Modern Standard Arabic

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