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The Arabic language : its unalterable diachronicity and its meeting with the Greek language

• Βάσσης, Κωνσταντίνος

Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by approximately 300 million people as a first language, most of whom live in North Africa and the Middle East. Arabic has many different, geographically distributed spoken varieties. Modern Standard Arabic, whose grammar and syntax is briefly outlined by the author, is widely taught in schools, universities, and used in workplaces, government and the media. Modern Standard Arabic derives from Classical Arabic, who used to be a literary language and the liturgie language of Islam since its inception in the 7 th century. During the Middle Ages, Arabic was a major vehicle in Europe, especially in sciences, mathematic and philosophy. The Arabic language has been in contact with Greek in the regions where the latter prevailed in Roman and Byzantine times, and Arab scholars translated major works of Greek thinkers and scientists, thus facilitating their diffusion in Medieval West. Arabic and Greek belong to different linguistic groups, but share a common literary and philosophic ground and are numbered among the few languages (such as Hebrew, Chinese and Japanese) that have survived for more than 1000 years, combining a rich historical past with a dynamic contemporary presence.

• Languages and Literature

• Γλωσσολογία

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