Learning ArabicPosted by Stack Brandt on February 27th, 2021 Learning Arabic Perhaps you are fascinated by its power to connect you to new cultures and experiences. Maybe you've spent hours admiring the sophisticated beauty of Arabic calligraphy as a celebrated art form. You are transfixed by the beauty of the script, how its slender curves spill out across the page. Or maybe, you've realized just how vital it is to speak more than one language in this ever-shrinking globalized world. You've recognized Arabic's indispensability in any international career, be it law, politics or business. Either way, out of aesthetic or practical concerns, you want to learn Arabic. But there's one important question you must consider: Which Arabic do I want to learn? Regular Arabic! you insist. The one everyone is talking about; the one that is in high demand in government and business settings; the one they speak in Egypt or Lebanon or Dubai! Ah, therein lies the rub. Each Arabic speaking country speaks its own form of the language, making for a very diverse set of dialects within the Arabic language. The unique peoples, cultures and histories of each nation in the Arabic speaking world have put their own spin on the language. So depending on where you are, the dialect that's spoken by the people in ordinary life will vary, sometimes to the point of mutual unintelligibility. For example, if you have studied the Iraqi dialect in detail, you are setting yourself up for disappointment the minute you land in the capital of Libya equipped with a heartfelt shloonak or shloonich. You'll realize your glitch when your Libyan friends start laughing and nickname you "The Iraqi." They'll get a kick out of you asking them "what color" they are, because that's literally what the Iraqi dialect is asking: the color of one's mood, which likely won't be lost on them, having been exposed to the Iraqi dialect via television and radio. But lets back up for a minute, there is an even bigger division that cleaves the language in half, so to speak. "Arabic" really indicates two different things that are not considered separate in the English language: the written form and the spoken form. You can liken this distinction to how the human brain is divided into two parts, right and left, each serving essential but sometimes distinct functions, yet both part of an integrated whole. This division in Arabic between the official written language and the unofficial spoken forms--the dialects--is important and will determine the path of your study. So what do I mean the difference between written and spoken? You speak what you write and write what you speak, right? Not necessarily. Arabic is no different from German and Chinese in this regard because all three languages are diglossic, meaning there exists two distinct varieties of the language used within a single language community. How they are used depends on social context. Official Written Arabic Written Arabic, also called Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is the standardized version of Arabic used in the media, government, academia, and in most speeches, fiction and non-fiction writing. Of course, Modern Standard Arabic is spoken in these institutionalized contexts, and thus can vary modestly from country to country, but what matters most is that it is regarded as the official written form because its grammar, syntax, vocabulary, morphology and phonology have all been standardized. The rules of the language have been agreed upon by the "proper" authorities and passed down through generations, which means it is universally taught within the Arabic speaking world and is crucial to communication across it. MSA itself is largely derived from Classical Arabic, which is the language of the Qur'an and considered the foundation of all Arabic. Fun fact: Since MSA is the traditional, formal arm of Arabic, it sounds a bit old-fashioned, like how Old English or Shakespeare sounds to English speakers. Unofficial Spoken Arabic Spoken Arabic, also called colloquial Arabic, embraces all those unique and self-governing dialects mentioned earlier. Dialects mostly do as they wish, using MSA as a guide or springboard from which to launch themselves into the endlessly creative world of street vernacular and slang. Because it's the language of the street, dialect is the first language learned by the native Arabic speaker, while MSA is learned later at school. Since Spoken Arabic is not standardized like MSA, it is not adequate to use as a transnational tool to communicate across the culturally vast Arabic speaking world. Yet, it is a vital communication tool in ordinary life in local settings. Speaking the local dialect will help you fit in, as much as that is possible, while speaking MSA will mark you as an obvious outsider. Not that that is a bad thing! From what my native Arabic speaking friends tell me, speaking MSA on the streets with a non-native speaker can be a bit embarrassing for them because despite growing up hearing, reading, and studying it in school, they don't feel natural speaking it. However, most Arabic speakers will understand your MSA, despite the chuckles - and they will no doubt appreciate your efforts no matter how much thou injurest ye neweth tongue! (Boy, that was awkward!) Offres d'emploi au MarocLike it? Share it! |