Arabic language

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Major Semitic language of the Hamito-Semitic family of West Asia and North Africa, originating among the Arabs of the Arabian peninsula. It is spoken today by about 120 million people in the Middle East and North Africa. Arabic script is written from right to left.

The language has spread by way of conquest and trade as far west as Morocco and as far east as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and is also spoken in Arab communities scattered across the Western hemisphere. Forms of colloquial Arabic vary in the countries where it is the dominant language: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Arabic is also a language of religious and cultural significance in such other countries as Bangladesh, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and Somalia. Arabic-speaking communities are growing in the USA and the West Indies.

Consonantal roots
A feature of the language is its consonantal roots. The vast majority of Arabic words consist of three consonants containing a root idea. By adding various vowels and affixes, associated meanings can be derived. For example, s–l–m is the root for salaam, a greeting that implies peace; Islam, the creed of submission to God and calm acceptance of his will; and Muslim, one who submits to that will (a believer in Islam). The Koran, the sacred book of Islam, is ‘for reading’ by a qari (‘reader’) who is engaged in qaraat (‘reading’). The 7th-century style of the Koran is the basis of classical Arabic (al-lughatu al-fusha).

The crescent is a symbol of Islam and the green also denotes Islam. The four stars and the four stripes of colour represent the four islands in the group (including Mayotte, which is a French dependency). Effective date: 2002. >>