This course aims to provide a general overview of the structures of a Semitic language, specifically Arabic. Maintaining the perspective of comparative linguistics, the course will examine the position of Arabic within the Hamito-Semitic (Afroasiatic) languages and will discuss its phonological and morphosyntactic structures. The main coordinates of the historical developments and the areal diffusion of this language will be dealt with. From a sociolinguistic point of view, the question of diglossia in the Arabic speaking world and the difference between the so-called Standard Arabic and the Arabic dialects will be addressed. Finally, from an interlinguistic point of view, the course will address the phenomena of contacts between Arabic and other Mediterranean languages.