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Arab countries. Palestine, Jordan, Iraq

,
Comoros,
Kuwait,
Lebanon,
Libya,
Mauritania,
Morocco,
UAE,
Oman,
Eritrea,
Saudi Arabia ,
Syria,
Somalia,
Sudan,
Tunisia,
Chad,
SADR
() ,
State of Palestine
(partially recognized state),
Somaliland
(unrecognized state).
Organizations:
UNO,
African Union,
OIS ,
LAG,
GCC,
Agadir Agreement
Regulatory Organizations: Royal Moroccan Academy (Morocco), Arabic Language Academy (Egypt), Arabic Language Academy in Damascus (Syria), Jordanian Arabic Language Academy (Jordan), Iraqi Scientific Academy in Baghdad (Iraq), Arabic Language Academy in Khurtum (Sudan), the House of Wisdom Foundation (Tunisia), the Academy of the Arabic Language in Jamahiriya (Libya), the Israeli Academy of the Arabic Language (Israel).

Total number of speakers:

from 260 to 323 million

Rating : Classification Semitic family West Semitic branch Central Semitic group Arabian subgroup Writing : Language codes GOST 7.75–97: ISO 639-1 : ISO 639-2: ISO 639-3: See also: Project:Linguistics Distribution of the Arabic language
The only official One of the official

Arabic (Arab. اللغة العربية ‎‎, al-luga al-ʿarabiyya listen)) belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasian family of languages. There are about 240 million speakers of Arabic and its variants (mother tongue), and about 50 million people use Arabic as a second language. Classical Arabic, the language of the Quran, is used to a limited extent for religious purposes by adherents of Islam around the world ( total strength 1.57 billion people).

Dialects

Modern colloquial Arabic falls into 5 groups of dialects that are actually separate languages ​​from a linguistic point of view:

  • Maghreb group of dialects
  • Egyptian-Sudanese Arabic
  • Syro-Mesopotamian Arabic
  • Arabian dialect group (= "language")
  • Central Asian group of dialects (= "language")

The Maghreb language belongs to the western group, the rest - to the eastern group of Arabic languages ​​​​and dialects. (See "language or dialect" problem); It is preferable to use the term “dialect” established in Arabic studies ( Arab. لهجة ‎‎)

Literary language (in Western Arabic studies, the term English is used. Modern Standard Arabic- modern standard Arabic) - single. Literary Arabic combines the vocabulary for many things in the modern world or science, but at the same time in some Arabic countries it is quite rarely used in colloquial speech.

The place of the Arabic language in the Semitic language group

Classical Arabic differs little from Old Arabic. Many Semitic roots are also found in Arabic. There has been a tendency in Semitic studies in the past to regard Classical Arabic as the most archaic of the Semitic languages. However, over time, through comparison with other Afroasiatic languages, it has been found that much of Classical Arabic is not so original.

Story

For centuries, the language was constantly changing, which, however, had little effect on writing, because short vowels, except in the Koran, are not written in the text.

Classical (High) Arabic is not the native language of the Arabs today. However, even today, with a modified vocabulary, it is used in almost all newspapers and books, with the exception of Tunisia, Morocco and partly Algeria, where Arabic shares the role of a literary language with French. In scientific and technical literature in other Arab countries, where the required vocabulary is lacking, English is often used. This language is sometimes ironically referred to as Modern High Arabic.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of the modern Arabic literary language is characterized by the fact that its main part is originally Arabic. “The Arabs highly value the word-formation possibilities of their language, seeing in the richness and clarity of word-formation paradigms the key to adapting the Arabic literary language to the current state of society. Moreover, it should be noted that in modern processes nominations, the most active are models with high rate generalizations. So, recently the vocabulary of the Arabic literary language has been significantly replenished due to derivative names formed by adding the suffix ية-, which forms a derivative series with the meaning of generalized abstract qualities and properties: استقلالية independence; حركية dynamism, dynamics; شمولية maximalism; totalitarianism; اشكلالية - problem, etc.” . Some of the vocabulary is general Semitic and only a small part is foreign, such as the words: “TV” - تِلِيفِزْيُونْ [tilifizyon], دكتورة the title of doctor, سكرتير secretary, فيلم film. The total number of loanwords from European languages ​​is small, accounting for about one percent of the vocabulary.

For the Arabic literary language, four large synchronous slices of vocabulary development are distinguished: the pre-Islamic dictionary of the communal-tribal system (end of the 7th - and beginning of the 8th centuries); expansion of the vocabulary associated with the birth, development and prosperity of the medieval Arabic-speaking civilization (until the 12th century); a period of stagnation and a reduction in the range of use of the Arabic literary language (XIII-XVIII centuries) and the beginning of the modern period (from the middle of the XIX century).

Synonymy, polysemy of words and homonymy have been widely developed in the Arabic language. The main ways of word formation are: morphological - according to word-building models and formulas, syntactic and semantic.

Despite the fact that the vocabulary is very rich, it is often not standardized enough and is often overloaded with the linguistic past. For example, there is no word that exactly matches the word nation. The word (أمة ‎, ummah) denoting in the past, and in a religious context to this day, “a community of believers (Muslims)”; or, for example, "nationality" (جنسية ‎, jinsiya) generally means "belonging to a gender", for example sex life sounds like (حياة الجنسية ‎, haya: t al-jinsiyya). The word "nationalism" (قومية ‎, kaumiya), comes originally from the vocabulary of nomads kaum and means "tribe" in the sense of "nomadic tribe".

Phonetics

Phonetically, literary Arabic is characterized by a widely developed system of consonant phonemes, especially guttural, emphatic and interdental.

“In the phonetic sections of grammatical works, either only the articulations of Arabic sounds were described, or also their combinatorial change. The Indian system of classification of sounds, based on the place of articulation and other articulatory features, had a significant influence on the Arabs. The method of comparing sounds in articulatory and functional relations was used. Avicenna introduced the concept of correlation to establish relationships between sounds. Gemination cases were qualified as the result of complete progressive or regressive contact assimilation. Partial and distant assimilation was described. Questions about the interaction of consonants and vowels, about the replacement of consonants, about metathesis, about the loss of hamza, about elision, about the emergence of a connecting vowel, about palatalization, velarization, about sound symbolism were studied.

Pronunciation

Efforts are underway in many Arab countries to bring the pronunciation closer to standard Arabic. The basis is the citation norm (ar. tilāwa تلاوة ‎) of the Koran. This style of pronunciation is usually used only in a religious context.

It can be stated with certainty that the original pronunciation of High Arabic is not exactly known. For example, there is no consensus on the pronunciation of the ending un indefinite nouns ( kitabun etc. kitab). There are arguments in favor of two options, and since there were no vowels (vowels) in the ancient handwritten script, it is impossible to say with certainty how it was pronounced.

