"dar el - ilm" School of Languages

The Arabic Language
The difference between Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic has been exaggerated. The language spoken in the Arab world is a simplified form of the Classical Arabic.

What does that mean?

Classical Arabic Language is recognised in two forms; vowelled and non-vowelled. Modern Standard Arabic is a simplified form of Classical Arabic, which is a standard form recognised all over the Arab World. For daily communication we choose the easier form which is the non-vowelled form,

e.g.Good morning

Classical Arabic: SabaaHu il-khayri or Modern standard: SabaaH il-khayr

So modern standard is the classical Arabic without the Harakaat (short vowels we put on letters that can change meaning, tense or grammatical function of a word depending on its position in a sentence).
Classical Arabic has different grammatical forms. As hosts to the language, Arabs have chosen to use a certain common grammatical pattern over others,

e.g.Thirty

Classical Arabic: talatuwn and talaatiyn or Every day communication: talaatiyn
Classical Arabic is a very rich language where we have several words representing the same meaning. Some words remained popular in their written form only, and others maintained popularity in their written and spoken forms,

e.g.The word go

Classical Arabic: dhab or Every day communication: ruwH and siyr

Classical Arabic incorporates new words into it because as long as there are people speaking the language the language is apt to change.

e.g.Some words are born into the language:

Computer - 'al-Haasuwb

Some words die out and go out of fashion:

old big clay pot - khaabiya(t)

Some words change their meaning:

used to mean washing lady, now it means the washing machine - ghassaala(t)

The Arabic spoken throughout the Arab world is a simplified form of the Classical Arabic, with of course the introduction or influence of other languages, depending on the country and what political and social influence it has had over the years. All Arabic is based and originates in the classical form, it is simply a matter of choice of sounds and vocabulary and geographic influences. So:

Sounds: for example the letter j is pronounced differently in Classical Arabic, Egyptian Arabic and Gulf Arabic but it is always written the same.

eg. camel = jamal but is pronounced in

Classical Arabic: jamal, Egyptian Arabic: gamal, Gulf Arabic: yamal

Choice of Vocabulary: different people in the Arab world choose different words from the classical Arabic to express themselves,

eg. I want = 'ariyd, 'abghiy, biwiddiy or 9aawiz

Foreign influence: Arabic has been influenced by geographical location and political dominance. It is not uncommon to hear people who were under British rule using:

kansel for cancel, banchar for puncture, taayar for tyre.

It is also not uncommon to hear people use French, Spanish or Italian words incorporated into the language such as

sabbaat for shoe from the Italian, autocar for school bus from the French.

We should not forget that Modern Standard Arabic also includes a new 'international' vocabulary that has evolved in the wake of political change, scientific invention and dramatically improved communications and transport facilities; words and expressions which can be understood all over the world. For example:

raadyo for radio, talifoon for telephone, talifizyoon for television, daktoor for doctor.

This is not to say that this 'international' vocabulary is any better or more correct than the old Arabic - it is just more common and easier to comprehend.

Moreover, this has been a two-way process - one of give and take. Modern languages have also incorporated many Arabic words. In the case of modern English, these include words such as:

chap from shaab, algebra from 'al-jabir check mate from sheikh maat.

Culture & Language

English Words from Arabic

Gestures

Dos & Don'ts

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