The Arabic language was used in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula for centuries before the Qur'an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad in 610 CE. In its early developmental phase, Arabic was influenced by Aramaic and Syriac, which was a derivative language of Aramaic. Because Arabic was the language of a Bedouin and mostly nomadic society, it was essentially spoken. Arabic's oral tradition was by far more developed than its written one. Thus, when the Qur'an was memorized by the Prophet's companions, or sahaba, it had seven acknowledged readings, or qeraat, because written Arabic did not then have vowels or diacritical marks. By reciting the Qur'an in seven different ways, words could be given different meanings. This situation remained until 644 CE when Uthman Ibn Affan, the third Khalifa,'had a group of learned sahaba redact the authoritative version of the Qur'an, which has since remained unchanged and unchallenged. 2

Early Arabic was not as developed a language as it became after the Qur'an's revelation was completed in 632 CE, and more so some 100 years later when vowels and diacritical signs became common usage in the written Arabic. Thereafter, the language developed along two paths: the sacred as it relates to the exegesis of the Qur'an and the hadith, 3 (sayings of the Prophet), and the