, a list of which is presented below:

• Republic of Djibouti;
• Algerian Republic;
• Kingdom of Bahrain;
• Kingdom of Jordan;
• Arab Republic of Egypt;
• Republic of Yemen;
• Republic of Iraq;
• Lebanese Republic;
• Union of Comoros;
• State of Kuwait;
• State of Qatar;
• Syrian Arab Republic;
• State of Libya;
• Islamic Republic of Mauritania;
• Kingdom of Morocco;
• Oman;
• Saudi Arabia;
• Republic of South Sudan;
• Federal Republic of Somalia;
• Republic of Tunisia;
• Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara);
• Autonomous region of Palestine.

It should be noted that not all Arab countries, the list of which is presented, are recognized by other states. Thus, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which is not part of the League of Arab States (LAS), is officially recognized by only fifty countries in the world. Moroccan authorities exercise control over most of its territories.

In addition, the state of Palestine, which is part of the Arab League, is recognized by 129 states. In this country there are two without common border areas: Gaza Strip and West Bank.

The countries of the Arab world are geographically divided into three large groups:

African (Maghreb);

Arabian;

Eastern Mediterranean.

Let's briefly look at each of them.

Arabic or Maghreb

In the strict sense, only those states located to the west of Egypt are called Maghreb (West). However, today it is customary to call all North African Arab countries such as Mauritania, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Egypt itself is considered the center, the heart of the entire Arab world and is part of the Great Maghreb Arc. Besides it, it includes such countries as Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Libya and

Countries of the Arabian Peninsula

The largest peninsula on our planet is the Arabian. It is where most of the oil supplying countries are located. For example, consisting of seven independent states. In addition, it is on its territory that countries leading in oil production such as Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are located. In earlier times, countries located on the Arabian Peninsula acted only as transit and intermediate points on trade routes leading to Iraq and Iran. Today, thanks to the huge oil reserves discovered in the middle of the last century, each of the Arab countries of the Arabian region has its own significant political, strategic and economic weight.

In addition, the countries located in the Persian Gulf are historical centers of the birth and development of Islam, from where it spread to other regions.

Eastern Mediterranean countries

The East Mediterranean Asian region, called Mashriq, includes such countries of the Arab East as the Republic of Iraq, the Kingdom of Jordan, Syria, Libya and Palestine, which has only autonomous status. Since the formation of the State of Israel in the late forties of the twentieth century, Mashriq has been the most restless, almost constantly warring zone of the Arab world. Throughout the twentieth century, Arab-Israeli wars and conflicts constantly took place here. Let us dwell in more detail on such Eastern Mediterranean states as Iraq, Jordan and Palestine.

Republic of Iraq

This Arab state is located in the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, in the Mesopotamian lowland, and is washed from the southeast by the waters of the Persian Gulf. The country borders Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Armenians are located in the north and northeast of Iraq and are characterized by high seismic activity.

The country of Iraq, of which Baghdad is the capital, is the second largest Arab country in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern region, with a population of more than 16 million people.

The revolution of 1958 led to the fall of the monarchy in this country, and since 1963, the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (PASV) began to gain increasing political power. As a result of a fierce struggle in the sixties of the last century, this party came to power in 1979, led by S. Hussein. This event became a significant stage in the life of the state. It was this politician who managed to eliminate all his rivals and establish a regime of totalitarian power. Hussein, by liberalizing economic policy and uniting the nation around the idea of ​​a “common enemy,” managed to ensure the growth of his own popularity and gain almost unlimited power.

Under his leadership, Iraq launched a war against Iran in 1980, which lasted until 1988. The turning point was 2003, when US-led coalition forces invaded Iraq, resulting in the execution of Saddam Hussein. The consequences of this invasion are still felt today. The once strong country has become a huge battlefield, in which there is neither developed industry nor peace.

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

In southwest Asia, at the northwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, west of Iraq and south of the Syrian Republic, the Kingdom of Jordan is located. A map of the country clearly shows that almost its entire territory consists of desert plateaus and various hills and mountains. Jordan borders Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Israel and the autonomous region of Palestine. The country has access to the Red Sea. The capital of the state is Amman. In addition, we can highlight the large cities of Zarqa and Irbid.

From 1953 to 1999, until his death, the country was ruled by King Hussein. Today the kingdom is led by his son, Abdullah II, who is a representative of the Hashemite dynasty and, as is commonly believed, one of the direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad in the 43rd generation. As a rule, the ruler in Arab countries has unlimited influence, but in Jordan the power of the monarch is regulated by the Constitution and Parliament.

