This volume presents papers given at the second Symposium on the History of Arabic Grammar (Nijmegen, 1987). The subject has many aspects and invites many different approaches, which might roughly be categorized into three main groupings, viz. treatments of individual grammarians, examinations of particular grammatical topics, and analysis of medieval concepts from the perspective of contemporary linguistics.

In addition, the series will include re-editions or entirely new translations into English of 'classic' accounts in the field which have been out of print for many years and have become rare books even in larger university libraries. Each of these new editions will be prefaced by an introductory essay by a present-day specialist in the discipline who will place the book in its original historical context and analyze its significance in the light of contemporary work in the history of linguistic thought

In this volume the author examines the origins of Arabic linguistics on the basis of the earliest Qur’ānic commentaries (1st half of the 8th century A.D.). The material used includes both edited texts and manuscript commentaries. Various chapters analyze the exegetical methods of the early commentators (such as Muqātil and Muḥammad al-Kalbī) and their use of grammatical terminology. These data are compared with the earliest grammatical treatises (Such as Sābawayhi and Farrā’). The material presented here constitutes an important source of evidence for the development of linguistic thinking in Islam and the origin of the grammatical schools of Basra and Kufa.

In this volume the author examines the origins of Arabic linguistics on the basis of the earliest Qur nic commentaries (1st half of the 8th century A.D.). The material used includes both edited texts and manuscript commentaries.Various chapters analyze the exegetical methods of the early commentators (such as Muq til and Muh ammad al-Kalb ) and their use of grammatical terminology. These data are compared with the earliest grammatical treatises (Such as S bawayhi and Farr ).The material presented here constitutes an important source of evidence for the development of linguistic thinking in Islam and the origin of the grammatical schools of Basra and Kufa.

This volume is intended as the first in a series of studies on traditional Arab linguistic theories concentrating on Sībawayhi and his grammatical legacy. Here, the reader is introduced to the major issues and themes that have determined the development of Arabic grammar and presents Sībawayhi in the context of his intellectual and social environment. The papers make significant contributions to and offer in-depth introductions into major aspects of the foundations of Arab Linguistics, early Syriac and medieval Hebrew linguistic traditions. This is a unique reference on the three main Semitic linguistic traditions, accompanied by a detailed analysis of some grammatical and pragmatic aspects of Kitāb Sībawayhi in the light of modern theories and scholarship. Contributors include: M. G. Carter, Hanadi Dayyeh, Manuela E.B. Giolfo, Mohamed Hnid, Almog Kasher, Geoffrey Khan, Daniel King, Amal Marogy, Avigail S. Noy, Arik Sadan, Haruko Sakaedani

In The Subjunctive Mood in Arabic Grammatical Thought Arik Sadan outlines the grammatical theories on the na?b (subjunctive mood) in Classical Arabic. Special attention is given to S?bawayhi and al-Farr??, who represent the Schools of al-Ba?ra and al-K?fa respectively.

The majority of these articles dedicated to Michael G. Carter address aspects of Classical Arabic grammar. Ramzi Baalbaki discusses Mu'addib's treatise Daqa-'iq al-Tas.rif. Kees Versteegh considers questions of the government of 'inna in a treatise by the grammarian al-Warraq. Yasir Suleiman considers the fierce extra-linguistic debates which took place in the wake of two recent publications provocatively featuring Sibawayhi's name in the title. Pierre Larcher treats questions of authenticity surrounding a longish quotation from al-Farabi's Kitab al-'alfaz wa-l-huruf. Adrian Gully addresses the relationship between two important treatises on syntax and rhetoric from the eighth and sixth centuries AH respectively. Georges Bohas and Abderrahim Saguer consider the extent to which Arabic roots display a biliteral core which can be assigned a fairly constant semantic value. James Dickins provides an in-depth analysis of the system of verbal diatheses in Central Urban Sudanese Arabic. Werner Diem investigates the euphemistic use of the root lhq in its first and fourth forms to refer to death. Ronak Husni and Janet Watson analyse typical patterns of errors in Arabic essays written by English-speaking learners of Arabic. Finally, in a case study of the medieval translations of Aristotle's Poetics, Lutz Edzard and Adolf Kohnken look at the central status of Arabic for the transmission of Classical knowledge.