| The official language of Syria is Arabic. This
is the language of Islam and the Qu’ran. The written form of Arabic is
common to all Arabic-speaking countries, but the spoken form differs from
country to country. Arabic speakers from Syria might have difficulty understanding
Arabic speakers from Morocco, for example.
In Arabic, repetition and overstatement are often considered polite. When one person says marhaba or ahlan (hello), another person will likely answer with marhabtain or ahlain, two hellos. It is also common to refer to Allah (God) in conversation. Instead of saying “I hope,” an Arabic speaker is likely to say Insha’allah (God willing). When people say that they are well, they often add the phrase al Ham dulla (Thanks be to Allah). |
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| Syrians use many gestures in conversation. Orthodox
Muslims show affection by patting the right hand over the heart. A quick
upward movement of the head with raised eyebrows, accompanied by closed
eyelids and a click of the tongue, is used to signal “no.” A downward nod
of the head means “yes.” Men shake hands when they meet, but some Muslim
men will not shake a woman’s hand.
Arabs have a rich oral tradition. The use of language is considered an art form. According to an Arab proverbs, “A narrow place can contain a thousand friends” which means when people love each other they can fit into even a tight space. Another proverb maintains, “Even paradise is no fun without people.” This shows that Syrians enjoy being in the company of others. |
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| Arabic script is written from right to left. The
art of beautiful writing, or calligraphy, is highly prized. It is used
as a form of decoration, since Islam does not allow the representation
of people or scenes from life in art.
Kurdish is spoken by about 9% of the population, most of whom live in the northeast part of the country. There are about 100,000 Armenians in Aleppo and a smaller number in Damascus. The Armenians, who are Christian, publish newspapers in Armenian and maintain their own schools where Armenian is taught. There are several communities of Circassians in
southwestern Syria. They are escendants of Sunni Muslims from central Asia
who migrated to the Middle East in the 19th century. There are also about
20,000 Assyrians in Syria. They speak Syriac, a modern form of ancient
Aramaic, which was the language of Palestine before Arabic was introduced
in the 7th century.
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