Arabe 334a. A Vocalized Kufic Quran in a Non-canonical Hijazi Reading

This is a study of the Quranic manuscript Arabe 334a held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It is a vocalized manuscript representing a Quranic reading tradition that falls outside the canonical ten reading traditions known to us today. It is shown that this manuscript, on the basis of verse division, is a Hijazi (probably Medinan) manuscript. The reading represented in the vocalization is likely also a non-canonical Hijazi reading. This article contains an edition of the folios of this manuscript and an in-depth study of the orthography, vocalization, verse division, and general principles and specific variants of the reading

Quranic Arabic

This work examines the history of Quranic Arabic. Using manuscript and medieval literary evidence, it uncovers the earliest Hijazi Arabic layer of the text, and describes its evolution into the Classical Arabic canonical reading traditions.; Readership: Everyone interested in the history of Arabic and the Quranic text and the early history of Classical Arabic and the Quranic reading traditions

Quranic Arabic

This work examines the history of Quranic Arabic. Using manuscript and medieval literary evidence, it uncovers the earliest Hijazi Arabic layer of the text, and describes its evolution into the Classical Arabic canonical reading traditions.; Readership: Everyone interested in the history of Arabic and the Quranic text and the early history of Classical Arabic and the Quranic reading traditions

Attrition and revival in Awjila BerberFacebook posts as a new data source for an endangered Berber language

Awjila Berber is a highly endangered Berber variety spoken in eastern Libya. The minimal material available on it reveals that the language is in some respects very archaic and in others grammatically unique, and as such is of particular comparative and historical interest. Fieldwork has been impossible for decades due to the political situation. Recently, however, several inhabitants of Awjila have set up a Facebook group Ašal=ənnax (“our village”), posting largely in Awjili. Analysis of this partly conversational corpus makes it possible to extend our knowledge of the language, yielding unattested words and constructions. Examination of its grammatical features also reveals that these posters’ usage is heavily influenced by Arabic, showing language attrition absent from earlier data; even subject-verb agreement has been extensively reworked. In both respects, this study casts light upon the uses and limits of social media as a source of linguistic material.Attrition et renouveau dans le berbère Awjila. Les messages Facebook comme nouvelle source de données pour une langue berbère en voie de disparition Le berbère d’Awjila est une langue de l’est de la Libye qui est en danger de disparition. Les rares données disponibles indiquent que cette langue a des traits très conservateurs et d’autres qui sont uniques dans le cadre des langues berbères. Elle est alors d’un intérêt exceptionnel pour les études comparatives et historiques. Pour des raisons politiques, aucune recherche sur le terrain n’a été possible depuis plusieurs décennies. Or plusieurs citoyens d’Awjila ont récemment créé un groupe sur Facebook, Ašal=ənnax (« notre village »), où ils écrivent en awjili. L’analyse de ce corpus, en partie conversationnel, nous permet d’élargir notre connaissance de cette langue et fournit des mots et des constructions inconnus auparavant. L’étude de ses traits grammaticaux révèle une grande influence arabe sur leur usage, et montre un degré d’attrition qui ne se trouve pas dans les anciennes données; y compris la transformation de l’accord du verbe avec le sujet. Ces résultats aident à mieux comprendre l’utilité et les limites des médias sociaux comme source de données linguistiques

Origin of the Plural Adjectives of the Fuʿāl Pattern in the Modern Arabic Dialects

In several modern Arabic dialects the noun pattern fiʿāl(ah) shifts to fuʿāl(ah) in emphatic environments. This development also affects adjectival plurals with an original shape fiʿāl. From this conditioned shift the innovative fuʿāl pattern was generalized to all adjectives. It is not likely that this development goes back to a Proto-dialectal “koiné”

The Oldest Manuscripts from India and Their Histories

This essay examines a copy of the Qur’ān from India, now in the India Office Collections at the British Library. The manuscript, registered as IO Loth 4, belongs to the reasonably large group of early Qur’āns that date to the eighth and ninth centuries CE. While some of these manuscripts have charted histories, what is not widely known is that early Qur’āns also made their way to India. There they have their own special histories, meanings and associations. In attempt to address the long ‘after-life’ of these manuscripts, this paper will examine a single example that arrived in India in the Mughal period and was eventually presented to the Library of the East India House by Lord Dalhousie in 1853. While not the earliest of the Qur’āns brought to India, it nonetheless dates to the circa ninth century CE, making it older than any surviving manuscripts in Sanskrit or Prakrit in India proper

Arabic and contact-induced change

This volume offers a synthesis of current expertise on contact-induced change in Arabic and its neighbours, with thirty chapters written by many of the leading experts on this topic. Its purpose is to showcase the current state of knowledge regarding the diverse outcomes of contacts between Arabic and other languages, in a format that is both accessible and useful to Arabists, historical linguists, and students of language contact

Arabic and contact-induced change

This volume offers a synthesis of current expertise on contact-induced change in Arabic and its neighbours, with thirty chapters written by many of the leading experts on this topic. Its purpose is to showcase the current state of knowledge regarding the diverse outcomes of contacts between Arabic and other languages, in a format that is both accessible and useful to Arabists, historical linguists, and students of language contact

Arabic and contact-induced change

This volume offers a synthesis of current expertise on contact-induced change in Arabic and its neighbours, with thirty chapters written by many of the leading experts on this topic. Its purpose is to showcase the current state of knowledge regarding the diverse outcomes of contacts between Arabic and other languages, in a format that is both accessible and useful to Arabists, historical linguists, and students of language contact