History UsefulNotes / ArabicLanguage

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people," or as the fifth most spoken language in the world and so on. This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. Using it to talk about daily life would be considered weird and even comical. Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people," or as the fifth most spoken language in the world and so on. This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA will only be used when speaking about high-level subjects like philosophy or politics (if for no other reason than dialects often lack specific vocabulary to express it). Using it to talk about daily life would be considered weird and even comical. Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people," or as the fifth most spoken language in the world and so on. This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. [[note]]Some of the eastern dialects such as Saudi share a lot with MSA, while western dialects like Moroccan and Algerian are basically unintelligible even to other native Arabs.[[/note]] Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people," or as the fifth most spoken language in the world and so on. This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. [[note]]Some of the eastern dialects, such as (unsurprisingly) Saudi dialect share a lot with MSA, while western dialects like Moroccan and Algerian are basically unintelligible even to other native Arabs.[[/note]] Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people," or as the fifth most spoken language in the world and so on. This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. [[note]]Some of the eastern dialects, such as (unsurprisingly) Saudi dialect share a lot with MSA, while western dialects like Moroccan and Algerian are basically unintelligible even to other native Arabs.[[/note]] Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people," or as the fourth most spoken language in the world and so on. This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. [[note]]Some of the eastern dialects, such as (unsurprisingly) Saudi share a lot with MSA, while western dialects like Moroccan and Algerian are basically unintelligible even to other native Arabs.[[/note]] Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people," or as the fourth most spoken language in the world and so on. This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. [[note]]Some of the eastern dialects (particularly Saudi and Iraqi dialects) share a lot with MSA, while western dialects like Moroccan and Algerian are basically unintelligible even to other native Arabs.[[/note]] Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people," or as the fourth most spoken language in the world and so on. This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

The ability to comprehend the Arabic language and converse in it is considered by some to be one of the most defining traits of the Arab people. Yes, this means--even if you've never lived in any Arab country, have no Arab heritage, and not even Muslim--but you hold fluency in the Arabic language, you may be considered an Arab. Double points if you are a Troper. [[OneOfUs Welcome]]/[[BilingualBonus Salaam]]!

* '''Sudanese Arabic''' is obviously the dialect of Sudan, both North and South. Apart from its marked Nubian influence, Sudanese Arabic is also notable for its conservative phonology; many sounds from Classical Arabic lost in all other varieties are retained only in Sudanese. That said, Sudanese Arabic has a marked similarity to Egyptian Arabic, particularly Sa`idi, in aspects other than phonology; this should come as no surprise, given that Sudan has been under some kind of Egyptian influence or other for a very long time, and when Sudan won its independence a not-insignificant chunk of the population wanted to join Egypt. Suffice it to say, virtually all Sudanese can understand Egyptian very easily, and Egyptians only need a little bit of adjustment to be able to understand Sudanese (although they will rarely be able to replicate it). Sudan is also notably home to one of the few Arabic creoles, called Nubi. This was the result of non-Arabic-speaking Africans being recruited into the Egyptian forces in Sudan, who were commanded and drilled in Arabic.

The ability to comprehend the Arabic language and converse in it is considered by some to be one of the most defining traits of the Arab people. Yes, this means--even if you've never lived in any Arab country, have no Arab heritage, and not even Muslim--but you hold fluency in the Arabic language, you may be considered an Arab. Double points if you are a Troper. [[OneOfUs Welcome]]!

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. [[note]]Some of the eastern dialects (particularly Saudi and Iraqi dialects) share a lot with MSA, while western dialects like Moroccan and Algerian are basically unintelligible even to other native Arabs.[[/note]] Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people." This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

There a number of pairs of certain Arabic letters, such as س and ص and ت and ط, the only difference between them is one is an "emphatic" version of the sound (i.e. pronounced a little harder). Language purists will insist that these sounds are completely different. In practice, spoken at full speed even native Arabs will barely notice the difference, if at all.

The ability to comprehend the Arabic language and converse in it is considered by some to be one of the most defining traits of the Arab people. Yes, this means--even if you've never lived in any Arab country, have no Arab heritage, and you're even not a Muslim--but you hold fluency in the Arabic language, you may be considered an Arab. Double points if you are a Troper. [[OneOfUs Welcome]]!

