On the underlying foundations of Arabic grammar: a preliminary investigation

Arabic, Grammar, and Teaching: An Islamic Historical Perspective

“…The esteem awarded to the Arabic language among Muslims at the time did not necessarily draw on the linguistic merit of Arabic, but on the fact that it was the language in which God chose to communicate his final message to humanity. One of the greatest pieces of evidence of this is provided by Suleiman (1989), who notes that linguists in the Islamic civilization, who developed or advanced almost all linguistic sciences, did not care to engage in contrastive analysis of Arabic and any other languages. In fact, it is narrated that Ibn Jinni (942-1002) asked `Ali al-Farisi (901-987) about Arabic and Persian, and the Persian born scholar replied that Arabic "was far superior to Persian both aesthetically and rationally" (Versteegh 2006: 5).…”

“…Muslim grammarians such as Ibn Jinni (932-1002), in an early allusion to native speaker intuition, explained that nahw developed because native-speakers, had a grasp of the language and heightened sense of grammaticality but did not always know how to articulate this in technical terms (Suleiman 1989). As the Arab traditions were mostly oral, the extrapolation of Arabic grammar was done inductively through the analysis of Arabic speech to clarify its gharad i.e.…”

“…As the Arab traditions were mostly oral, the extrapolation of Arabic grammar was done inductively through the analysis of Arabic speech to clarify its gharad i.e. purpose (Suleiman 1989). Despite its oral origins, Arabic grammar was a developed science with a phenomenal depth and breadth by the 10th century as was true of other linguistic endeavors.…”

The Failures of Translation across Incommensurable Knowledge Systems: A Case Study of Arabic Grammar Instruction

“…Notwithstanding some mutual influences between the two traditions, they remain distinct intellectual enterprises that have evolved in different contexts striving to achieve different goals. Nominally, however, they appear equivalent in that both traditions seek to make sense of Arabic grammar (Suleiman 1989;Bohas et al 1990Bohas et al /2006.…”