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HISTORY AND SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
ARABIC LANGUAGE
Ermatova Zulfiya
student of the International
Islamic academy of Uzbekistan
Annotation
: As the primary language of Afroasiatic macrosemy, Arabic holds
a unique position in the field of linguistics. In order to solve the issue of language
emergence in general, it is crucial to take into account the key phases in this
language’s development as well as its distinctive qualities.
Keywords
: Islamic era, writing new monuments, Semitic languages, and
three-letter roots. There are various eras that make up the history of Arabic.
The Arabic language has split from the northwest branch of the Semitic
language family is used to compute the oldest, or archaic, period. The semitologist
A. Militarev indicates that the Arabic language was isolated around the middle of
the first millennium BC. e. There are no linguistic materials that depict this era,
hence it can only be imaginatively recreated [1, p. 6]. The first linguistic evidence
was discovered in written monuments of Assyro-Babylonia’s neighbouring
civilisations during the ancient Arabic period (10th–5th centuries BC), according to
ancient writers who were found in written monuments of southern Ravian
civilisation. Early Arabic period: this is the time frame during which the earliest
epigraphic manuscripts exist. It starts in the first decades of the common era and
lasts until the middle of the eighth century, or before the first written version of the
Quran appears. The so-called Lihyan inscriptions are the earliest in Arabic. They
date to between the second and first century BC e. They were discovered in the Al-
Ula oasis in the northern Hijaz. These inscriptions are brief and jumbled; they don’t
explain everything. Nonetheless, it is still possible to determine that they are written
in an outlying dialect of Arabic. Safa inscriptions, so called because of the Safa
region, which is not far from Damascus, date to a little later period. They are
inscribed (so-called graffiti) on the rocks. Their language and the Hijaz dialect differ
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little. An altered form of Southern Arabic is used to write both Saf and Lihyan
inscriptions.
Two inscriptions dating to the sixth century are written in the Northern Arabic
alphabet and resemble the “Kufic” style. These include the Harran Inscription,
written in 568 and discovered in Harran (near Damascus), and the Zabad Inscription,
which dates to roughly 512 and was discovered in the ruins of a church in Zabad
(near Aleppo). Although they speak Northern Arabic, their language is not exactly
the same as the Bedouin poetry that has been passed down to us from the same era.
Case inflections, for instance, have either already vanished or are on the verge of
doing so in the language of these inscriptions. [2, pp. 38–37] The Koran was written
in Arabic originally. After the prophet Muhammad(pbuh) passed away, it was
assembled from memory-stored passages and the many recordings of the prophet’s
unique remarks, or revelations. This occurred in approximately 651, under the rule
of Caliph Omar. [2, p. 39]
It is important to remember that there are no written monuments in the
Arabic literary language that commemorate the pre-Islamic era. The earliest Arabic
period lacks monuments that are actually related to the Arabic literary language, the
ancient Arabic period was established based on linguistic data from neighbouring
civilisations, and the most ancient or archaic period was hypothetically reconstructed
using glottochronology. The Islamic era can be split into the following periods, with
the Islamic period starting around the middle of the sixth century: Early classical
period: the formation of Arabic literary and writing standards; “classical period: the
growth and blossoming of all Arabic literary genres (IX–X–VIII centuries);”
- a new era (late 16th century to mid-20th century) during which the
development of the language known as “modern literary Arabic”, as opposed to
“classical”, occurs; The modern period, which spans from the middle of the 20th
century to the present, saw literary Arabic continue to advance in modernity. The
Arabic language has evolved into two distinct forms during the previous two
centuries: literary-written Arabic and oral Arabic. - interactive. All Arab nations
share the first type, whereas regional dialects reflect the second. Diglossia, or
bilingualism, is the term used to describe this condition [1, p. 6-7].
