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Grammar: Structures of Arabic
There is a group of core
characteristics to the Arabic language. The principal is evident, and well
known: a different alphabet. The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters, but in some
Arab countries, additional letters have been introduced, depending on important
sounds in each of these countries. These letters are common to European
languages, and are missing in the standard Arab alphabet. The more common ones
include: g, p, and v. However, the manner of writing these letters are not
standardized.
Arabic is written with an alphabet, but letters are joined together,
reminding you of Western handwriting. More on writing in lessons 5-9. There
are clear rules for pronunciation for each of the letters (even if these may
differ slightly from country to country). Even better, for Arabic you can
find the correct pronunciation from the spelling alone. This is one of the
areas where learning Arabic is easier than it is for other major languages.
The other important characteristic is that the Arabic that you'll learn in
this beginner's course, is called Modern Standard Arabic, and is based on
the linguistic traditions of which the Quran is one of the main
representatives for. This language is often very different from the language
that people use in everyday speech, but is used in writing and in official
contexts. |
