Arabic

Arabic

Many LSPs find it challenging to find a reliable team to handle their Arabic translation projects. Some have difficulties finding reliable freelance translators that confirm acceptance of their assignments quickly and return the work on time. Others struggle to find professionals who understand the scope of each project and have the skills to deliver a properly formatted document for the Arabic language. Many encounter roadblocks trying to assemble a qualified team that can collaborate efficiently and effectively on large projects from start to finish. Our team at Kaluts understands these challenges and works hard to tackle all these issues and assemble one single unified team who work together well and can resolve any challenges that may arise with the Middle Eastern language translation. Since we believe both parties (the client and the translation team) need a shared common understanding of the language they work with, we are sharing some important information about the Arabic language.

Arabic Quick Facts:

  • It is the official language of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, and Yemen and is spoken in Somalia.
  • It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
  • It ranks 6th among the major languages of the world.
  • There are an estimated 422 million speakers of Arabic worldwide.
  • There are three distinct forms of Arabic: Classical or Qur’anic Arabic, Formal or Modern Standard Arabic, and Spoken or Colloquial Arabic.
  • The major Arabic Dialects are Egyptian, Algerian, Moroccan/Maghrebi, Sudanese, North Levantine, Mesopotamian, and Najdi.
  • In general, conversational Arabic is divided into Middle Eastern and Western (Maghreb). But more specifically, it is divided into the following four categories, which each have different dialects:
    • Egyptian Arabic (Used as a conversational second language among the Arab world).
    • Maghreb Arabic (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria).
    • East Arabic (Lebanon, Palestine, and West of Jordan).
    • Iraqi Arabic (Or Persian Gulf Arabic: Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, East of Syria, coast of Persian Gulf from Iraq to Oman). There are more than 30 different forms of spoken or colloquial Arabic.
  • Written language is derived from the Nabataean script, which was used to write the Nabataean dialect of Aramaic.
  • Modern Standard Arabic follows most of the grammatical standards of Classical Arabic and employs a similar vocabulary.
  • It is the language of the Qurʾān or Koran, the sacred book of Islam, and is the religious language of all Muslims.
  • Modern Standard Arabic belongs to the Semitic language family.
  • Arabic history dates back to the 6th century.
  • During the Middle Ages, the Arabic language played an essential role in European culture, particularly in the fields of science, mathematics and philosophy. As a result, many European languages include Arabic words.
  • There are many linguistic differences between MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) and the regional dialects. Some of those differences do not appear in written form since short vowels are omitted in Arabic text anyway. That said, many differences manifest themselves in the text.
  • Dialects lack grammatical case, while MSA has a complex case system. In MSA, grammatical case describes the grammatical function of nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases. Grammatical function is differentiated through diacritics that are usually attached to the end of words. These are rarely explicitly written, with the accusative case being a notable exception, as it is expressed using a suffix in addition to a diacritic (e.g. for objects and adverbs).
  • There are lexical choice differences in the vocabulary itself. These differences involve much more than simple orthography standardization.
  • There are differences in how verbs are conjugated, even when the triliteral, or triconsonantal, root is preserved.
  • MSA has several registers, or styles, each used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. The higher registers of MSA are more formal and are closer to Classical Arabic in structure and vocabulary. They also tend to be uniform throughout the Arabic-speaking world. The lower registers of MSA, used most commonly in informal settings, tend to vary from country to country since they represent a blend of MSA with local dialects.