It is important to consider some of the unique characteristics of the Arabic
language when talking about its origins and evolution. The first thing that scholars
see is the symmetry and completeness of the Arabic literary language’s full
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grammatical structure, which dates back to the Koran’s introduction. The existence
of a three-letter root is another distinctive aspect of the Arabic grammatical system,
as it is uncommon to find another language where a word’s root is precisely defined
by two, three, or four characters. The middle root letter vowel of an Arabic three-
letter verb is commonly referred to as the standard vowel.
You can distinguish between verbs based on their level of activity by
using this vowel sound in the perfect tense. When an is the usual vowel, the verb
denotes an action, as in “write”, “go”, “beat”, or “break”. When a verb ends in and,
it usually denotes a fleeting quality, such as “to be sad”, “to be joyful”, “to listen”,
or “to be sick”. The verb indicates a permanent quality, such as “to be big”, “to be
beautiful”, “to be brave”, or “to be ugly”, if the usual vowel is “y”. Only Semitic
languages exhibit this verbal difference, which points to a high level of systematicity
and organisation in the language. Furthermore, Arabic is the language in which this
appears the most regularly [2, p. 209].
This system already fails in other Semitic languages. For instance, in
Hebrew, verbs signifying a permanent quality started to use “ō” instead of the usual
vowel “u”, and verbs signifying a temporary property started to use “e” instead of
the typical vowel “u”. This was only retained in the third person form for certain
verbs; in other personal forms, the vowel an is used [2, p. 209]. The characteristics
of the Arabic literary language listed here are just a few of its many distinctive
qualities. Nonetheless, these characteristics, in addition to the lack of information
regarding the slow formation and evolution of the grammatical system, force us to
conclude that the Arabic language originated in a ready-made form with a highly
developed grammatical system; it could not have developed spontaneously through
an uncontrolled process. What has been presented here is sufficient to draw the
conclusion that the Arabic language could not have evolved into such a highly
ordered system as a consequence of evolution. This is simply a quick summary of a
few sections of the literary language in Arabic. It is unfortunate that no historical
records exist regarding the inventors of this system, even though it should have been
developed with great intent and professionalism in the field of philology.
Some authors, primarily non-philologists, frequently turned to the subject
of the divine or customary (conditioned) origin of the language, namely the Arabic
language itself, because in the question of origin, the Arabic language and the
language were not distinguished at all. [3, p. 359]. Professor V.Rybalkina’s point of
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view is valuable because he connects the problem of the birth of the Arabic language
with the problem of the emergence of all languages. That’s why the writer states:
“Study of mediaeval Arabic monuments in linguistics as a source for reconstructing
the general theory and history of the Arabic language the task is enormous in its
scope and involves the participation of significant scientific potential and a long
time” [3, pages 52, 53].
Interestingly, the Arabs “came into contact with carriers of a higher
culture, since the peoples they conquered, which became part of the Muslim empire,
already had the Holy Scriptures” at the time of their conquest of Syria and
Mesopotamia. The question of how early on the Arabs acquired such a delicate
subject as philology and a very detailed grammatical theory arises since they were
not yet aware of philological tasks. For science historians, there are numerous
challenges because the solution to this question has not yet been developed with
sufficient accuracy [3, p. 55].
The first grammarians arose in the fifth century and were designed to
translate the Koran for Iranians and other non-Arabs. The Koran had previously
existed at that time. It was considered that the Koranic language was the perfect
Arabic language, and hence it should serve as a standard from which no one might
diverge. Indeed, the Koran, the first book in Arabic, presents the language in a
complete and even perfect shape. The Koran, together with the then-existing oral
Bedouin poetry, served as the foundation for the creation of a grammatical system.
Two grammatical schools emerged. Basrian Khalil and his pupil Sibawayhi founded
the Basrian direction. Al-Kitab, Sibawayhi's grammar, was the foundation for all
later grammatical writings. Al-Kisaiy and his pupil Ferra established a different path,
the “Kufian” one. Comparing this school to the Basri school, it was a little less
formal [2, p. 39].
