Re: [Foundation-l] Arabic, a non native language

<<< ----- Original Message ---- From: Mark Williamson &lt;node.ue(a)gmail.com&gt; To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List &lt;foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org&gt; Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 10:07:11 AM Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Arabic, a non native language That's not true. Although the vast majority of Arabs are raised on a local variety, there are a small number whose native language is indeed Modern Standard Arabic. Imagine, perhaps, that their father is a well-educated Moroccan and their mother is a well-educated Syrian, and they were raised in Yemen. Mark You are supposing. in the example, It is more realistic that the children express in a vernacular form of one of his parents; or merge both vernacular; or express in yemen vernacular (example: it's reported, some children in USA, whose hispanic parents express every time in spanish at home, have as native language english, and are absolutely incompetent in spanish, adopt the vernacular language of the country when they raise). and finally standard arabic has arcaic grammar, is nearer to classic arabic than to the vernacular ones. It's neccesary to learn at school, as medieval europeans learn latin.