Swadesh list for Arabic
№ Arab Russian
1 أنا I
2 أنت you
3 هو is he
4 نحن we
5 أنت you
6 هم they
7 هذا this, this, this
8 أن that, that, that
9 هنا here
10 هناك there
11 الذي who
12 أن what
13 حيث where
14 عندما when
15 كما as
16 ليس not
17 جميع all, all, all, all
18 كثير many
19 بعض some
20 قليل few
21 آخر other, other
22 واحد one
23 اثنان two
24 ثلاثة three
25 أربعة four
26 خمسة five
27 عظيم big, great
28 طويل long, long
29 واسع wide
30 سميك thick
31 ثقيل heavy
32 صغير little
33 قصير short, brief
34 ضيق narrow
35 رقيق thin
36 امرأة female
37 رجل the male
38 رجل Human
39 طفل child, child
40 زوجة wife
41 زوج husband
42 والدة mother
43 والد father
44 حيوان beast, animal
45 سمك fish
46 طائر bird, bird
47 كلب dog, dog
48 قملة louse
49 ثعبان snake
50 دودة worm
51 شجرة wood
52 غابة forest
53 عصا stick, rod
54 فاكهة fruit
55 بذرة seed, seeds
56 يترك sheet
57 جذر root
58 قشرة bark
59 زهرة flower
60 عشب grass
61 حبل rope
62 جلد leather
63 لحم meat
64 دم blood
65 عظم bone
66 دهن fat
67 بيضة egg
68 قرن horn
69 ذيل tail
70 قلم feather
71 شعر hair
72 رئيس head
73 الأذن ear
74 عين eye, eye
75 أنف nose
76 فم mouth
77 سن tooth
78 لغة tongue)
79 مسمار nail
80 قدم foot, leg
81 ساق leg
82 ركبة knee
83 يد hand
84 جناح wing
85 معدة belly, belly
86 في الداخل entrails, intestines
87 العنق neck
88 ظهر back
89 صدر breast
90 قلب a heart
91 كبد liver
92 شرب drink
93 هناك eat, eat
94 عض bite
95 مص suck
96 بصق spit
97 تقيؤ tear, vomit
98 ضربة blow
99 تنفس breathe
100 ضحك laugh

Writing

Arabic is written from right to left. Moreover, in Arabic, unlike languages ​​with Latin or Cyrillic graphics, there are no capital letters, so proper names are written like any other word, as well as the first word in a sentence.

Anthroponymy

Arabic names are traditionally written in direct order.

Grammar

"Arab scholars usually divided grammar into syntax, morphology and phonetics and paid considerable attention to word formation, and in connection with it etymology, thanks to which root theory reached a high level in the 11th century. Syntax and morphology are the most original parts of Arabic grammar, not having sources neither in Greek nor in Indian works and focused on the specifics of the Arabic language.

The task of syntax was the structural-semantic analysis of the sentence. It postulated a subject-predicate relationship between two names or between a name and a verb. The sentences were small/elementary and large, forming a hierarchy; nominal, verbal and adverbial sentences - depending on which word is at the beginning of the sentence, and, accordingly, different types of subjects and predicates. identified and classified in detail minor members proposals (up to five types of additions, circumstances different types, "applications"). There were cases of formal and virtual implementation of inflections. The concept of an implied member was introduced to explain the construction. Relations of coordination, control and contiguity were also analyzed.

In morphology, parts of speech and features of their formation that were not syntactically determined were considered. This included such issues as parts of speech (name, verb and particles up to 27 types), root structure, names and their multidimensional classification according to different grounds(explicit names - nouns, adjectives, hidden names - personal pronouns, common names - demonstrative and relative pronouns, etc.), verbs (with a detailed classification of their forms and meanings), two-case and three-case names, the formation of relative names, the formation of composites , the formation of forms of number and gender, the formation of deminutives, changes in the form of a word due to the presence of weak root consonants, pausal forms, etc. The question of masdar was also discussed here.

Particularly great successes were achieved in phonetics (Khalil ibn Ahmad; Abu Ali ibn Sina - Avicenna, 980-1037; Sibavaihi).

The Arabic language is characterized by highly developed inflection. (The inflection and similarity of the inflection of the Semitic and Indo-European languages ​​has been called into question by some researchers of the languages. The inflection of the Indo-European languages ​​is a different phenomenon from the inflection of the Semitic languages, since it implies a stronger interaction of inflection with the root. The Arabic language is characterized by agglutination. Some scientists, in particular, A. A. Reformatsky, they believe that the fusion of Semitic languages ​​is a special form of agglutination, since the fusion of a Semitic word is a predictable process and proceeds according to relatively strict formulas that Arabic authors like to represent using the three-letter root فعل with the meaning make and the vowels themselves forming a fusion, as a rule, are independent of the root. A similar, but not analogous, phenomenon is seen in a number of non-Semitic languages, in particular Germanic. Such, for example, are singular and plural pairs of words in English, such as foot - feet, tooth - teeth, or root vowel changes in irregular English verbs or so-called strong verbs. German language, but in the Germanic languages ​​there is no regularity in the reproduction of the so-called fusion formulas. Most words in Arabic can be traced back to their original verb form, which usually consists of three or four (rarely two or five) root consonants.

Although the root is indivisible for the mind of the speaker, some familiarity with the analysis of the root is useful for facilitating the memorization of such an extensive root word as Arabic is endowed with, and for the feasible interpretation of unfamiliar roots when reading without a dictionary.

Root of the word

The Arabic root is most often three-letter, less often two- or four-letter, and even less often five-letter; but already for a four-letter root, a requirement is set that it contains at least one of the smooth consonants (vox memoriae (memory): مُرْ بِنَفْلٍ).

According to the well-known Russian Arabist S. S. Meisel, the number of triconsonant roots in the modern Arabic literary language is 82% of the total number of the Arabic root word.

Not any consonants can participate in the composition of the root: some of them are compatible in the same root (more precisely, in the same cell; see below: b), others are incompatible.

Incompatible:

  1. Glottal: غ ع خ ح (if ع and ء are compatible)
  2. Non guttural:

ب and فم

ت and ث

ث and س ص ض ط ظ

ج and ف ق ك

خ and ظقك

د and ذ

ذ and ص ض ط ظ

ر and ل

ز and ض ص ظ

س and ص ض

ش and ضل

ص and ض ط ظ

ض and ط ظ

ط and ظك

ظ and غق

غ and ق ك

ق and ك غ

ل and ن

This feature of the composition of the Arabic root somewhat facilitates the task of the reader of the manuscript without dots; for example, the spelling حعفر ‎ should be جَعْفَر ‎

It should be noted that the translation of the cases الرَّفْعُ, الجَرُّ and النَّصْبُ is very conditional, since the genitive and accusative cases of the Arabic language include names that, when translated, can appear in any of the remaining three cases of the Russian language:

Zayd cut the rope with a knife ( instrumental case)

We were talking about studying (prepositional case)

قُلْ لِمُحَمَّدٍ - الجَرُّ Say to Muhammad (dative)

قَاوَمَ اَلشَّعْبُ اَلْمُسْتَعْمِرِينَ - اَلنَّصْبُ The people fought against the colonialists (active case)

The signs by which the case is recognized are different and they depend on the morphological features of the name.

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    Noun

    A noun in Arabic has such morphological concepts as gender, number - singular, dual (very rarely used in dialects) and plural, case and state, as well as the categories of definiteness, indefiniteness and neutral status.

    Genus. There are only two genders in Arabic: masculine and feminine. For names with a characteristic ending [atun], the feminine gender is often characteristic. In general, the belonging of a name to a particular genus is associated with a meaning, for example, with a sign of gender.

    For example, the noun أُمٌّ ["ummun]-(mother), despite its ending is feminine. For many nouns denoting the name of a profession or occupation, the feminine gender is formed by simply adding to the corresponding name male endings [-atun]. For example:

    طَالِبٌ [ student] طَالِبَةٌ [ student]

    To pass on the graduation letter femaleﺓ [t̄’ marbӯṭa ], a letter that is not in the alphabet, is used. It is a graphic variant of the usual ت [t], which is called [t̄ ’], or “stretched t”. Connecting the ends of the “stretched t” to each other, we get ﺓ [t̄’ marbutṭa]. In Semitic languages, [t] is one of the main indicators of gender. When agreeing with names, ت is used in verbs, and ﺓ in names. [t̄’ marbutụa] is written only at the end of a word and can have two styles: without connection - ﺓ ‎ and when connected on the right - ﺔ ‎.

    Verb

    The verb is characterized by a high development of verb forms, called breeds: a single system of conjugation of all verbs; a developed system of temporary forms (three simple and three complex tenses); two pledges (real and passive); five moods (indicative, subjunctive, conditional, imperative and reinforced); the system of verbal names associated with the breeds (the so-called "masdars").

