Damascus - Sana
Today, December 18, marks the world day of the Arabic language, as it is one of the most widely used languages in the world, as it is spoken by more than 400 million inhabitants of the globe.
The Arabic language is the most important element that unites the sons of Arabism, as it withstood its enemies and did not obtain it despite their many attempts through centuries and various waves of occupation and colonialism so that the occupiers leave and the language remains.
Dr. Mahmoud El-Sayed, Vice-President of the Arabic Language Academy, explained that the United Nations celebrates six languages at the global level, including English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Russian, and the Arabic language was introduced in 1973, and the reason for entering it after the October Liberation War was the solidarity of the Arabs and their proof of their presence at the global level, and the language keeps pace with those who speak it It strengthened them and weakened by their weakness, and that is why it was adopted in the United Nations. The Executive Council of the UNESCO Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization came and decided that the date set for the international celebration of Arabic Language Day would be December 18, the day Arabic entered the United Nations.
Al-Sayed pointed out that there are criteria for adopting any language to be global, including the number of speakers and the number of secondary speakers, and whether it is officially approved in multiple countries and has spread in more than one continent, the fertility of society, the population growth of the society that uses this language, and the rate of education and development. All these criteria were applicable to the language Arabic, in light of all international standards, is a distinct language on the global level, and there are large countries whose language has not been included in the United Nations, such as German, Persian and others.
Dr. Ghassan Ghoneim, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature at the University of Damascus, indicated that the importance of the Arabic language stems from its breadth and ability to absorb modern and ancient sciences, in addition to its ability to derive and adapt to progress and contemporary, in addition to the element of holiness, as it is the language of the Holy Qur’an. The Arabic language, such as Turanian and Persian, and although it suffered a cooling during the Ottoman occupation due to the policy of Turkification, it returned and shone in the Renaissance era at the hands of thinkers such as Boutros Al-Bustani and Sate’ Al-Husari and others, indicating that most languages are changed by time, while Arabic has changed a lot of vocabulary and words, but the sentence system in the language Arabic has not changed and that is the basis.
Dr. Jamal Abu Samra, a member of the Committee for Empowering the Arabic Language in Quneitra, indicated that Arabic is rooted in the human and global conscience through the fact that it has become the language of religion, communication, literature and various sciences. Europe in the Renaissance is what gave it strength. It is one of the languages that sought to establish dialogue between cultures along the land and sea routes to India and the Silk Road across the Horn of Africa to highlight its role in cultural and human communication, and this is one of the reasons for its immortality.
Abu Samra pointed out that some orientalists learned the Arabic language with the aim of undermining it, but they were impressed by it, the strength of its roots, and its ability to keep pace with civilization and technology, as it is strong on two levels. He called for speaking it in our literary and media forums and international forums, for the strength of nations is reflected through language and vice versa, and pride in it.
Bilal Ahmad
