Arabic Language and Linguistics

by Reem Bassiouney (Editor), E. Graham Katz (Editor), E. Graham Katz (Contribution by), Nizha Chatar-Moumni (Contribution by), Kamel A. Elsaadany (Contribution by)

Overview

Arabic, one of the official languages of the United Nations, is spoken by more than half a billion people around the world and is of increasing importance in today’s political and economic spheres. The study of the Arabic language has a long and rich history: earliest grammatical accounts date from the 8th century and include full syntactic, morphological, and phonological analyses of the vernaculars and of Classical Arabic. In recent years the academic study of Arabic has become increasingly sophisticated and broad.

This state-of-the-art volume presents the most recent research in Arabic linguistics from a theoretical point of view, including computational linguistics, syntax, semantics, and historical linguistics. It also covers sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and discourse analysis by looking at issues such as gender, urbanization, and language ideology. Underlying themes include the changing and evolving attitudes of speakers of Arabic and theoretical approaches to linguistic variation in the Middle East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589018853
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	03/15/2012
Series:	Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics Series
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Reem Bassiouney is an associate professor of Arabic linguistics at Georgetown University. She is the author of Arabic Sociolinguistics: Topics in Diglossia, Gender, Identity, and Politics.

E. Graham Katz is an assistant professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University.

Table of Contents

PrefaceTransliteration conventionsIntroduction

Part I: Theoretical and Computational Linguistics

1. Negation in Moroccan Arabic: Scope and FocusNizha Chatar-Moumni

2. On the Syntax and Semantics of Arabic Universal QuantificationKamel A. Elsaadany and Salwa Muhammed Shams

3. Statistical and Symbolic Paradigms in Arabic Computational LinguisticsAli Farghaly

4. Raising in Standard Arabic: Backward, Forward, and NoneYoussef A. Haddad

5. Construct State Nominals as Semantic PredicatesSarah Ouwayda

6. On Licensing Wh-Scope: Wh-Questions in Egyptian Arabic RevisitedUsama Soltan

7. The Notion of ‘Complete’ and ‘Incomplete’ Verbs in Early Arabic Grammatical Theory: Kāna and Its SistersHana Zabarah

Part II: Sociolinguistics and Applied Linguistics

8. Women and Politeness on Egyptian Talk ShowsReem Bassiouney

9. Bonjour, ça va ? Labas ale-ik? French and Arabic in CasablancaElena Canna

10. Nominalization in Arabic Discourse: A Genre Analysis PerspectiveAhmed Fakhri

11. The Elusiveness of Luġa Wustā—or, Attempting to Catch Its “True Nature”Gunvor Mejdell

12. Mexicans Speaking in Dârija (Moroccan Arabic): Media, Urbanization, and Language Changes in MoroccoCatherine Miller

13. Critical Languages and Critical Thinking: Reframing Academic Arabic ProgramsKarin Christina Ryding

14. Ideology and the Standardization of ArabicYasir Suleiman

15. The Ditransitive Dative Divide in Arabic: Grammaticality Assessments and ActualityDavid Wilmsen

What People are Saying About This

Daniel Newman

A challenging collection of papers providing a snapshot of advanced research in various areas of contemporary Arabic linguistics by scholars in the vanguard of the field.

From the Publisher

"A highly readable book, innovative in both coverage and content. Sure to be read with interest and profit by scholars of Arabic language and linguistics."—Alison Mackey, professor and head of applied linguistics, Georgetown University

"A challenging collection of papers providing a snapshot of advanced research in various areas of contemporary Arabic linguistics by scholars in the vanguard of the field."—Daniel Newman, professor of Arabic, University of Durham

"One of the challenges facing today's research in Arabic linguistics is to connect with recent developments in general linguistics and sociolinguistics. In this volume, Bassiouney and Katz have brought together an impressive collection of articles that take up this challenge."—Kees Versteegh, emeritus professor, University of Nijmegen

Alison Mackey

A highly readable book, innovative in both coverage and content. Sure to be read with interest and profit by scholars of Arabic language and linguistics.

Kees Versteegh

One of the challenges facing today's research in Arabic linguistics is to connect with recent developments in general linguistics and sociolinguistics. In this volume, Bassiouney and Katz have brought together an impressive collection of articles that take up this challenge.

Editorial Reviews

A challenging collection of papers providing a snapshot of advanced research in various areas of contemporary Arabic linguistics by scholars in the vanguard of the field.

Daniel Newman

One of the challenges facing today's research in Arabic linguistics is to connect with recent developments in general linguistics and sociolinguistics. In this volume, Bassiouney and Katz have brought together an impressive collection of articles that take up this challenge.

Kees Versteegh

A highly readable book, innovative in both coverage and content. Sure to be read with interest and profit by scholars of Arabic language and linguistics.

Alison Mackey