    The verb denotes the action or state of a person or object and acts as a predicate in a sentence. The most common type of Arabic verb is the three-consonant verb. Three consonants standing side by side and voiced by fatha (the middle root can also be voiced by ḍamma or kasra), represent a 3rd person masculine verb singular past tense. Such a verb form has the formula فَعَلَ . As the simplest, this form is taken as the initial one in the formation of derivative forms and is conventionally translated in dictionaries as an infinitive. When conjugating an Arabic verb, personal pronouns are omitted, since person, number and gender are quite fully expressed in personal endings.

    Past tense of the verb - The past tense of an Arabic verb is used to express an action that took place before the moment of speech, and is formed by replacing the ending of the 3rd person singular masculine with the corresponding personal endings. The Arabic verb, unlike the Russian one, does not receive a clear aspectual meaning in the past tense, and therefore, depending on the meaning of the sentence, it can be translated both in the form of the perfect and in the form of the imperfect form of the Russian verb. For example:كَتَبَ "he wrote" or "he wrote".

    Present-future tense Arabic verb expresses an action that is unfinished in nature, occurring or beginning simultaneously with the moment of speech or with some other moment, directly or indirectly indicated in this statement. The present-future tense form is formed from the past tense form by adding the appropriate prefixes and endings; at the same time, the first root loses its vowel (sukun appears above it), and the second receives fatkḥu, ḍamma or kasra, which is called typical vowel and is indicated in dictionaries by the corresponding letter (a, i, y) placed in brackets after the verb.

    Future tense of the verb formed on the basis of the present tense form by adding the prefix سوف to it [saufa] or its shortened version س [sa]. Unlike س, which is written together with the verb form, سوف is written separately with it. Both prefixes have no independent meaning. The conjugation of the verb in this tense form is basically the same as the conjugation in the present-future tense form.

    In modern Arabic, especially in the periodical press, the verb of the second kind, formed from the prefix سوف, is actively used, as well as the masdar of this verb تسويف, in the meaning of "endless delay", "constant postponing for an indefinite future" in relation to any plans, promises or obligations, for example, pre-election, etc.].

    Verb conjugation كَتَبَ (write)
    in past tense
    Face Genus Unit number Duality number Plural number
    1-oe - كَتَبْتُ
    [katabtu]     		- كَتَبْنَا
    [katabna:]
    2nd M. كَتَبْتَ
    [katabta]     		كَتَبْتُمَا
    [katabtum:]     		كَتَبْتُمْ
    [catabtum]
    J. كَتَبْتِ
    [katabti]     		كَتَبْتُنَّ
    [katabtunna]
    3rd M. كَتَبَ
    [kataba]     		كَتَبَا
    [kataba:]     		كَتَبُوا
    [katabu:]
    J. كَتَبَتْ
    [katabat]     		كَتَبَتَا
    [katabata:]     		كَتَبْنَ
    [katabna]
    		Verb conjugation كَتَبَ (y) (write)
    in present-future tense
    Face Genus Unit number Duality number Plural number
    1-oe - أكْتُبُ
    [aktubu]     		- نَكْتُبُ
    [naktubu]
    2nd M. تَكْتُبُ
    [taktubu]     		تَكْتُبَانِ
    [taktuba: neither]     		تَكْتُبُونَ
    [taktubu: na]
    J. تَكْتُبِينَ
    [taktubi:na]     		تَكْتُبْنَ
    [taktubna]
    3rd M. يَكْتُبُ
    [yaktubu]     		يَكْتُبَانِ
    [yaktuba: neither]     		يَكْتُبُونَ
    [yaktubu: on]
    J. تَكْتُبُ
    [taktubu]     		تَكْتُبَانِ
    [taktuba: neither]     		يَكْتُبْنَ
    [yaktubna]
    		Verb conjugation كَتَبَ (write)
    in future tense
    Face Genus Unit number Duality number Plural number
    1-oe - سَأكْتُبُ
    [saaktubu]

    سَوُفَ أكْتُبُ

    		- سَنَكْتُبُ
    [sanaktubu]

    سَوُفَ نَكْتُبُ

    2nd M. سَتَكْتُبُ
    [sataktubu]

    سَوُفَ تَكْتُبُ

    		سَتَكْتُبَانِ
    [sataktuba: neither]

    سَوُفَ تَكْتُبَانِ

    		سَتَكْتُبُونَ
    [sataktubu:na]

    سَوُفَ تَكْتُبُونَ

    J. سَتَكْتُبِينَ
    [sataktubi:na]

    سَوُفَ تَكْتُبِينَ

    		سَتَكْتُبْنَ
    [sataktubna]

    سَوُفَ تَكْتُبْنَ

    3rd M. سَيَكْتُبُ
    [sayaktubu]

    سَوُفَ يَكْتُبُ

    		سَيَكْتُبَانِ
    [sayaktuba: neither]

    سَوُفَ يَكْتُبَانِ

    		سَيَكْتُبُونَ
    [sayaktubu: na]

    سَوُفَ يَكْتُبُونَ

    J. سَتَكْتُبُ
    [sataktubu]

    سَوُفَ تَكْتُبُ

    		سَتَكْتُبَانِ
    [sataktuba: neither]

    سَوُفَ تَكْتُبَانِ

    		سَيَكْتُبْنَ
    [sayaktubna]

    سَوُفَ يَكْتُبْنَ

    Most used words

    The three most common words are particles that are written together with the next word. These include الـ ‎ al(definite article), و ‎ wa(conjunction "and"), and بـ ‎ bi(preposition "through").

    The Eight Most Common Single Words

    1. في ‎ fi(in)
    2. من ‎ min(from, from)
    3. على ‎ " ala(on the)
    4. أن ‎ Anna(what (conjunction))
    5. إن ‎ inna(truly)
    6. إلى ‎ silt(to, to, before)
    7. كان ‎ ka: on(be)
    8. هذا، هذه ‎ ha:ra, ha:rihi(this[t], this)

    Language is perhaps the most important function human body- it allows us to get food as a child, it allows us to get almost anything we want as adults, and it also gives us many hours of entertainment through literature, radio, music, and films. This list (in order from least common) summarizes the most important languages ​​in use today.

    10. French

    Number of speakers: 129 million

    Often referred to as the most romantic language in the world, French is spoken in many countries including Belgium, Canada, Rwanda, Cameroon and Haiti. Oh yes, and in France too. We're actually very lucky that French is so popular, because without it, we'd be at a dead end with Dutch Toast, Dutch French Fries and Dutch Kissing (ugh!).

    To say "hello" in French, say "Bonjour" (bon-JUR).

    9. Malay-Indonesian language

    Number of speakers: 159 million

    Malayo-Indonesian is spoken - surprise - in Malaysia and Indonesia. In fact, we will deviate from the quantity because there are many Malay dialects, the most popular of which is Indonesian. But they are all largely based on the same root language, making it the ninth most spoken language in the world.

    Indonesia is a charming place; The nation consists of more than 13,000 islands, it is the sixth most populous country in the world. Malaysia is bordered by two large areas of Indonesia (including the island of Borneo), and is mainly known for its capital Kuala Lumpur.

    To say “hello” in Indonesian, say “Selamat pagi” (se-la-macht pa-gi).

    8. Portuguese

    Number of speakers: 191 million

    Think of Portuguese as little tongue. In the 12th century, Portugal gained independence from Spain and expanded around the world with the help of its famous explorers such as Vasco da Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator. (It's good that Henry became a navigator... could you imagine if a guy named "Prince Henry the Navigator" became a florist?) is the national language), Macau, Angola, Venezuela, and Mozambique.

    To say hello to Portuguese, say, “Bom dia” (Bom DI-a).

    7. Bengali language

    Number of speakers: 211 million

    In Bangladesh, a country of over 120 million people, Bengali is spoken by just about everyone. And because Bangladesh is actually surrounded by India (where the population is growing so fast that it feels like breathing the air you can get pregnant), the number of Bengali speakers in the world is much higher than most people would expect.

