Literal Arabic

Discover the language

Dialectal Arabic and literal Arabic

Immediate communication, the kind that involves the voice and the presence of the other - in front of you, at the end of the phone - is dialectal Arabic, specific to each region. It allows you to open up to the living, moving pulse of the street in the Arab world. It's fundamental to everyday life. Knowledge of it is a prerequisite for any serious learning of Arabic. But when it comes to communicating in writing - or delivering official speeches - in the press or in publishing, it's another variety of Arabic, literal Arabic, that's used. Literal Arabic enables communication across time, from one generation to the next: learning literal Arabic gives access to texts dating back more than a millennium and a half. It enables communication across space: from the Gulf to the Ocean, as the cliché goes, and, with the Internet, across the world.

A prestigious heritage

The written language, Literal Arabic, has known various states of language. Originally, it was a transdialectal language of ancient Arabia that enjoyed immense fortune thanks to a major linguistic event: the advent of a sacred text, the Koran. But literal Arabic is not just a mythical language, the language of origins and the sacred. It is the language of a written memory, of the prestigious classical heritage.

A modern international language

It is above all the written language of the present: it has undergone a prodigious expansion and profound change of face over the last century, thanks to the press, mass publications and the access of large sections of the population to education, in Arab societies. It is the living language of modern Arab culture. Literal Arabic should be compared with the great vehicular languages of the modern world, whose use is essential for economic, exchange and cultural purposes. Literal Arabic is a major international language, adopted, for example, by Interpol as the 4th international language, after English, French and Spanish.

Studying Literal Arabic at Inalco

A complete training in Arabic language and civilization

Inalco is the only establishment in France to offer a complete and advanced Bachelor's degree in Arabic in all registers of the language including courses in Arabic language and civilization. Our courses are designed to introduce you to all the multifaceted aspects of Arabic: modern language, classical language, classical heritage, language of the press and economy, modern literature, dialectal Arabic - with a very wide range of languages on offer that is set to grow, including Tunisian, Algerian, Moroccan, Syrian-Lebanese, Yemeni and Egyptian - as well as a brand-new course in Maltese. High standards are set in Arabic language, civilization (history, geography, sociology and anthropology), linguistics and literature.