Arabic languages

Introduction

Arabic (العربية al-ʿarabiyyah or just عربي ʿarabī) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. Classified as Central Semitic, it is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic, and has its roots in a Proto-Semitic common ancestor. Modern Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage with 27 sub-languages. These varieties are spoken throughout the Arab world, and Standard Arabic is widely studied and known throughout the Islamic world.

Languages

• Arabic, Algerian Saharan Spoken
• Arabic, Tajiki Spoken
• Arabic, Baharna Spoken
• Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken
• Arabic, Ta'izzi-Adeni Spoken
• Arabic, Hijazi Spoken
• Arabic, Omani Spoken
• Arabic, Cypriot Spoken
• Arabic, Dhofari Spoken
• Arabic, Tunisian Spoken
• Arabic, Sa`idi Spoken
• Arabic, Gulf Spoken
• Arabic, South Levantine Spoken
• Arabic, Judeo-Tunisian
• Arabic, Judeo-Moroccan
• Arabic, North Levantine Spoken
• Arabic, Sudanese Spoken
• Arabic, Standard
• Arabic, Algerian Spoken
• Arabic, Najdi Spoken
• Arabic, Moroccan Spoken
• Arabic, Egyptian Spoken
• Arabic, Uzbeki Spoken
• Arabic, Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Spoken
• Arabic, Hadrami Spoken
• Arabic, Libyan Spoken
• Arabic, Sanaani Spoken
• Arabic, North Mesopotamian Spoken
• Arabic, Judeo-Yemeni
• Hassaniyya
• Maltese
• Arabic, Chadian Spoken
• Arabic, Shihhi Spoken
• Arabic, Judeo-Iraqi
• Arabic, Judeo-Tripolitanian

Geographic distribution

Varieties of Arabic

The Arabic language is a Semitic language with many varieties that diverge widely from one another -— both from country to country and within a single country.

The verb

As in many other Semitic languages, Arabic verb formation is based on a (usually) triconsonantal root, which is not a word in itself but contains the semantic core. The consonants k-t-b, for example, indicate 'write'. Words are formed by supplying the root with a vowel structure and with affixes. Traditionally, Arabic grammarians have used the root f-ʿ-l 'do' as a template to discuss word formation. The personal forms a verb can take correspond to the forms of the pronouns, except that in the 3rd person dual, gender is differentiated, yielding paradigms of 13 forms.

Prefixes and suffixes

In Arabic, the grammatical person and number as well as the mood is designated by a variety of prefixes and suffixes. Most Arabic verbs are regular and follow the pattern detailed below.

Stem formation

A verb stem is derived from a consonantal root by using a verbal template known as a "form" or "measure". Each of these templates is associated with a range of meanings. In Western scholarship on Arabic, these templates are usually referred to by a Roman numeral. For example, the perfective of Form VI has the template taCaaCaC, and verbs of this form often have the meaning of a reciprocal action, such as takaatab- "to write to each other". Similarly, verbs of Form II have the perfective template CaCCaC and are often causative or intensive in meaning. Modern Standard Arabic has ten commonly used forms. The modern dialects generally preserve the bulk of these forms, but may lack some of them and also have forms which do not directly correspond to any of the MSA forms.

Standard Arabic and the modern dialects use different strategies to form the passive of a verb. Standard Arabic verbs form their passives by changing the vowel pattern inside the verb stem, as in dafana "he buried" > dufina "he was buried". The modern dialects use a form which employs a passive prefix. For example, in Egyptian Arabic, dafan "he buried" > iddafan "he was buried".

The verb has a perfective conjugation to denote completed events, and an imperfective conjugation to denote uncompleted actions. Particles can be added to these forms to create a wider range of tenses. For example, the Standard Arabic imperfective verb form yaktubu "he writes" can be preceded by the particle sawfa to express the future tense, as in sawfa yaktubu "he will write". The varieties of Arabic differ in their use of particles. The imperfective conjugation of Standard Arabic has a system of moods (indicative, subjunctive, and jussive) not found in the modern dialects. Verbs also have active and passive participals and an imperative form. However, there is no infinitive.

Arabic languages in WikiVerb