Arab Culture - Language

Language

The Arabic language is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. It is spoken throughout the Arab and Islamic world. Arabic has been a literary language since at least the 6th century and is the liturgical language of Islam, in addition to widespread use as a vernacular language. Arabic is spoken in a variety of dialects. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the language of the media and of educated Arabs, is different from the everyday spoken Arabic.

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Famous quotes containing the word language:

    A language does not become fixed. The human intellect is always on the march, or, if you prefer, in movement, and languages with it.
    Victor Hugo (1802–1885)

    Repeat thy song, till the familiar lines
    Are footpaths for the thought of Italy!
    Thy flame is blown abroad from all the heights,
    Through all the nations, and a sound is heard,
    As of a mighty wind, and men devout,
    Strangers of Rome, and the new proselytes,
    In their own language hear thy wondrous word,
    And many are amazed and many doubt.
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)

    I invented the colors of the vowels!—A black, E white, I red, O blue, U green—I made rules for the form and movement of each consonant, and, and with instinctive rhythms, I flattered myself that I had created a poetic language accessible, some day, to all the senses.
    Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891)