The Foundations of Grammar: An introduction to medieval Arabic grammatical theory(45 Studies in the History of the Language Sciences)

The Arabic grammatical tradition is one of the great traditions in the history of linguistics, yet it is also one that is comparatively unknown to modern western linguistics. The purpose of the present book is to provide an introduction to this grammatical tradition not merely by summarizing it, but by putting it into a perspective that will make it accessible to any linguist trained in the western tradition. The reader should not by put off by the word ‘medieval’: Arabic grammatical theory shares a number of fundamental similarities with modern linguistic theory. Indeed, one might argue that one reason Arabic theory has gone unappreciated for so long is that nothing like it existed in the West at the time of its ‘discovery’ by Europeans in the 19th century, when the European orientalist tradition was formed, and that it it only with the development of a Saussurean and Bloomfieldian structural tradition that a better perspective has become possible.

Table of Contents:
1. Symbols and conventions; 2. Preface; 3. 1. Introduction; 4. 1.1 What the work does and does not do; 5. 1.2 Who were the Arabic grammarians?; 6. 1.3 Arabic grammatical work; 7. 1.4 The data; 8. 1.5 The descriptive technique; 9. 1.6 Western linguistic principles; 10. 1.7 Language diversity and language change; 11. 1.8 Organization of grammars; 12. 2. Structure, function, class and dependency; 13. 2.1 Structure and function; 14. 2.2 Terms for sentence, kalam and jumla; 15. 2.3 Governance/dependency, cAmal; 16. 2.4 Six explanations for case form; 17. 2.5 The function of inflection; 18. 2.6 Uninflected words; 19. 2.7 Class; 20. 2.8 Non-dependency relations and dependency; 21. 2.9 Constituency in Arabic theory; 22. 2.10 Complementary distribution; 23. 2.11 Morphological structure in Arabic theory; 24. 2.12 The structural nature of Arabic theory; 25. 3. Morphology; 26. 3.1 The linguistic sign: Kalam, Kalima, and Lafdh; 27. 3.2 Three preliminary remarks; 28. 3.3 Tasrif; 29. 3.4 'Ishtiqaq "Derivation"; 30. 3.5 Morphemes and added sounds; 31. 3.6 The Tasrif of a root; 32. 3.7 Arabic morphemic theory; 33. 3.8 Morphology as a generative system; 34. 3.9 Compounding (tarkib); 35. 3.10 Summary; 36. 4. Word classes; 37. 4.1 Phonological; 38. 4.2 Morphological; 39. 4.3 Syntactic; 40. 4.4 Semantic; 41. 4.5 Problems in the criteria; 42. 4.6 Sub-classes; 43. 4.7 The circumstance (dharf); 44. 4.8 The active participle; 45. 4.9 The 'verb' of exclamation; 46. 5. The 'noun phrase'; 47. 5.1 What is a noun phrase and what does it do?; 48. 5.2 The noun phrase components in Arabic theory; 49. 5.3 Noun-noun relations; 50. 5.4 The noun phrase as a unit; 51. 5.5 Summary; 52. 6. Transitivity; 53. 6.1 Types of objects; 54. 6.2 More objects; 55. 6.3 Optionality; 56. 6.4 Causative; 57. 6.5 Voice and verb derivation; 58. 6.6 The passive; 59. 7. Ellipsis; 60. 7.1 Contextual; 61. 7.2 Structural; 62. 7.3 Non-deletion; 63. 7.4 Ibn Hisham's summary; 64. 7.5 Extension of function ('ittisac); 65. 7.6 The status of deletion; 66. 7.7 Kufan-Basran arguments; 67. 7.8 Not all implicit relations are due to deletion; 68. 7.9 Comparison with deletions in transformational grammar; 69. 8. Markedness in Arabic theory; 70. 8.1 What is markedness?; 71. 8.2 An aside for terminology; 72. 8.3 Markedness in Arabic theory: Sibawaih; 73. 8.4 Examples from later grammarians; 74. 8.5 Two interpretations of Anbari's markedness schema; 75. 8.6 Anbari's schema exemplified; 76. 8.7 Sequence; 77. 8.8 The 'Asl-Farc distinction as one of markedness; 78. 8.9 Comparison with transformational-generative grammar; 79. 9. Syntax, semantics and pragmatics; 80. 9.1 Semantic observations; 81. 9.2 Syntax and semantics; 82. 9.3 A separate semantic level?; 83. 9.4 Arabic grammar and transformational theory; 84. 9.5 Jurjani, language and communication; 85. 9.6 Jurjani and the Arabic linguistic tradition; 86. 9.7 Word order; 87. 9.8 Epilogue; 88. Notes; 89. Appendix I List of Arabic linguists whose works are cited; 90. Appendix II Brief summary of grammatical constructions; 91. Appendix III Original Arabic quotes; 92. Bibliography; 93. Index of names; 94. Subject index; 95. Index of Arabic grammatical terms