Arabic is a Semitic language, closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. While Arabs speak the same language, there is enormous ethnic diversity among the spoken dialects. Alternately, Arab typically applies to the 22 member states of the League of Arab States; these members include the above with exception of Chad, Eritrea, Israel, and the Western Sahara.
In each of these countries there may be different ethnic groups whose mother tongue is not Arabic. Members of these groups may also speak Arabic, but they might not identify themselves as Arabs. For example, in both Chad and Iraq, members of non-Arab ethnic groups use Arabic as a lingua franca to communicate.
Also, in many Arab countries, before the founding of the state of Israel, there were active Arabic-speaking Jewish communities in such places as Morocco and Iraq; most of these populations moved to Israel after its founding in but maintain aspects of their Arab ancestry. It was originally coined in the early twentieth century to designate the area between the British colony of India and the Near East the Balkans and western part of the Ottoman Empire. Depending on how we define those characteristics, the borders of the Middle East can change.
For example, we might describe the Middle East geographically as a hot and arid region in western Asia between the Mediterranean in the west and the Indian subcontinent in the east; or we might describe it historically as a predominantly Muslim area sharing a common cultural heritage based on Arabic; or we might describe it strategically from a geopolitical and economic perspective, with consideration for its large reserves of oil. Most current maps leave them out of the Middle East, except for Egypt, despite a long shared history and many cultural similarities with other Arab countries.
Yet the same maps often include Iran, Afghanistan and sometimes even Pakistan — countries with different languages, some shared history and some very different cultural and historical bases. One interesting note is that the concept of the Middle East has been adopted in most of the languages of the region themselves: in Arabic, the region is referred to as al-sharq al-awsat , in Turkish as orta dogu , in Persian as khavarmiyaheh and in Hebrew as mizrach tichon.
Log in Sign Up. Arabic noun. Save Word. Definition of Arabic Entry 1 of 2. Arabic adjective. Definition of Arabic Entry 2 of 2.
Arabic notation. First Known Use of Arabic Noun 14th century, in the meaning defined above Adjective 15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1. Learn More About Arabic. Term » Definition. Word in Definition. Princeton's WordNet 0. Wiktionary 5. Arabic noun A major Semitic language originating from the Arabian peninsula, and now spoken natively in various spoken dialects, all sharing a single highly conservative standardized literary form throughout large sections of the Middle East and North Africa.
Webster Dictionary 0. Arabicus, fr. How to pronounce Arabic? Alex US English. David US English. Mark US English. Daniel British. Libby British. Mia British. Karen Australian. Hayley Australian. Natasha Australian. Veena Indian. Priya Indian. Abbreviations : Ar, Ar. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.
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