    To say "hello" in Bengali, say "Ei Je" (Ai-jay).

    6. Arabic language

    Number of speakers: 246 million

    Arabic, one of the oldest languages ​​in the world, is spoken in the Middle East, with speakers found in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Also, because Arabic is the language of the Quran, millions of Muslims in other countries also speak Arabic. So many people have a working knowledge of Arabic, in fact, which made it the sixth official language of the United Nations in 1974.

    To say “hello” in Arabic, say “Al salaam a’alaykum” (Al sa-LAM a a-LEY-kum).

    5. Russian language

    Number of speakers: 277 million

    Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Yakov Smirnov are among the millions of Russian speakers. Of course, we used to think of them as our communist enemies. Now we think of them as our communist friends. One of the six languages ​​at the UN, Russian is spoken not only in his homeland, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan and the USA (we name a few places).

    To say "hello" in Russian, say "Hello" (Hello).

    4. Spanish

    Number of speakers: 392 million

    Apart from all those kids who learn it in high school, Spanish is spoken in just about every South American and Central American country, not to mention Spain, Cuba and the USA. There is a particular interest in Spanish in the US as many English words are borrowed from their language, including: tornado, bonanza, patio, quesadilla, enchilada, and taco grande supreme.

    To say "hello" in Spanish, say "Hola" (OH-LA).

    3. Hindustani

    Number of speakers: 497 million

    Hindustani is the main language of overpopulated India, and it includes a huge number of dialects (of which Hindi is the most widely spoken). While many predict that India's population will soon surpass China's, the acceptance of English in India prevents Hindustani from being recognized as the world's most spoken language. If you're interested in getting a little Hindi, there's a very easy way: Rent an Indian movie. The film industry in India is the most prosperous in the world, producing thousands of action/romance/musicals every year.

    To say "hello" in Hindustani, say "Namaste" (Na-ma-ste).

    2. English

    Number of speakers: 508 million

    While English does not have the most speakers, it is the official language of more countries than any other language. It is spoken all over the world including New Zealand, USA, Australia, England, Zimbabwe, Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa and Canada. We would tell you more about English, but you are probably already quite comfortable in this language. Let us just go on and on about the most popular languages ​​in the world.

    Today there are a huge number of language schools offering English courses in Moscow. The courses are taught according to the latest educational methods. You study in English, without using Russian. All new words and concepts are explained by already familiar words, gestures, pictures - this makes the learning process much more interesting and interactive, and if learning is interesting, then the results will be better! All new constructions and words after studying are immediately fixed in practice, when working in pairs and mini groups. Thus, learning English in courses is not limited to getting acquainted with grammar and memorizing new words: you learn exactly how to communicate.

    1. Mandarin Chinese

    Number of speakers: more than 1 billion

    Surprise, surprise, the most widely spoken language on the planet is in the most populated country on the planet. Runner-up English language is in a ratio of 2 to 1 in terms of the number of speakers, but this should not give you a reason to think that Chinese is easy to learn. Conversational Mandarin can be very tough because each word can be pronounced in four directions (or “tones”), and beginners are bound to have trouble distinguishing one tone from another. But if over a billion people could do it, you could too. Try to say hi!

    To say “hello” in Chinese, say “Ni hao” (Ni Hao). (“Hao” is pronounced as one syllable, but the tone requires your voice to drop halfway and then rise again at the end.)

    The content of the article

    ARABIC, the generalized name of the various dialects and patois spoken by the Arabs (hereinafter, these numerous spoken forms are called colloquial Arabic, abbreviated RAYA), as well as their common literary language (hereinafter, abbreviated LAYA; the term "standard Arabic" is also used abroad) . Belongs to the Afroasian language macrofamily. It is the existence of LAL as a common supra-dialect form and its high prestige (this is, first of all, the language of the Koran, as well as a huge literature in terms of volume and time of existence) in combination with a common ethnic self-consciousness that determines the recognition of very different Arabic territorial dialects - a total number of more than 30 - in a single language.

    HISTORY OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE AND ITS SOCIOLINGUISTIC CHARACTERISTICS

    Mentions of the peoples of the Arabian desert, called "Arabs", are found in Assyrian military chronicles of the 8th-7th centuries. BC, in biblical texts of the 9th century. BC, in the epigraphic texts of the ancient states of South Arabia (I millennium BC - middle of the 1st millennium AD), from ancient authors (for example, Herodotus, 5th century BC .), in early medieval Byzantine and Syriac sources. As applied to the Arabic language, this name is noted in the 3rd c. BC. in Hebrew sources in the form as . For the native speakers themselves, the name "Arabs" and "Arabic" for themselves and their language has been fixed since the emergence and spread of Islam. The first use of the name "Arabic" in Arabic sources is noted in the Koran (middle of the 7th century AD) in the form (sura XVI, verse 103/105 and several others), which means "clear/understandable Arabic language".

    Arabic is spoken in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Somalia, Djibouti, Republic of Chad. "Islands" dialects of the Arabic language are also found in the territories of neighboring African states, in Turkey, Cyprus, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia(in Uzbekistan). The literary form of the Arabic language is the official language of all Arab countries, one of the official and working languages ​​of the UN. The Maltese dialect of Arabic has a literary form different from LAL and is the only Arabic dialect that is considered independent language; in Malta, it has the status of a state. The total number of the Arabic-speaking population is currently, according to various sources, from 190 to 250 million people.

    It is assumed that in the first centuries of our era, the Arabic language was a collection of closely related tribal dialects common in the central and northern regions of the Arabian Peninsula. Along with tribal and territorial dialects, a single form of poetic language developed. The works of tribal poets were composed and passed down orally from tribe to tribe and from generation to generation. At the same time, a single oral form of the sacred language of priests and soothsayers was formed. Subsequently, the processed oral forms of a single intertribal language became the basis for the formation of a literary and written pan-Arabic language.

    The first written monument of the common Arabic language is the Koran, written down in the middle of the 7th century. AD The sacred nature of the text of the Qur'an determined the safety of all its language features without significant changes to date. In the 8th–9th centuries AD monuments of oral tribal poetry were also recorded. The literary form of the language during the 8th–10th centuries. AD improved in the written field in the scientific and educated circles of society. In connection with the consolidation of the Arab society, the formation of the Muslim community, the spread of Islam, the formation of the state, the administration and the army, a colloquial common Arabic language of the Koine type is also taking shape.

    Along with the development of the standard literary form of the Arabic language, the direct descendants of the ancient tribal dialects continue to function in the Arabic-speaking environment. Distribution of the Arabs in the 7th–9th centuries on the non-Arab territories of Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa, as well as on the territory of the Iberian Peninsula, Iran and Central Asia leads to the formation of new local territorial dialects of the Arabic language, which are superimposed on the ancient tribal dialects.

    Currently, Arabic dialects are classified according to two main parameters - social and territorial. According to their social characteristics, they are divided into nomadic and sedentary, and the latter, in turn, into urban and rural. Geographical division is superimposed on the social division of dialects. Geographically, modern Arabic dialects are divided into two large groups: eastern(Mashriq), consisting of four subgroups - Mesopotamian, Arabian, Central Arab and Egyptian-Sudanese - and western(Maghrebi, or North African). The "island" Arabic dialects of Central Asia also belong to the eastern group.

    Medieval Arabic sources testify that the discrepancy between the literary Arabic language and its dialectally fragmented colloquial form already by the 10th century. observed in all Arabic-speaking territories. In the future, LAL becomes the language of the educated strata of society. The classical heritage of LAL is of world significance and is represented by a huge corpus of Arabic poetry, artistic, historical and geographical prose, translations of ancient scientific works and his own writings on astronomy, mathematics, medicine and other accurate and natural sciences, philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, linguistics. At present, the LAL functions in the religious sphere (and not only in the Arab, but throughout the Muslim world), in the means mass media, in the administrative and scientific-literary spheres of activity, in the field of education.

