Before the “International Mother Language Day” on February 21st of each year, we must engage in a serious dialogue about the status of the Arabic language. This occasion prompts speakers of various languages around the world to carefully consider the fate of their languages, including the Arabic language. While Arabic possesses many strong attributes, it has not been advocated for or utilized to its full potential.
It cannot be denied that the Arabic language is facing complex problems, some of which are long-standing issues that have remained unresolved for years. Some are newly emerging challenges that are evident and do not require extensive effort to identify, diagnose, and strategize solutions.
Advancing Grammar
Some of these problems are related to advancing Arabic grammar to make it more accessible. Scholars like Taha Hussein have delved into this matter to address challenges associated with it. Finding appropriate terminology that aligns with scientific and cultural developments and the influx of vocabulary, concepts, and terms from globalization into the linguistic landscape on a daily basis is also crucial. Moreover, developing new rhetorical styles in similes, metaphors, exaggeration, imagery, and imaginative expression is essential.
There is an issue related to blindly following linguistic derivation to create systematic interpretations and narratives. This has become a characteristic of research in humanities at Arab universities and institutes, where researchers often trace linguistic derivations of terminologies or concepts back to ancient dictionaries, disregarding the fact that language is a living entity that evolves with changes in social contexts.
The situation worsens when old linguistic texts become definitive for modern thinking, drawing attraction and serving as guidance for individuals to create models and thought patterns.
However, the problem is not limited to this aspect. There is a challenging and intricate issue associated with the presence of Arabic itself. Colloquial dialects have heavily encroached upon formal Arabic, no longer remaining just spoken but now being predominantly adopted by the new generation in expressing their opinions, stances, thoughts, and emotions.
Even some writers or intellectuals have resorted to writing in colloquial dialects on social media platforms, which is concerning since their content transcends casual dialogue and extends to descriptions, portrayals, analyses, imaginative creations, and the expression of opinions and positions in ways that do not necessarily align with local colloquial variations but rather in description, portrayal, analysis, imagination, and opinion expression.
Some colloquial dialects, especially Egyptian dialects, have a tremendous ability to express and navigate many of the challenges faced by classical Arabic. However, in Egypt, there is no single colloquial dialect, which raises concerns about the proliferation…
