Arabic facts for kids

Arabic can refer to several important things that have shaped history and culture around the world. It often means the Arabic language, which is spoken by many people. It can also refer to the Arabic alphabet, the special way of writing used for the Arabic language and others. Finally, it can mean the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, which are the numbers we use every day, sometimes called "Arabic numerals."

The Arabic Language: A Global Voice

The Arabic language is a very old and widely spoken language. It belongs to the Semitic family of languages, like Hebrew and Aramaic. More than 400 million people speak Arabic, mostly across the Middle East and North Africa. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Arabic is especially important because it is the language of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. This means that Muslims all over the world learn Arabic to understand their religion better. Because of this, Arabic has influenced many other languages, including Spanish, Persian, Turkish, and even English.

There are different kinds of Arabic. Modern Standard Arabic is used in books, newspapers, TV news, and formal speeches. But in daily life, people speak many different dialects, which can sometimes be quite different from each other.

The Arabic Alphabet: A Unique Script

The Arabic alphabet is the writing system used for the Arabic language. It's also used for other languages like Persian (Farsi), Urdu, and Kurdish. What makes it special is that it's written from right to left, which is the opposite of English.

The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters, and most of them are consonants. Vowel sounds are usually shown with small marks above or below the letters, or sometimes not at all if the reader can understand from context. This alphabet is known for its beautiful calligraphy, which is an art form where words are written in decorative ways.

Arabic Numerals: The Numbers We Use

When people talk about "Arabic numerals," they are usually talking about the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. These are the numbers we use every single day in almost every country around the world.

Even though they are called "Arabic numerals," they actually came from India. Arab scholars learned about them and then spread them to Europe during the Middle Ages. Before these numbers, Europeans used Roman numerals, which were much harder for calculations. The Hindu–Arabic numeral system, with its idea of place value (where the position of a digit matters, like in 23 vs 32) and the concept of zero, made math much easier and helped science and trade grow.

Images for kids

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  Safaitic inscription

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  Arabic from the Quran in the old Hijazi dialect (Hijazi script, 7th century AD)

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  The Qur'an has served and continues to serve as a fundamental reference for Arabic. (Maghrebi Kufic script, Blue Qur'an, 9th-10th century)

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  Coverage in Al-Ahram in 1934 of the inauguration of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo, an organization of major importance to the modernization of Arabic.

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  Arabic calligraphy written by a Malay Muslim in Malaysia. The calligrapher is making a rough draft.

See also

In Spanish: Idioma árabe para niños