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Arabic - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about Arabic |
 | | Arabic is also a language of religious and cultural significance in such other countries as Bangladesh, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and Somalia. |
| | Classical or formal Arabic is characterized by the retention of many unique Semitic phonemes, for example, the pharyngeal consonants, 'ain, ha, and qaf, ‘strangled’ versions of h and k; and the ‘emphatic’ consonants, d, t, s, z, characterized by a lateral or ‘l-coloured’ pronunciation and by their marked effect on neighbouring vowels. |
| | Arabic is written in an alphabet probably invented in 5th-century Arabia, and short vowels are usually omitted except in children's books and the sacred text of the Koran. |
| encyclopedia.farlex.com /Arabic (818 words) |
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