What Makes Arabic Distinct?

Arabic is a major global language with over 400 million speakers worldwide. It is an official language in more than 20 countries and the fifth most widely spoken language in the world. With a long history and an important literary tradition, Arabic has developed some wonderful and unique features which make it a truly interesting language to learn.

Here are just 7 of the many aspects which make Arabic distinct:

1. Root-Based Vocabulary

Almost all Arabic words are derived from a three-consonant root called the jidhr, which carries the underlying concept of a word. For example, the root k-t-b carries the meaning of writing. From this root, we can derive kataba meaning “he wrote,” kitāb meaning “book,” maktab meaning “desk” or “office,” and many other words.

This feature is unique to the Semitic languages, a group of languages including Arabic and Hebrew, spoken mainly in North Africa and the Middle East. For students learning Arabic, getting to grips with this system can feel like cracking a code. Once you learn the core meaning of a root, you unlock not just one word but many, and learning new vocabulary becomes much easier.

2. Classical Arabic, MSA, and the Dialects

Students new to Arabic are often surprised that Arabic has several varieties which differ from each other linguistically, grammatically, and phonologically. Linguists often divide Arabic into three main types:

• Classical Arabic is the language of the Qur’an and pre-Islamic literature.
• Modern Standard Arabic (MSA or fusha) is the formal variety of Arabic used across the Arabic-speaking world in media and education. This is often the variety of Arabic which non-native speakers learn first.
• Regional dialects are used in everyday, colloquial settings. This is the language you hear spoken on the streets across the Arabic-speaking world.

The dialects differ both from each other and from MSA. They are influenced by their own geography and history. For example, the Tunisian dialect contains words from both Amazigh and French, while the Egyptian dialect has been influenced by the Coptic language.

This variety makes Arabic an incredibly rich language. There is always something new to learn. For example, in Tunisia you would get in your karhba (car), in Egypt you would get in your ‘arabiya, and in a newspaper written in MSA you would read the word sayyāra for car.

3. The Arabic Script

The Arabic script is the second most widely used script in the world after the Latin script. It is not only used as the writing system for Arabic, but also for languages like Persian and Urdu. It was even used for some Spanish texts during the medieval period.

Arabic is a cursive script, meaning that unlike the Latin alphabet, words are written joined up and letter shapes change depending on their position in the word. It is also the basis of Islamic calligraphy, a highly stylised form of artistic writing found in art and architecture across the Islamic world and beyond.

4. Arabic Is Written from Right to Left, but Numbers Are Written from Left to Right

Unlike most languages which are written from left to right, Arabic is famously written from right to left. While this may seem intimidating to beginners at first, most learners quickly find that once they start learning the script, reading from right to left becomes natural.

Arabic numerals, however, are read from left to right, as in the Latin alphabet. This is something Arabic learners have to keep in mind to avoid mistakes such as writing a phone number backwards.

5. Rare Sounds

Arabic has several sounds that are incredibly rare, or even unique to Arabic. For students learning Arabic, these sounds can feel tongue-twisting at first and may take some time to master, but they are also one of the most fascinating aspects of the language.

Some of the trickiest letters to pronounce, especially for English speakers, are:

• ع (‘ayn): pronounced like a deep “ah” sound at the back of the throat
• غ (ghayn): similar to a French “r”
• ح (ha): an “h” sound like the noise made when misting glasses to clean them
• ق (qāf): similar to a “k” but produced much further back in the throat

Arabic also has four emphatic letters which sound like heavier versions of sounds found in English and other Western languages:

• ص (ṣād): like a heavy “s”
• ض (ḍād): like a heavy “d”
• ط (ṭāʾ): like a heavy “t”
• ظ (ẓāʾ): like a heavy “th”

Arabic is even nicknamed lughat al-ḍād, meaning “the language of ḍād,” because the letter ض is said to exist only in Arabic.

6. No Verb “To Be” in the Present Tense

While the verb kāna (“to be”) does exist in Arabic, it is not used in simple present tense sentences. In English, beginners have to learn how to conjugate “to be” in order to say things like “I am tired” or “he is happy.”

In Arabic, these sentences do not require the verb “to be,” and so they are expressed as ana muta'ab (literally, “I tired”) and huwa sa'eed (literally, “he happy”). This is something many beginners are delighted to discover, since it becomes possible to say a lot in Arabic after learning just a few words.

7. The Dual

In Arabic, alongside singular and plural versions of nouns, there are also specific forms used for two of something. This is called the dual.

This grammatical feature means that a lot of information can be contained in a single word, where English would need several words to communicate the same meaning. For example, if you wanted to refer to two female teachers, you would use the word mudarrisatāni, and your listener would know from that one word that you are talking about two teachers, both of whom are female.

Final Thoughts

Arabic is a language of depth, beauty, and complexity. From its root-based structure and rich variety of dialects to its unique script and sounds, it offers learners an experience unlike any other language. Whether you are interested in Arabic for travel, culture, religion, or communication, learning it opens the door to an incredibly rich linguistic world.