The Arabic Language

Covering all aspects of the history of Arabic, the Arabic linguistic tradition, Arabic dialects, sociolinguistics and Arabic as a world language, this introductory guide is perfect for students of Arabic, Arabic historical linguistics and Arabic sociolinguistics. Concentrating on the difference between the two types of Arabic - the classical standard language and the dialects - Kees Versteegh charts the history and development of the Arabic language from its earliest beginnings to modern times. Students will gain a solid grounding in the structure of the language, its historical context and its use in various literary and non-literary genres, as well as an understanding of the role of Arabic as a cultural, religious and political world language. New for this edition: additional chapters on the structure of Arabic, Bilingualism and Arabic pidgins and creoles; a full explanation of the use of conventional Arabic transcription and IPA characters; an updated bibliography and all chapters have been revised and updated in light of recent research.

Kees Versteegh (1947) is Professor of Arabic and Islam at the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He graduated in Classical and Semitic languages and specializes in historical linguistics and the history of linguistics, focusing on processes of language change and language contact. His books include Pidginization and Creolization: The Case of Arabic (Amsterdam, 1984), The Arabic Linguistic Tradition (London, 1997) and Arabic Grammar and Qur'anic Exegesis in Early Islam (Leiden, 1993). He co-edited the Handbuch für die Geschichte der Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (Berlin, 2000-2005) and the Arabic-Dutch/Dutch-Arabic Dictionary (Muiderberg, 2003), and was the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics (Leiden, 2006-2009).