Plural forms in Arabic are highly irregular. Some Arab words follow English in simply adding a suffix to the singular form, but a majority of Arabic nouns become plural by changing their internal form entirely (mostly by rearranging, adding, or removing vowels inside it). Attempts to quantify the Arabic "broken plurals" (as they are called) into a teachable system produces dozens of distinct patterns. In other words, practically speaking, it's almost random. While not too much of a problem for native speakers, even Arabs will sometimes be at a loss what the plural form is of a more-rarely-used word. For those learning Arabic, the best advice is simply to memorize the plurals of every word.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. [[note]]Some of the eastern dialects (particularly Saudi and Iraqi dialects) share a lot with MSA, while western dialects like Moroccan and Algerian are basically unintelligible even to native Arabs from the east.[[/note]] Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people." This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

However, this is not the Arabic that Arabs speak most of the time. They understand it, but they don't speak it. In fact, there are actually no native speakers of MSA. Instead, much like [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese]], all Arabs speak a wide variety of "dialects," many of which are only partially mutually intelligible with each other, and some not at all. Though they are grouped together for political and cultural reasons, the so-called "dialects" of Arabic would be better thought of as separate languages altogether. Many language learning courses advertise MSA as the "lingua franca" of the Arab world spoken by "220 million people." This is not true. If two Arabs meet who speak different dialects, almost always they will try to simply muddle through with their own dialects. MSA sounds as "modern" to contemporary Arabs as Shakespearean English sounds to you (or perhaps more pertinently, the King James Bible). Even if you speak to a regular Arab in MSA, he will not respond in it - meaning you probably won't understand him.

Plural forms in Arabic are highly irregular. Some Arab words follow English in simply adding a suffix to the singular form, but a majority of Arabic nouns become plural by changing their internal form entirely (mostly by rearranging, adding, or removing vowels inside it). Attempts to quantify the Arabic system of "broken plurals" (as they are called) into a teachable system produces dozens of distinct patterns. In other words, practically speaking, it's almost random. While not too much of a problem for native speakers, even Arabs will sometimes be at a loss what the plural form is of a more-rarely-used word. For those learning Arabic, the best advice is simply to memorize the plurals of every word.

If you want to learn Arabic, you must take these things into account before deciding whether to learn MSA or one of the dialects (of course if you ''really'' want to become fluent, eventually you'll have to learn both). Learning Modern Standard Arabic is a good start, as all Arabs can understand it, and it lays a good foundation for picking up multiple dialects. However, you will ''not'' be able to hold a conversation with an Arab on the street. Also important: while Arab news is in MSA, Arab ''movies'' are not. Therefore if you plan to learn a lot from watching Arabic TV shows or films, MSA is not the way to go. [[note]] The one exception to this is children's media, including translations of Disney, Pixar, or Dreamworks movies. Children's books and movies remain largely in MSA in the Arab world, because they see it as one of the few opportunities in which parents can expose their children to MSA.[[/note]]

If you want to learn Arabic, you must take these things into account before deciding whether to learn MSA or one of the dialects (of course if you ''really'' want to become fluent, eventually you'll have to learn both). Learning Modern Standard Arabic is a good start, as all Arabs can understand it, and it lays a good foundation for picking up multiple dialects. However, you will ''not'' be able to hold a conversation with an Arab on the street. Also important: while Arab news is in MSA, Arab ''movies'' are not. Therefore if you plan to learn a lot from watching Arabic TV shows or films, MSA is not the way to go. [[note]] The one exception to this is children's media, including translations of Disney or Pixar movies. Children's books and movies remain largely in MSA in the Arab world, because they see it as one of the few opportunities in which parents can expose their children to MSA.[[/note]]

If you want to learn Arabic, you must take these things into account before deciding whether to learn MSA or one of the dialects (of course if you ''really'' want to become fluent, eventually you'll have to learn both). Learning Modern Standard Arabic is a good start, as all Arabs can understand it, and it lays a good foundation for picking up multiple dialects. However, you will ''not'' be able to hold a conversation with an Arab on the street. Also important: while Arab news is in MSA, Arab ''movies'' are not. Therefore if you plan to learn a lot from watching Arabic TV shows or films, MSA is not the way to go.

Plural forms in Arabic are highly irregular. Some Arab words follow English in simply adding a suffix to the singular form, but a majority of Arabic nouns become plural by changing their internal form entirely. Attempts to quantify the Arabic system of "broken plurals" (as they are called) into a teachable system produces dozens of distinct patterns. In other words, practically speaking, it's almost random. While not too much of a problem for native speakers, even Arabs will sometimes be at a loss what the plural form is of a more-rarely-used word. For those learning Arabic, the best advice is simply to memorize the plurals of every word.

Plural forms in Arabic are highly irregular. Rather than simply adding a suffix to the singular form like English, or Japanese which ''has'' no plurals, a majority of Arabic nouns become plural by changing their internal form entirely. Attempts to quantify the Arabic system of "broken plurals" (as they are called) into a teachable system produces dozens of distinct patterns. In other words, practically speaking, it's almost random. While not too much of a problem for native speakers, even Arabs will sometimes be at a loss what the plural form is of a more-rarely-used word. For those learning Arabic, the best advice is simply to memorize the plurals of every word.

