Arabic: A Linguistic Introduction

by Karin C. Ryding

This lively introduction to the linguistics of Arabic provides students with a concise overview of the language's structure and its various components: its phonology, morphology and syntax. Through exercises, discussion points and assignments built into every chapter, the book presents the Arabic language in vivid and engaging terms, encouraging students to grasp the complexity of its linguistic situation. It presents key linguistic concepts and theories related to Arabic in a coherent way, helping to build students' analytical and critical skills. Key features: Study questions, exercises, and discussion topics in every chapter encourage students to engage with the material and undertake specific assignments Suggestions for further reading in every chapter allow readers to engage in more extensive research on relevant topics Technical terminology is explained in a helpful glossary"

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Language

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Cambridge University Press series "X: a Linguistic Introduction" started out with books that gave readers with a strong background in linguistics a quick and convenient introduction to what made the unfamiliar language in question tick. That's how the volumes for e.g. Maori, German, and Romani were.

Later, however, Cambridge UP changed the formula, and Karen C. Ryding's ARABIC: A Linguistic Introduction is different from the earlier volumes in the series. Now these books are meant to serve as university textbooks, and come with exercises and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter. Ryding's presentation also expects the reader to have a strong background in Arabic already, so if you are a linguist who just wants to quickly familiarize yourself with Arabic, you'll find that she refers to too many aspects of the language without explaining what they are exactly. Even readers with a great deal of Arabic under their belt will be frustrated by the rapid pace of information presented here and the feeling that one is reading a dry outline instead of crafted prose.

Only 20 pages are dedicated to phonology, and it's just a quick listing of *very* general facts (such as the phoneme inventory), but the book does have value as a very detailed examination of Arabic morphology going for it. Ryding's focus is Modern Standard Arabic and we do not get any picture of the famously rich dialectal diversity of the language.

All in all, this will not be a useful book for many linguaphile audiences. Why combine a description more specialist than usual with exercises that seem targeted to undergraduates?

[محمد حسين ضاحي · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enlightening book, useful for whoever wants to get introduced to Arabic linguistics, whether he was a non-Arab or and Arab who wants to know the stuff of Arabic in English.