Arabic
العربية
Arabic is written and read from right to left! It is also the root language of many English words including algebra, algorithm, coffee, and sugar.
Amy says:
Marhaba! That means 'welcome' in Arabic! I'm Amy! Arabic is one of the world's oldest and most beautiful languages — the curved, flowing script is like art. Arabic gave us the words algebra, algorithm, coffee and sugar. The Middle East and North Africa have some of the most amazing history and culture on Earth!
Quick Facts
Speakers
~400 million
Language Family
Afro-Asiatic (Semitic)
Writing
Right to left, 28 letters
Official in
26 countries
Discover Arabic
Arabic is written and read from right to left! It is also the root language of many English words including algebra, algorithm, coffee, and sugar.
Writing System
Arabic script (right to left)
Native Speakers
~400 million
Did You Know?
Arabic is written and read from right to left — and even books open from what English readers would call the "back"!
The Arabic word for "moon" (قمر qamar) is the root of the English word "almanac". Arab astronomers named many stars — look up Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, and Algol!
There are many regional dialects of Arabic — Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Moroccan — that can sound quite different, but Modern Standard Arabic is understood everywhere.
What Makes Arabic Special?
Language of Mathematics
The words algebra, algorithm, and zero all come from Arabic — Arab scholars preserved and expanded mathematics when much of Europe had forgotten it.
Words We Use Daily
Coffee (qahwa), sugar (sukkar), cotton (qutn), and sofa (suffah) — all came into English through Arabic.
Language of the Quran
Classical Arabic has remained largely unchanged for over 1,400 years because the Quran was recorded in it — one of the most stable languages in history.
Keep Exploring the World!
Languages are windows into the world's cultures. Discover more languages and the countries where they are spoken.