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ArabicHistoricalDialectology OXFORDSTUDIESINDIACHRONICANDHISTORICALLINGUISTICS GENERALEDITORS
AdamLedgewayandIanRoberts,UniversityofCambridge
ADVISORYEDITORS
CynthiaAllen, AustralianNationalUniversity;RicardoBermúdez-Otero, Universityof Manchester;TheresaBiberauer, UniversityofCambridge;CharlotteGalves, Universityof Campinas;GeoffHorrocks, UniversityofCambridge;PaulKiparsky, StanfordUniversity; AnthonyKroch, UniversityofPennsylvania;DavidLightfoot, GeorgetownUniversity;Giuseppe Longobardi, UniversityofYork;GeorgeWalkden, UniversityofKonstanz;DavidWillis, UniversityofCambridge
RECENTLYPUBLISHEDINTHESERIES
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Editedby CliveHoles
Foracompletelistoftitlespublishedandinpreparationfortheseries,seepp. –
ArabicHistorical Dialectology LinguisticandSociolinguisticApproaches Editedby CLIVEHOLES
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Contents Seriespreface viii
Listofmapsandtables ix
Listofabbreviations xi
Transliterationandtranscriptionconventions xiii
Thecontributors xvii
.Introduction
CliveHoles
. TheearlyhistoryofArabic:Mythandreality
. Earlywrittenevidence: ‘MiddleArabic’/‘MixedArabic’
. EarlydialectalArabic
Substratesandborrowing
Dialectgeographyandtypology
Dialectchange,large-scaleandsmall-scale
Typesofinternallinguisticchange
Indexicalization
Pidginizationandcreolization
Concludingremarks
.TheMaghrebidialectsofArabic
JordiAguadé
. Introduction
. Sources
. Generalfeaturesandclassi fication
. Substrata
. TheArabizationoftheMaghreb
. Phonology
. Nominalmorphology
. Verbmorphology
. Wordorder:VSOorSVO
. Loanwords
.TheformationoftheEgyptianArabicdialectarea
PeterBehnstedtandManfredWoidich
. Introduction
. TheeasternDelta
. ThewesternDelta
. TheFayyūmandthenorthernNileValley(NME)
. NorthernMiddleEgypt(NME)
. SouthernMiddleEgypt(SME)
UpperEgypt
Theoases
Theroleofsubstrata
Conclusion
.Theadnominallinker -an inAndalusiArabic,withspecialreference tothepoetryofIbnQuzmān(twelfthcentury)
IgnacioFerrando
. Introduction
. Thecorpus
. Theadnominallinker -an inIQ
. Conclusions
.TheArabicdialectsoftheGulf:Aspectsoftheirhistorical andsociolinguisticdevelopment
CliveHoles
. Ancientinheritedelements
.
Dialecttypology
Summaryandconclusions
.Judaeo-Arabic
GeoffreyKhan
Introduction
PeriodsofwrittenJudaeo-Arabic
SpokenJudaeo-Arabicdialects
Furtherreading
.TheLevant
JérômeLentin
. Thegeographicalareacovered
. OntheeveofArabicization
. Thesourcesandtheirinterpretation
. LevantineandEgyptiandialects
. Phoneticsandphonology
. Pronouns
. Morphophonology
. Verbmorphology
. Auxiliaryverbs
Preverbs
Existentialparticle fī
Conjunctions
Genitiveparticles
Adverbs
Lexicon
TheAramaicsubstrate
Finale
.Dialects(speechcommunities),theapparentpast,and grammaticalization:Towardsanunderstandingofthe historyofArabic
JonathanOwens
. Preamble
. Terminologyandbasicbackground
. Fivecasestudiesof *b-
. Reconstruction
. Speechcommunitiesanddialectalapparentpast
. Grammaticalization
. Conclusion
.TheNorthernFertileCrescent
StephanProcházka
. Introduction
. Historyofsettlement
. Linguisticdescriptionoffeaturesrelevanttohistoricaldialectology
. Conclusions
.HistoricalandtypologicalapproachestoMauritanianand WestSaharanArabic
CatherineTaine-Cheikh
Origin(s)andtheArablegacy
AverygradualArabization
.SouthArabianandArabicdialects
JanetWatson
. PhonologicallinksbetweenSouthArabianandYemenidialects
. MorphologicallinksbetweenSouthArabianandYemenidialects
. LexicallinksbetweenSouthArabianandYemenidialects
. SyntacticsimilaritiesbetweenSouthArabianandYemenidialects
. Wordstressandprosodiclinks
. Conclusions
Glossary
Bibliography
Indexofnames
Indexofsubjects
Seriespreface Moderndiachroniclinguisticshasimportantcontactswithothersubdisciplines, notably first-languageacquisition,learnabilitytheory,computationallinguistics, sociolinguistics,andthetraditionalphilologicalstudyoftexts.Itisnowrecognizedin thewider fieldthatdiachroniclinguisticscanmakeanovelcontributiontolinguistic theory,tohistoricallinguistics,andarguablytocognitivesciencemorewidely.
Thisseriesprovidesaforumforworkinbothdiachronicandhistoricallinguistics, includingworkonchangeingrammar,sound,andmeaningwithinandacross languages;synchronicstudiesoflanguagesinthepast;anddescriptivehistoriesof oneormorelanguages.Itisintendedtoreflectandencouragethelinksbetweenthese subjectsand fieldssuchasthosementionedinthepreviousparagraph.
Thegoaloftheseriesistopublishhigh-qualitymonographsandcollectionsof papersindiachroniclinguisticsgenerally,i.e.studiesfocussingonchangeinlinguisticstructure,and/orchangeingrammars,whicharealsointendedtomakea contributiontolinguistictheory,bydevelopingandadoptingacurrenttheoretical model,byraisingwiderquestionsconcerningthenatureoflanguagechange,orby developingtheoreticalconnectionswithotherareasoflinguisticsandcognitive scienceaslistedatthebeginningofthispreface.Thereisnobiastowardsaparticular languageorlanguagefamily,ortowardsaparticulartheoreticalframework;workin alltheoreticalframeworks,andworkbasedonthedescriptivetraditionoflanguage typology,aswellasquantitativelybasedworkusingtheoreticalideas,alsofeaturein theseries.
