Full Description
This is the third edition, fully revised and updated, of this indispensable introduction to Arabic linguistics.
New for this edition:
Presents new perspectives on the history of Arabic from the period before Islam in two completely revised chapters reporting on the ground-breaking discoveries in this field
Covers recent developments in language use in the media after the Arab Spring
Examines the influence of social media on language use and language attitudes concerning Arabic, and the use of the language in political and religious discourse
Contains text samples of Standard Arabic in Arabic script and English translation as well as dialect texts in the major Arabic dialects
Engages with the huge amount of new publications on Arabic linguistics, including several handbooks
Concentrating on the difference between the two types of Arabic the classical standard language and the dialects Kees Versteegh charts the history and development of the Arabic language from its earliest beginnings to the modern age. The reader is given a solid grounding in the structure of the language, its historical context and its use in various literary and non-literary genres, as well as an understanding of the role of Arabic as a cultural, religious and political world language.
Key features:
Covers all aspects of the history of Arabic, the Arabic linguistic tradition, Arabic dialects, sociolinguistics and Arabic as a world language
Makes links between linguistic history and cultural history
Emphasises the role of contacts between Arabic and other languages
Contents
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the Third Edition
List of Figures, Maps and Tables
Note on Transcription and Glossing
1. The Study of Arabic
2. Arabic as a Semitic Language
3. Arabs and Arabic: The Epigraphic Record
4. The Language of the Arabian Tribes
5. The Emergence of New Arabic
6. The Development of Classical Arabic
7. The Structure of Arabic
8. The Arabic Linguistic Tradition
9. Middle Arabic
10. The Study of the Arabic Dialects
11. The Dialects of Arabic
12. The Emergence of Modern Standard Arabic
13. Diglossia: Language Variation
14. Bilingualism: Language Choice
15. Arabic as a Minority Language
16. Arabic Pidgins and Creoles
17. Arabic as a World Language
Bibliography
List of Abbreviations
Index
