How many dialects are there in Arabic?

Even though Arabic is mainly subdivided into three main versions as Quranic or Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, and Colloquial or Daily Arabic, it wouldn’t be wrong to estimate that over 25 dialects of Arabic are spoken globally.

Do all Arabs know Standard Arabic?

“Most” Arabs understand MSA (except for uneducated people). Plus, learning MSA will enable him to travel to other Arabic countries, and they all will be able to understand him well and talk to him too. MSA is the standard and the official language for all Arabic countries.

How many people understand Standard Arabic?

274 million people speak Modern Standard Arabic (native and non-native included). That makes it the 6th most-spoken language in 2020, although we know by now that most Arabs understand it, but are not unlikely to use it in everyday interactions.

How many words are in Modern Standard Arabic?

12.3 million words
Arabic: 12.3 million words; English: 600,000 words; French: 150,000 words; Russian: 130,000 words.

What is the difference between Modern Standard Arabic and dialect Arabic?

Dialect of course refers to any of the many local varieties of Arabic spoken across North Africa and the Middle East, and Modern Standard Arabic is the variety you see and hear when you turn on the news or read a newspaper. This question is often asked by people who want to be conversational in Arabic too.

Is Modern Standard Arabic the lingua franca of the Arab world?

Modern Standard Arabic is not the lingua franca of the Arab world. A lot of language products and courses market Modern Standard Arabic as the lingua franca (bridge or vehicular language) of the Middle East and North Africa. They teach MSA as a ‘conversational’ language that will make communication between all Arabic-speaking people possible.

Is it possible to be completely fluent in Arabic in MSA?

… or for your conversations not to be completely awkward. Modern Standard Arabic and the spoken dialects are so vastly different in terms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation that a person who is totally ‘fluent’ in MSA may not have any idea what a person’s saying in a local dialect.

Why do so many Arabs speak Arabic in school?

It’s what’s called a prestige language. Arabs learn MSA in school so they can read and write, understand and participate in politics, media and so on but you’ll be hard pressed finding a single person anywhere who speaks it as a conversational second language. Don’t think of it as a neutral dialect either.