    The oral-colloquial form (PARA), represented in each case by the local dialect, serves everyday areas of communication at all levels: family, industrial, trade, household and on the street; it has long been used in oral folk art (for example, texts of fairy tales 1001 nights, recorded in the 14th–16th centuries. in Egypt, are characterized by signs of oral colloquial speech of an urban type).

    This coexistence of two structurally different forms of language, contrasted as "high" and "low", in sociolinguistics is called diglossia. Unlike bilingualism (bilingualism), in a situation of diglossia, the choice of one of the forms of a language (and sometimes one of two languages) is not determined by which of these forms or which of these languages ​​is better for achieving the immediate goals of interpersonal communication in a bilingual (or multilingual in the case of multilingualism) communication, but the subject of speech or the situation of communication: one form is used to talk about serious and sublime things and in official and solemn situations; the second - in all the rest, and not only educated, but also, to the best of their ability, by all strata of society (LAL is taught in all systems of public education). Diglossia is characteristic of the entire Arab world and is perceived as a problem, regarding the way to solve which there are different points of view.

    A similar ratio existed for several centuries between Church Slavonic and Russian in Russia and exists in a number of other regions of the world; however, in the Arab world the situation is more complicated, if only because LAL serves not only as an "exalted" language, but also as a means of communication for people from various regions of the Arab world and its environment. In addition, the modern linguistic situation in the Arab world is characterized by complex dynamics. Political and economic integration in each of the Arab countries leads to the formation on the basis of a prestigious (most often capital) dialect of some local Koine, which serves as a means of communication between speakers of different dialects. Interstate communication, the strengthening of economic and cultural contacts between regions leads to the formation and more general forms Koine - the so-called regional vernacular languages. Along with such a development “from below”, there is also a process of interaction between LAL and PARA, as a result of which the so-called “middle” or “third” language is formed, which loses a number of grammatical features of LAL, but does not have pronounced signs of any particular local language. dialect. Some regional phonetic features are also observed in the oral form of LAL.

    Some writers, as an experiment, introduce direct speech of characters and dialogues in the local dialect into their works. Egyptian dramaturgy features a number of plays in the Egyptian dialect. Cinematography, some radio specials, television, given the audience, also refer to PARA.

    The main territorial dialects of the Arabic language, such as Iraqi, Syro-Palestinian, Egyptian, dialects of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, have their own rather pronounced features at the phonetic-morphological and lexical levels. The degree of mutual understanding between speakers of different dialects is relative and subjective. As a rule, it intensifies with the contacts of neighboring dialects and weakens with the contacts of representatives of the opposite outskirts of the Arab world. Mutual understanding is also influenced by the conditions and topics of the conversation. Strictly local or professional topics ( National cuisine, local economy, life, customs, etc., i.e. everything that is characterized by the use of local vocabulary and expressions) weakens mutual understanding and requires explanation. On the contrary, socio-political and cultural topics (which are largely based on general literary vocabulary and expressions) provide a higher degree of mutual understanding.

    In the following, the article will focus mainly on LAL (in some cases simply called Arabic).

    HISTORY OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE AND ITS CULTURAL RELATIONS

    The most important milestones in the history of the Arabic language are the emergence of Islam and the development of their own script (7th century AD). The first epigraphic (mainly on stone) monuments of the Arabic language are reports of the movements of fellow tribesmen, shepherds with herds of camels, as well as tombstones and dedicatory inscriptions. In the pre-Islamic period, such inscriptions used the Nabataean script (derived from Aramaic) or a variation of the South Arabian (Sabaean) script. In its final form, the Arabic script took shape on the basis of the Nabataean script during the period of writing the Koran (from the middle of the 7th century AD) and further development written culture. The Arabic script is a 28-letter system of signs representing only consonant phonemes. To indicate three long vowels, three consonant letters are used, called "alif, waw and ua. To indicate short vowels, doubling consonants, the absence of vowels, special superscript and subscript characters are used. The direction of writing is from right to left. Depending on the position in a word or phrase, many letters have different styles: isolated, initial, middle and final.Some pairs of letters form so-called ligatures in writing (fused styles like & from Latin-French et "and" or @ from English at "in"). varieties: Kufic script (ornamental and decorative), suls, ruk", nastalik, divani, maghribi, naskh. Naskh is used for typographical typesetting.

    Period 8th–12th centuries in the history of the Arabic language is characterized by its unification, standardization, the development of literary and written genres and styles, the development of classical poetry, artistic and scientific prose. Arabic becomes international language literature and science of the Near and Middle East. The largest scientists create their works on it medieval East: al-Farabi (870-950) from Turkestan, Avicenna (Ibn Sina, 980-1037) from Bukhara, al-Biruni (973 - c. 1050) from Khorezm, Averroes (Ibn Rushd, 1126-1198), a native of Andalusia , and many others.

    The next turning point in the development and modernization of the Arabic language was the turn of the 18th–19th centuries, when economic contacts between the Arab East and the West became more active. The development of printing, the emergence of the press and, accordingly, new genres of journalism, the emergence of a new fiction, dramaturgy and poetry become the most important factor in the development of the Arabic language and its adaptation to the new requirements of social, cultural and scientific life. The development of new media and communication in the 20th century. contributes to the further modernization of the Arabic language.

    The cultural and historical influence of the Arabic language can be traced in many languages ​​of Asia and Africa. This was facilitated by the spread of Islam, as well as the high cultural status of the LAL, which has a developed system of general and special terminology for many areas of public, scientific and cultural life.

    A considerable number of words of Arabic origin are also found in the Russian language, where they got, as a rule, through intermediary languages: Latin, Western European, Persian, Turkish. In addition to exoticisms like genie, jihad, vizier, qadi etc., Arabic in origin are some names of stars and constellations ( Aldebaran, Altair- from Arabic. " al=Dabaran, "al=Ta"ir), a number of scientific terms ( algebra, alcohol- via Spanish, number, zero- through European, from Arab. "zero"; algorithm- from the Latinized form of the name of the mathematician al-Khwarizmi), the name of the military rank admiral(borrowed into Russian from Dutch and ascending to Arabic " amiru l=bahri"emir of the sea", and nothing remained of the "sea" in the form of a word, but as a result of the "folk etymology" that connected this word with the Latin admiror "to be amazed" and its derivatives in the Romance languages, a sound appeared d) and other words quite diverse in meaning.

    In turn, already the early monuments of the Arabic language testify to a wide layer of cultural borrowings from the neighboring Semitic languages ​​of South Arabia, from the Aramaic languages ​​of Syria and Mesopotamia, from Middle Persian, Greek and Latin. Later, borrowings from Persian and Turkish appear. The modern period is characterized by active penetration into the Arabic vocabulary of Western European technical terminology. Despite the purist activity of the Arabic language academies in many countries, new international scientific and technical terms penetrate into the modern Arabic language, tracings of standard phrases and phrases characteristic of the press and mass media are formed.

