Edited statement to reflect the cited source correctly, also added reference to the pages in the paper that refer to said statement + Clarified that this statement comes from ancient greek sources.
'''Arabic''' ({{lang|ar|links=no|اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ}}, ''{{transl|ar|al-ʿarabiyyah}}'' {{IPA-ar|al ʕaraˈbijːa|| Al arabic.ogg}} or {{Rtl-lang|ar|عَرَبِيّ}}, ''{{transl|ar|ALA|ʿarabīy}}'' {{IPA-ar|ˈʕarabiː|| Arabi.ogg}} or {{IPA-ar|ʕaraˈbij|}}) is a [[Semitic languages|Semitic language]] that first emerged in the 1st to 4th centuries CE.<ref name="Stefan Weninger 2011">Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston, 2011.</ref> It is now the [[lingua franca]] of the [[Arab world]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.academia.edu/18470301|title=Al-Jallad. The earliest stages of Arabic and its linguistic classification (Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics, forthcoming)|access-date=2016-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023221343/http://www.academia.edu/18470301/Al-Jallad._The_earliest_stages_of_Arabic_and_its_linguistic_classification_Routledge_Handbook_of_Arabic_Linguistics_forthcoming_|archive-date=23 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It is named after the [[Arabs]], a term initially used to describe peoples living in the area[[Arabian Peninsula]] bounded by eastern Egypt in the west, [[Mesopotamia]] in the east, and the [[Anti-Lebanon Mountains|Anti-Lebanon mountains]] inand the west, in NorthwesternNorthern [[Arabian Peninsula|ArabiaSyria]] and in the north, as perceived by [[SinaiHistory Peninsulaof cartography#Ancient_Greece|ancient Greek geographers]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Macdonald|first=Michael C. A.|title=Arabians, Arabias, and the Greeks_Contact and Perceptions|page=16-17|url=https://www.academia.edu/4593009|language=en}}</ref> The [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] assigns language codes to thirty [[varieties of Arabic]], including its standard form, [[Modern Standard Arabic]],<ref name="www-01.sil.org">{{cite web|title=Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: ara|url=http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=ara|access-date=20 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211429/http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=ara|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> also referred to as Literary Arabic, which is modernized [[Classical Arabic]]. This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as {{transl|ar|ALA|al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā}} ({{lang|ar|اَلعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kamusella|first=Tomasz|date=2017|title=The Arabic Language: A Latin of Modernity?|url=https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/12443/_Journal_of_Nationalism_Memory_Language_Politics_The_Arabic_Language_A_Latin_of_Modernity.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|journal=Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics|volume=11|issue=2|pages=117–145|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212190454/https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/12443/_Journal_of_Nationalism_Memory_Language_Politics_The_Arabic_Language_A_Latin_of_Modernity.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|archive-date=12 December 2019|url-status=live|doi=10.1515/jnmlp-2017-0006|s2cid=158624482}}</ref> "the eloquent Arabic") or simply ''{{transl|ar|al-fuṣḥā}}'' ({{lang|ar|اَلْفُصْحَىٰ}}). [[Modern Standard Arabic]] is an official language of [[List of countries where Arabic is an official language|26 states]] and 1 disputed territory, the third most after English and French.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Wright|2001|p=492}}</ref>
Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government and the media. Arabic, in its [[Standard Arabic|standard form]], is the official language of 26 states, as well as the [[liturgical language]] of the religion of [[Islam]], since the [[Quran]] and [[Hadith]] were written in Arabic.