Today this is the most peaceful territory of the Arab East in all respects. The main income of this country comes from tourism, as well as assistance from other, wealthier Arab states.

Palestine

This autonomous region The eastern Mediterranean consists of two non-adjacent regions: the Gaza Strip, bordering Israel and Egypt, and which only touches Jordan on the east, and is surrounded on all other sides by Israeli territory. Naturally, Palestine is divided into several regions: a fertile lowland located along the Mediterranean coast, and a hilly highland to the east. In the very east of the country the steppes begin, gradually turning into the Syrian desert.

In 1988, after many Arab-Israeli military conflicts and the abandonment of claims to Palestinian territories by Jordan and Egypt, the Palestinian National Council declared the creation of an independent state. The first president of the autonomy was the legendary Yasser Arafat, after whose death, in 2005, Mahmoud Abbas, who is still in power today, was elected to this post. Today, the ruling party in the Gaza Strip is Hamas, which came to power as a result of winning the elections in this autonomy. In the West Bank he controls the entire government activities Palestinian National Authority.

Relations between Palestine and Israel are in an extremely tense state and are permanently turning into armed confrontation. The borders of the Palestinian state are controlled from almost all sides by the Israeli armed forces.

[ ] - minor or extremely small population groups

Algeria Algeria,
Bahrain Bahrain,
Djibouti Djibouti,
Egypt Egypt,
Israel Israel,
Jordan Jordan,
Iraq Iraq,
Yemen Yemen,
Qatar Qatar,
Comoros Comoros,
Kuwait Kuwait,
Lebanon Lebanon,
Libya Libya,
Mauritania Mauritania,
Morocco Morocco,
UAE UAE,
Oman Oman,
Eritrea Eritrea,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia ,
Syria Syria,
Somalia Somalia,
Sudan Sudan,
Tunisia Tunisia,
Chad Chad,
SADR SADR
() ,
State of Palestine State of Palestine
(partially recognized state)
Somaliland Somaliland
(unrecognized state) .
Organizations:

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Subtitles

Dialects

Modern spoken Arabic falls into 5 groups of dialects, which are actually separate languages ​​from a linguistic point of view:

• Maghreb dialect group
• Egyptian-Sudanese Arabic
• Syro-Mesopotamian Arabic
• Arabian dialect group
• Central Asian group of dialects

The Maghreb language belongs to the Western group, the rest - to the Eastern group of Arabic languages ​​and dialects. (See Problem of language or dialect ); It is preferable to use the well-established term “dialect” in Arabic studies ( Arab. لهجة ‎)

The literary language (in Western Arabic studies the English term Modern Standard Arabic is used) is single. Literary Arabic combines the vocabulary for many things in the modern world or science, but at the same time in some Arab countries it is quite rarely used in spoken language.

Place of Arabic in the Semitic language group

Classical Arabic differs little from Old Arabic. Many roots of Semitic languages ​​are also found in Arabic. In Semitic studies, there has in the past been a tendency to regard Classical Arabic as the most archaic of the Semitic languages. However, over time, through comparison with other Afroasiatic languages, it was found that much in classical Arabic is not so original.

Story

Over the centuries, the language has constantly changed, which, however, has had little effect on writing, because short vowel sounds, except in the Koran, are not written in the text.

Classical (high) Arabic is not the native language of Arabs today. However, even today, with a modified vocabulary, it is used in almost all newspapers and books, with the exception of Tunisia, Morocco and partly Algeria, where Arabic shares the role of a literary language with French. In scientific and technical literature in other Arab countries, English is often used in places where the necessary vocabulary is lacking.

Vocabulary composition

The vocabulary of the modern Arabic literary language is characterized by the fact that its main part is originally Arabic. “The Arabs highly value the word-formation capabilities of their language, seeing the richness and clarity of word-formation paradigms as the key to adapting the Arabic literary language to current state society. Moreover, it should be noted that in modern nomination processes, models with a high generalization index are the most active. Thus, recently, the vocabulary of the Arabic literary language has been significantly expanded by derivative names formed by adding the suffix ية- ‎, forming a derivative series with the meaning of generalized abstract qualities and properties: استقلالية ‎ independence; حركية ‎ dynamism, dynamics; شمولية‎ maximalism; totalitarianism; اشكلالية ‎ - problem, etc.” . Some of the vocabulary is general Semitic and only a small part is foreign, such as the words: “television” - تليفزيون ‎, دكتورة ‎ doctor’s title, سكرتير ‎ secretary, فيلم ‎ film. The total number of borrowings from European languages ​​is small and amounts to about one percent of the dictionary.

