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( 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. This entry looks at these varieties of Arabic, distinguishing them from Classical/Standard Arabic and from each other. In sociolinguistic terms, Arabic in its native environment typically occurs in a "diglossic" situation, meaning that native speakers learn and use two substantially different language forms in different aspects of their lives. In the case of Arabic, the regionally prevalent variety is learned as a speaker's mother tongue and is used for nearly all everyday speaking situations throughout life, including most films and plays, and (rarely) in some literature. A second, quite different variety, Standard Arabic, is learned in school and is used for most printed material, TV news reporting and interviews, sermons and other formal situations. The extent to which the local vernacular tends to interplay with the Standard variety in formal situations varies from country to country. Descended from Old North Arabian dialects of pre-Islamic Arabia, early Arabic had noticeable dialect distinctions - in particular between Qahtanite, Adnan, and Himyar. With the spread of Islam in the 7th century, Qur'anic Arabic became the most prevalent dialect. In modern times, the spoken languages or dialects of people throughout the Arab world differ radically from the Literary Arabic and from each other. For some of these, the question of "language" versus "dialect" can be highly politicized; to avoid that, the neutral term "variety" will be used here. The main division between varieties of spoken Arabic is between the Maghrebi (North African) varieties (characterized by a first person singular in n- and use of "sh" at the end of a verb for negation) and those of the Middle East, followed by that between sedentary varieties and the much more conservative Bedouin varieties. "Peripheral" varieties located in countries where Arabic is not a dominant language (e.g., Turkey, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Chad, and Nigeria) are particularly divergent in some respects, especially vocabulary, being less influenced by classical Arabic; however, historically they fall within the same dialect classifications as better-known varieties. In some areas, different religious communities spoke slightly different varieties - thus in Baghdad the Christians and Jews spoke a qeltu-variety while the Muslims spoke a gilit-variety. (Both words mean "I said". For further discussion, see Judeo-Arabic languages.)
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Varieties of Arabic Subcategories
Varieties of Arabic Articles
Varieties of Oral Hygiene by Vader West
The importance of oral hygiene goes above and beyond an ordinary toothbrush. In fact, proper oral hygiene helps to maintain more than just teeth and gum. It determines factors such as bad breath, comfort, taste in food, and to some people, the longev...
Varieties Of Discount Perfume by ron victor
Discount perfume is inclusive of different perfume product produced by different manufacturers to satisfy the requirements of the men and women. Discount perfume is the best sold perfume and this discount perfume fetches a good demand among men and w...
Natural Face Packs by Tania Jain
There are different varieties of face packs to keep you and your face healthy and young. These facial packs contain many healthful and beneficial substances and necessary vitamins that are necessary to keep your face skin glowing. These facial packs ...
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