On The History Of Grammar Among The Arabs (studies In The History Of The Language Sciences)

This essay was written in 1878 by I. Goldziher, who is considered one of the founders and greatest masters of Islamic studies in Europe. He examines the origin and early history of Arabic grammar and some features of its later development with special regard to the cultural historical apsects of the question. Goldziher draws a picture of the most important trends and attitudes in the Arabic linguistics of the Middle Ages. The author's comprehensive historical approach enables him to integrate small, seemingly unconnected pieces into a whole system, fitting into our knowledge of other fields of Islamic culture and science. That is why his work may interest not only specialists of Arab linguistics but also historians of general linguistics and historians of Islam. Although a century and a quarter elapsed since its publication in Hungarian Goldziher's essay still has not become outdated, since no similar work has been published. The original text has been supplemented with amendments and explanations, a comprehensive and updated bibliography has also been added, together with an appendix (the original texts of the citations) and two indices. The Studies in the History of the Language Sciences series has been established as a companion to the international journal for the history of linguistics, Historiographia Linguistica. It is intended to meet the revival of interest of scholars in the history of linguistic thought and to provide an organized and informative reservoir of information concerning the heritage of linguistic ideas of more than two millennia. In accordance with these goals, Studies in the History of the Language Sciences (SiHoLS) will publish book-length studies by scholars working in the history of linguistics, whether they concern a particular aspect of the discipline or a special period of its development. 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. This essay was written in 1878 by I. Goldziher, who is considered one of the founders and greatest masters of Islamic studies in Europe. He examines the origin and early history of Arabic grammar and some features of its later development with special regard to the cultural historical aspects of the question. Goldziher draws a picture of the most important trends and attitudes in the Arabic linguistics of the Middle Ages. The author's comprehensive historical approach enables him to integrate small, seemingly unconnected pieces into a whole system, fitting into our knowledge of other fields of Covers the history of grammar among the Arabs, including chapters on the awakening of grammatical awareness and the beginnings of Arabic linguistics; the attitude of Arab linguists to dialects and the vernacular; and the influence of philosophy and theology on the development of Arabic linguistics.