Arabic in the USA and the genealogy of Arab-Americans: from migration to integration

Abstract

AbstractThis study finds a unique trend in the United States, where Arabic is one of the heritage languages of the superpower. Starting from the birth of migrants, Arabic has been more developed in America than in any other foreign language. Several educational institutions and grassroots movements could give birth to their ethnic group called ‘Arab-Americans’. We divide this article into four sections based on archived research and statistical reports. First, migration from the Arab world to America. Second, is the preservation of the Arabic language in the USA. Third, contemporary sketches through the demographic distribution of Arab-Americans, diglossia, and MSA, and funding for teaching Arabic in universities. Fourth, the prospects of Arabic in the USA. This article concludes that Arabic, originally ‘Arab-centric’, is now transforming across transnational boundaries, which provides an argument that not only Arabic is the linguistic heritage of America but also Arab-Americans who have become a new ethnicity that characterises contemporary American life.

Keywords

• Arabic
• Arab-American
• ethnic migration
• heritage identity
• education
• Komalsingh Rambaree, Social Work and Criminology, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden