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'''Arabic''' ({{lang|ar|links=no|اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|al-ʿarabiyyah}}'' {{IPA|ar|al ʕaraˈbijːa|| Al arabic.ogg}} or {{lang|ar|عَرَبِيّ}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|ʿarabīy}}'' {{IPA|ar|ˈʕarabiː|| Arabi.ogg}} or {{IPA|ar|ʕaraˈbij|}}) is a [[Central Semitic languages|Central Semitic language]] of the [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic language family]] spoken primarily in the [[Arab world]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.academia.edu/18470301|title=Al-Jallad. The earliest stages of Arabic and its linguistic classification (Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics, forthcoming)|access-date=2016-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023221343/http://www.academia.edu/18470301/Al-Jallad._The_earliest_stages_of_Arabic_and_its_linguistic_classification_Routledge_Handbook_of_Arabic_Linguistics_forthcoming_|archive-date=23 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] assigns language codes to 32 [[varieties of Arabic]], including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as [[Modern Standard Arabic]],<ref name="www-01.sil.org">{{cite web|title=Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: ara|url=http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=ara|access-date=20 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211429/http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=ara|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> which is derived from [[Classical Arabic]]. This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as {{transliteration|ar|ALA|al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā}} ({{lang|ar|اَلعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kamusella|first=Tomasz|date=2017|title=The Arabic Language: A Latin of Modernity?|url=https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/12443/_Journal_of_Nationalism_Memory_Language_Politics_The_Arabic_Language_A_Latin_of_Modernity.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|journal=Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics|volume=11|issue=2|pages=117–145|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212190454/https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/12443/_Journal_of_Nationalism_Memory_Language_Politics_The_Arabic_Language_A_Latin_of_Modernity.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|archive-date=12 December 2019|url-status=live|doi=10.1515/jnmlp-2017-0006|hdl=10023/12443|s2cid=158624482|doi-access=free |issn = 2570-5857}}</ref> "the eloquent Arabic") or simply ''{{transliteration|ar|al-fuṣḥā}}'' ({{lang|ar|اَلْفُصْحَىٰ}}).