Arabic voice overs: what you need to know

Arabic is a Semitic language with more than 310 million speakers worldwide. It’s estimated that another 270 million people speak Arabic as a second language.

Arabic is also the liturgical language of Islam – millions of Muslims worldwide are able to understand it.

Impressively, Arabic is an official language in 22 countries across Northern Africa and the Middle East. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Language History

Arabic history stretches quite far – it’s considered to be one of the oldest languages in the world. Arabic originated around 1500 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula (current territories of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, UAE).

The first speakers of Arabic were the nomadic tribes that inhabited the Peninsula. In fact, the word “Arabic” means “nomadic”  – that’s a fitting name for a language, considering its origins!

Modern Arabic varieties that are used today in education, media, and sciences developed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Close Relations

Since Arabic is a Semitic language, it has similarities with other languages in this group, such as Hebrew and Aramaic. Arabic vocabulary has quite a few loanwords from Iranian languages as well as Greek.

It’s worth mentioning that Arabic influenced many languages around the world – especially their vocabulary.

The influence of Arabic is most prominent in other Islamic countries. Yet, many modern European languages also adopted many words of Arabic origin.

Accents and Voice Over Tips

Arabic has around 30 different regional dialects that are spoken in different territories. Arabic varieties are classified into 6 groups: Maghrebi, Egyptian, Sudanese, Mesopotamian, Levantine, and Arabian Peninsula. Since it has so many dialects, Arabic is sometimes called a macrolanguage.

Modern Standard Arabic is a standardized dialect that’s used in education, media, politics, and science. Modern Standard Arabic serves as the official dialect, spoken in all Arabic speaking countries.

When recording an Arabic voice over, keep in mind that Arabic has some sounds that don’t exist in other languages. For example, the sound ‘ح’ that means ‘h’, is particularly difficult to pronounce for non-native speakers.

Arabic is not a tonal language, which makes it easier to learn and speak – every word is pronounced exactly the way it’s written.

Words per minute

The natural tempo of spoken Arabic is about 100-110 words per minute.  However, as with any project, the pace greatly depends on the context. If you’re recording a voice-over for a hard-sell commercial, the tempo will likely be faster than average everyday speech. So always make sure you’re aware of who your listeners are!

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