AdamLedgewayandIanRoberts
UniversityofCambridge
Maps
Listofmapsandtables Morocco
Algeria
. Tunisia
TheEgyptianArabicdialectareatoday
. Springpasturesofthetribesinimmediatepost-conquestEgypt
The fsngobject/possessivepronounenclitic:formsandtheirincidence ineasternandsouthernArabiatoday
. Thedialectal -in(n)- activeparticipleinfix:incidenceineasternand southernArabiatoday
Arabic-speakingareasofnorth-easternNigeriaandCameroon
. LanguagesspokenintheNorthernFertileCrescenttoday:Arabic,Turkish, Kurdish,Aramaic
‘Bedouin’ and ‘sedentary’ ArabicdialectareasintheNorthernFertile Crescent
Tables
. IndependentpronounsinDjidjelli,easternAlgeria
. Geminateverbs,s-stem,MuslimdialectofMarrakech
. Geminateverbs,s-stem,JewishdialectofSefrou
. FrenchandSpanishloanwordsinthedialectsofTangiersandCasablanca
. IbnQuzmān ’spoetry:frequencyofheadnounsbygenderandnumber
. IbnQuzmān ’spoetry:frequencyoftypesofnominaladjunct
aMesopotamianlexicalinfluencesonGulfArabic:agriculture-related
.bMesopotamianlexicalinfluencesonGulfArabic:seafaring-and fishing-related
cMesopotamianlexicalinfluencesonGulfArabic:generalitems
. SomesalientA/BdialectalcontrastsinBahrainandOman
SometypicalcommunaldialectcontrastsinBahrain
. ThedevelopmentofOA/q/,/k/,/g/inGulf ‘sedentary’ dialects
Numberofpredicates,tokensof b- intwoEmiratiArabiccorpora
. b-CinNigerianArabic
Grammaticalizationof *b-,initialaccount
. Reconstructeddevelopmentof *b-
/plpronounforms,Shāwibedouin(Behnstedt : )
.fsngpronominalsuffix
‘Bedouin’ (gilit)and ‘sedentary’ (qǝltu)dialectverbcontrasts
. Thephonologicaldevelopmentof/ġ,x,q,g,k/inthe ‘bedouin’ Arabicdialects oftheNorthernFertileCrescent
. PersonalpronounsinCilicia(Procházka a: )
PersonalpronounsinTillo/Anatolia(Lahdo : )
. Independentandbound rd-personpronouns
nd-personpronouns
. Pronominalsuffixeswithoutinitial -h-
PresentativeparticlesI
. PresentativeparticlesII
Sabaicrelativepronouns
Listofabbreviations aarticle adjadjective apactiveparticiple auxauxiliary(verb) bbroken(plural) Cconsonant comcommon constrconstruct(state) defdefinite demdemonstrative dudual ffeminine futfuture indefindefinite indirindirect interroginterrogative mmasculine
nnoun negnegative objobject
p-stemprefix-stem(oftheverb) partparticle perfperfective(particle) posspossessive prefprefix preppreposition/prepositional pronpronoun plplural pspassive qquestion(clitic) reflexreflexive relrelative ssound(plural)
s-stemsuffix-stem(oftheverb)
sngsingular subjsubject
transtransitive
Vvowel vverb
Ar.Arabic
Aram.Aramaic
Akk.Akkadian
Ber.Berber
Eng.English
Fr.French
Gk.Greek
H.Hindi
It.Italian
L.Latin
Pers.Persian
Sp.Spanish
Syr.Syriac
Sum.Sumerian
T.Turkish
Transliterationandtranscription conventions .ARABICTEXT AllArabicspeechdatainthisbookhavebeentranscribedusingtheitalicsymbolsin theleft-mostcolumnofthechartinthenextsection,whichisthesystemusedinthe ZeitschriftfürarabischeLinguistik.ThecorrespondingIPAsymbolsareinthenext column,andaphoneticdescriptionofeachsound,usingtraditionalnomenclature,is inthethirdcolumn.ThechartsummarizesalltheArabicconsonantsounds¹which occurinthisbook butofcourse,notallofthemoccurineveryArabicdialect. Thoughsomeofthemare(a)sharedbyvirtuallyalldialects,and(b)correspondto thesameoriginalsoundsinOldArabic²(OA),othershavedifferentOAcorrespondences.Forexample,thegrapheme ﺝ (g ˇ īm),whateveritsOArealization(s)mayhave been,correspondsregularlytoseveraldifferentmoderndialectalsounds,depending onthedialect: g ˇ , ž,g, or y sothatwrittenArabic ﺭﺎﺟ ‘neighbour’ canbepronounced innormalspeechas g ˇ ār (e.g.inBaghdad) , žār (Damascus), gār (Cairo),or yār (Gulf). Thegrapheme ﻕ (qāf )maycorrespondtoanyofthedialectalsounds q,g, ˀ,k,g ˇ , g ´ , or ġ,andherethedeterminingfactoris(insomecases)notonlygeographybutthesocial profileofthespeaker.SowhilewrittenArabic ﺐﻳﺮﻗ (normallypronounced qarīb in formalspokenArabic) ‘ near ’ istypicallypronounced ˀarīb inBeirutandDamascus speech, qarīb inMuscat,and girīb inBaghdad,thingsaremorecomplicatedinthe smallGulfStateofBahrain:thereitcanbepronounced g ˇ irīb,karīb,garīb,or ġarīb, dependingonwhoisspeaking.InBahrain,the g ˇ pronunciationisthe ‘heritage’ pronunciationoftheoldermembersoftheso-called ˁArab(triballydescended Sunni)communities,andoccurs,asinthisexample,infront-vowelenvironments; the k pronunciationistypicalofmanyBahārnavillages(allShīˁa)inallenvironments; the g pronunciationoccursinurbanBahārnaspeechand ‘educated’ Bahārnaspeech moregenerally;and ġarīb isapurely ˁArabpronunciationincertaincategoriesofword.³
¹Anumberofnon-Arabicsounds/symbolsoccurincertainchaptersinwhichdatafromrelated languages(e.g.ModernSouthArabianLanguagesinchapter )areexemplifiedandcompared.These areexplained insitu
²Inthisbook, ‘OA’ isacovertermusedforvarietiesofimmediatelypre-andearlyIslamicspoken Arabicforwhichwehavealmostnodirectevidenceandfewreliablereports.Itis,however,clearthatthe phonologyoftheOAtribaldialectswasnotidenticalwiththeClassicalArabicsystemcodifiedbytheArab grammarianssometwotothreehundredyearslater(fromthelateeighthcentury AD onwards)asweknow fromthegrammarians’ ownremarks(see§ ).Inthisbook,reconstructedOAforms(seeespecially chapter )areinroman,precededbyanasterisk.
