Hello there!
As i sat through one of my classes earlier this week, a debate stormed surrounding the issue of Arab countries. Many said that they have to be situated at the gulf, while others retorted that they must speak Arabic. Others went as far as suggesting they must be able to write in Arabic. As always, my thoughts begin swirling around "controversies" if you will.
Let me start by saying Arabic is a language spoken by most of the Middle East people along with Northern Africans. Just like any language, it too has variations spreading over geographical regions.
To be more specific now, Arabic consists of Arabic alphabets. Many countries such as Iran and Pakistan use these alphabets to write in their own language. Pakistanis use the language Urdhu to communicate, however they use the Arabic alphabets to write it. The common misconception is that a country such as Pakistan would therefore be considered an Arab nation when it isn't the case.
Another error arising from the topic of Arabic and its speakers is the issue of Americanization. Scholars from America who studied Arabic seem to have the last say on how words should be pronounced, before spreading it all over the world. A good example is the word Al- Shabbab. If one has truly studied Arabic, they will know the letter "shiin" is a solar letter, thus though written as an "al" its pronounces as an "ash" making it Ash- >>Shabaab. Despite such an error, CNN was first to report the group as Al-Shabbab; beginning the revolution of the word.
These are but a few examples of misconceptions created. Such examples make me wonder if these are real misconceptions or truly instances of pure ignorance?
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