The Spread and Use Of Arabic

The history of the coming of the Arabic language to eastern Sudanic Africa has yet to be written. The history of the language is, of course, a function of the spread of Arab immigrant groups, nomads and others, into the area from at least the late seventh century onwards, a process largely unnoticed in the historical record (see further, Hasan (1967)). The immigration of Arabic-speakers, in whatever number, was the prelude t…