Language Learning: Arabic
This month we are exploring the Arabic language in celebration of World Arabic Language Day. Arabic Language Day is celebrated every year on December 18th since 2012. The date coincides with the day that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Arabic as the sixth official language of the Organization in 1973.
The U.N.’s objective of Arabic Language Day is to promote equal use of all six official working languages through the organization and to celebrate multilingualism, as a core value, and cultural diversity. The celebration of the Arabic Language Day aims to acknowledge the contribution of the ‘Arabic language’ in enriching science, philosophy, literature, art, and universal culture. The day is also an opportunity to look into the status and the future of one of the most widely spoken languages across the globe.
The Arabic language is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, used daily by more than 400 million people. It is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. There are 32 varieties of Arabic, including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic, derived from Classical Arabic.
Abu al-Aswad al-Du’ali is credited with standardizing Arabic grammar and pioneering a system of diacritics to differentiate consonants and indicate vocalization. Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi compiled the first Arabic dictionary and is credited with establishing the rules of Arabis prosody. The standardization of Arabic reached completion around the end of the 8th century.
On World Arabic Language Day, UNESCO is encouraging everyone to celebrate not only a language, but also a culture and emphasizing how much we need diverse perspectives.
