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Unlike Western languages, which largely shed their formalities with the advent of mass education, Arabic has held on to a strong distinction between formal and informal communication even as literacy in the Arab world grows (up %20 in almost every region according the UN Human Development Report). While spoken Arabic adapts and changes with time and location, and cultural influence (including French and English) creating hundreds of accents (lahjat) and several regional dialects (lughat al-3amiyat), formal Arabic, or Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is the same throughout the Arab world. Region dialects can be divided into four categories: Maghreb (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria), Egyptian, Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan), and Gulf. These are generally distinguished according to distinct syntactic and phonological patterns (see The Sytax of Spoken Arabic by Kirsten Brusted) rather than having distinct differences in lexical make-up. Lexical differences are much more complex and vast, and are generally used, along with slight phonological peculiarities, to differential Arabic accents (lahjat). In the Lebanese coastal accent French influence is strong. This is a list of loan-words compiled by "desert_sky" on linguiphiles (http://community.livejournal.com/linguaphiles/4360702.html): kanaba (sofa), from canapé; dushsh (shower), from douche; abajoora (lamp), from abat-jour; mokett (wall-to-wall carpet), from moquette; aSanSeir (elevator), from ascenseur; seshwār (hairdryer), from séchoir; rūj (lipstick), from rouge; īshārb (scarf), from écharpe; balTo (coat), from paletot; jūp (skirt), from jupe; kilott (underpants), from culotte; dantilla/dantel (lace), from dentelle; bissīn (pool), from piscine; blāj (beach), from plage; lesāns (BA), from licence; gatooh (cake), from gâteau; shampinyoon (mushroom), from champignon; reklām (advertisement), from réclame; garsoon (waiter), from garçon; kuwafeir (hairdresser), from coiffeur Below is one of the best descriptions of the state of the Arabic language today.
"Arabic is a member of the Semitic group of languages, closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic, the language Christ spoke. There is a considerable difference between written Arabic (variously known as Literary Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, or in its historical form Classical Arabic) and all varieties of spoken Arabic. Spoken Arabic differs from country to country and even from town to town, although it is possible to group the dialects into a few major areas within each of which there is virtually total mutual comprehension. Thus the spoken Arabic dialects of north-west Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) form a single group, as do those of the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan). Egyptian, Sudanese, and western Saudi Arabian Arabic form another group, as do the dialects of Iraq and the eastern part of the Arabian peninsula . However, even the differences between these groups of dialects are not that great: they all share a great many structural features and there is a high proportion of shared vocabulary. None of the spoken dialects, however, is used more than very marginally in writing: for all formal written communication (and obviously therefore, all literature), Modern Standard Arabic is universally used. It is also usually used in formal oral contexts, such as radio and TV news reading, political speeches, lectures, etc. This form of Arabic (which is learned at school and not as a native language by any Arab) is virtually uniform in its grammar and vocabulary throughout the Arab world. It is a potent symbol of Arab cultural and (in the sense that it is the language of the Qur'an) religious unity. "To many Arabs, Modern Standard Arabic, known as al-fuSHa 'the pure' is the only form of the language which has any worth. The dialects, although they are the universal means of everyday conversation, are regarded by many as degraded forms of the language. This feeling is often reflected in attitudes to foreigners' attempts to learn Arabic: many Arabs, especially if they are educated) feel that only the Standard form of the language should be taught, regardless of the fact that Arabs themselves would never themselves use this kind of Arabic for some of the purposes (e.g. chatting, shopping) for which they insist foreigners should use it. It can sometimes seem an uphill battle for foreigners to get Arabs to talk to them in colloquial Arabic. But don't be put off; the less well educated seem to suffer less from this prejudice, and you may well find that they will be more than willing to help you practice." (Holes, Clive and Nadira Auty and Rachael Harris. 1995. Just Listen 'n Learn Arabic . Lincolnwood: Passport Books, 60-61) "Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the formal Arabic which is written and spoken in the contemporary Arab world. In its written form, it is used almost exclusively in any printed publication anywhere in the world today; as such it is the direct descendant of the Arabic of the Koran, the poetry of Pre-Islamic Arabia, and the classical literature of the Golden Age, the major differences being in lexicon and style. It is also an oral medium of expression used in formal situations ranging from a radio newscast to a lecture or other formal address to an international conference. Used orally it may be modified in varying degrees, depending on such factors as the nature of the occasion, the makeup of the audience, the speaker's control of MSA, etc. MSA is a universal form of Arabic leaned in schools across the Arab world; it is opposed to dialectal or colloquial Arabic, of which there is a particular variety for each community and differs according to region and such social factors as religion, socio-economic status, etc. The dialects are used for all non-formal situations- at home, at work, social occasions, etc. --all the usual day to day activities. "The Arab does not keep MSA and his own dialect separate, but mixes them according to the degree of technical complexity of his subject, the degree of formality of the occasion, etc. When speaking his dialect, he will bring in MSA in varying degree, and when speaking MSA, he may introduce colloquialisms into it if it does not impair understanding on the part of the listener." (Abboud, Peter and Ernest Abdel-Massih, Salih Altoma, Wallace Erwin, Ernest McCarus, and Raji Rammuny. Elementary Modern Standard Arabic . Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press , introduction.)
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