³Thispronunciationmakesthewordsoundlikeitsexactoppositeinmeaning, ġarīb ‘stranger’.But thereisnoconfusion,as ġarīb ‘stranger’ inthe ˁArabdialectofBahrainispronouncedbymanyspeakersas [qarīb]:initialandmedial[ɣ]isrealizedas[q]or[G],so qanī ‘rich’ , qēr ‘otherthan’ , qasal ‘hewashed’— therehasbeenamergerof ġ and q innon-finalpositioninthe ˁArabdialect(Holes : –). Thelate SheikhIsabinSalmān,RulerofBahrain(–),wouldoften,eveninformalpublicspeeches,confuse q and ġ inthisway,e.g.hepronounced taqaddum ‘ progress ’ as taġaddum.
Lookingatthingstheotherwayround,asingledialectalphonemecanbe ‘multivalent’ acrossdifferentdialects:thesound g,forexample,correspondstohistorical ﺝ inCairo,most ofOman,andalargepartofYemen,butinotherdialectsitcorrespondstohistorical ﻕ,e.g. thoseofsouthernEgypt,thoseofmostofArabia,andall ‘bedouin’ Maghrebidialects;andit alsooccurswidelyinborrowingswhicharenotoriginallyArabicatall.Detailsofthe phonologicalsystemsoftheindividualdialectsdealtwithinthisbookareexplainedineach chapterwheretheyarerelevanttothesubjectathand.
SymbolIPAvaluePhoneticdescription
ˀ [Ɂ]glottalplosive
b [b]voicedbilabialplosive
p [p]voicelessbilabialplosive⁴
t [t]voicelessdental-alveolarplosive
t [ɵ]voicelessinterdentalfricative
g ˇ [ʤ]voicedpalato-alveolaraffricate⁵
ž [ʒ]voicedpalato-alveolarfricative
h [ħ]voicelesspharyngealfricative
x [x]voicelessvelarfricative
d [d]voiceddental-alveolarplosive
d [ð]voicedinterdentalfricative
r [r]voiceddental-alveolartap/rolled
z [z]voiceddental-alveolarfricative
s [s]voicelessdental-alveolarfricative
š [ʃ]voicelesspalato-alveolarfricative
s [ᵴ]voicelessvelarized⁶ dental-alveolarfricative
d [ᵭ]voicedvelarizeddental-alveolarplosive
t [ᵵ]voicelessvelarizeddental-alveolarplosive
d [ð]voicedvelarizedinterdentalfricative
ẓ [z]voicedvelarizeddental-alveolarfricative⁷
⁴ p occursonlyinforeignborrowingsinsomeArabicdialectsandissometimesreplacedby b,e.g. pāča/ bāča ‘offalstew’ (Iraq)<Pers. pāčā ‘feetofsheep,calvesorotheranimals,especiallywhenboiled’ ; banka ‘fan’ (Gulf)<H. pankhā;bančar ‘puncture’ (Iraq,Gulf)<Eng. puncture; paxxāxa or pakka ‘chameleon’ (Morocco)(unknownetymology).
⁵ Asalreadynoted,insomeeasternArabiandialects g ˇ canbeareflexof g <OA q,e.g. g ˇ ilīl ‘little,few’ , andformsapairofalveolaraffricateswith č <OA k
⁶ Alsotermed ‘emphatic’ , ‘emphatized’ ,or ‘pharyngealized’ andindicatedbyasubscriptdot.Inrelevant contexts,secondaryvelarizationofotherconsonantsisalsosoindicated,e.g.NorthAfrican bbwa ‘daddy’ , mmwi ‘ mummy ’
⁷ ẓ occursinEgyptandtheLevantasareflexof d
SymbolIPAvaluePhoneticdescription
ˁ [ʕ]voicedpharyngealfricative
ġ [ɣ]voicedvelarfricative
f [f]voicelesslabiodentalfricative
q [q]voicelessuvularplosive
g [g]voicedvelarplosive
g ´ [dz]voiceddentalaffricate⁸
k [k]voicelessvelarplosive
č [ʧ]voicelesspalato-alvelaraffricate⁹
ć [ʦ]voicelessdentalaffricate¹⁰
l [l]voiceddental-alveolarlateral
m [m]voicedbilabialnasal
n [n]voiceddental-alveolarnasal
h [h]voicelessglottalfricative
w [w]voicedbilabialglide
v [v]voicedlabiodentalfricative¹¹ y [j]voicedpalatalglide
ThevowelsystemsofsomeArabicdialectsbeararesemblancetothatofClassical Arabic(CLA),butothersarequitedifferent.Some,likeCLA,haveasystemofthree shortvowelphonemes(a,i,u)andthreelong(ā, ī, ū).Butothershavethreeshort and fivelong,withtheadditionof ē and ō,derivedfromhistorical *ayand *aw respectively.AmajordifferencewithCLAisthatinmanydialects,whichunlikeCLA arenativelyspokenlivingformsofspeech,non-finalunstressedshortvowelsare liabletoneutralization(to ǝ)and/ortodeletion,andlongvowelsincertainpositions toshortening,buttheconditionsinwhichtheseprocessesoccurdifferfromone
⁸ g ´ occursinthedialectsofNajd,centralSaudiArabia,asareflexof g <OA q infrontvowel environments,e.g. g ´ īma ‘value’ .
⁹ InmanydialectsofnorthernandeasternArabiaincludingtheGulf,southernIraq,andpartsofthe FertileCrescent, č isacommonreflexofOA k,e.g. čibīr ‘big’.Inthe ‘bedouin’-descendeddialectsit normallyoccursinfront-vowelenvironmentsonly,butinsome ‘sedentary’ dialectsofeasternArabiaand centralPalestine,itcanoccurinanyvocalicenvironment.
