To get an idea of how this is pronounced, imagine breathing on a window pane to create a mist.Įnglish has many words acquired either directly from Arabic or indirectly from Arabic words that have entered into Romance languages before passing into English. There are also a few sounds that don’t exist in other languages, such as 'ح', which is a ‘h’ sound as in ‘hubb’ (love). There are many differences between Arabic and English, the most obvious one being that it is written from right to left. The expression can be used so fervently that, when asking someone’s name, I was once given the response ‘Ahmed, Insha’Allah’.Īrabic has sounds that don't exist in other languages ‘Trust in God, but tie up your camel’ is a great (and practical) Arabic proverb used to express the nature of destiny and personal responsibility. The matter of destiny is also very much embedded within everyday Arabic phrases such as ‘Insha’Allah’ (If God wills). For example, ‘Al-Jafool’ means a camel that is frightened by anything ‘Al-Harib’ is a female camel that walks ahead of the others by a great distance so that it appears to be fleeing. Arabic is said to have hundreds of words for ‘camel’. This expansive vocabulary is not just limited to the world of poetry and literature, but also practical life. Be careful to pronounce the first letter correctly as the word 'kalb' translates as ‘dog', and is very insulting. The word for heart, ‘qalb’, comes from the root word (q-l-b), meaning to flip or turn something over. Although the word refers to the physical heart, spiritually the root word becomes appropriate when we think of our hearts as something constantly turning over emotions, decisions and opinions. Interestingly, the most common word for love in Arabic, 'hubb', comes from the same root as the word ‘seed’ – that which has the potential to grow into something beautiful. The final stage of falling in love, 'huyum', describes the complete loss of reason. 'Alaaqa', which comes from the root word (‘a-l-q) which means ‘to cling on to’ describes the next stage when the heart begins to attach itself to the beloved, before evolving into a blind desire 'ishq' and all-consuming love 'shaghaf'. The term comes from the root word ‘h-w-a’ - a transient wind that can rise and fall. The word 'hawa', for example, describes the initial attraction or inclining of the soul or mind towards another. There are at least 11 words for 'love' and hundreds of words for 'camel'Īrabic has at least 11 words for love and each of them conveys a different stage in the process of falling in love. However, this can be beneficial, and the beauty of it is that it conveys a depth of both meaning and emotion unmatched by many languages. Using the root system means that direct translation, particularly of poetic texts, is often difficult – the root of a word may contain a meaning that could take a few sentences to translate. The Arabic script is widely used in art through calligraphy and it is now common to see more modern and contemporary Arabic art being produced some of it uses a fusion of calligraphy and graffiti, known as 'calligraffiti'.Īs in other Semitic languages, Arabic has a complex and unusual method of constructing words from a basic root. This means that a pattern of three letters such as ‘k-t-b’, will always be the foundation of words that have the semantic field of ‘writing’, such as the work ‘kitaab’ which means ‘a book’ and ‘maktab’ which means ‘a desk or office’.

The different forms are used side by side to serve different functions in society.Īt its core, Arabic developed through a predominantly oral and poetic tradition that flourished in the Arabian Peninsula before the emergence of Islam and a codified Arabic script. Standard or Classical Arabic – Fusha – is the distinct form of the language used in media, newspapers, literature and other formal settings. ‘Aamiya, which is colloquial (spoken) Arabic, has many forms that are used in ordinary conversation, and it varies from country to country, and even town to town. Yet, in the UK, only one per cent of the adult population can hold a basic conversation in Arabic.Īrabic has different forms depending on the context in which it's usedĪrabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to Aramaic and Hebrew. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations (UN).

There are more than 300 million Arabic speakers across the world, though they predominantly live in the region stretching across the Middle East and North Africa. There are more than 300 million Arabic speakers in the worldĪrabic is the official language of the 22 countries that form the Arab League. Do you know how many Arabic words there are for 'love'? The British Council's Faraan Sayed shares some lesser-known facts about the language.

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