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A description and demonstration of SAFAR framework (2. The Arabic language)

2.       Arabic Language

Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by more than 450 million people in the world[1]. It is the official language of the Arab nation (about 22 countries) and displays three varieties:

·  The primary variety is the classical Arabic (known also as Quranic Arabic) found in the Quran and Jahiliya[2] literature (Arabic period before the arrival of Islam). It dates back to the 7th and 9th century from Umayyad and Abbasid times where it is used in literary texts.

·  Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the second variety of Arabic that is currently used in formal venues such as education, government documents, broadcast news, etc. It has a strong presence in written Arabic texts since it is a high variety of Arabic with its normalization and standardization;

·  Arabic dialects (AD) set is the third variety of Arabic that is considered as the native language of Arabic people. They differ from each other and are usually used in informal venues such as daily communication, TV series and programs, commercial advertising, etc. Unlike MSA, ADs have no written standards where users write dialectal words in several spelling forms.


[1] http://www.vistawide.com/arabic/arabic.htm

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahiliyyah2

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