Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic is the form of the
Arabic language used in the
Qur'an as well as in numerous literary texts from the same period.
Modern Standard Arabic is a modern version used in writing and in formal speaking (for example, prepared speeches and radio broadcasts). It differs minimally in morphology but has significant differences in syntax and lexicon, reflecting the influence of the modern spoken dialects.
Classical Arabic is often believed to be the parent language of all the
spoken varieties of Arabic, but recent scholarship, such as
Clive Holes (2004), questions this view, showing that other dialects were extant at the time and may be the origin of current spoken varieties.
Classical Arabic spread with the spread of Islam, becoming a language of scholarship and religious devotion as the language of the Qur'an. Its relation to
modern dialects is somewhat analogous to the relationship of Latin and the Romance Languages or Middle Chinese and the modern Chinese languages.
Classical Arabic is one of the
Semitic languages, and therefore has many similarities in conjugation and pronunciation to
Hebrew,
Akkadian,
Aramaic, and
Amharic. It possesses similar conjugation to biblical Hebrew in its use of vowels to modify a base group of consonants. For example,
k-
t-
b means
write, so out of this cluster, we get:
*
ka
ta
ba,
to write* ya
ktu
bu,
he writes*
ki
tā
b,
book*
ku
tu
b,
some books* ma
kta
ba,
library* mi
ktā
b,
writing machineThere are three short vowels and three long vowels in Arabic, being A, I, and U in two different lengths each. The following table illustrates this:
Classical Arabic has 28 consonant phonemes:
See
Arabic alphabet for further explanation of the
IPA phonetic symbols found in this chart.
# In modern Arabic, is pronounced as by some speakers. This is especially characteristic of the
Egyptian and southern Yemeni dialects. In many parts of North Africa and in the
Levant, it is pronounced as . However, the true classical pronunciation is .# is pronounced only in , the name of God, i.e.
Allah, when the word follows
a,
ā,
u or
ū (after
i or
ī it is unvelarised:
bismi l-lāh ).# is usually a phonetic
approximant.# In many varieties (if not most), are actually
epiglottal (despite what is reported in many earlier works). However, in classical Arabic, they are pronounced as
pharyngeals.
The consonants traditionally termed "emphatic" are either
velarised or
pharyngealised . In some transcription systems, emphasis is shown by capitalizing the letter e.g. is written ‹D›; in others the letter is underlined or has a dot below it e.g. ‹ḍ›.
*Holes, Clive (2004)
Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties Georgetown University Press. ISBN 1589010221
*Versteegh, Kees (2001)
The Arabic Language Edinburgh University Press ISBN 0748614362 (Ch.5 available in link below)
*
Arabic Language*
Fusha (language)*
Modern Standard Arabic*
Egyptian Arabic*
The Development of Classical Arabic
