ARABIC LANGUAGE & ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY & CULTURE

Language is more than just a means of communication. It influences our culture and even our thought processes. During the first four decades of the 20th century, language was viewed by American linguists and anthropologists as being more important than it actually is in shaping our perception of reality. Anthropologists define culture as “a complex whole that includes knowledge, ideas, art, law, morals, customs and any potential habits acquired by man as a member of a particular culture.” Culture is constituted by traditions, beliefs, values, norms and symbols, shared to varying degrees by members of a particular community. Arab culture refers to the culture in the countries in which the official language is Arabic. The west officials and scholars used to call them "Arab countries" of Western Asia and North Africa. Understanding the Arab world is today of vital importance. Arabic is the fifth most widely spoken language in the world. It is one of the official languages of the United Nations and the religious language of a billion and a half Muslims, as well as of millions of Christians and Jews. It is the living medium of a vibrant contemporary literature and culture. Political and economic developments in the Arab world and parts of the Middle East, like the internationalization of businesses and professions around the world, have made understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Arabic an increasingly valuable skill. Arabic is a language with a rich literary and cultural heritage that deserves to be studied in its own right.Language, literature, gastronomy, art, architecture, music, spirituality, philosophy, mysticism etc. are all part of the cultural heritage of the Pan-Arab world. As a result, the Arabic Language has a wide influence on the world culture and societies.This paper attempts to study the influence of Arabic culture, particularly Arabic language, in Society and Culture by tracing its growth and development and to examine the factors responsible for its survival in a difficult terrain. This work has traced out the relation between the Language and Culture as well as the importance of the Arabic Language in the world cultural heritage