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Libya
Languages of Libya
All but a small minority of the Libyan people are native Arabic-speakers
and thus consider themselves to be Arabs. Arabic, a Semitic language,
is the mother tongue of almost all peoples of North Africa and
the Middle East. Three levels of the language are distinguishable:
classical, the language of the Quran; modern standard, the form
used in the present-day press; and the regional colloquial dialects.
In Libya classical Arabic is used by religious leaders; modern
standard Arabic appears in formal and written communication and
sometimes in the schools. Many people learn Quranic quotations
without being able to speak the classical language.
In classical Arabic, as in other Semitic scripts, the text is
read from right to left, and only consonants are written. Vowel
signs and other diacritical marks appear sometimes in printed
texts as aids to pronunciation. Modern standard is grammatically
simpler than classical and includes numerous words unknown to
the Quran.
The spoken dialects of Tripolitania and Fezzan belong to the
Maghribi group, used throughout the Maghrib. They are mutually
intelligible but differ considerably from dialects in the Middle
East. Dialects of Cyrenaica resemble those of Egypt and the Middle
East. Urban dialects differ somewhat from those of the hinterland,
and in the southern part of the country some Sudanese influence
exists.
Arabs find great beauty and style in their language. It is a
keystone of Arab nationalism and a symbol of Arab creativity.
Libya has played a leading part in the campaign to make Arabic
an official language in the forums of the UN and other international
organizations. Yet although Arabic has a richness of sound and
a variety of vocabulary that make it a tongue for poets, its syntactic
complexity makes it one of the world's most complex written languages.
Its intricate vocabulary also is not well suited as a medium for
technical and scientific expression. Even modern standard Arabic
contains little in the way of a technical vocabulary , in part
because many Arabs are purists about their language and resist
the intrusion of foreign words.
These deficiencies of Arabic, coupled with a tradition in Arab
schools of learning by rote methods, have seriously interfered
with scientific and technical advancement. In Libya, as well as
in the other Maghribi countries where a similar problem exists,
educators reluctantly recognize that preparation of suitable Arabic
vocabulary additions, textbooks, and syllabi are still a generation
or more away. In the meantime, scientific and technical subjects
in the Libyan universities are in large part taught by foreigners
employing foreign languages.
Under the colonial regime, Italian was the language of instruction
in schools, but only a scattering of Muslim children attended
these institutions. As a consequence, the Italian language did
not take root in Libya to the extent that French did elsewhere
in North Africa. Nevertheless, the strong wave of nationalism
accompanying the 1969 revolution found expression in a campaign
designed to elevate the status of the Arabic language. An order
was issued requiring that all street signs, shop window notices,
signboards, and traffic tickets be written in Arabic. This element
of Arabization reached its apogee in 1973, when a decree was passed
requiring that passports of persons seeking to enter the country
contain the regular personal information in Arabic, a requirement
that was strictly enforced.
Despite the progress of Arabization during the 1970s, English
occupied an increasingly important place as the second language
of the country. It was taught from primary school onward, and
in the universities numerous scientific, technical, and medical
courses were conducted in English. A Tripoli shopkeeper or a hotel
doorman was unlikely to speak the language, but business people
were accustomed to corresponding in it. The government also issued
at least some internal statistical documents and other publications
in a bilingual English-Arabic format. In 1986 Qadhafi announced
a policy of eliminating the teaching of English in favor of instruction
in Russian at all levels. Whether this policy would actually be
carried out remained to be seen in 1987, but it seemed safe to
assume that English would remain in wide use for the immediate
future if not longer.
Data as of 1987
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