An Introduction to Arabic

العربية 101 اللغة

TeachMideast, an Educational Outreach Initiative of the Middle East Policy Council

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Who is an Arab?

An Arab is a person who speaks the Arabic language.

Arabic is an official language for 22 countries from North Africa, the Levant, the Arabian Gulf, and the Horn of Africa.

21 of these countries make up the member states of the League of Arab States. Syria has been suspended from the League of Arab States.

Algeria Bahrain Comoros Islands

Djibouti

Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait

Lebanon Libya Maurita. Morocco

Oman Palestine

Qatar Saudi Arabia

Somalia Sudan Syria Tunisia

UAE Yemen

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The Middle East or the Arab World?

These two terms are often used interchangeably and can be easily confused. Most Arabs trace their origins to countries situated in the Middle East, but not all Middle Eastern people are Arab. There are also Jews, Turks, Persians, indigenous peoples, and other settled populations from various time periods.

The “Middle East”, or “Near East”, as is alternately used, is a geographical designation from Europeans and North Americans that refers to parts of Asia west of India.

The “Middle East” has been defined in different ways over time. For an interesting overview of the use of this term, visit Where is the Middle East?

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Written Arabic Written Arabic is standard and generally

does not vary.• Known as “Fus’ha”, الفصحى, or Modern Standard

Arabic (MSA)• Fus’ha is a formal literary version of the

language used in newspapers, government and legal documents, formal speeches, and religious texts such as the Quran, the holy book used by Muslims.

• Most native speakers will understand spoken fus’ha/MSA depending on education levels.

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Spoken Arabic Dialects differ widely between and even

within countries.• Some regions’ peoples, such as the Levantines in

Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, have similar dialects to one another.

• Dialects are influenced by culture, history, and geography.

• An Arabic speaker from Iraq may not fully understand one from Morocco.

• Sometimes you can learn the country, area, and perceived socio-economic status based off someone's dialect.

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Example Asking how much something costs can vary significantly across

the Middle East. Different dialects are used in North Africa, Egypt, the Levant, the Gulf states, and Iraq. The fus’ha term for “how much” is bikam, بكم  ? • Jordanian dialect use the word قديش  to ask “how much?” Non-

native speakers who know fus’ha would likely pronounce all of the letters, saying “qedaysh”.

• The letter “ق” is called a qaf and pronounced like a Q in fus’ha. • In dialect, native speakers drop the hard “q” sound and pronounce

.like an “eh”, which is seen as soft, poetic, and sophisticated قWomen in Jordan or Lebanon as well as those who want to be seen as cosmopolitan, are likely to say “edaysh”. On the other hand, people in rural areas with Bedouin influence and men wanting to look tough and non-feminine would pronounce ق with a hard G sound so they would likely say “gedaysh”.

• Moroccans ask “beshhal?”, Egyptians use “bikam da”?,

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Calligraphy Since the Quran, القرآن, may only be written in Arabic, to

insure its message is never altered, different forms of Arabic script and calligraphy spread with the rise of Islam.

In addition Islam forbids the depiction of god or the prophet, so ornamentation and intricate designs have been used to beautify Arabic script.

Calligraphy is often motivated by spiritual inspiration and is used as a medium to convey various Islamic verses. However, not all Arabic calligraphy is religious.

Arabic graffiti as an art form as well as an expression of political beliefs has been receiving greater attention.

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Examples of Calligraphy

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The Alphabet

خ ح ج ث ت ب اص ش س ز ر ذ د

ق ف غ ع ظ ط ضي و ه ن م ل ك

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Differences Arabic is read and written from right to left. Arabic letters change shape, similar to cursive,

depending on their location in the word – beginning, middle, or end, when connected to other letters.

Arabic does not have upper case letters. Arabic does not have a letter for P, V, or G

(though there is a G in the Egyptian dialect). English does not have approximate letter for

several Arabic letters including غ ع making ظpronunciation difficult for students of the language.

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Pronouncing and Writing

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Connecting the Letters

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Practice Writing

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Practice Speaking

يوتا والية من انا و ماهر اسمي عليكم السالم

Aslam aalaykom ismee Maher wa ana min waleat Utah.

Hello my name is Maher and I am from the state of Utah.

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Listen to Spoken Arabic Arabic can sound quite different depending

on the context, such as a reading of the Quran, a news program, or regular street conversation. Take a listen! Do they sound the same?

Watch Iftah ya Simsim, the Arabic Sesame Street!

Here are recordings of chapters of the Quran being read aloud, with English translations

Angelina Jolie talks with Syrian refugee children 15

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أسئلة؟ عندكم هلDo you have any

questions?