The Arabic Language
Arabic is the sixth most common language in the world with over 280 million native speakers. Another 250 million people speak Arabic as a second language, making it one of the most widely studied languages. The Arab-speaking population is rapidly growing, creating new opportunities for businesses to tap into this global market. Here are a few things to consider about the Arabic language:
- Arabic is the official language of 25 countries - the third in line after English and French.
- Arabic is one of six official languages of the United Nations and a primary language of the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference, and the African Union.
- Arabic is the liturgical language of Islam, and the Qur’an (
) is written in Arabic. - Although there are many Arabic dialects, they are all written using the same alphabet.
Arabic is a complex language that poses many difficulties for would-be translators. What gender does a number take when it modifies a word? When is it appropriate to use the phrase insha'allah (“God willing”)? What system should be used to convert between the Arabic and Latin alphabets? Here are some pointers to help guide you when first considering an Arabic translation project:
The Arabic Alphabet
The Arabic alphabet is the second most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world after the Latin alphabet. Use of this alphabet was confined to the Arabian Peninsula until the spread of Islam in the seventh century CE. Since then it has been adapted to write such diverse languages as Persian, Kurdish, and Malay. With few exceptions, Arabic script is the only official orthography in the region spanning from Morocco to Pakistan.
The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters and is written from right to left. Short vowels are typically left unwritten. Arabic is a cursive written language, meaning that all the letters connect naturally. This lends itself well to calligraphy, an ancient art form that remains very prestigious in the Arab world. Calligraphy is prized among Islamic arts because it was the primary means for the preserving the Qur’an. Mosques are usually decorated with artistic renderings of Islamic verses.
The form of Arabic script is particularly vital. The shape of each letter depends on its position in the word - beginning, middle or end. There is a fourth form for letters that are written individually. The style of Arabic script used most often in print and computers is called Naskhi. Around the 10th century CE, this variation in the Arabic script, Naskhi, developed in its use for business and everyday correspondence, as a difference from the style used for copying the Qur’an,.
A final consideration on writing in Arabic is the multitude of systems for converting Arabic into the Latin alphabet, a process known as Romanization. Since Arabic does not write its vowels, these must be supplied. Any system for Romanization must also decide whether to use transliteration or transcription. Transliteration converts each Arabic letter to its Latin equivalent, while transcription writes the words as they sound. Transliteration is consistent across all languages that use the Latin alphabet, while transcription helps those unfamiliar with Arabic pronunciation.
Arabic Language Characteristics
Besides its characteristic alphabet, what are some of the distinguishing features of Arabic?
- Arabic words are constructed from three-letter “roots” that convey a basic idea. For example, k-t-b (
) conveys the idea of writing. From this root springs kitaab (
) or "book", kaatib (
) or "writer", and maktaba (
) or "library". - The normal word order of a sentence is verb/subject/object. An example in English would be “Pets he the dog.”
- Generally, feminine nouns add the suffix “-aat” to form the plural, but masculine nouns generally have a ‘broken’ plural that changes the vowels in the middle of the word (kitaab () “book” becomes kutub (
) “books”). - Arabic does not use “is” or “are” in the present tense: “the car blue” means “the car is blue.”
- Arabic is a derivative language. Verbs are generally composed of ten possible variations (known as measures
) with different meanings, although in practice most verbs utilize only three or four versions. For example, the root term for “to break” is k-s-r (
) literally "he broke." Measure II kassara (
) means "to smash," and Measure VII inkasara (
) means "it was broken up.” - The number symbols we use (0, 1, 2, 3, etc.) are named Arabic numerals because they came to Europe from North Africa. However, Egypt and other eastern Arab-speaking countries use Eastern Arabic numerals
(
). - Although Arabic is written from right to left, the arrangement of numbers places the lowest value on the right, the same as it is in left-to-right scripts.
Bidirectional Language Translation
A bidirectional language is one that is written predominately right-to-left, but may also contain some left-to-right writing. While most Arabic writing is right-to-left, foreign words or phrases that are not translated, such as brand names, retain their original direction.
Bidirectional language translation creates many difficulties in document formatting, desktop publishing (DTP), and website translation. Text editing software is typically designed for left-to-right or right-to-left reading, but not both in the same sentence. Oftentimes the text will have to be manually reordered so that the file will be displayed correctly. Punctuation can pose another challenge to bidirectional language translation. Some text editors will automatically move punctuation marks from the left of the sentence (its ending) to the right (its beginning).
Beyond technical issues, bidirectional language translation poses design challenges as well. Anything written in a Latin-based language will naturally be designed to be read left-to-right. For instance, the most important information is usually placed to the left so that it is the first thing noticed by readers. Another example from the Internet is the placement of icons telling users to go to the “Previous” or “Next” page. The location of these icons must be flipped when creating a website in Arabic to avoid confusing readers expecting a right-to-left orientation. When performing a translation from English to Arabic, it may take as much time to resolve the issues caused by this reversal of perspectives as it does to perform the translation itself.
Learn about the Arabic Language History, Arabic Dialects & Arabian Business Etiquette
You can read about our Arabic Translation Services here.
Get Your Arabic Translation Quote Now!
Read more about Foreign Translations, Inc., and our translation, localization and globalization services.