Should Christians learn Arabic?

[DaveBj]

The difference, however, is that all our books, magazines, newspapers, and most other things we read in English in addition to our news broadcasts, speeches, lectures, etc. are not in Elizabethan English. But books, newspapers, magazines, the news, speeches and formal lectures in a university, etc. in the Arab world are all in Modern Standard Arabic or perhaps a mix of MSA and colloquial Arabic. Moreover, even though Arabs don’t usually communicate in Modern Standard Arabic for casual conversation, most of them (even relatively uneducated ones) can still understand it. So a degree in Modern Standard Arabic is not as useless as one in Elizabethan English. The reality is that any educated person in the Arab world uses both a local dialect AND Modern Standard Arabic and a person learning Arabic unless they don’t plan on reading anything or listening to the news needs to learn both a dialect and MSA.

So the comparison of Modern Standard English to Elizabethan English is not quite right. Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic has a role closer to that which Latin used to have in the Medieval West as the language of learning whereas for everyday conversation people spoke in colloquial French, German, English, Spanish, etc.

Okay, don’t take the word of someone who has been there, multiple times. It’s really no skin off my nose, one way or the other. I’m just telling it like I’ve seen it. The locals might hear MSA on the radio and TV, and they just might (heavy accent on might) understand the version coming out of your mouth, but they don’t habitually speak it, and the chances of your understanding what’s coming out of their mouths is considerably less than the possibility of their understanding what is coming out of yours. Then there is also the fact that communicating articulately in spoken MSA means understanding a grammar system that is much more complex than anything that Westerners are used to.

 

[Thorolfr]

Okay, don’t take the word of someone who has been there, multiple times. It’s really no skin off my nose, one way or the other. I’m just telling it like I’ve seen it. The locals might hear MSA on the radio and TV, and they just might (heavy accent on might) understand the version coming out of your mouth, but they don’t habitually speak it, and the chances of your understanding what’s coming out of their mouths is considerably less than the possibility of their understanding what is coming out of yours. Then there is also the fact that communicating articulately in spoken MSA means understanding a grammar system that is much more complex than anything that Westerners are used to.

I’ve been there, too. I’ve been all over the Middle East and North Africa and used to live in Egypt. I also have a degree in Arabic and taught it at the university level. And I agree that the grammar of Modern Standard Arabic is complex although it’s possible in most cases to speak without case endings. And I agree that if someone wants to talk to people, they should learn a dialect, preferably Egyptian which is probably the most widely understood dialect in the Arab world. People in Morocco can understand me when I talk to them using the Egyptian dialect which is the one I speak fluently. But most people who are learning a language also want to be able to read it, so it’s important to learn Modern Standard Arabic in addition to a dialect.

But I also think that you’re overestimating the difficulty of Modern Standard Arabic grammar. Other languages are also highly inflected. If your learn German, not only do you need to know if a word is masculine or feminine, but also if it is neuter and the definite article changes (der, die and das). And what about some of those ridiculously long German words:

The term rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz — that’s 63 letters long for those of you keeping track at home — means “the law for the delegation of monitoring beef labeling.” A regional parliament recently repealed the legislative measure, which was established in 1999, rendering the word obsolete. Because the mouthful of a word is legal jargon, it remained outside the Duden German dictionary during its existence and it is unlikely the average German ever encountered it.

theweek.com/articles/463500/8-favorite-ridiculously-long-german-words

The above article has some other examples such as:

1. Lebensabschnittpartner
   As David Sedaris noted in his New Yorker article about learning German, this word is most astutely described as another option for “partner” or “lover,” but with a more transient twist: “the person I am with today.” A more elegant, proper version of the term is lebensabschnittgefährter.

1. Unabhaengigkeitserklaerungen
   Twain’s frustrations with learning German are well documented in his book A Tramp Abroad. This term he notes as meaning “independencedeclarations” (sic), which is perhaps a parchment-saving way our own Declaration of Independence could have been titled.

1. Freundschaftsbezeigungen
   Here’s one that even an English speaker might be able to break down, beginning with “freund,” which means “friend.” Twain also took umbrage at this “clumsy” term despite its sunny meaning: “demonstrations of friendship.”

1. Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften
   The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes this cumbersome word as the longest German word in everyday use. It means “insurance companies providing legal protection.”

1. Kaftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung
   Those getting started in insurance must have to practice their pronunciations outside the office, because the longest word listed in the Duden German dictionary also belongs to the industry. It means “motor vehicle liability insurance.”

Ancient Greek which lots of educated westerners used to learn has not just three cases like Arabic (nominative, genitive and accusative) but also dative and vocative, and three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Arabic is the language of peace, therefore our children should be learning Arabic. There exists MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) meaning that just as English is a standard in the West, Arabic is the standard lingua franca of the East.

Join the debate?

Arabic is the language of peace like English is the language of chocolate.

 

[Bradski]

JFK’s speech writer knew what he was doing.

Just lucky that he wasn’t in Frankfurt.

 

[Sarcelle]

Chinese, at least Mandarin horrifically complicated. In fact I can’t think of a language I would be less likely to recommend, unless you plan on living or working in china

I have a dyslexic friend who found learning Mandarin quite easy, especially the written portion. Come to think of it, he had a hard time learning to read and spell in English but found learning Mandarin much easier.

A family member also speaks Mandarin and he says the spoken portion is easy but the written portion can be difficult to learn.

 

[LilyM]

Just lucky that he wasn’t in Frankfurt.

Or Hamburg

 

[Ridgerunner]

Inasmuch as I have no intention of ever setting foot in any place where Arabic is the dominant language, I see no reason to learn it. I certainly wouldn’t learn it out of a belief that it’s the “language of peace”.

