Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics
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Subject: Language And Linguistics
Managing Editors Online Edition: Lutz Edzard and Rudolf de Jong
The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online comprehensively covers all aspects of Arabic languages and linguistics. It is interdisciplinary in scope and represents different schools and approaches in order to be as objective and versatile as possible. The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online is cross-searchable and cross-referenced, and is equipped with a browsable index. All relevant fields in Arabic linguistics, both general and language specific are covered and the Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online includes topics from interdisciplinary fields, such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and computer science.
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The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online comprehensively covers all aspects of Arabic languages and linguistics. It is interdisciplinary in scope and represents different schools and approaches in order to be as objective and versatile as possible. The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online is cross-searchable and cross-referenced, and is equipped with a browsable index. All relevant fields in Arabic linguistics, both general and language specific are covered and the Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online includes topics from interdisciplinary fields, such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and computer science.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
b imperfect
(3,945 words)
In several Arabic dialects we find a variant of the imperfect verb with a
b(
i) or
ba prefixed to the marker of person, as a rule with a specific grammatical function distinguishing it from the unprefixed imperfect. In these dialects we thus have a system with three basic finite forms of the verb: the suffixed, perfect form; and two prefixed forms: the
b-imperfect and the
y-imperfect. To this is often added the function of the active participle as well as different syntagms with auxiliaries. 1. Geographical distribution The
b-imperfect is a characteristic feature of the dialects of …
Date:
2018-04-01
Bināʾ
(1,494 words)
The term
bināʾ is used in Arabic grammar to describe words which have fixed end-vowels. It may be generally translated as ‘indeclinability’, and is thus the antithesis of the term for ‘declinability’,
ʾiʿrāb. This meaning most probably developed from the sense of ‘phonetic structure’, which
bināʾ (pl.
ʾabniya) indicates in expressions like
bināʾ li-l-majhūl ‘passive form’,
ʾabniyat al-jamʿ ‘plural patterns’, etc. The centrality of
bināʾ to grammatical theory is best demonstrated by its discussion, along with
ʾiʿrāb, by Sībawayhi (d. 180/796) in the very early parts of his
Kitāb (I,…
Date:
2018-04-01
Binding
(1,263 words)
Nominal expressions may be classified into three categories: anaphors such as reflexives (1a) and reciprocals (1b), pronominals (2), and referential expressions or (R-expressions) (3). The literature on Binding Theory is extensive; see Chomsky (1981), Chomsky (1995), and Hornstein (2001) for more exhaustive discussions and references. All the examples are given in Lebanese Arabic: (1) Anaphors a.
šēf
ḥāl-o saw.3ms state-him ‘He saw himself’ b.
ḥiko
ma
baʿḍ-un spoke.3p with reciprocal.p ‘They spoke with each other’ (2) Pronominals
sāmi
šēf-o Sami saw 3ms-him ‘Sami saw him’ (3) R-e…
Date:
2018-09-15
Biradicalism
(2,256 words)
A minority of Arabic roots are biconsonantal, while the great majority, as in other Semitic languages, consist of three consonants called ‘radical consonants’ or simply ‘radicals’ (here symbolized as ‘R’) and one or two root vowels. Since vowels are subject to morpho-phonemic changes, it is difficult to say precisely which ones are root vowels. Traditionally, Arabic roots, like roots of other Semitic languages, have been analyzed as consisting of consonants only (root; derivation), viz., two, th…
Date:
2018-04-01