¹⁰ ć isthevoicelessmemberofthe g ´ -ć pairofdentalaffricatesinNajdandisareflexofOA k infrontvowelenvironments,e.g. ćibīr ‘big’ ¹¹ v isarelativelyraresoundinArabicdialects.ItoccursregularlyinsomeTurkishArabicdialectsasa reflexof f where f occursincontiguitywithavoicedconsonant,e.g. vzaˁt < fzaˁt ‘Iwasafraid’;butin Hassāniyya(theArabicdialectofMauritania)itisthe normal reflexofOA f inmostpositions,e.g. vrīg pl vǝrgān ‘encampment’,the f allophoneoccurringinonlyalimitedrangeofenvironments.
dialecttoanother.Inparticular,someMaghrebidialectsallowvoweldeletionand consequentialconsonantclusterstoamuchgreaterextentthanistrueofMashreqi ones,andthisisaverysalientfeatureofhowtheysound.IntheMashreq,many ‘bedouin’ dialectshaveageneralrulewhichdisallowssequencesofmorethantwo shortsyllables,e.g.CV-CV-CV(C),whichbecomesCCV-CV(C)orCVC-CV(C), andrestrictstheoccurrenceof a inopensyllabletocertainconsonantalenvironments. Therearemanyothersuchlocalphonologicalrules,¹²and,whererelevant,theseare commentedoninthechapterswhichfollow.Ingeneral,however,theexamplesare transcribedinabroadsystem,exceptinafewcases.¹³
Wheretheyareused,glosslinesemploytheabbreviationslistedearlier,andinclude onlyasmuchdetailasisrequiredforthemorphologicalanalysisinaparticularcase, whichmaydifferfromonechaptertoanother,e.g. (fromchapter8) al-insānlomayi-bayi-mūtb-yi-mūtguwwa the-manifnot3msng-want3msng-die b-3msng-dieforce ‘Ifmandoesn’twanttodie,he’lldieagainsthiswill’ (fromchapter9) hak-at-lihakkōy-ǝtlǝ staxbar-tū-wa ˁala-ya tell.s-stem-3fsng-to-1sngstory-constrrelask.s-stem-1sng-3fsngon-3fsng ‘ShetoldmethestoryaboutwhichIhadaskedher.’
.PROPERNAMESINTHETEXTAND BIBLIOGRAPHICREFERENCES Well-knownplaceandotherpropernamesarespelledinaccordancewithnormal practice,soCairo,Baghdad,Damascus.Lesswell-knownonesareinamodifiedversion oftheorientalistconvention,inwhichlongvowelsaremarkedwithamacron,velarized consonantswithasubscriptdot,e.g.al-Fustāt,buttherearesomedifferencesfromthe (italicized)transliterationofactualArabictext:thisusedratherthan t,dhratherthan d, khratherthan x,jratherthan g ˇ ,shratherthan š,ghratherthan ġ.¹⁴ Thesameapplies tothenamesofArabhistorical figuresandauthors,e.g.al-Jāhid,IbnKhaldūn, al-Qalqashandī,andtothetitlesofbookstransliteratedfromtheArabic,e.g. Al-Taghribirdī’ s Al-Nujūmal-Zāhirafī MulūkMisrwal-Qāhira.
¹²Forexample,theso-called buk ara- and gahawa-syndromes(seeGlossary).
¹³Inchapter ,forexample, ä indicatesaraisedvarietyofshort a,and e afrontvarietyofintermediateheight.
¹⁴ Where,inafewcases,alternativesymbolsareusedinthequotationoftheworkofothers,e.g. ʤ (forj),theseareleftasis,asthephoneticvalueintendedisobvious.
Thecontributors J ORDI A GUADÉ isholderoftheChairofMoroccanArabicattheUniversityofCádiz,Spain,and haspublishedwidelyontheMoroccandialects,particularlyofSkouraandCasablanca. ProfessorAguadéisco-authorofaMoroccan-Spanishdictionaryandwasco-editorofthe EstudiosdeDialectologíaNorteafricanayAndalusí andofthecollectionofessaysentitled PeuplementetArabisationauMaghrebOccidental.Heisalsoeditorofthe Taˀrīkh (‘History’) ofIbnHabīb the firstArabchroniclewritteninal-Andalus(IslamicSpain) aswellasauthor ofseveralarticlesonearlyIslamiceschatology.
P ETER B EHNSTEDT ,PhDinRomancePhilology(UniversityofTübingen),Dr.habil.inArabic studies(UniversityofHamburg),hasbeenaresearchfellowinvariousGermanuniversities (Tübingen,Heidelberg,Erlangen,Hamburg).HelivedandworkedintheArabworld(Egypt, Yemen,Syria,Tunisia,Morocco)from to .Hehasco-authoredwithManfred Woidichthe fivevolumesonEgyptianArabicwithintheTübingerAtlasdesVorderenOrients (TAVO)projectofTübingenUniversity,anintroductiontoArabicdialectgeography,andthe threevolumesofthe WortatlasderarabischenDialekte (WAD).Hehasalsopublisheddialect atlasesofSyriaandYemen,dialectmonographs,andglossaries,aswellasarticlesonTunisian, Moroccan,Palestinian,andSudaneseArabic.
I GNACIO F ERRANDO isProfessorofArabicLanguageattheUniversityofCádiz,Spain,where hehasbeenteachingArabicgrammarandrelatedsubjectssince .Hehaspublished extensivelyontheArabiclanguage,includingan IntroductiontotheHistoryoftheArabic Language (inSpanish)anda ComprehensiveArabic-SpanishDictionary (incollaborationwith FedericoCorriente),aswellasanumberofpapersinSpanish,French,English,andArabicon variouslexical,syntactic,andmorphologicalaspectsofArabic,notablytheso-calledbroken pluralandthehistoryofArabicwithafocusonitspatternsofevolution.Hiscurrentareasof researchinterestincludeAndalusiArabicfrombothsynchronicanddiachronicperspectives.
C LIVE H OLES wasKhālidbin ˁAbdullah ĀlSaˁūdProfessorfortheStudyoftheContemporary ArabWorld,UniversityofOxford(–),andbeforethatLecturer,thenReaderin ArabicattheUniversityofCambridge(–).HeisnowanEmeritusProfessorialFellowof MagdalenCollege,Oxford.HelivedandworkedintheArabworld(Bahrain,Kuwait,Oman, Iraq,Algeria)fortenyearsinthe sand sandhaspublishedextensivelyontheArabic language,sociolinguistics,anddialectology,notably Dialect,CultureandSocietyinEastern Arabia (Brill, –, volumes)and ModernArabic:Structures,FunctionsandVarieties (ndeditionGeorgetown, ).Hehasalsoco-authoredtwovolumesofannotatedEnglish translationsofdialectalpoetrybypoetsfromJordan,Sinai,andtheUAE.Hewasamemberof theadvisoryboardofthe EncyclopediaofArabicLanguageandLinguistics (–) Professor HoleswaselectedaFellowoftheBritishAcademyin
G EOFFREY K HAN isRegiusProfessorofHebrewattheUniversityofCambridge.Hisresearch includesphilologicalandlinguisticstudiesofHebrew,Aramaic,andArabic.Hehasabroad
interestinallperiodsoftheHebrewlanguageandiseditor-in-chiefofthe Encyclopediaof HebrewLanguageandLinguistics,whichwas firstpublishedin byBrill.Hisinterestsin AramaicfocusforthemostpartonthedocumentationofspokenNeo-Aramaicdialects.Inthe fieldofArabichismainpublishedresearchhasbeenonmedievalArabicdocuments.Hiswork onArabiclanguageincludesstudiesontheJudaeo-Arabicofvariousperiods.Amonghis honoursareelectionasFellowoftheBritishAcademy()andelectionasHonoraryFellow oftheAcademyoftheHebrewLanguage().
J ÉRÔME L ENTIN isProfessorEmeritusofNearEasternArabicattheInstitutNationaldes LanguesetCivilisationsOrientales(INALCO),Paris.HisresearchinterestsincludeArabic dialectologyandsociolinguistics,MiddleArabic,andComparativeSemitics.Hehasbeen workingandpublishingextensivelyontheArabicdialectofDamascus,acitywherehelived foradozenyearsinthe sand sandispreparing,withClaudeSalamé,a Dictionnaire d’arabedialectalsyrien,parlerdeDamas.In ,hefounded,withJacquesGrand’Henry,the InternationalAssociationfortheStudyofMiddleandMixedArabic(AIMA),overwhichhe nowpresides.Hewasamemberoftheadvisoryboardofthe EncyclopediaofArabicLanguage andLinguistics and,since ,hasbeenpresidentoftheGroupeLinguistiqued’Études Chamito-sémitiques(GLECS).
J ONATHAN O WENS isretiredprofessorofArabiclinguisticsatBayreuthUniversity,Germany. BesidesBayreuth,hehasworkedintheArabic-speakingworld(Libya,Jordan,NorthEast Nigeria),andintheUSA.HisinterestscovervariousaspectsofArabiclinguistics,includingthe Arabiclinguistictradition,thehistoryofArabic,Arabicsociolinguistics,andArabicdialects, especiallythewesternSudanicdialects.Hisbooksinclude TheFoundationsofGrammar:An IntroductiontoMedievalArabicGrammaticalTheory (Benjamins, )and ALinguisticHistory ofArabic (OxfordUniversityPress, –),andheiseditorofthe OxfordHandbookofArabic Linguistics (OxfordUniversityPress, ).
S TEPHAN P ROCHÁZKA studiedArabicandTurkishinVienna,Tunis,andIstanbul.Since hehasheldtheChairofArabicattheUniversityofVienna.Themainfociofhisresearchare ArabicdialectologyandthepopularcultureoftheArabworld.Hehaspublishedseveralbooks andnumerousarticlesonArabicdialectology,includingcomparativeandsyntacticstudiesas wellasdescriptionsoflocaldialects,basedondatagatheredinthecourseoflong-term fieldwork.ManyofhisstudiesarededicatedtothedifferentArabicvarietiesspokenin SouthernTurkey.Hehasservedastheleaderofanumberofexternallyfundedprojects devotedtothestudyoftheTunisianandMoroccanArabicdialects.ProfessorProcházka waselectedaFellowoftheAustrianAcademyofSciencesin .
C ATHERINE T AINE -C HEIKH enteredLeCentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique(CNRS)in ,afterhavingbeenaresearcherbasedinNouakchott,Mauritania(–).Sheisnow EmeritusDirectorofResearchatLACITO(LaboratoireLanguesetCivilisationsàTraditions Orales oftheCNRS).SheinitiallystudiedthespokenArabicofMauritania,Hassāniyya,before embarkingonthestudyofZenaga,avarietyofBerberspokeninMauritaniawhichatthattime wasrapidlydisappearing.ShehaspublisheddictionariesofbothHassāniyyaandZenaga,as wellasnumerousarticlesinthe fieldsofdescriptiveandtheoreticallinguistics,comparative dialectology,linguistictypology,andhistoricallinguistics.The firsttwovolumesofher Études delinguistiqueouest-saharienne (volume : Sociolinguistiquedel’airehassanophone (),
volume : Onomastique,poésieettraditionsorales ())haverecentlybeenpublishedin Morocco.Thesecontainrevisededitionsoftwenty-sevenofherpreviouslypublishedarticles.
J ANET W ATSON studiedArabicandIslamicStudiesattheUniversityofExeter,andthenmoved toSOAS,London,tostudylinguisticsandcompleteaPhDonthephonologyandmorphology ofYemeniArabicdialects.ShehaspublishedwidelyonArabiclinguisticsandthedialectsof Yemen,andsince hasbeenworkingontheModernSouthArabianLanguages(MSALs). Herbook, TheStructureofMehri,waspublishedin .Shehasheldacademicpostsatthe UniversitiesofEdinburgh,Durham,andSalford,andheldvisitingpostsattheuniversitiesof Heidelberg(–)andOslo(–).ShetookuptheLeadershipChairforLanguage@LeedsattheUniversityofLeedsin ,andwaselectedaFellowoftheBritishAcademyinthe sameyear.
M ANFRED W OIDICH wasProfessorofArabicLanguageattheUniversityofAmsterdam (–).HelivedandworkedinEgyptforelevenyearsfrom untilthemid-s andhasbeendoing fieldworkthereeversincebothinCairoandinruralEgypt.Hehas publishedveryextensivelyonEgyptianArabic,notablyonCairo,UpperEgypt,andtheOases oftheWesternDesert.Hispublicationsinclude DasKairenisch-Arabische:EineGrammatik ().WithPeterBehnstedtheco-authoredthe fivevolumesof Dieägyptischen-arabischen Dialekte (–), ArabischeDialektgeographie (),andthethreevolumesofthe Wortatlas derarabischenDialekte (, , ).Hewasanassociateeditorofthe Encyclopedia ofArabicLanguageandLinguistics (–).ProfessorWoidichwaselectedaCorresponding FellowoftheBritishAcademyin .