For the Arabic literary language, four large synchronous sections of vocabulary development are distinguished: the pre-Muslim vocabulary of the communal-tribal system (late 7th and early 8th centuries); expansion of the vocabulary associated with the origin, development and prosperity of the medieval Arabic-speaking civilization (until the 12th century); the period of stagnation and reduction in the range of use of the Arabic literary language (XIII-XVIII centuries) and the beginning of the modern period (from mid-19th V.) .

Synonymy, polysemy of words and homonymy have become widely developed in the Arabic language. The main methods of word formation are: morphological - according to word-formation models and formulas, syntactic and semantic.

Despite the fact that the vocabulary is very rich, it is often not sufficiently standardized and is often overloaded with linguistic background. For example, there is no word that quite accurately corresponds to the word nation. The word used to denote this concept is (أمة‎, umma) meaning in the past, and in a religious context to this day, “a community of believers (Muslims)”; or, for example, “nationality” (جنسية ‎, jinsiya) generally means “gender,” for example “sex life” sounds like (حياة الجنسية ‎, haya: t al-jinsiyya). The word "nationalism" (قومية‎, Qaumiyya), comes originally from the vocabulary of nomads kaum and means "tribe" in the sense of "nomadic tribe".

In a similar way, very old and very modern concepts are often intertwined in one word, without the slightest connection in terms of word origin. There are also loanwords from Aramaic, Greek and many modern terms from English.

Phonetics

Phonetically, literary Arabic is characterized by a widely developed system of consonantal phonemes, especially glottal, emphatic and interdental.

“In the phonetic sections of grammatical works, either only the articulations of Arabic sounds were described, or also their combinatorial changes. The Indian system of sound classification, based on taking into account the place of articulation and other articulatory features, had a significant influence on the Arabs. The technique of comparing sounds in articulatory and functional terms was used. Avicenna introduced the concept of correlation to establish relationships between sounds. Cases of gemination were classified as the result of complete progressive or regressive contact assimilation. Partial and distant assimilation was described. Questions were studied about the interaction of consonants and vowels, about the replacement of consonants, about metathesis, about the loss of hamza, about elision, about the emergence of a connecting vowel, about palatalization, velarization, about sound symbolism.”

Pronunciation

In many Arab countries, efforts are currently being made to bring pronunciation closer to standard Arabic. The basis is the quotation norm (Ar. tilāwa تلاوة‎) of the Koran. This style of pronunciation is generally used only in religious contexts.

It is certain that the original pronunciation of High Arabic is not exactly known. For example, there is no consensus on the pronunciation of the ending un indefinite nouns ( kitabun Ave. kitab). There are arguments in favor of two options, and since there were no vowel marks (vowel marks) in the ancient handwritten script, it is impossible to say with certainty how it was pronounced.

Writing

Arabic is written from right to left. Moreover, in Arabic, unlike languages ​​with Latin or Cyrillic graphics, there are no capital letters, so proper names are written like any other word, as well as the first word in a sentence.

Anthroponymy

Arabic names are traditionally written in literal order.

Grammar

Arab scholars usually divided grammar into syntax, morphology and phonetics and paid considerable attention to issues of word formation, and in connection with it etymology, thanks to which in the 11th century. The root theory has reached a high level. Syntax and morphology are the most original parts of Arabic grammar, having no sources in either Greek or Indian works and focused on the specifics of the Arabic language.

The task of syntax was the structural and semantic analysis of the sentence. It postulated subject-predicate relations between two names or between a name and a verb. There were small/elementary sentences and large ones forming a hierarchy; sentences are nominal, verbal and adverbial - depending on what word is at the beginning of the sentence, and accordingly there are different types of subjects and predicates. Secondary members of the sentence were identified and classified in detail (up to five types of additions, circumstances different types, "applications"). There were different cases of formal and virtual implementation of inflections. The concept of an implied term was introduced to explain the construction. The relationships of coordination, control and adjacency were also analyzed.

In morphology, parts of speech and features of their formation that are not determined syntactically were considered. This included questions such as parts of speech (noun, verb and particles of up to 27 types), root structure, names and their multidimensional classification on different grounds (explicit names - nouns, adjectives, hidden names - personal pronouns, common names - demonstrative and relative pronouns, etc.), verbs (with a detailed classification of their forms and meanings), two-case and three-case names, the formation of relative names, the formation of composites, the formation of number and gender forms, the formation of deminitives, changes in the form of a word due to the presence of weak root consonants , pause forms, etc. The issue of masdar was also discussed here.

