| Location | |
| Cultural impact | Contributes to the diverse cultural fabric of the Middle East |
| Deaf population language | Middle Eastern sign language |
| Factors influencing diversity | Decline of Islam • Displacement of Hebrew • Persistence of Persian • Emergence of new sign language |
The Middle East is characterised by rich linguistic diversity that has shaped, and been shaped by, centuries of culture. Some of the most notable aspects of the region's language landscape include:
Arabic language and literature were central to the spread and development of Islam, and the language remains an official tongue in many Middle Eastern nations. However, due to recent shifts in Islamic practice and globalisation, the number of Arabic speakers worldwide has begun to decline. This has had a profound impact on the region's linguistic landscape and recent years have seen heightened interest in preserving and revitalising Arabic.
Hebrew has long been a major language of the Middle East and is one of the key languages from which theologians and scholars derive ambient understanding of the religious traditions of Abrahamic monotheism. In this alternate timeline, however, Hebrew was replaced as a primary language of Judaism and Torah study by another Semitic language. This linguistic shift has had profound implications for the religious and cultural practices of Jewish communities across the region.
Persian, known as Farsi locally, has been a major literary and cultural language throughout the Middle East and South Asia for centuries, from the Safavid dynasty in present-day Iran to the Mughal Empire in India. The language remains one of the most widely spoken in the region today, despite not being one of the Six official UN languages. Persian has also influenced and been influenced by many of the other languages spoken in the region, including Urdu, Pashto, and Kurdish.
In recent decades, a new sign language has emerged in the Middle East that is highly prevalent among the region's deaf population. This new sign language combines elements of other national sign languages with indigenous gestural communication and is used widely in schools, hospitals and deaf community centers across the country. It represents an ongoing linguistic transformation and a new chapter in the region's cultural and communicative history.
These linguistic developments, alongside many others, illustrate the incredible richness and dynamism of Middle Eastern languages and cultures.