Introduction CLIVEHOLES Thisbookisa firststepdowntheroadofdescribingthehistoryofArabicasa spoken language.Itwouldobviouslybeimpossibleinabookofthismodestlengthtoattempt tocovereverythingthathasaclaimtoimportance,whetherfromthepointofviewof dialectgeography,history,orlanguageprocesses.Thetenchapterswhichfollowall treatsubstantialtopicsandarebyleadingauthoritiesintheir fields.Eachhasa distinctfocus,buttherearemanysharedelementsandthemes,andcross-referencing enablestheinterestedreadertofollowthemacrossthewholework.Thebibliography iscomprehensiveandaglossaryofArabiclinguistic,cultural,andhistoricalterms providesthenon-specialistwitha ‘one-stopshop’ forquickreference.
Theauthorswereaskedtoadoptahistoricalperspectiveintheirdescriptionsand analyses,thoughthedegreetowhichthisisfeasibledependsinpartontheavailabilityofreliablehistoricalsources,whichishighlyvariable.Thetimeframecovered isfromtheadventofIslamintheearlyseventhcentury AD¹uptothepresentday. Sevenofthechaptersaregeographicalinfocus(Taine-CheikhonMauritania; AguadéontheMaghreb;BehnstedtandWoidichonEgypt;LentinontheLevant; ProcházkaontheNorthernFertileCrescent;HolesontheGulf;WatsononSouth Arabia);oneis ‘communal’ (KhanonJudaeo-Arabic);andtwoeachdealwithan individuallinguisticfeature(Owensontheoriginandevolutionofthe b- verbal prefixintheGulf,theLevant,Egypt,Yemen,andNigeria;Ferrandoonthe ‘adnominallinker’ -an inmedievalAndalusianArabic,similarformsofwhich,withidentical functions,occurinotheroldandgeographicallyperipheraldialectsofArabic,asfar awayasCentralAsia).Unfortunately,itwasnotpossibletoobtainseparatechapters onthelinguistichistoryofMaltaandtheSudan,whichexemplifyimportantleitmotifsnotcoveredelsewhereinthebook:Malta,becauseitisa(literal)exampleofan Arabic Sprachinsel which,aroundtheendoftheeleventhcentury,wassummarilycut offfrom ‘heartland’ Arablinguisticinfluenceandhasthuspreservedevidenceof whatthespokenArabicofNorthAfricawaslikeamillenniumago;Sudan,becausein
¹Al-Jallad()givesasummarizingoverviewofwhatisknownaboutArabicinthecenturiesbefore theadventofIslam.
ArabicHistoricalDialectology.Firstedition.CliveHoles(ed.). Thischapter©CliveHoles
medievaltimesitactedasaconduitformigrationsfromEgyptandtheArabian PeninsulatotheSāhilregionofWestAfrica.CertainSudanesedialects(Reichmuth )haveabsorbedlinguisticinfluencesfromboth,andare,itwouldappear,the linkinthediffusionofcertainunusualdialectfeaturesfromArabiatotheSāhiland northernNigeria.SudanisimportantinthehistoryofArabicforanotherreason:itis oneofthefewplacesintheArabic-speakingworldwhereaprocessoffull-blown pidginizationandcreolizationoccurred,theresultsofwhichhavesurviveduptothe presentday.Theprocessstartedinnineteenth-centurymilitarycamps,andproduced so-calledJubaArabic(foradescription,seeManfredi ).
Themainpurposeofthisintroductorychapteristooutline,principallyforthe benefitofthenon-specialistreader,theculturalhinterlandofArabiclanguage history.Manyissuesdiscussedindetailintheindividualchaptersarementioned hereinpassingandbrie flyexempli fied,butthisintroductionisnotasummaryof theirarguments,farfromit;indeed,someauthorsdisagreewitheachotheronhow certainlinguisticdevelopmentsinArabicarebestexplained.Theobjectivehereis rathertosetthechaptersasawholeintheircultural,historical,andscholarlycontext, and,asthesubtitleofthebooksuggests,adumbratethelinguisticandsociolinguistic approachestoArabicdialectologywhichunderpinthem.Alsoincludedhere,where relevant,arehistoricaldatafromArablandsnotspeci ficallycoveredinanyindividual chapter(e.g.Iraq),andcertaingeneraltopicsnotdealtwithindetaileither(e.g.dialect typology,indexicalization,pidginization).
. THEEARLYHISTORYOFARABIC: MYTHANDREALITY ThehistoryofArabicislong,complicated,andinsomeperiodsandlocations, obscure.ButitshistoryintheimaginationoftheordinarymanintheArabstreet isanythingbut:itburstsontothescene,seeminglyfromnowhere,withtheseventhcenturyRevelationofGod’swordtoMuhammad,theArabianProphet,vouchsafed bytheAngelGabriel,andrecitedbyhiminArabic,at firsttoascepticalaudience, andlatertoagrowingbandofbelievers.Latercollectedtogetherandwrittendown, theseoralrecitations, ‘sentdown’ overatwenty-two-yearperiod,becamethescripturesofthenewreligionofIslam.ThoughtheArabianpoetsofthepre-Islamic ‘Time ofIgnorance’ (al-g ˇ āhiliyya)wereandstillarecelebratedforthemagnificenceoftheir mono-rhymingodes(qas āˀid ),itwastherevelationoftheQurˀān,and inArabic, which,inthepopularimagination,movedthelanguageandthepeoplewhospokeit tocentrestageinworldhistory.
The firstattestationoftheword qurˀān isintheQurˀānitself,whereitmeans ‘reading’ or ‘recitation’.ItmayhavebeencalquedonthecognateSyriacword keryānā ‘scripturereading,lesson’,andmodelledonthesimilarArabicverbalnounpattern CuCCān.Theword ˁarabiyy (‘Arab’ , ‘Arabic ’)occurseleventimesintheQurˀān,and insixoftheseinstancesitspecifiesthattheProphet’srecitationisan ‘ArabicQurˀān ’ (qurˀān-un ˁarabiyy-un)and,furthermore, ‘anArabicQurˀānthatcontainsno
crookedness’²(qurˀān-an ˁarabiyy-an ġayradī ˁiwag ˇ -in).In fiveothersitcollocates withothernouns:itsoralityissuggestedbythephrase ‘aclearArabictongue’ (lisānun ˁarabiyy-unmubīn-un);anditspurposewastoprovide ‘adecisiveArab/Arabic judgement’ (hukm-an ˁarabiyy-an).
