Mohamed Bacha

Modern Standard Arabic Phrasebook Mohamed Bacha

This phrasebook is a collection of useful phrases and expressions in Modern Standard Arabic, the lingua franca of the Arabic-speaking world. Although Modern Standard Arabic is not the native language of anyone, it is taught in all schools in Arabic-speaking countries, and is universally recognised as the official form of Arabic. Therefore, while people from different Arabic-speaking regions may not easily understand each other's dialect, they will generally be able to understand and communicate in Standard Arabic. MSA has therefore the role of a lingua franca. As such, by learning Standard Arabic, you can generally communicate with any educated person in Arabic-speaking areas. MSA functions in parallel to dialects within a linguistic situation called "diglossia", where MSA is the formal codified variety and hence is mostly used in formal situations, while the vernacular is the spoken variety, is usuallu non-codified and is the natural language of people. In Tunisia, for instance, diglossia is manifested in the functional spacialization of MSA and Tunusian Arabic: the spoken variety of Arabic, that diverged from its origin under the weight of particular historical processes and influences. To explore further this subject, the reader is regerred to "Tunisian Arabic in 30 Lessons", a textbook for a study of an Arabic dialect relating to Tunisia.