Q 01/05

Arabic belongs to which language family?

A) Turkic

B) Afroasiatic

C) Niger-Congo

D) Indo-European

Answer · why

B) Afroasiatic

Within Afroasiatic it is a Central Semitic language, a cousin of Hebrew and Aramaic.

Q 02/05

In which direction is Arabic written?

A) Alternating lines

B) Top to bottom

C) Left to right

D) Right to left

Answer · why

D) Right to left

Like other Semitic scripts, apart from Latin-written Maltese and the Ge'ez script languages, it runs right to left.

Q 03/05

How many letters are in the basic Arabic alphabet?

A) 26

B) 22

C) 24

D) 28

Answer · why

D) 28

Most letters change shape depending on whether they sit at the start, middle or end of a word.

Q 04/05

What kind of writing system is the Arabic alphabet, in which letters record only consonants?

A) An alphabet proper

B) A syllabary

C) A logography

D) An abjad

Answer · why

D) An abjad

Because vowel marks are optional it is classed as an impure abjad.

Q 05/05

Roughly how many people speak Arabic, native and non-native combined?

A) 380 million

B) 150 million

C) 220 million

D) 600 million

Answer · why

A) 380 million

That makes it the fifth-most spoken language on Earth and the fourth-most used on the internet by users.