Arabic is a Semitic language that first emerged in the 1st to 4th centuries CE. It is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. It is named after the Arabs, a term initially used to describe peoples living in the area bounded by Mesopotamia in the east and the Anti-Lebanon mountains in the west, in Northwestern Arabia and in the Sinai Peninsula. The ISO assigns language codes to thirty varieties of Arabic, including its standard form, Modern Standard Arabic, also referred to as Literary Arabic, which is modernized Classical Arabic. This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā or simply al-fuṣḥā (اَلْفُصْحَىٰ).
Syrian teacher Ahmad al Hilal listens to his young pupils sitting on a mat reciting the Arabic alphabet in a makeshift school in a tent on the outskirts of a sprawling refugee camp city along the.. Reuters - Published
Carlos and Carole Ghosn, the former first couple of carmaker Nissan, are united again in Beirut. They hold hands in the street and whisper together in a mix of Arabic and French. They kiss. Reuters - Published
Increasing numbers of Syrian students are learning Russian as a foreign language in public schools, a move that reflects the extent to which Syrian-Russian relations have grown since the war started in..
Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric on Friday condemned mutual U.S. and Iranian attacks on Iraqi soil and warned of deteriorating security in the country and wider region as a result of Washington's..
The United Nations said 235,000 civilians had fled their homes in rebel-held northwestern Syria during a Russian-backed campaign of air strikes and shelling this month. Yahaira Jacquez reports.
A rare annular eclipse drew crowds astronomers, tourists, and devotees to witness the solar phenomenon across a broad swath of the globe. Zachary Goelman reports.
Tear gas engulfed central Beirut as security forces chased protesters near Lebanon's parliament on Sunday in a second night of street clashes that wounded dozens of people.
Former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune was announced as Algeria's new president on Friday, after a vote the authorities hope will end months of turmoil and protests. Emer McCarthy reports.
A fragment of wood reputed to be from the manger where Jesus was laid after his humble birth arrived in Bethlehem on Saturday as a gift from the Pope, kicking off Christmas celebrations. Conway G...
Iraq's death toll surpassed 400 on Friday, as mourners held funerals to bury their dead after weeks of anti-government protests. Lauren Anthony reports.
Iraqi security forces shot dead at least 45 protesters on Thursday after demonstrators stormed and torched an Iranian consulate overnight, in what could mark a turning point in the uprising against the..
Iraqi security forces shot dead 16 protesters in the southern city of Nassiriya on Thursday, medical sources said, and authorities imposed a curfew in Najaf after demonstrators burned its Iranian..
Just off Baghdad's Tahrir Square, ground zero for the anti-government protest movement despite the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators in a government crackdown, protesters have set up a "wall of..
People in Sudan's Atbara, a colonial-era railway hub, support the national government in the capital some 220 miles to the south, but say some of the main grievances which drove their uprising - poor..
A federal judge on Thursday rejected Southwest Airlines Co's bid to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit by an American of Iraqi descent who was removed from a 2016 flight after another passenger heard him.. Reuters - Published
Two weeks ago, 13-year-old Leith Ahmed was busy studying English and Arabic at school in northeastern Syria when a sudden Turkish cross-border attack forced him and his family to run for their lives. Reuters - Published
Iranian forces seized a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf that was smuggling fuel to Arab states and has detained seven crewmen, Iran's state media reported on Sunday. Reuters - Published
Authorities in the Chinese capital have ordered halal restaurants and food stalls to remove Arabic script and symbols associated with Islam from their signs, part of an expanding national effort to.. Reuters - Published
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