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Language
Arabic (العربية
al-ʿarabiyyah,
IPA: [ʔæl
ʕɑrɑˈbijjɐ], or عربي
ʿarabī,
[ˈʕɑrɑbiː])
is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and
classified alongside other Semitic languages such as
Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. Arabic has more
speakers than any other language in the Semitic language
family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as a
first language, most of whom live in the Middle East and
North Africa. It is the official language of 22 countries
and it is the liturgical language of Islam since it is the
language of the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book. Arabic has
many different, geographically distributed spoken
varieties, some of which are mutually unintelligible.
Modern Standard Arabic (sometimes called Literary
Arabic) is widely taught in schools, universities, and
used in workplaces, government and the media.
Modern Standard Arabic derives from Classical Arabic,
the only surviving member of the Old North Arabian dialect
group, attested in Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions dating
back to the 4th century. Classical Arabic has also been a
literary language and the liturgical language of Islam
since its inception in the 7th century.
Arabic has lent many words to other languages of the
Islamic world, like Turkish, Urdu and Persian. During the
Middle Ages, Arabic was a major vehicle of culture in
Europe, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy.
As a result, many European languages have also borrowed
many words from it. Arabic influence is seen in
Mediterranean languages, particularly Spanish, Portuguese,
and Sicilian, owing to both the proximity of European and
Arab civilizations and 700 years of Arab rule in the
Iberian peninsula (see Al-Andalus).
Arabic has also borrowed words from many languages,
including Hebrew, Persian and Syriac in early centuries,
Turkish in medieval times and contemporary European
languages in modern times. Arabic is written with the
Arabic alphabet, which is an abjad script, and is written
from right-to-left.
World Day of the Arabic language is the day the world
celebrates all 30 July of each year in Arabic World Day of
the Arabic language
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