Several publications by well-known Arabic grammarians document the
continued evolution of the Arabic literary language’s grammatical system. Still,
there are a lot of unanswered concerns concerning what happened in the sixth
century, when Bedouin poetry was already prevalent and the Koran had already
made its appearance. For historians and philologists, the century that saw the rise of
Islam, the establishment of the Arab Caliphate, and the creation of a new Muslim
civilisation is yet uncharted territory. Geographically speaking, the Arabian
Peninsula’s centre is where this white area is located. The finding of archaeological
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and epigraphic materials from Arabia’s periphery presents new potential to shrink
the borders of this location. The first literary monuments of the Arabic language,
such as the Koran, prophetic legends, and poetry, demonstrate a developed language
with a stable grammatical structure and rich vocabulary, as well as established
genres of poetic works, sacred texts, and administrative texts [l, p. 8]. This is
significant because it highlights how the Arabic language phenomenon appears to
its historian. The origins of the Arabic language and the sources that could have
served as the foundation for the development of such a singular language and literary
form have yet to be discovered by those who have been studying the language’s
history. Numerous philologists continue to explore all of these problems. Professor
V.Rybalkin writes about this here: “It’s difficult to pinpoint the Arabs’ linguistic
interest development. This curiosity most likely stemmed from them. Regarding the
evolution of a writing system that predates Islam, however, there is no
documentation in the sources regarding the linguistic studios of the Arabs during
that time. Generally speaking, it should be mentioned that science has very little
resources to recreate the story of how the Arabic language system came to be” [3, p.
103].
Thus, by examining the language itself—how certain sounds, letters,
words, etc. could appear in the course of daily activity—scientists are attempting to
shed light on the puzzles and blind spots that arise when researching the history of
the Arabic language. However, religion offers an additional avenue for inquiry and
study. The appearance of the Quran, the first book written in Arabic, intrigues us.
It is widely acknowledged in Islam that: “The revelation given to the
Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) is so flawless in its verbal expression, the epitome of
something appropriate for the heart to perceive, that it can no longer be distorted
and, as a result, there is no question as to the veracity of the sacred words that follow.
The Prophet(pbuh) received this revelation during a 23-year period, which is now
contained in the book we know as the Holy Quran.
Since Muhammad(pbuh) started his ministry in the sixth century AD after
receiving the Revelation, the holy words found in the Arabic text of the Koran have
remained unaltered as long as they were revealed to the Prophet(pbuh). Nothing has
been added to or removed from them, and they have not been twisted or altered. [4,
page 8].
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We can only add to this that the Koran’s text has remained essentially
unchanged since it first emerged in grammatically flawless form. Furthermore, since
then, the Arabic language has not suffered. Naturally, there have been changes in
vocabulary; certain words have emerged, while others have vanished, but the
grammatical structure and even the vocabulary from the earliest grammar texts have
persisted in the writings of contemporary grammarians. Significant changes can be
observed in the grammatical systems of other languages throughout the same time
span. Over the course of its existence, the Arabic language has hardly changed. This
distinctive aspect of Arabic language needs to be taken into consideration by
contemporary researchers. In this case, it is necessary to find the reasons for the
events described here, to find out the real, not the fictitious, history of the period
described here. In this, perhaps unusual, way, the blank spots found in scientific
research are filled with religion, which, in our opinion, cannot be ignored, but, on
the contrary, if necessary, focus efforts on the directions suggested by religion.
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03. 68 p.
2. Grande B. Introduction to the comparative study of Semitic languages / B.
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Literature” RAS, 1998. - 439 p.
Z. Rybalkin V. “Arabic linguistic tradition. Origins, creators, concepts” / V.
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4. Maksud R Islam / R. Maksud. - Per. from English V. Novikova. - M.: FAIR
Publishing House, 2008. - 304 p.
5. A History of the Arabic Language Brian Bishop . - Linguistics 450 , - April
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6. Hetzron, Robert. “Semitic Languages.” NewYork: Oxford University
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