A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic is a comprehensive handbook on the structure of Arabic. Keeping technical terminology to a minimum, it provides a detailed yet accessible overview of Arabic in which the essentials of its phonology, morphology and syntax can be readily looked up and understood. Accompanied by extensive examples, it will prove an invaluable practical guide for supporting students' textbooks, classroom work or self-study, and will also be a useful resource for scholars and professionals wishing to develop an understanding of the key features of the language.

First Published in 2000. This transformational analysis will greatly enrich the field of Arabic linguistics. While the majority of works on the Arabic language have concentrated on regional dialects, the present work fulfils a longfelt need by focusing on modern written or literary Arabic. Although literary Arabic is not used in casual conversation in any of the Arab countries, it is the formal and official form of the language and has great influence on the colloquial dialects, particularly those spoken by educated Arabs. Arranged in five chapters, the work gives particular emphasis to three major types of Arabic sentences the co-ordinate, the negative and the interrogative - and gives a generative account of them. The work is largely based on transformational theory as formulated by Chomsky, but reference is made to subsequent development in linguistic theory.

The lessons are clear, in non-technical language, and have generous examples, with plenty of exercises for translation from Arabic to English and from English to Arabic. This is the manual that students interested in Arabic as a living and expanding world language will prefer. It is the first to deal mainly with modern literary Arabic. In Mr Cowan's words: 'The purpose is to explain to the students, in as concise a manner as possible, the grammatical structure of the modern Arabic literary language as it is found today in newspapers, magazines, books, the radio, and public speaking. I have endeavoured to restrict the material to the minimum which may serve as a stepping-stone to a deeper study of Arabic. As the fundamental grammar of written Arabic has hardly changed as an introduction to the classical language also. Having once mastered its contents the student should have a sound grasp of Arabic grammar and can then direct his studies towards modern literature or classical according to his needs and inclinations.