Particularly great successes were achieved in phonetics (Khalil ibn Ahmad; Abu Ali ibn Sina - Avicenna, 980-1037; Sibawayhi).

The Arabic language is characterized by highly developed inflection. (The inflectivity and similarity of inflection of Semitic and Indo-European languages ​​has been questioned by some researchers. The inflection of Indo-European languages ​​is a different phenomenon from the inflection of Semitic languages, since it implies a stronger interaction of inflection with the root. The Arabic language is characterized by agglutination. Some scientists, in particular, A. A. Reformatsky, they believe that the fusion of Semitic languages ​​is special shape agglutination, since the fusion of a Semitic word is a predictable process and follows relatively strict formulas, which Arabic authors like to present using the three-letter root فعل with the meaning do, and the vowels themselves forming a fusion are, as a rule, independent of the root. A similar, but not analogous, phenomenon has been observed in a number of non-Semitic languages, in particular Germanic. These are, for example, pairs of words singular and plural in English, like foot - feet, tooth - teeth or root vowel changes in irregular verbs English or so-called strong verbs German language, but in Germanic languages ​​there is no regularity in the reproduction of so-called fusional formulas. Most words in Arabic can be traced back to the original form of the verb, which usually consists of three- or four- (rarely two- and five-) root consonants.

Although the root is indivisible for the speaker’s consciousness, some familiarity with parsing the root is useful for facilitating the memorization of such an extensive root vocabulary as the Arabic language is endowed with, and for the feasible interpretation of unfamiliar roots when reading without a dictionary.

Root word

The Arabic root is most often three-letter, less often two- or four-letter, and even less often five-letter; but already for a four-letter root there is a requirement that it contain at least one of the smooth consonants (vox memoriae (memory): مُرْ بِنَفْلٍ).

According to the famous domestic Arabist S. S. Maisel, the number of triconsonant roots in the modern Arabic literary language is 82% of the total number of Arabic roots.

Not just any consonants can participate in the composition of a root: some of them are compatible in the same root (more precisely, in the same cell; see below: b), others are incompatible.

Incompatible:

1. Laryngeal: غ ع خ ح (if ع and ء are compatible)
2. Non-glottal:

ب and فم

ت and ث

ث and س ص ض ط ظ

ج and ف ق ك

خ and ظقك

د and ذ

ذ and ص ض ط ظ

ر and ل

ز and ض ص ظ

س and ص ض

ش and ض ل

ص and ض ط ظ

ض and ط ظ

ط and ظ ك

ظ and غ ق

غ and ق ك

ق and كغ

ل and ن

This feature of the composition of the Arabic root makes the task somewhat easier for those reading the manuscript without dots; for example, the spelling of حعڡر ‎ should be جَعْفَر ‎

It should be noted that the translation of the cases الرَّفْعُ, الجَرُّ and النَّصْبُ is very conditional, since the genitive and accusative cases of the Arabic language include names that, when translated, can appear in any of the remaining three cases of the Russian language:

Zeid cut the rope with a knife (instrumental case).

We talked about studying ( prepositional).

قُلْ لِمُحَمَّدٍ - الجَرُّ Tell Muhammad (dative case).

The people fought against the colonialists (the instrumental case).

The signs by which case is recognized are different and they depend on the morphological features of the name.

Noun

A noun in Arabic is characterized by such morphological concepts as gender, number - singular, dual (very rarely used in dialects) and plural, case and state, as well as the categories of definiteness, uncertainty and neutral status.

Genus. There are only two genders in Arabic: masculine and feminine. Names with a characteristic ending [atun] are often feminine. In general, whether a name belongs to one gender or another is associated with meaning, for example, with gender.

For example, the noun أُمٌّ ["ummun]-(mother), despite its ending, is feminine. For many nouns denoting the name of a profession or type of activity, the feminine gender is formed simply by adding the ending [-atun] to the corresponding masculine noun. For example:

To convey feminine endings in a letter, ﺓ [tā’ marbuta], a letter that is not in the alphabet, is used. It is a graphic variant of the usual ت [t], which is called [tā’], or “stretched t”. By connecting the ends of the “stretched t” to each other, we get ﺓ [tā’ marbuta]. In Semitic languages ​​[t] is one of the main indicators of gender. When agreeing with names, ت is used in verbs, and ﺓ in names. [tā’ marbuta] is written only at the end of a word and can have two styles: without a connection - ﺓ ‎ and with a connection on the right - ﺔ ‎.

Verb

The verb is characterized by great development verb forms, called breeds: a unified conjugation system for all verbs; a developed system of tense forms (three simple and three complex tenses); two voices (active and passive); five