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The Arabic Language

Posted By: TimMa
The Arabic Language

The Arabic Language
Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr | 1997 | ISBN: 0231111525 | English | PDF (OCR) | 286 pages | 6.78 Mb

The aim of this book is t o give a sketch o f the history o f the Arabic language, mother tongue of more than ISO million speakers. Since its earliest appearance as a world language in the seventh century cE, Arabic has been characterised by an opposition between two varieties: a standard language, which occupies a prestige position and is revered as the language of religion, culture and education; and a vernacular language, which serves as the mother tongue for most speakers and is the natural means of communication throughout society. The opposition between these two varieties constitutes the major theme of the present book.

Kees Versteegh writes an excellent overview of the development of arabic language - dialectology, origins and structure is covered as well as many other aspects of arabic linguistic tradition. This book is highly recommended as an introductory work as well as a reference guide to further study!

Review
"This is a very useful handbook, both for general linguists interested in various aspects of the history and present state of Arabic and for Arabists and/or Semiticists who wish to update their bibliographical knowledge of fields within Arabic linguistics in which they may not be specialists." – Lutz Edward, Die Welt des Islams "An up-to-date textbook in English as an introduction to the history of Arabic has been a desideratum for a long time… The author is to be congratulated on giving us a work that should become the standard handbook for years to come." –International Journal of the Sociology of Language

The Arabic Language