New York, Dec. 3 (SANA) The United Nations, in cooperation with the King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language and the Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia, held an event at its New York headquarters to celebrate Arabic as one of the world’s living languages with a significant impact on global civilization.
Movses Abelian, UN Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management and Coordinator for Multilingualism, said: “Arabic Language Day provides an opportunity to reflect on one of the most influential and rich languages in the world: the language of ‘Ḍād,’ which has shaped poetry, science, philosophy, literature, and cultural exchange for centuries, brought civilizations together, and served as a platform for dialogue across regions and generations.” He added that Arabic holds a special status as one of the UN’s six official languages and stressed that while emerging technologies and artificial intelligence offer new opportunities for multilingual communication, human intervention remains essential to preserve linguistic diversity.
Abdullah Al-Washmi, Secretary-General of the King Salman Global Academy, said: “The diversity of languages in the world is a source of richness and variety, and our languages bring us closer and help us understand one another.” He highlighted the influence of Arabic on many languages, noting that “speakers of numerous languages can hear the Arabic sound and find in their heritage a variety of Arabic words that have transformed and entered languages around the world.”
Saudi Ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz Al-Wasil, said: “The designation of Arabic Language Day recognizes the noble status of this great language and its humanistic and civilizational role over centuries, as well as its influential role in enriching human thought and building bridges of communication between peoples and cultures.”
Arab League Deputy Permanent Observer to the UN, Ambassador Nasria Flitti, said: “This year’s theme, ‘Innovative Paths for the Arabic Language,’ reminds us that Arabic, as always, is capable of opening doors to the future and reshaping its relationship with science,” noting that “the first to speak the language of digitization, engineering, algebra, and computing were originally Muslims and Arabs.”
Arabic Language Day is celebrated annually on December 18, the date in 1973 when Arabic was adopted as one of the UN’s six official languages alongside English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and French. Spoken by over 467 million people, Arabic is rich in vocabulary and meaning and holds sacred status for Muslims as the language of the Qur’an.
