Notable Features
The Arabic Language
Alphabet O The type of writing system is abjad O The number of letters in Arabic is 28 O Additional letters, however, can be used to
represent sounds that do not occur in Standard Arabic such as /g/ Arabic Keyboard
Arabic Vowels O There are six vowels in Arabic O The long vowels /a:/, /i:/ and /u:/ are
represented by the letters 'alif, yÄ ' and wÄ w
respectively O Short vowels are marked with special
diacritics Arabic Keyboard
Arabic Writing O Direction of writing is from right to left O Numbers are written from left to right O Many different languages use the Arabic
script: Ă„ynu, Azeri, Baluchi, Beja, Bosnian, Brahui, Crimean Tatar, etc. O Most letters change form depending on
where they appear in a word Arabic Keyboard
Varieties of Arabic O There are over 30 varieties of colloquial
Arabic: O Egyptian O Algerian O Moroccan O Sudanese O Najdi O Levantine
Arabic Keyboard