Browsing by Author "Omar, Muhammad Ali"

Language is a social phenomenon which cannot exist but only within social context; hence, whatever affects human society will eventually affect language. Any discussion on basic components of society without language been included is incomplete. Thus language is not merely a tool for communication among the members of society, but also a container, which accommodates human culture; it reflects their civilization. One of the characteristics of language is that it experiences a growth alongside with community; conversely any decline in society will also result in decline of language. Arabic, like other human languages has passed through different stages since its separation from other Semitic languages. The researcher in this study investigates the developments that Arabic has passed through; also presented are the differences between classical and modern standard Arabic, especially in the semantic areas, the factors, the elements and the types. Some samples of modern standard Arabic words employed in social life are selected for analysis within the contexts of social relation and situations which arise as a result of the evolution of society and interactions with other communities, as well as the new professions and crafts, sports that have become a prominent activity and at the same time a professional hobby in society. Similarly, globalization has brought some changes and new dimensions to the customs and cultures in Arabic environments. Adding to this are new ways of life, different ways of eating, drinking, and dressing, and the ways of ornamenting. Moreover, the influence of entertainments and cultural enlightens in Arabic through theater and cinema is apparent. Other influential factors are modern means of transport and communication which were not known before, and therefore did not have equivalent words in Arabic. The study investigates the structural, lexical and social characteristics of those words, as well as their semantic development. The findings of the analysis reveal that Arabic is a flexible language; it accepts and borrows foreign words and structures. Arabic is a creative and inventory language; its linguistic properties are enriched through derivation, innovation, and translation of words and structures. It regains some dispensed words for new meanings. This study is an open investigation which calls for follow up of the changes and developments in Arabic language; it also suggests the needs for evaluating those changes and developments in order to preserve the status and originality of Arabic.