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Arabic

Arabic

Summary

Arabic (Standard), also known as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is natively spoken by 364 million people across the world, including countries in the Middle East and North Africa. It is the language of the Quran and serves as a unifying linguistic standard among Arabic-speaking countries, despite the presence of numerous regional dialects. Arabic culture is rich and diverse, with a history of significant contributions to science, literature, and the arts. Written in the Arabic script, Standard Arabic grammar is complex, featuring a root-based system, verb conjugations, and a free word order.

Stats

  • Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

  • Writing System: Perso-Arabic / other form

  • Writing System Type: Abjad

  • Writing Direction: R to L

  • Tones / Pitch Accent: N

  • Morphology: Fusional

  • Cases: 3

  • Grammatical Gender / Noun Class: 2

  • Number of Verb Tenses: 3

  • Word Order: Free

  • Number of Vowels (Monophthongs): 6

  • Number of Consonants: 28

Areas Where Spoken

  • Algeria (official) (86.0%) (38.6 mil)

  • Bahrain (official) (67.7%) (997 k)

  • Chad (official) (12.3%) (2.18 mil)

  • Comoros (official) (1.6%) (13 k)

  • Djibouti (official) (10.6%) (119 k)

  • Egypt (official) (98.8%) (110 mil)

  • Iraq (official) (77.2%) (34.4 mil)

  • Israel (official) (18.0%) (1.72 mil)

  • Jordan (official) (97.9%) (11.0 mil)

  • Kuwait (official) (781%) (3.33 mil)

  • Lebanon (official) (93.0%) (5.11 mil)

  • Libya (official) (96.0%) (6.54 mil)

  • Morocco (official) (65.0%) (24.3 mil)

  • Oman (official) (76.7%) (3.51 mil)

  • Palestine (95.9%) (4.84 mil)

  • Qatar (official) (40.7%) (1.10 mil)

  • Saudi Arabia (official) (88.0%) (32.0 mil)

  • Sudan (official) (49.4%) (23.2 mil)

  • Syria (official) (78.0%) (17.3 mil)

  • Tunisia (official) (68.0%) (8.40 mil)

  • United Arab Emirates (official) (42.0%) (3.97 mil)

  • Western Sahara (official) (70.0%) (457 k)

  • Yemen (official) (99.6%) (33.6 mil)

Resources

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