A guide to Arabic syntax covering a broad variety of topics including argument structure, negation, tense, agreement phenomena, and resumption. The discussion of each topic sums up the key research results and provides new points of departure for further research.

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 Modern Standard Arabic in which the essential aspects of its phonology, morphology and syntax can be readily looked up and understood. Accompanied by extensive carefully-chosen examples, it will prove invaluable as a 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. Grammar notes are numbered for ease of reference, and a section is included on how to use an Arabic dictionary, as well as helpful glossaries of Arabic and English linguistic terms and a useful bibliography. Clearly structured and systematically organised, this book is set to become the standard guide to the grammar of contemporary Arabic.

In light of recent generative minimalism, and comparative parametric theory of language variation, the book investigates key features and parameters of Arabic grammar. Part I addresses morpho-syntactic and semantic interfaces in temporality, aspectuality, and actionality, including the Past/Perfect/Perfective ambiguity akin to the very synthetic temporal morphology, collocating time adverb construal, and interpretability of verbal Number as pluractional. Part II is dedicated to nominal architecture, the behaviour of bare nouns as true indefinites, the count/mass dichotomy (re-examined in light of general, collective, and singulative DP properties), the mirror image ordering of serialized adjectives, and N-to-D Move in synthetic possession, proper names, and individuated vocatives. Part III examines the role of CP in time and space anchoring, double access reading (in a DAR language such as Arabic), sequence of tense (SOT), silent pronominal categories in consistent null subject languages (including referential and generic pro), and the interpretability of inflection. Semantic and formal parameters are set out, within a mixed macro/micro-parametric model of language variation. The book is of particular interest to students, researchers, and teachers of Arabic, Semitic, comparative, typological, or general linguistics.

Modern Written Arabic is a complete reference guide to the grammar of modern written Arabic. The Grammar presents an accessible and systematic description of the language, focusing on real patterns of use in contemporary written Arabic, from street signs to literature. Examples are drawn from authentic texts, both literary and journalistic, published since 1990. This comprehensive work is an invaluable resource for intermediate and advanced students of Arabic and anyone interested in Arabic linguistics and the way modern written Arabic works. Features include: comprehensive coverage of all parts of speech full cross-referencing authentic examples, given in Arabic script, transliteration and translation a detailed index.

In view of the great upsurge of interest in syntax in recent years, it is remarkable that there are so few studies of Arabic syntax, and the works of a diachronic orientation are virtually nonexistent. The main portion of this book is historical, dealing with fundamental mechanisms of syntactic and semantic change. Here Bloch has made a substantial contribution to the historical syntax of Arabic. Throughout the book the phenomena are viewed form a broad perspective that takes into account evidence not only from all periods and genres of Arabic (Ancient Poetic, Koranic, Classical, Middle, Modern Literary and Colloquial) but also from other Semitic (and occasionally non-Semitic). In the second printing are almost exclusively corrections of misprints and other minor alterations made.