Arabic Language History

Arabic, a major language spoken by over 200 million people worldwide, has a history that grows out of the Semitic language family, a general group of languages spoken throughout the Middle East.

In its earliest forms, Arabic was first only spoken by small nomadic tribes that traveled around the Arabian Peninsula. However, with the spread of Islam, Arabic eventually became one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

The Beginning of the Arabic Language

The oldest known history of the Arabic language dates back to the 8th Century B.C. While traces of the modern Arabic language can be found in these ancient texts, the bulk of its content was written in Arabic's predecessor – musnad.

It wasn't until nearly 12 centuries later – in 4 A.D. – that a truly unique form of Arabic arose. Historians theorize that these Arabic roots initially sprung up in East Africa, particularly in the regions now known as Somalia and Ethiopia.

Interestingly, Arabic has one of the most comprehensively documented histories, as thousands of pages of Arabic text that span ancient decades have been uncovered and preserved. These Arabic writings detail the evolution of the language, as well as other significant anthropological and historical information.

Other Semitic Languages

Languages similar to Arabic and, therefore, in the "Semitic language" category include:

• Aramaic
• Hebrew
• Maltese
• Mehri
• Phoenician
• Tigrinya

The Rise and Spread of Arabic

By the 7th Century A.D., Arabic began to spread throughout the Middle East, as Islam won more converts. During this era of massive religious conversions, Arabic replaced many South Arabian languages, most of which are considered "dead" today. In linguistics, "dead" is a term used to refer to languages that are no longer spoken outside of religious ceremonies.

Other factors that contributed to the spread of Arabic include:

• Short stories written and circulated by early Arabic nomads. These were mostly themed after the nomadic lifestyle.
• The nomadic tendencies of certain groups of Arab speakers, as these travelers exposed many new peoples to the Arabic language.
• The Qur'an, as this seminal religious text was first written and distributed in Arabic.

By the 8th Century – only 300 years after Arabic first developed as a unique language, Arabic had become the official language of a vast world empire, spanning from Central Asia to the Atlantic Ocean to the Iberian Peninsula.

The Arabic Language Today

In modern times, there are 12 different Arabic dialects spoken in 28 countries around the world. While most of these dialects are specific to a particular region (for example, "Sudanese Arabic" or "Iraqi Arabic"), the most commonly spoken Arabic dialect is Egyptian Arabic.

This variety of Arabic dialects is largely due to the fact that, as Arabic spread and took hold in new regions, it often adopted traces of the language it replaced.

Another interesting aspect of Arabic language history is that dialects are rarely written for public, professional or official documents. While some Arabic dialects have been used in literature, nearly all written forms of the language represent the "Modern Standard Arabic."

This dichotomy between the spoken and written forms of the language (known in linguistics as diglossia) helps preserve a universal form of Arabic while still allowing cultural nuances to shape the regional dialects of the language.
 
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