Arabic
Reference material, with every source named. Our own communities are further down the page.
Endangerment status
This name covers several related languages rather than one, and their situations differ — some are still passed on at home, others have very few speakers left. There is no single status for a group, so none is shown here.
ISO 639-1 ar
Speakers at home
The census counts this language on its own, so these figures are for it alone.
By state
- California221,836limited English 74,874
- Michigan172,609limited English 75,432
- New York125,345limited English 46,767
- Texas122,762limited English 33,701
- New Jersey82,702limited English 26,864
- Florida76,456limited English 20,900
- Illinois72,625limited English 22,373
- Virginia63,341limited English 18,254
- Ohio48,086limited English 16,023
- Pennsylvania44,245limited English 14,558
- Massachusetts41,753limited English 14,664
- Tennessee33,139limited English 15,270
- North Carolina32,188limited English 10,988
- Washington26,433limited English 8,779
- Arizona25,085limited English 8,035
- Maryland22,051limited English 7,238
- Georgia18,744limited English 4,299
- Minnesota15,208limited English 4,869
- Connecticut14,071limited English 5,344
- Indiana14,071limited English 6,252
- Colorado13,130limited English 4,085
- Louisiana12,184limited English 4,063
- Missouri11,505limited English 3,920
- Kentucky10,362limited English 3,982
- Iowa9,704limited English 3,801
- Oregon9,432limited English 3,153
- Wisconsin8,009limited English 2,310
- Nevada7,237limited English 2,369
- Alabama7,026limited English 2,137
- Nebraska6,691limited English 2,771
- Kansas6,226limited English 1,877
- Oklahoma5,832limited English 1,520
- Utah5,501limited English 1,504
- South Carolina5,453limited English 1,815
- Mississippi3,745limited English 1,578
- Delaware3,369limited English 1,279
- New Mexico2,955limited English 864
- Rhode Island2,939limited English 1,115
- New Hampshire2,510limited English 706
- Idaho2,426limited English 1,192
- West Virginia2,406limited English 664
- Arkansas1,971limited English 721
- Maine1,936limited English 923
- North Dakota1,749limited English 726
- Alaska1,693limited English 371
- South Dakota679limited English 136
- Hawaii611limited English 104
- Vermont418limited English 156
- Montana146limited English 0
- Wyoming109limited English 24
By city
- New York City85,321limited English 38,674
- Los Angeles20,908limited English 7,693
- Chicago14,458limited English 3,131
- Philadelphia13,405limited English 5,225
- Houston11,566limited English 2,639
- Columbus10,863limited English 5,533
- San Diego8,954limited English 4,658
- Phoenix6,429limited English 2,888
- Dallas4,741limited English 1,643
- Boston3,917limited English 1,174
- Charlotte3,875limited English 1,594
- San Jose1,363limited English 173
- Seattle1,246limited English 69
- Sacramento845limited English 243
Source: US Census Bureau, ACS table B16001 (via Census Reporter), ACS 2024 5-year. The second figure counts people who speak English less than “very well”.
The census publishes this table for every state but for only a handful of cities. A city missing from this list is one it does not publish, not one where nobody speaks the language.
Help record this language 0 / 10
Ten small things, each answerable in under a minute by anyone who speaks the language. You do not need to prepare, and you do not have to do them in order.
- A greetingnone yet
How do you greet someone, and how do they answer?
- Numbersnone yet
Count from one to ten.
- Familynone yet
The words for mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, child.
- Saying goodbyenone yet
How did the oldest person you knew say goodbye?
- Foodnone yet
Name a dish and say how it is made.
- Weather and seasonsnone yet
Describe today’s weather, then name the seasons.
- A place namenone yet
The name of your home place in this language, and what it means.
- A proverbnone yet
A saying that does not translate well. Say it, then explain it.
- A song for a childnone yet
Sing something that was sung to you.
- A storynone yet
A story you were told as a child. Take as long as you need.
Join a community for this language to add a recording
You keep what you record. It stays credited to you, nobody else can change it, and you can delete it at any time.
Communities on CultureMesh
No community has been started for this language yet.
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Is this right? For most languages the census refuses to count speakers separately, so the figure above is a whole category rather than this language. If you know better, write it down — on this page you are the source.
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CultureMesh, "Arabic" language page (https://culturemesh.com/languages/arabic-5). Speakers at home: US Census Bureau, ACS table B16001 (via Census Reporter), ACS 2024 5-year.