I did learn a bit of French in college, and liked it. But to me, the most beautiful language on earth is Italian. If I could study one new language anew, it would be Italian. Besides, if one knew Italian, one could read Dante in the original. As between reading Dante and the Koran, I think there’s little to be decided.

Now, I’ll grant that beautiful songs have been written in many languages and are pleasing to the ear. Even English doesn’t sound bad. Italian, of course, is perfect for singing. Spanish is a close second. But Arabic? Lots of gutterals, like Hebrew. I’m not sure how they make that work for them.

But since English is the language of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Chesterton, and many, many more of the best writers who ever lived, I’m not upset about being a devotee of English who knows just a smattering of French.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Reminds one a bit of some Andalusian singing which, one supposes, has a heavy Moorish influence; the emphasis on many, many notes right on key as opposed to the more occidental emphasis on melody and harmony.

Interesting how they get past the gutterals and hard glottal stops. I assume Lebanese Arabic is otherwise pronounced much the same as is Palestinian or Iraqi Arabic. Reminds one a bit of Hungarian singing, in which they succeed remarkably in doing both that and dealing with the words that end in harsh consonants. (Hard to do with Magyar. If one can make “jertek a felsheg var hogy ajya escuit” sound musical, it bespeaks a real talent) Of course, singers in lots of languages do things to make their language more “musical”, including in English.

Italian, of course, is musical-sounding all by itself, with nothing bypassed or softened. Spanish, as I said, is a close second.

 

[BornInMarch]

It’s a language.

If you live in a place where Arabic is widely spoken, or are of Arabic ancestry and desiring to reconnect with your roots, or simply wish to learn more about the culture, than by all means learn it.

 

[JRS_88]

Time better spent learning Latin. The language of the Church.

I assume you mean Latin the language of the Church in matters of official documents from Rome? Maybe I’m misunderstanding.
Obviously, Latin is not the liturgical language of ALL Catholic Churches in communion with Rome.

 

[jtauke]

NO !

Wow, that’s some unassailable reasoning you have there…

 

[PseuTonym]

Second, why would anyone outside the Middle East want to learn Arabic?

I changed that from a rhetorical question (ending with a period) to a literal question. Before I answer it, I would like readers of this thread to participate in a little quiz.

Which of these three items doesn’t belong – on purely linguistic grounds – with the other two?

1. AL-COHOL
2. AL-CAPONE
3. AL-GEBRA

 

[GEddie]

I changed that from a rhetorical question (ending with a period) to a literal question. Before I answer it, I would like readers of this thread to participate in a little quiz.

Which of these three items doesn’t belong – on purely linguistic grounds – with the other two?

1. AL-COHOL
2. AL-CAPONE
3. AL-GEBRA

That was easy, non? The answer is # 2. The other terms are ancient Arabic words. #2 is the contraction of a French name.

Still, the fact that words we use come from Arabic doesn’t in itself make studying the language worth the trouble. Greek or Latin would be more useful in that sense.

ICXC NIKA

 

[PseuTonym]

#2 is the contraction of a French name.

What French name is it a contraction of?

It was intended as a red herring: an abbreviation of Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone, associated in the minds of many people with the era when an amendment to the US constitution prohibited distribution of beverages containing “AL-COHOL” … (quoting the quiz item exactly).

Some improvising or license/liberty with punctuation was necessary to avoid giving away the answer to careful readers of punctuation.

Still, the fact that words we use come from Arabic doesn’t in itself make studying the language worth the trouble. Greek or Latin would be more useful in that sense.
ICXC NIKA

For English-language scientific vocabulary coined after the 1600s, I agree that there is a lot of Latin and Greek to be learned that can be helpful. I also agree that I haven’t presented an argument in support of everybody learning Arabic.

However, the Arabic language seems to have played a role in history. We could drop the prefix “cran-” from the English language more easily than we could drop the “al-” that we see in alcohol, algebra, etc.

It’s helpful in this era of “everything you believe is wrong” to see some easily-accessible evidence that the Arabic language has been influential. I don’t have to travel to Egypt and confirm that they actually do speak Arabic rather than a modern version of Coptic.

 

[dskysmine]

What French name is it a contraction of?

It was intended as a red herring: an abbreviation of Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone, associated in the minds of many people with the era when an amendment to the US constitution prohibited distribution of beverages containing “AL-COHOL” … (quoting the quiz item exactly).

Some improvising or license/liberty with punctuation was necessary to avoid giving away the answer to careful readers of punctuation.

For English-language scientific vocabulary coined after the 1600s, I agree that there is a lot of Latin and Greek to be learned that can be helpful. I also agree that I haven’t presented an argument in support of everybody learning Arabic.

However, the Arabic language seems to have played a role in history. We could drop the prefix “cran-” from the English language more easily than we could drop the “al-” that we see in alcohol, algebra, etc.

It’s helpful in this era of “everything you believe is wrong” to see some easily-accessible evidence that the Arabic language has been influential. I don’t have to travel to Egypt and confirm that they actually do speak Arabic rather than a modern version of Coptic.

Alphonse…

I don’t consider any language to be a symbol for anything.
Language is supposed to be useful, a tool for humans to communicate. They live and die by their own usefulness. I had this same discussion with my uncle in Portugal, he was tired of hearing people using English mixed with Portuguese.
I know 6 languages… I know some better than others but I use all 6 to communicate my state of mind to the people that matter to me.
I wouldn’t mind learning Arabic if I was living closer to the East, or there was a large community around me that spoke it, but losing time learning languages isn’t productive unless you can gain / give something from it, friends / knowledge / etc…

God bless,
D.