Arabic Language Day
18/12/2023
It's World Arabic Language Day when the international community takes a moment to appreciate Arabic and its contributions to humanity. It is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, used daily by more than 290 million people.
World Arabic Language Day is celebrated every year on 18 December since 2012. The date coincides with the day in 1973 that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Arabic as the sixth official language of the Organization. Maybe you could work out the other 5! (Answers below)
The Arabic language has given rise to developments in architecture, poetry, philosophy and song. It gives access to an incredible variety of identities and beliefs and its history reveals the richness of its links with other languages. Arabic has played an important role in passing on the knowledge of Greek and Roman sciences and philosophies to Renaissance Europe. Arabic numerals form the basis of mathematics
Classical Arabic is the liturgical (prayer) language of 1.8 BILLION followers of Islam!
Here are some English words which have come to us from Arabic:
- in the abode of animals and birds: albatross (al-qadus), camel (jamal), gazelle (ghazal), giraffe (zarafah), jerboa (yarbu), monkey (maymum), nacre (naqqarah), popinjay (babbagha’), and tuna (tun);
- in the area of food and drink: alcohol (al-kuhl), apricot (al-barquq), banana (banan), caramel (qanah), cafe (qahwah), jasmine (yasmin), lemon, lemonade and lime (laymun), mocha (mukha – port city in Yemen), orange (naranj) sugar (sukkar – borrowed by nearly every language in Europe) and tuna (tun);
- In the sphere of geography and navigation: admiral (amir al-bahr), canal (qanah), monsoon (mawsim), safari (safarah)
- in home and daily life: cable (habl), genius (jinn), hazard (al-zahr), jar (jarrah) and sofa (suffah);
- in music and song: guitar (qitar) and troubadour (tarab al-dar);
- in crime (magbarah): assassin (hashashin), mafia (mu’afi) and massacre (maslakh);
- in personal adornment: amber (‘anbar), cameo (chumahan), henna (hinna’), mask and mascara (maskharah) and sequin (sikkah);
- in science and mathematics: almanac (al-manakh), alchemy (al-kimiya’), algebra (al-jabr), average (‘awar), calibre (qalib), carat (qirat), chemistry (al-kimiya’) and both cipher and zero (sifr);
- in the arena of sports: racket (rah) and tennis (tinnis);
- in trade and commerce: cafe (qahwah), cheque (sakk), magazine (makhzan), ream (rizmah), traffic (tafriq) and tariff (ta’rifah).
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Loving God,
we give thanks for Arabic language and culture.
Help us to use their richness to inspire us
to communicate ideas and develop understanding,
building bridges between people.
AMEN
So, the other official languages of the UN are: French, English, Russian Chinese and Spanish