Plural forms in Arabic are highly irregular. Rather than simply adding a suffix to the singular form like English, a majority of Arabic nouns become plural by changing their internal form entirely. Attempts to quantify the Arabic system of "broken plurals" (as they are called) into a teachable system produces dozens of distinct patterns. In other words, practically speaking, it's almost random. While not too much of a problem for native speakers, even Arabs will sometimes be at a loss what the plural form is of a more-rarely-used word. For those learning Arabic, the best advice is simply to memorize the plurals of every word.

So why is Modern Standard Arabic taught? Firstly, it is the only written form of Arabic. Dialects have no official written forms. In this sense, Arabs may be said to read in one language and speak in another. There is actually a word for this - "diglossia." Secondly, because of its association with the Quran, it remains the language of high society and the media. [[note]] Due the prestige associated with it, there is a fun game you can play: if you want to find out where an Arab is from without asking directly, simply ask them which dialect they think is closest to Quranic Arabic. They will almost always say their own. [[/note]] Someone who understands only dialect will not be able to listen to the news, or indeed read any printed media like newspapers or books.

One other thing to mention: learning Arabic is hard not just because of the difficulties highlighted above, but because of the comparative dearth of resources available for Arab language learners, especially compared to other "hard" languages like Chinese or Japanese. There are more resources available for learning Gaelic (spoken by around a million people in Ireland) than there are for Arabic. Most resources available are for teaching MSA, followed by Egyptian dialect, and then for anything else it quickly drops to near zero. This is partly due to the extremely low regard in which Arabs hold their own dialects (despite their everyday use) compared to MSA, considering them "street languages." To them, teaching dialect in school would be like teaching internet chatspeak. Learning and becoming fluent in Arabic is not impossible, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart. One really needs to socialize frequently with native speakers to have a good shot at success.

So why is Modern Standard Arabic taught? Firstly, it is the only written form of Arabic. Dialects have no official written forms. In this sense, Arabs may be said to read in one language and speak in another. There is actually a word for this - "diglossia." Secondly, because of its association with the Quran, it remains the language of high society and the media. Someone who understands only dialect will not be able to listen to the news, or indeed read any printed media like newspapers or books.

One other thing to mention: learning Arabic is hard not just because of the difficulties highlighted above, but because of the comparative dearth of resources available for Arab language learners, especially compared to other "hard" languages like Chinese or Japanese. There are more resources available for learning Gaelic (spoken by around a million people in Ireland) than there are for Arabic. Most resources available are for teaching MSA, followed by Egyptian dialect, and then for anything else it quickly drops to near zero. This is partly due to the extremely low regard in which Arabs hold their own dialects compared to MSA, despite their everyday use, considering them "street languages."

This can be seen in the reaction, from Arabs themselves, to the creation of an Egyptian wikipedia (rather than MSA). Arabs claimed that Egyptian "was not a language" and was unfit to be used in an encyclopedic format. A similar reaction might come from English speakers at the creation of a "Texan Wikipedia" although the difference between Egyptian and MSA is much larger. To them, teaching dialect in school would be like teaching internet chatspeak. Learning and becoming fluent in Arabic is not impossible, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart. One really needs to socialize frequently with native speakers to have a good shot at success.

One other thing to mention: learning Arabic is hard not just because of the difficulties highlighted above, but because of the comparative dearth of resources available for Arab language learners, especially compared to other "hard" languages like Chinese or Japanese. There are more resources available for learning Gaelic (spoken by around a million people in Ireland) than there are for Arabic. Most resources available are for teaching MSA, followed by Egyptian dialect, and then for anything else it quickly drops to near zero. This is partly due to the extremely low regard in which Arabs hold their own dialects compared to MSA, despite their everyday use, considering them "street languages." This can be seen in the reaction, from Arabs themselves, to the creation of an Egyptian wikipedia (rather than MSA). Arabs claimed that Egyptian "was not a language" and was unfit to be used in an encyclopedic format. To them, teaching dialect in school would be like teaching internet chatspeak. Learning and becoming fluent in Arabic is not impossible, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart. One really needs to socialize frequently with native speakers to have a good shot at success.

One other thing to mention: learning Arabic is hard not just because of the difficulties highlighted above, but because of the comparative dearth of resources available for Arab language learners, especially compared to other "hard" languages like Chinese or Japanese. There are more resources available for learning Gaelic (spoken by around a million people in Ireland) than there are for Arabic. Most resources available are for teaching MSA, followed by Egyptian dialect, and then for anything else it quickly drops to near zero. This is partly due to the fact that even Arabs don't teach dialect in their own countries, due to their status as "street languages"; to them, teaching dialect in school would be like teaching internet chatspeak. Any grammar or language schooling done in the Arab world is all MSA. Learning and becoming fluent in Arabic is not impossible, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart. One really needs to socialize frequently with native speakers to have a good shot at success.