Do you want to understand the dynamics of the Middle East? Because of its rich oil reserves and its significant role in the global economy. It is considered a complex region due to its diversity in terms of languages, religion, and culture. To understand the different cultures of the world, you must know the languages spoken there. Therefore, for understanding the Middle East, you must know which languages people of the Middle East speak.
Countries included in the Middle East
Before knowing the languages that people of the Middle East speak, you must know the countries which lie in the Middle East. These countries are
- Turkey
- Egypt
- Iraq
- Iran
- Yemen
- Saudi Arabia
- Jordon
- Syria
- United Arab Emirates
- Kuwait
- Qatar
- Bahrain
- State of Palestine
- Oman
- Lebanon
- Israel
According to Wikipedia, there are 18 countries included in the Middle East If Cyprus and Northern Cyprus are also included.
Languages Spoken in the Middle East
Let’s dive into the languages that people of the Middle East speak.
The Arabic Language
This language is from the group of Afroasiatic language and the Semitic branch of the family. This branch is named after Shem, who was the son of Noah. Other languages included in this branch are Hebrew and the languages from Ethiopia such as Amharic. People find great difficulty in learning the Arabic language because the Arabic script is written from right to left.
In addition, it is entirely different from Latin script. The best part of this language is its consistent pattern. If you understand the language pattern then it becomes easy to learn the language. Knowing the Arabic language means that you don’t have to take the assistance of Arabic Translation services, and you can roam around the Middle East without any communication barriers.
Arabic is the official language of many countries. These countries are
- Saudia Arabia
- Qatar
- UAE
- Bahrain
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Egypt
- Iraq
- Jordon
- Oman
- Syria
- UAE
- Yemen
- Palestine
60% of the population in the Middle East speaks the Arabic language. It is one of the most important languages that you must know. Many people find the Arabic language difficult to learn because in each country Arabic is spoken in different dialects. Standard Arabic is taught in schools. However, people don’t speak standard Arabic in their daily lives. To differentiate between different dialects of Arabic, professional Arabic translation can be of great help.
The Turkish Language
The other important language that people in the Middle East speak is Turkish. This language is from the group of Turkic language which is named after the Turkish themselves. About 80 million people in Turkey speak this language. Many other languages are associated with this language such as:
- Azerbaijani
- Kazakh
- Uzbek
Arabic and Turkish are completely from different language families. However, Turkish has taken many loanwords from Arabic. It is a systematic language so people find it easy to learn. English speakers can easily immerse in this language because it is also written in Latin Script.
The Farsi Language
Persian is the new name of Farsi. It is the official language of Iran, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. In Tajikistan, it is called Tajik whereas, in Afghanistan, it is called Dari. The Farsi language came into existence from the oldest language which is called Avestan and Sanskrit. These languages are dialects of each other because they are mutually intelligible.
Farsi is also similar to:
- Latin
- Greek
- English
Around 131 million people around the world speak the Persian language. Almost everyone in Iran speaks Farsi. Farsi is greatly influenced by the Arabic language. However, Farsi speakers cannot communicate with Arabic speakers. If you know Arabic then you can easily learn Farsi because Farsi has taken many loan words from Arabic. However, this does not mean that Arabic speakers can understand Farsi. To communicate effectively with Farsi people, they need to take the assistance of Farsi translation services.
Farsi is from the group of Indo-European languages. Therefore it is easy to learn for European people. The ethnic group of Muslims visits Iran on regular basis. They must learn Farsi to mitigate the communication barriers. If they find difficulty in learning Farsi then they can take the assistance of a professional Farsi Translation
The Kurdish Language
If you know Arabic, Turkish and Farsi languages then you can easily communicate with Kurds. But if you want to learn about their culture then you need to learn the Kurdish Language. It is one united language with two main dialects, Kurmanji and Sorani. Most of the Kurds speak Kurmanji. Therefore Google Translate only recognizes the Kurmanji dialect.
- Kurdish is the official language in Iraq and the majority of Iraqi Kurdish speak it
- Around 50 million Kurds speak this language
- This is the fourth largest language spoken in the Middle East
Hebrew Language
Hebrew is one of the major languages to understand the Middle East region. It is the official language of Israel. Around 9 million people speak this language. Hebrew and Arabic are both Semitic languages. This means that if you know Arabic then you can learn the Hebrew language easily.
Wrapping Up
The languages like Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, Kurdish, and Hebrew can open doors of opportunities for you in the Middle East. Learning each language takes time. If you find difficulty in learning these languages, translation agencies are there to help you.
