The Arabic language and its origins
The Arabic language and its origins are one of the most popular studies due to its widespread among all the languages of the world.
It is one of the six most famous languages in the world, where it has spread, whether written or spoken.
The beginnings of human language are among the things that many scholars have tried to reach, but without clear evidence of how speech and language began in general.
What is the language?
Language is one of the most important means of communication between humans because it enables people to express their different thoughts and feelings and to form relationships with each other. In addition, a person will not be able to understand those around him without language.
Language composition
Language consists of verbal and nonverbal sounds and symbols. We have to put them together to create words and sentences for social communication both verbally and in writing. It indicates mental, sensory, and motor development as well.
The Arabic language
The Arabic language is the language that incorporated many vocabularies from the oldest civilizations known to mankind, which is the Arab civilization.
That resulted in many cultures of literature, arts, and sciences.
The Arabic language consists of 28 letters. It is written from right to left such as Persian and Hebrew.
Main characteristics of the Arabic language
- The main characteristic of the Arabic language is its persistence over the ages without any distortion.
- Moreover, Its composition of morphology, grammar, eloquence, and derivation.
International Day of the Arabic Language
The Arabic language was approved by the United Nations as an approved language in 1973 among the six global languages.
Thus, it is celebrated on the 18th of December.
The six world languages are Arabic, English, French, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
Names of the Arabic language
1- The language of “Daad”
They called it the language of “Daad” due to the letter “ض”. It is unparalleled in other languages.
2- The language of the Qur’an
This name is due to the Qur’an being revealed in the Arabic language. It spread with the spread of the Qur’an and Islam more than before.
Arabic language and its origins
Arabic scholars agreed that the origins and the beginnings of Standard Arabic are in the Arabian Peninsula. There are several theories about who spoke first with it:
First: Adam, peace be upon him:
Some believe that God mentioned in the Qur’an that he taught Adam all the names, which means all languages, including Arabic.
Second: Ismail peace be upon him:
Some scholars said that Ismail was the first to pronounce it.
Third: The Qahtanites:
Some have even said that Ibn Qahtan was the first to pronounce it.
Fourth: The language of northern Arabia (Real theory):
Modern science has confirmed that the Standard Arabic language goes back to the north of the Arabian Peninsula and is one of the Middle Semitic languages. This is more likely to say that the classical Arabic language originated in the Quraysh.
Some say that Yaarub bin Kanaan was the first to express his words in the Arabic language. Arabic was called after him and was derived from the Canaanite language.
Oldest Arabic inscription
The Namara inscription is the oldest of the earliest ancient texts written in a type of Nabataean script. It is close to the current Arabic calligraphy.
Types of Arabic fonts
As the Arabic language spread all over the world, many calligraphies appeared such as:
- Kofi Calligraphy.
- Raqaa Calligraphy.
- Naskh Calligraphy.
- Persian Calligraphy.
The impact of Islam on the Arabic language
1-Spread of the Arabic language with the Islamic conquests:
The spread of the Islamic religion greatly contributed to the spread of the Arabic language.
Before Islam, the speakers of the Arabic language were the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula only, in addition to Babylon and the Levant. But when Islam came with the Holy Quran, then the Islamic conquests began to invade the world.
2-Learn Arabic to understand the Qur’an:
This led to the spread of the Arabic language in many countries, and when converting to Islam, it was necessary to learn the language of the Qur’an.
Preserving the origins of the Arabic language:
May God preserve the Qur’an from any distortion or change, which contributed to the preservation of its Arabic language, as it is the most important thing that supports the Arabic language. It preserved the Arabic language from any changes like other languages.
Arabic speaking countries
- The Arabic language is the official language of all Arab countries. They are twenty-two countries in the Arab League. Thus it is the mother tongue of more than millions of people in the world.
- The language of Muslims all over the world besides their native language.
The impact of the Arabic language on other languages
The Islamic conquest happened to the Persians, the Romans, and the Abyssinians. Therefore, cultures and languages overlapped and influenced each other, such as:
The French language:
More than 700 Arabic words have entered the French language.
The English language:
As a result of the emergence of Arab scientists in many fields affected by the English language, we find more than 1000 Arabic words in medicine, astronomy, biology, and surgery.
The most important books in Arabic translated to other languages
That resulted in many cultures of literature, arts, and sciences.
- The Introduction of Ibn Kholdoon.
- The Law of Medicine by Ibn Sina.
- Maqamat Badie al-Zaman al-Hamazani.
- One Thousand and One Nights.
- Book of optics, Al-Hasan Ibn Al-Haytham
- Kalila wa Dimna, Ibn al-Muqaffaa.
- Ibn Battuta’s Journey.
The advantages of the Arabic language over other languages
Original language:
It was not distorted because the Qur’an God protected it. However, the rest countries have changed their languages over the ages.
Glorification language:
The Arabic language differs from the rest of the languages in that it has magnification letters. These letters resulted from the elevation of the tongue at the top of the mouth, such as the letters “ض, ص, ط, ظ, خ, غ, ق”. These letters are not found in other languages.
Derivation language:
All words, phrases, and adjectives are from the original word. In other languages the word changes.
Miraculous language:
The Arabic language considers it difficult to translate many of its vocabularies to reach the same meaning that the Arabic language, especially the Holy Qur’an, highlights. The Arabs themselves were unable to come up with something better than the Qur’an, so what about the non-Arabs. Most of the time translators used the same words when translating.
Arabic signs:
It is a language whose speech is easy to shorten, besides its meaning change only by changing the signs. Arabic is the most important feature that distinguishes the Arabic language from the rest of the world’s languages. Moreover, Arabic grammar is different from any other grammar.
Distinguishing between masculine and feminine:
In the English language, you will not be able to distinguish between the masculine and feminine words, as they both pronounce the same pronunciation. However, in the Arabic language you can distinguish easily. In addition to sentences that contain dual or plural, the Arabic language can determine if the word is masculine or feminine. However, it cannot do so in English.
Arabic poetry:
It is a science that distinguishes the Arabic language from other languages and includes the tone of Arabic poetry. The Arab toned the poetry into verses, with great mastery that impresses the listener.
Persistence:
The Arabic language is valid for every place and time unlike the rest of the languages. Thus the Arab person can read the ancient Arabic texts with ease. However, in other languages, it will take the ancient Latin language that disappeared through the times.
In conclusion, every Arab is proud of his origins, the Arabic language, its origins, and landmarks that constitute the ancient Arab civilization and the Holy Qur’an, which is considered a tribute to this language. The Arabs adhere to their language always and forever because it is distinct from the rest of the languages and has remained throughout the ages without being affected.