The language has spread by way of conquest and trade as far west as Morocco and as far east as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and is also spoken in Arab communities scattered across the western hemisphere.

Forms of colloquial Arabic vary in the countries where it is he dominant language: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Arabic is also a language of religious and cultural significance in such other countries as Bangladesh, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and Somalia. Arabic-speaking communities are growing in the USA and the West Indies.

CONSONANTAL ROOTS - A feature of the language is its consonantal roots. The vast majority of Arabic words consist of three consonants containing a root idea. By adding various towels and affixes, associated meanings can be derived. For example, s-l-m is the root for salaam, a greeting that implies peace, islam, the creed submission to God and calm acceptance of His will; and Muslim, one who submits to that will (a believer in Islam)...

The Quran, the sacred book of Islam, is 'for reading' by a qari (reader) who is engaged in 'qira'ah' ( reading).

The 7th-century style of the Quran is the basis of Classic Arabic (al-lughatul Fus'ha).

FURTHER LINGUISTIC FEATURES - Classical or Formal Arabic is characterised 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, characterised by a lateral or 'l-coloured' pro nunciation and by their marked effect on neighbouring vowels.

No spoken Arabic dialect, however, contains all the sounds of Classical Arabic, and pro nunciation of this literary language may often be coloured by the speaker's local dialect.