    THE PLACE OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE IN THE GENEALOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES

    Arabic is part of the Semitic branch of the Afroasian (or Semitic-Hamitic; this widespread name is now considered obsolete) language macrofamily. According to the traditional classification, the Arabic language belongs to the South Semitic group of languages, combining it with the ancient epigraphic languages ​​of South Arabia and with the Ethio-Semitic languages ​​spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea. At present, as a result of the discovery of new materials on ancient and modern Semitic languages, as well as the introduction of new methods into comparative historical Semitology, in particular the method of glottochronology ( cm. LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD), a more accurate classification of Semitic languages ​​has been developed, according to which the Arabic language with dialects represents an independent south-central group. With the ancient South Arabian languages ​​and with the languages ​​​​of Ethiopia (Geez, Tigre, Tigrinya), as well as with modern South Arabian (Mehri, Shahri, Socotri), the Arabic language is united by some grammatical features: word formation methods, forms of the so-called "broken" plural. numbers (it is also the plural of internal education: rasm"picture" - english"drawings", etc.), more complete phonological systems of consonants. At the same time, the South Semitic languages ​​differ from Arabic in some types of verbal conjugation. On the other hand, such grammatical features as the formation of suffix forms of plural. the numbers of masculine nouns, the types of conjugation of the stems of the perfect and the imperfect, bring the Arabic language closer to the languages ​​of the north-central group, especially to Aramaic.

    In the first period of the comparative historical study of the Semitic languages ​​(18th-19th centuries), it was believed that the classical Arabic language represents the most archaic type of the Semitic language, which most fully preserved the phonetic features lost in other Semitic languages ​​(interdental, voiced and voiceless laryngeal, pharyngeal and uvular phonemes) and morphology (nominal case and verbal modal endings, a complete system of personal verb forms, a dual number characteristic of both the name and the verb). Later, opposing points of view appeared (put forward by some Italian and Czech Semitologists), according to which phonemes peculiar only to Arabic are innovations; innovations were also attributed to the forms of the "broken" plural. numbers and some other grammatical forms that are unique to Arabic. Modern comparative historical studies of the wider material of the Afroasian languages ​​confirm the Semitic and Afroasian character of these phonemes and forms.

    At the same time, studies have shown that the Arabic phonological system also does not represent a complete Proto-Semitic system. The Arabic system is characterized by some reduction in the composition of phonemes and their phonetic changes, in particular, the palatalization of middle and back plosives:, in dialects: k > c; and also glottalization: q >".

    The verbal system LAL also represents an already reconstructed Proto-Semitic system, characterized by the verbalization of the Proto-Semitic participle, turning into a perfect conjugation.

    Phonetic-phonological and grammatical structure modern Arabic dialects are also characterized by a number of reductions, modifications and innovations.

    STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BAR

    Phonological system

    LAL is represented by 34 phonemes; of which 28 are consonants and 6 are vowels. Vowels are characterized by opposition in quality a : i : u and by number ā : ī : ū . Consonants are characterized by oppositions in deafness / voicedness: t:d;s:z, according to velarization (emphaticity) – ; . With respect to simple plosives and spirants, there are three interdental correlates: . In turn, the interdental emphatic is the opposition to simple emphatic -.

    During the history of the LAL known to us, its phonetic system has undergone some changes compared to the period of the 8th-10th centuries. There was a loss of redundant differential features and, accordingly, a restructuring of oppositions: lateral emphatic simple emphatic; interdental emphatic . In the emphatic system, oppositions were formed according to deafness / voicedness -,. Palatalization Destroyed Binary Opposition g: k deafness/voicedness.

    LAYA refers to the so-called numerous languages ​​(along with, for example, Latin or Ancient Greek): the short syllable C (vowel) G (vowel) is equal to one sea; a long syllable SG is equal to two pestilences; the closed syllable CGS is equal to two mora. The classical system of versification is built on the principle of numeracy. The structure of the syllable in LAL is limited by a number of rules: there is a ban on an open syllable (i.e., starting with a vowel; those Arabic words that begin with a vowel in Russian transmission, in Arabic have an initial consonant - a glottal stop ", called in Arabic" "ain"; the very name of the letter begins with ain), to the confluence of consonants at the beginning and end of a syllable. Thus, only syllables of the structure SG/SG and SGS are possible. In the case of the formation of an overlong syllable, it is phonetically transformed into an ordinary long, for example yaql=u"he says", but with the loss of the final vowel, the theoretically resulting verbal word form loses longitude, i.e. * lam yaqul > lam yaqul"He didn't say, he didn't say." The stress in LAL is weak, falls on the third mora from the end of the word and moves accordingly if a clitic (a form, often pronominal, without independent stress) is added to the end of the word, for example, "book", but kitābū=humā"the book of two".

    It is widely believed that in LAL (and in general in Semitic languages) consonants and vowels are functionally opposed: lexical meaning is assigned to consonants, and grammatical meaning is assigned to vowels. This statement is not entirely correct; The LAL grammatical system has a large inventory of affixes, consisting not only of vowels, but also of consonants. Wed, for example: the indicator of women. kind = t; indicators of the dual and suffix (as opposed to "broken") plural. numbers = ani/ayni and = ūna/ina; personal prefixes and suffixes of the verb conjugation; for transmission grammatical meanings the doubling of the root consonants is also used in a number of forms.

    At the same time, with a synchronous (i.e., irrespective of its historical development) description of Arabic grammar in verbal stems and derived stems of verbal names, it is indeed possible to single out a root consisting only of consonants, usually three (the so-called three-consonant root: ktb"write", qtl"kill", " lm"know", etc.). In non-derivative primary nominal and verbal stems, in a number of cases it is possible to establish a historical root vowel. The last category of words also includes pronouns, prepositions, particles, and some other invariable words.

    According to lexico-grammatical criteria, three main categories of words are distinguished in LAL: name, verb and particles. Within the name, adjectives are distinguished according to some morphological and syntactic features; according to lexical - pronouns and numerals. Nominal parts of speech are characterized by categories of gender (masculine and feminine), number (singular, dual and plural), case (there are only three cases in Arabic - nominative, genitive and accusative, and each of them has one of three qualitatively different vowels as its indicator - u, i and a respectively), state (definite - with the article " al, which, depending on the phonetic neighborhood, can act as various forms, and indefinite), diminutive and comparatively superlative categories.

    The verb is characterized by systems of aspectual-temporal forms, voice (also for derivative participles), persons, numbers, gender, and also a system of syntactically determined forms, conditionally called moods. In addition, the verb in LAL is characterized by a special lexical and grammatical category of action characteristics in terms of its intensity, direction, causality, etc. This category has ten bases called "breeds" or "extended bases" (i.e., in addition to the original primary base, or "breed", there are nine more derivatives); For example, " alima(breed I) "he knew" allama(II) "he taught", " a ="lama(IV) "he informed, let know", " ista"lama(X) "he asked for information for himself", etc. From the same extended stems, the corresponding verbal names (or participles) are formed " alim =(I) "knowing, learned", mu ="allim=(II) "teacher", etc.

    The grammatical ways of word and form formation in LAL are divided into “external”, i.e. affixes, which do not affect the stem and root of the word, and "internal", traditionally called "internal inflection" (alternation of phonemes), changing the stem of the word. In many cases, external flexion is combined with internal.

    According to the traditional morphological classification, Arabic is defined as an inflectional language with elements of fusion and agglutination. According to the traditional syntactic classification - as a synthetic type language In the second half of the 20th century. Russian Semitologists and linguists prefer to characterize the method of internal inflection as an agglutinative way of connecting a discontinuous consonantal root with a discontinuous vocal affix - “diffix” (in mixed cases - confix, transfix, etc.) This is where the concept of “discontinuous” morpheme arises (cf. above example with "broken plural"). Accordingly, the typological characteristic of LAL changes towards the agglutinative technique of combining morphemes.

    The main types of non-predicative phrases are represented in LAL by attributive and genitive combinations with the order of words “defined - definition”. In an attributive phrase, the definition, as a rule, fully agrees with the one defined by gender, number, case and state: "new teacher". In a genitive phrase, the first name (defining) does not take the prepositive article " al = and loses some of the endings (an indicator of an indefinite state =n, part of the dual and suffix plural ending): kitabul = mu"allimati"teacher's book" (a certain state for both the first and second members of the phrase); or: kitabu mu"allimatin"a book of (some) teacher" (an indefinite state for both members of the phrase). (Vin. case) “His son returned weeping (crying)” or.

    SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE

    In the history of the study of the Arabic language, first of all, it is necessary to single out the Arabic grammatical tradition proper, presented during its greatest flourishing(8th–14th centuries) by several schools. Arabic linguistics during this period perceives some ideas and concepts of the ancient and Indian grammatical traditions, however, the features of the Arabic language attract the attention of the earliest Arabic philologists. An original system of concepts, terms and methods of describing linguistic facts is being developed. Especially significant development in the national Arabic tradition was lexicography.

    In turn, the Arabic grammatical tradition exerts its influence on Western Arabic linguistics, which has been developing since the 16th-18th centuries. in Western Europe(first in Spain and Holland, and then in other countries). Despite the fact that European Arabic studies, as well as later, from the 19th century, and Russian (the first Arabic grammar in Russian was published in 1827), begins to study the facts of the Arabic language in line with new general linguistic trends (neogrammatism, comparative historical linguistics and typology) , the influence of the Arabic grammatical tradition is manifested in many works, especially in the descriptive grammars of classical Arabic, throughout the 20th century. However, along with the study of LAL in the 20th century. Western and Russian Arabic linguistics turns to the study of Arabic dialects, as a result of which a special direction is formed - Arabic dialectology.

    The typological originality of the LAL grammatical system, the structure of the root and the word, special grammatical ways are of great interest for the structural-typological direction in general linguistics. The lexical richness of the Arabic language, a large number of written monuments and the data of modern Arabic dialects present great opportunities for the further development of comparative historical Semitology and Afroasian linguistics.

    Literature:

    Krachkovsky I.Yu. Essays on the history of Russian Arabic studies. M. - L., 1950
    Zvegintsev V.A. History of Arabic Linguistics. M., 1958
    Zavadovsky Yu.N. Arabic dialects of the Maghreb. M., 1962
    Russian-Arabic Dictionary. Comp. V.M.Borisov, ed. V.M. Belkin. M., 1967
    Gabuchan G.I. Article theory and problems of Arabic syntax. M., 1972
    Khrakovsky V.S. Essays on General and Arabic Syntax. M., 1973
    Belkin V.M. Arabic lexicology. M., 1975
    Baranov Kh.K. Arabic-Russian Dictionary, 5th ed. M., 1976
    Mishkurov E.N. Fundamentals of Theoretical Grammar of Modern Arabic, ch. 1–2. M., 1978 –1979
    Essays on the history of Arab culture in the 5th–15th centuries. M., 1982
    Yushmanov N.V. Grammar of Literary Arabic, ed. 3. M., 1985
    Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary. M., 1990
    Sharbatov G.Sh. Arabic Literary Language, Modern Arabic Dialects and Regional Spoken Languages. - In the book: Languages ​​of Asia and Africa, vol. 4, book. 1. M., 1991
    Grande B.M. Arabic Grammar Course in Comparative Historical Lighting, 2nd ed. M., 1998
    Shagal V.E. Arab countries: language and society. M., 1998
    Belova A.G. Essays on the history of the Arabic language. M., 1999

    

    arabskylanguagesto (Arab. اللغة العربية‎‎, al-luga al-ʿarabiyya) - Refers to the Semitic branch of the Afroasian family of languages. One of the most basic languages ​​of religion and literature in the world. The language of the greatest book of the Islamic world KORAN and a monument of medieval Arabic literature "Tales of a Thousand and One Nights" (الف ليلة وليلة‎‎‎ alf laila wa-laila), united by the story of King Shahriyar and his wife named Shahrazad (Scheherazade, Scheherazade). All of us familiar numbers from 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 have Arabic. These figures originated in India (not later than the 5th century), and became known to Europe in the 10th-13th centuries. based on Arabic writings (hence the name).

    The number of speakers of Arabic and its variants is 420 million people (as of 2000). The official language of all Arab countries is Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Western Sahara, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Qatar, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, UAE, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia. It also has official status in Djibouti, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Senegal. It is spoken by the national minority of Israel, Iran and France. The Maltese dialect of Arabic has a literary written form that is different from Standard Arabic (see below) and is the only Arabic dialect that is considered a language in its own right and has the status of an official language.

    Arabic is the official and working language of several international organizations - the UN General Assembly and some other UN bodies, the League of Arab States, which unites more than 22 Arab and friendly non-Arab countries (created March 22 1945 and since then this day is celebrated arab day), the African Union, which unites 53 African states.

    Arabic in broad sense words - union a large number various oral forms (dialects) formed over the past one and a half thousand years.

    The first epigraphic (mainly on stone) monuments Arabic- these are messages about the movement of fellow tribesmen, shepherds with herds of camels, as well as tombstones and dedicatory inscriptions. AT pre-Islamic period such inscriptions used the Nabataean script (descending from Aramaic) or a variation of the South Arabian (Mabean) script. During this period, an expressive poetic language existed in the Arabian Peninsula, transmitted only orally. On this poetic language rests in part Koran. And to this day, he brought us a picture of how a text of only consonants might look, subsequently supplemented by vowels located above and below the text. In its final form, the Arabic script took shape on the basis of the Nabataean script in mid 7th c. AD. during the period of the records of the Koran (the first written monument of the common Arabic language).

    Period 8-12 centuries. in history Arabic characterized by its unification, standardization, the development of literary and written genres and styles, the development of classical poetry, artistic and scientific prose. Arabic becomes the international language of literature and science in the Near and Middle East. The largest scientists of the medieval East create their works on it: al-Farabi (870-950) from Tupkestan, Avicenna (Ibn Sina, 980-1037) from Bukhara, al-Biruni (973-ca. 1050) from Khorezm, Averroes (Ibn Rushd, 1126-1198), a native of Andalusia.

    The next period in development and modernization Arabic became turn of the 18th-19th centuries., when the economic contacts of the Arab East with the West intensified. The development of printing, the emergence of the press and, accordingly, new genres of journalism, the emergence of new fiction, drama and poetry are becoming the most important factor in the development Arabic and its adaptation to the new requirements of social, cultural and scientific life. The development of new media and communications in the 20th century contribute to further modernization Arabic.

    Modern period characterized by active penetration into the Arabic vocabulary of Western European technical terminology. Despite the purist activities of Arabic language academies in many countries, in modern Arabic new international scientific and technical terms penetrate, tracing papers of standard phrases and turns characteristic of the press and mass media are formed.

    Modern colloquial Arabic is divided into 5 groups of dialects, which are actually separate languages ​​from a linguistic point of view:

    Maghreb group of dialects (these are countries located west of Egypt: from west to east: Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya. Translated from Arabic, Al-Maghrib is “the country where the sun sets” or “West” .

    Egyptian-Sudanese group of dialects;

    Syro-Mesopotamian group of dialects;

    Arabian group of dialects;

    Central Asian group of dialects;

    The first belongs to the Western group, the rest - to the Eastern group of Arabic languages ​​/ dialects.

    But the concepts spoken Arabic"(PARADISE) does not exist, but use the concept of "Arabic Literary Language" ( ALA). ALA is the language of communication and writing, radio and television broadcasts are conducted in it, newspapers are published, books are printed (in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria along with French), it is the language of the intelligentsia. Without it, it is impossible to imagine the life of a civilized Arab society. Often, Arabs from different countries in a conversation between themselves switch to ALA in order to avoid misunderstandings. ALA grammar is based on formulas. With some effort, Arabic writing can be studied, and the grammar of ALA is simpler and more logical than many Western languages, especially the Finno-Ugric family of languages: Finnish, Hungarian). For students you should know that the main advantage ALA is that it is understandable in any Arab country. In which Arab country you would not be, you will always be able to explain yourself. A person who speaks ALA or any dialect of Arabic is highly respected by native speakers.