ThattheQurˀānwasrevealedthroughthemediumofArabichasthus,fromthe verybeginning,beenanintrinsicpartofitsmessage.Butwhethertheword ˁarabiyy ‘Arab,Arabic’ meantatthetimeoftheRevelationwhatitmeanstodayis,amongthe scholarlycommunity,amootpoint.Retsö,inhismonumentalstudyoftheArabsin antiquity,³contendsthat ˁarabiyy intheQurˀānprobably ‘referstoalanguage connectedwiththe ˁarab whichwasknownasavehicleformessagesfromthe non-humanworld’ andwasnotsimply ‘thenormaleverydayspeechinMeccaand itssurroundings’ (: ).Inhisopinion,anotherratherproblematicword, ˀaˁg ˇ amī,whichintheIslamicMiddleAgescametobeusedtodesignate ‘speaker ofalanguageotherthanArabic’ (e.g.ofGreek,Persian,etc)isintheQurˀānusedto refertoformsofArabianspeechwhichdeviatedfrom ˁarabiyy,andmayhave referredtotheArabianspeechineverydayuseatthetime(Retsö : –). Inthesamevein,Webb(: ff.),onthestrengthofanothertrawlthroughthe earlysources,andastudyofthewordsderivedfromtheroot ˁ-r-b intheQurˀān, claimsthat ˁarabiyy mayhaveoriginallydenotednotacommunityofspeakersor theirlanguagebutratherGod’smessage,andonewhichtheQurˀānrepeatedlystates thatthe aˁrāb (‘bedouin’)largelyfailedtoembrace,makingitthereforeillogical,in hisview,thattherelationaladjective ˁarabiyy shouldbeunderstoodasrelatingto theirlanguage: ‘ ...theQurˀān ’ s “ ˁarabiyy” isanadjectiveofrevelation,notapeople.
“ ˁArabiyy” isanadjectivefortheQurˀān ’ssacredidiom....TheQurˀān ’sconception ofArabicisthatofalanguagepossessingmiraculousclaritythatconveystheSacred Message,andpromptsitslistenerstocomprehendandrespondbyembracingIslam’ . Self-evidently,thetextoftheQurˀānisinavarietyofthelanguagewenowcall ‘Arabic’,but,evenifoneremainsscepticaloftheRetsö/Webbhypothesisthatithad onceaspecialsacredoresotericsense,theword ˁarabiyy atthetimeoftheRevelation mayindeedhavehadadifferentmeaningfromwhatithasnoworhadintheearly Islamiccenturies.
Itisindeedprobablethatthemeaningof ˁarab and ˁarabiyy as ‘Arab/Arabic’ in thegeneralethnicandlinguisticsensesweknowtodaydevelopedlate wellafterthe deathoftheProphet andwerenotcurrentinpre-IslamicArabia.Macdonald ()hasdocumentedthewiderangeofpeoplesandcommunitiestowhichthese termswereappliedbeforelateantiquity(i.e.beforeabout AD ),whichvaried dependingonwhowasusingthem,forwhatpurpose,andinwhatcontext.There seemsatthispointtohavebeennounifiedconceptofwhat ‘Arabs’ were:theterm wasappliedbyoutsidersofmanydifferentbackgroundstopeoplessomeofwhom didn’tspeakArabicatall,andmanyofwhom,tojudgefromthedescriptions,were notnomadicpastoralistseither.Asa self-descriptor,theethnonym ‘Arab’ atthis
²ThetranslationsarethoseofPickthall.
³ForacriticalbutgenerallyverypositivereviewofthislandmarkworkseeDonner
periodwasrare.Ifonecangeneralize,itseemstohaveoftenbeenappliedasan unflatteringtermto ‘theother’—anexoticstrangernotpartofone’sowncommunity. Hoyland(: )notesthatinthefamousfuneraryinscriptionatNamāra, km south-eastofDamascus,datingto AD muchlaterthanMacdonald ’smaterial butstillthreecenturiesbeforetheRevelation acertainMarˀul-Qaysbar ˁAmrū is praisedasbeing ‘kingofalltheArabs’ (mlk ˀl-ˁrbkl-h).Thistextiswrittenin Nabatean(i.e.Aramaic)scriptbutthelanguageseemstobeArabic(exceptfor bar, Aramaic ‘ son ’,forArabic ibn,andtheword ˁkdy (‘thereafter ’ (?)),whichhasnotbeen attestedinanyvarietyofIslamic-periodArabic).Butwhowerethesefourth-century ‘Arabs’ thatMar ˀul-Qayswaskingof,andwheredidtheylive?
