Arabic Culture: Development and Spread of Arabic Language

DEVELOPMENT AND SPREAD OF ARABIC CULTURE
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Development and Spread of Arabic Language
The role of language in the development of human civilization can be summarized by Lyons’ (1991) assertions that “language is purely human and non-instinctive methods of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntary produced symbols” (p.3). However, based on this belief, it is accurate to say that there is more to language than what it is perceived to be. This is because Lyons assertion ignores the cultural form of language which forms its base. Additionally, the significant role of language in communication can take various forms and not just limiting it to ideas, desires and emotions, they stretch beyond the symbols. However, despite providing a narrow perspective of language, Lyons provides a clear sense by saying, “language is a system of vocal symbols by means of a social group co-operation” (p.5). Based on this insight into language, it is easy to analyze language on the subject of development and its expansion in order to make clear conclusions on its role in the society and impact.
The Arabic language is among the major languages of the world with more than 250 million people in Arab countries using it as their first language. Consequently, it also uses a major language in non-Arab countries and as a minority language in various countries such as Israel, Iran, Afghanistan and Nigeria. In 1974, the United Nations adopted it as one of its official languages to join the likes of English, Spanish, Chinese, French, and Russian. The Arabic language is used as a liturgical language by more than one billion Muslims in various countries who study it as a second language. In the U.S.A, the Muslim and Arab communities use it in their daily activities and religious purposes (Al-Sharkawi, 2016).
Explaining the development of the language is not an easy task because little written literature exists about its origins (Jespersen, 2013). However, the existing literature documents that the Arabic language belongs to the Afro-Semitic family of languages which comprise of more than 300 languages where some have become extinct while some are still used as liturgical languages. The only surviving Semitic languages are Arabic and Hebrew while Hausa and several Berber dialects are the only remnants of the Hamitic languages.
The existing literature is inconsistent in documenting the origins of the Arabic language. Some documents that the earliest examples of the Arabic inscription were found in the Syrian Desert back in the 4th century, while others argue that it dates back to the 7th century. This inconsistency is what makes it hard to trace the early developments of the language. This is because it is agreed that the pre-Islamic Arab tribes who resided in the Arabian Peninsula and its neighboring had an oral poetic tradition that had no systematic collection and recording until the 8th century (Versteegh, 2014). This poetic tradition was as a result of fusion of the various dialects.
It is believed that Prophet Muhammad used to receive messages from God through his Angels in Arabic for more than two decades. These messages were then included...