    ALA in its ideal form is practically not used in speech in everyday life or family, between friends or in informal situations; this area is almost exclusively reserved for the local dialect. ALA remains predominantly a written language, oral speech can be considered as a variant Spoken Standard Arabic(PARADISE) (one of the Arabic names عامية المثقفين ʻāmmiyat al- "muthaqqafīn lit. "educated dialect"). The term itself has not yet settled in Arabic studies. This variety is a grammatically simplified version of ALA with some elements of local dialects. Colloquial standard it is more common in the countries of the Persian Gulf and the Levant (the dialects of the Levant are themselves very close to ALA), but sometimes the speech of educated Egyptians and the inhabitants of the Maghreb is also called that. Some special broadcasts, television, cinematography, given the audience, refer to PARADISE.

    Cultural and historical influence Arabic found in many Asian and African languages. This was facilitated by the spread of Islam and the high cultural status of ALA.

    The question is which option ALA or dialect) is more preferable for study by foreigners does not have a clear answer. Depending on the specific needs and applied purpose of training, everyone decides this issue individually. In Russia, the teaching of Arabic mainly begins with the literary language.

    P.S. Classical By and large, it does not differ much from Old Arabic. When comparing the roots of the Semitic languages, it can be seen that they are all the same with classical Arabic. Therefore, Arabic occupies a central place among all Semitic languages. For a long time, many Semitologists regarded Classical Arabic as the original Semitic language. Only over time, through comparison with other Afroasiatic languages, has it been established that much of Classical Arabic is not as original as was thought.

    On the features of writing. Based on the Arabic alphabet. Arabic is written from right to left. Moreover, in Arabic, unlike languages ​​with Latin and Cyrillic graphics, there are no capital letters - therefore, proper names are written with a small letter, as well as the first word in a sentence. Punctuation marks are written upside down, that is, from left to right. Instead underlining, cursive or detente Arabs usually use underlining. Fractional word wrapping to another line is not allowed; empty space in a string is eliminated by stretching the letter. In cursive writing, an unwritten word ends with a turn upwards. The Arabic alphabet evolved from the Phoenician alphabet, incorporating all of its letters and adding to them letters that reflect specifically Arabic sounds. These are letters - sa, ha, zal, dad, za, gayn.

    Interesting Facts. There are a considerable number of Arabic words in the Russian language, where they got through intermediary languages: Latin, Western European, Persian, Turkish. In addition to exoticisms like jinn, jihad, vizier, qadi, some names are Arabic in origin stars and constellations: Aldebaran, Altair; a range of scientific terms: algebra and alcohol through spanish, number and zero(sifr, Arabic - zero) through European, algorithm from the Latinized form of the name of the mathematician al-Khwarizmi, the name of the military rank admiral from Dutch and descendant to Arabic emir of the seaamiriI=bahri), and from seas there was nothing left in the form of a word, but a sound appeared d as a result of the "folk etymology" that connected this word with Latin admirer(be amazed).

    Most of us love coffee. One way to prepare it is Turkish coffee. They boil it in cezve, other name Turk. Word cezve Arabic origin: Tur. Cezve from Arabic جذوة . Traditionally made of forged copper.

    P.S. We apologize to language experts for the simplistic presentation of some of the issues of the origin of the language, its development and characteristics. It is written for a "non-linguistic" audience showing an interest in foreign languages.

    I have been interested in the world of the East for quite a long time, but I started learning Arabic myself recently. While I can offer brief information and a description of the features of the spoken and written language, if anyone is interested, I can lay out detailed lessons and study materials.
    Sincerely, Al-Hayat

    So, the Arabic language belongs to the Afroasian language macrofamily and the Semitic group of languages. In addition to Arabic, this language family includes ancient Aramaic, Amharic (the state language of Ethiopia), a number of unwritten languages ​​​​of South Arabia and Ethiopia, as well as extinct languages, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Assyro-Babylonian or, in another way, Akkadian.
    A feature of the Semitic languages ​​is that in them the root of the word consists only of consonants: usually three, rarely two or four. Formation and word formation occurs by changing vowel sounds, as well as by adding prefixes and endings.
    Arabic is spoken in the countries of the Near and Middle East, in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and in African continent. Here is the list of Arabic-speaking countries I calculated:
    Near East:
    1. Syria
    2. Lebanon
    3. Iraq
    4. Jordan
    5. Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza) and Israel
    Arabian Peninsula:
    6. Saudi Arabia
    7. United Arab Emirates
    8. Bahrain
    9. Qatar
    10 Yemen
    11. Kuwait
    12. Oman
    African continent:
    13. Egypt
    14. Sudan
    15. Libya
    16. Algiers
    17. Tunisia
    18. Morocco
    19. Mauritania
    20. Djibouti
    21. Somalia
    22. Eritrea
    23. Western Sahara
    24. Chad
    In addition, rather large colonies are formed by the Arabic-speaking population in Iran and Afghanistan, in Turkey, Nigeria and Ethiopia, and in Tanzania. Arabs live in Indonesia, in the Bukhara and Samarkand regions of Uzbekistan, on the territory North Caucasus in Russia.
    The official language for all the countries listed above is literary Arabic. However, due to the isolated nature of the historical development of each country, they developed spoken languages ​​- dialects that differ from the literary language and from each other by a number of features - phonetic, lexical and grammatical. But at the same time, despite the presence of their own spoken language in each of the countries, literary Arabic continues to be the language of science, fiction, the press, radio, and official speeches by state and political figures.
    Arabic is one of the official and working languages ​​of the UN.
    Throughout the history of its existence, the Arabic literary language has undergone significant grammatical changes, especially in the middle of the twentieth century, when most Arab countries achieved independence and began to pay more attention to their native language.
    If in the 30s and 40s Western European languages, mainly English and French, prevailed in the Arab countries, then starting from the 60s, in almost all Arab countries, a tendency towards Arabization began to be observed, which was explained by the aspiration of the Arab states, the desire for independence , to the revival of their culture and their language.
    However, in the 1980s and 1990s, especially among the intelligentsia in many Arab countries, a kind of "rollback" from the policy of Arabism began to be observed.
    The Arabic script is a 28-letter system of signs representing only consonant phonemes. Three consonants are used to represent the three long vowels, called alif, vav, and ya. To indicate short vowels, doubling consonants, the absence of vowels, special superscript and subscript signs are used, which are called "vowels". The direction of writing is from right to left. Depending on the position in a word or phrase, many letters have different styles: isolated, initial, median and final. Some pairs of letters form so-called ligatures in the letter - continuous styles like & from Latin-French, or @ from English. at. Arabic writing has several varieties: Kufic script - ornamental and decorative, suls, hand, nastalik, divani, maghribi and naskh. Naskh is used for typographical typesetting.
    The cultural and historical influence of the Arabic language can be traced in many languages ​​of Asia and Africa. This was facilitated by the spread of Islam, as well as the high cultural status of the literary Arabic language, which has a developed system of terminology for many areas of public, scientific and cultural life.
    A considerable number of words of Arabic origin also exist in the Russian language, where they got, as a rule, through intermediary languages: Latin, Western European, Persian and Turkish. In addition to exoticisms such as jinn, jihad, vizier, qadi, etc., Arabic in origin are:
    1. some names of stars and constellations: Aldebaran, Altair - from the Arab. "al-dabaran", "al-ta" ir",
    2. a number of scientific terms: algebra, alcohol - through Spanish, figure, zero - through European, from Arabic. "zero"; algorithm - from the Latinized form of the name of the mathematician al-Khwarizmi,
    3. the name of the military rank of admiral, which was borrowed into Russian from Dutch and goes back to the Arabic "amir l-bahri", which means "emir of the sea", and nothing remains of the "sea" in the form of a word. But as a result of the "folk etymology" that connected this word with the Latin admiror ("to be amazed") and its derivatives in the Romance languages, the sound "d" appeared,
    4. and other words quite diverse in meaning.

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