SchiettecatteandArbach()haveoutlinedthetribalgeographyofArabiain c. themid-thirdcentury,basedonarecentlydiscoveredSabaicinscription.Thislocates the ‘Arab’ tribesofAsadān,Nizār,Madhig ˇ ,Maˁadd,andTayyinthenorthandwest ofArabia.Threeofthese,Asad,Madhig ˇ ,andMaˁaddarealsomentionedbyname intheNamāratombinscriptionashavingbeen ‘subdued’ or ‘mastered’ byMarˀu l-Qays.ThissuggestsadegreeofstabilityinthedemographyofArabiathroughat leastthethirdandfourthcenturies.IntheQurˀān,however,revealedthreecenturies laterintheearlytomid-seventhcentury AD,thenoun ˁarab (incontrastwithits adjective ˁarabiyy)isabsent.Thisissurprising,butprobablynotsignificant,asbythis timethegenericconceptof ‘Arabs’ basedonacommonlanguageandshared elementsofculture(suchasthetribalpoetrywhichwasthencirculating)must haveexistedatleastinembryonicform.Morelikelythananyesotericmeaning,it seemstothiswriterthattheQurˀān ’srepeatedinsistenceonthe ‘Arab/Arabic’ nature ofitsmessagewasintendedtopromoteadistinctivelinguisticfacetofthisemerging sharedculture,towhichitwasnowaddinganewreligiousdimension.Asnoted earlier,inseveraloftheverseswhereitoccursintheQurˀān,theword ˁarabiyy is furtherspecifiedassomething ‘clear’,somethingthateverybodywholistenedtoit wouldeasilyunderstand.⁴ ItissignificantinthiscontextthattheQurˀāndeliversa damningjudgementonpoets,famousascleverwordsmithsand ‘seersoftheunseen’ : ‘Asforpoets,theerringfollowthem.Hastthounotseenhowtheystrayinevery valley,andhowtheysaythatwhichtheydonot?’ (Q : –).TheProphet’ sown expressedopinionsweresimilar: ‘Itisbetterforamanto filltheinsideofhisbody withpusthanto fillitwithpoetry’ (the Sahīh ofal-Bukhārī Volume ,Book ,
⁴ Recently,thestandardtranslationof mubīn as ‘clear’,andtheassumptionbehindthistranslationthat this ‘clarity’ inheresinthefactthattheRevelationwasinArabichasbeenchallenged(Dichy ): ‘Sil’oncomparecettefoisleparticipe mubῑn etl’adjectif bayyin,quiexprimel’étatcaractéristiquede«clarté», unedifférencecrucialesefaitjour.Dufaitqu’ilestunparticipeactif, mubῑn peutprendredeuxvaleurs:
• lavaleurd’étatrésultatif,quiestproduiteparunévénementaccompli(etdoncpassé):leLivreestdit alors«ayantfaitlaclarté»,àpartirdel’événementdesapropreénonciation;
• lavaleurprogressive,quidénoteunévénementencours:leLivreestdit,mot-à-mot,«faisantlaclarté» ens ’énonçant,ou«entraindefairelaclarté»’ . Itisnot,onthisreading,thelinguisticfactof ‘beinginArabic’ whichrendersthemessage ‘clear’;theactof ‘makingclear’ themessageisaprocess,and ‘clarity’ aresult,whicharebothpredicatedoftheDivine,and achievedthroughtheagencyofHisProphet’srevelations,andnotthroughthechoiceoflanguageformsin whichthismessageisvouchsafed.
No ).ThispoetrywascomposedinthesamevarietyofArabicastheQurˀān,but theProphetwishedatallcoststodistinguishhismessagefromit;forhim,Arabic poetrywasadangerouswasteoftime,lieseven,andinthatrespectquiteunlikethe Qurˀān,whosemessagewasdescribedbyitselfasclearandstraightforward.⁵
TheRevelationoftheQurˀānwasoneoftwoeventsofthegreatestlinguistic significanceinthehistoryofArabic;theotherwastheArabconquestswhichbegan shortlyafterthedeathoftheProphetin andwerelargelycompletebyabout . TheArabarmiesofconquestandtheircampfollowersexportedArabictoavast regionstretchingfromSpaininthewesttoCentralAsiaintheeast.Butwhatkindof Arabicwasitthattheyspoke?Wehavealmostnodirectcontemporaneousevidence. Modernpopularculture,asevincedinthe film al-Risāla (‘theMessage ’ inthe Englishlanguageversion)andcountlessTVhistoricaldramas,depictstheArabsof thattimeasspeakingperfectClassicalArabic(CLA)atalltimeswithfullcase-and mood-endings.Manynativespeakersstillbelieveimplicitlythatthiscinematic scenarioreflectsthereality,andithasevenbeenespousedbysomeacademic historiansofthelanguage:cf.Versteegh : ‘beforethecomingofIslamthere wasasingleArabiclanguage,whichwasusedbothasacolloquialandliterary language’.Onthisview,CLAwasthere abinitio asaspokenaswellasawritten languageandwasgraduallycorrupted,owingtoimperfectlearningbythenon-Arab subjectsoftheearlyIslamicEmpire,⁶ whovastlyoutnumberedthenativeArabic speakerswhoformedthe firstwaveofmigrants.Theendpointofthisprocess, accordingtothepopularbelief,wastheArabicdialectsspokentoday.This account ofadistantgoldenageoflinguisticperfectioncorruptedbyforeigners isoneofseveralpopularmythsaboutthelanguage:⁷ formanyArabs, ‘theArabic language’ (al-luġal-ˁarabiyya)refersonlytothemodernversionofthis ‘pureand eloquent’ (fas īh)formofthelanguage,andnottothe ‘corrupt’ formstheythemselves useineverydayspeech(whichtheyrefertomoreinformallyas ˁarabiyy).
Ifthatisthemyth,whatwasthereality,insofaraswecangleanitfromthe historicalrecord?Weknowthatinitially,Greek,Coptic,andPersianwereretainedas written languagesforadministrativepurposesintheterritoriesoftheByzantineand
⁵ Bytheendoftheninthcentury,anotherlinguisticfacetoftheQurˀān,the ‘inimitability’ (iˁg ˇ āz)ofits style,hadbecomeestablisheddoctrine,andinconsequenceitcametorepresentfor(Muslim)Arabsthe apogeeof fas āha,awordwhichcombinesnotionsofpurityandeloquence.Thetraditionsofmelodic Qurˀāniccantillationandtheartisticcalligraphyofthetextwhichdevelopedsubsequentlyhavebecome ubiquitousaspectsofArabo-Muslimreligiousculture,andlearningtorecitetheQurˀānfrommemory, beginningattheageofsixorsevenatreligiousschools(the kuttāb)wasthefoundationofpre-modern educationallovertheArabworld.TheQurˀānistheonlyArabictextinvariablywrittenwithfull vocalizationandthefullsetoforthographicsymbols,soastoensureitsaccuraterendition.
⁶ Versteegh()wentfurtherandhypothesizedthatCLAunderwentaprocessofmasspidginization andcreolizationaftertheconquestswhichresultedintheArabicdialects.Thereis,however,noevidence thatpidginizationandcreolizationinthenormallyaccepteddefinitionofthesetermsoccurredonanything likethescaleenvisaged.Forcounter-arguments,seethereviewsofGoodman ,Holes b; a: –,andHopkins .
⁷ Foranamusingaccountofseveralothers,seeFerguson [].Ourmainpurposeinwritingthis bookistoshowhowamorehistoricallyandsociallygroundedlinguisticapproach,despitethegapsinthe historicalrecord,canhelptracethelong-termdynamicsandsomeofthedetailofwhathappened.
