Arabic
Geographic distribution:	Arabia, Arab world
Genetic classification:	Afro-Asiatic  Semitic   West    Central     Arabic
Subdivisions:	Ancient North Arabian Arabic language

The Arabic language family consists of

• Classical Arabic and its descendants, including
  • Modern Standard Arabic and colloquial varieties of Arabic (ISO 639-3 ara)
  • The various Judeo-Arabic languages (ISO 639-3 jrb)
  • Maltese
• Ancient or Old North Arabian (ISO 639-3 xna), a number of closely related extinct dialects of pre-Islamic Arabia, including
  • Safaitic
  • Dedanitic/Lihyanitic
  • Thamudic
  • Hasaitic

SIL Ethnologue unites Canaanite and Arabic in a South Central Semitic group together with Aramaic forming Central Semitic, but it is more common to unite Aramaic and Canaanite as Northwest Semitic.

[edit] Literature

• Cantineau, Jean (1955). "Le dialectologie arabe," Orbis 4:149-169.
• Fischer, Wolfdietrich, & Otto Jastrow (ed) (1980). Handbuch der arabischen Dialekte. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz.
• Kaye, Alan S., & Judith Rosenhouse (1997). "Arabic Dialects and Maltese," The Semitic Languages. Ed. Robert Hetzron. New York: Routledge. Pages 263-311.
• Lozachmeur, H., (ed.), (1995) Presence arabe dans le croissant fertile avant l'Hegire (Actes de la table ronde internationale Paris, 13 Novembre 1993) Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations. ISBN 286538 2540
• Macdonald, M.C.A., (2000) "Reflections on the linguistic map of pre-Islamic Arabia" Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 11(1), 28–79
• Scagliarini, F., (1999) "The Dedanitic inscriptions from Jabal 'Ikma in north-western Hejaz" Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 29, 143-150 ISBN 2-503-50829-4
• Sobelman, H., (ed.) (1962). Arabic Dialect Studies. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics and the Middle East Institute.
• Winnett, F.V. and Reed, W.L., (1970) Ancient Records from North Arabia (Toronto: University of Toronto)

[edit] See also

• Arab (word)
• Arab (disambiguation)

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