Arabic
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al-?arabiyyah
Arabic albayancalligraphy.svg
al-?Arabiyyah in written Arabic (Naskh script)
Pronunciation /'?arabi?/, /?al?ara'bijja/
Native to Countries of the Arab League, minorities in neighboring countries and
some parts of Asia, Africa, Europe
Native speakers
313 million (2018)[1]
Language family
Afro-Asiatic
Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Arabic languages
Arabic
Early form
Proto-Arabic
Old Arabic
Classical Arabic
Standard forms
Modern Standard Arabic
Dialects
Western (Maghrebi)
Central (incl. Egyptian, Sudanese)
Northern (incl. Levantine, Mesopotamian)
Peninsular (Gulf, Hejazi, Najdi, Yemeni)
Writing system
Arabic alphabet
Arabic Braille
Syriac alphabet (Garshuni)
Hebrew alphabet (Judeo-Arabic languages)
Greek alphabet (Cypriot Maronite Arabic)
Latin script (Romanized Arabic alphabet, Lebanese Arabic, Hassaniya Arabic,
Moroccan Arabic, Libyan Arabic, Tunisian Arabic)
Signed forms
Signed Arabic (national forms)
Official status
Official language in
Modern Standard Arabic is an official language of 27 states, the third most after
English and French[2]
List[show]
Recognised minority
language in
List[show]
Regulated by
List[show]
Language codes
ISO 639-1 ar
ISO 639-2 ara
ISO 639-3 ara � inclusive code
Individual codes:
arq � Algerian Arabic
aao � Algerian Saharan Arabic
bbz � Babalia Creole Arabic
abv � Baharna Arabic
shu � Chadian Arabic
acy � Cypriot Arabic
adf � Dhofari Arabic
avl � Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic
arz � Egyptian Arabic
afb � Gulf Arabic
ayh � Hadrami Arabic
acw � Hijazi Arabic
ayl � Libyan Arabic
acm � Mesopotamian Arabic
ary � Moroccan Arabic
ars � Najdi Arabic
apc � North Levantine Arabic
ayp � North Mesopotamian Arabic
acx � Omani Arabic
aec � Saidi Arabic
ayn � Sanaani Arabic
ssh � Shihhi Arabic
ajp � South Levantine Arabic
arb � Standard Arabic
apd � Sudanese Arabic
pga � Sudanese Creole Arabic
acq � Taizzi-Adeni Arabic
abh � Tajiki Arabic
aeb � Tunisian Arabic
auz � Uzbeki Arabic
Glottolog arab1395[3]
Linguasphere 12-AAC
Dispersi�n lengua �rabe.png
Dispersion of native Arabic speakers as the majority (dark green) or minority
(light green) population
Arabic speaking world.svg
Use of Arabic as the national language (green), as an official language (dark
blue), and as a regional/minority language (light blue)
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Arabic (Arabic: ?????????????) al-?arabiyyah [?al?ara'bij?ah] (About this sound
listen) or (Arabic: ?????????) ?arabi ['?arabi?] (About this sound listen) or [?
ara'bij]) is a Central Semitic language that first emerged in Iron Age northwestern
Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world.[4] It is named after the
Arabs, a term initially used to describe peoples living from Mesopotamia in the
east to the Anti-Lebanon mountains in the west, in northwestern Arabia, and in the
Sinai peninsula. Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage comprising 30 modern
varieties, including its standard form (Modern Standard Arabic)[5].

The modern written language (Modern Standard Arabic) is derived from Classical
Arabic. It is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying
degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are
grouped together as Literary Arabic (fu??a), which is the official language of 26
states and the liturgical language of Islam. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows
the grammatical standards of Classical Arabic and uses much of the same vocabulary.
However, it has discarded some grammatical constructions and vocabulary that no
longer have any counterpart in the spoken varieties, and has adopted certain new
constructions and vocabulary from the spoken varieties. Much of the new vocabulary
is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-classical era, especially
inff