Is Arabic the most difficult among languages?

There is no easy language or difficult language. There is a language that is properly studied and cared for, and a language that has not received sufficient study and care.

There is a widespread belief among Arabs, whether language specialists or the general public, that Arabic is the most difficult language among the world’s languages. Does this belief have a scientific basis?

The short answer is no.

But before we answer in detail, it is useful to clarify the foundation of this belief and the problems that result from it. The most important of these problems is the acceptance of all weak aspects related to the Arabic language. If Arabic is the most difficult language, then we have to tolerate the students’ weakness in the skills of reading, writing, and comprehension in the Arabic language. If Arabic is the most difficult language, then we have to live with the poor content in the Arabic language. If Arabic is the most difficult language, then we have to accept poor Arabic software. Thus, the difficulty of the Arabic language becomes a hangover for various types of intellectual laziness.

The truth is that Arabic is not a difficult language at all. At the written level, for example, the Arabic writing system is an easy system, as what is written corresponds to what is spoken. Very few words have silent letters, as is the case in many languages ​​that people consider easy, such as English. This feature makes it possible for an Arab child or a foreign student, after a few weeks of learning writing, to master the skill of dictation. The ease of the Arabic writing system is what made many languages ​​such as Persian, Baluchi, Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashtun, Kurdish, Hausa, and others make use of it.

On the morphological level, Arabic morphology, despite its richness and diversity, is almost a purely mathematical system, governed by strict logic. The same applies to Arabic syntax, which is based on clear logic. As for the difficulties that learners face in morphology and syntax, they are in fact difficulties caused by the complex traditional description of morphology and syntax and are not caused by the language system itself.

All this does not mean, of course, that the Arabic language is the easiest language. In fact, there is no easy language or difficult language. There is only a language that has been facilitated by good care, and a language that unfortunately has not.