Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties (Longman Linguistics Library) [Paperback]

Clive Holes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996 | ISBN-10: 0582028841 | ISBN-13: 978-0582028845

Modern Arabic provides a comprehensive examination of both Standard Modern Arabic and modern Arabic dialects. It outlines the basic structures of the various forms, explaining the synchronic and diachronic relationships between the written language and spoken dialects, and discusses cross-dialect influences. Particular attention is paid to describing intermediate varieties of Arabic which fall between the standard variety and plain dialect, and to the sociolinguistics of variation in Arabic. An unusual language-specific factor here is the nomadic-sedentary dialect split, which cross-cuts geographical dialect distinctions. The book begins with a concise yet comprehensive history of the language. It is illustrated throughout with a wealth of authentic examples which provide practical insights into the language of everyday life, the media, literature and politics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"xxx;deserves a very warm welcome indeedxxx;It will be read with pleasure and benefit by all who are interested in the Arabic language." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies "Holes is to be commended for undertaking a work with such a broad scopexxx;His assessment of modern Arabic in all its forms is honest, contrastive and comparative, and presents impressions and analyses of many categories from a fresh angle." Bibliotheca Orientalis "We believe that the advanced students of Arabic and ambitious general linguists will rightly appreciate Hole's monograph as a valuable source of useful and exciting information." Asian and African Studies

Review

"Even seasoned Arabists can profit from this hefty tome, the first of its kind to serve as a solid introduction to the entire field of of Arabic linguistics and Comparative Arabic dialectology." -- Language, reviewing a previous edition or volume

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Longman Group United Kingdom (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0582028841
• ISBN-13: 978-0582028845
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,536,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book- a must buy for a serious Arabic student, January 27, 2012

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applepie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Arabic, Revised Edition: Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties (Georgetown Classics in Arabic Languages and Linguistics series) (Paperback)

This book is what I've been looking for as a student of Arabic since forever. I have a background in linguistics, so I like to learn about a language in a systematic, scientific, exhaustive way, in addition to the typical vocab drill, grammar practice, listening practice, etc. that you get from a language class. Almost everything you could want to learn about the Arabic language's history, phonology, syntax, morphology, dialects, loanwords, sociolinguistic situation, etc. is covered in great depth in this book. Every linguist learning Arabic should read this book. And if you're learning Arabic and you don't know anything about linguistics, it would be a good idea to learn some, because it will be a very good investment. Again, this book is about Arabic linguistics, and is not a stand-alone language learning course (for those, go look for Jane Wightwick).

This book helped me understand all the "irregularities" in Arabic that actually have a method to them (how to predict broken plural forms, the middle vowel in verbs, seemingly haphazard coining of nouns from verb stems, etc.) and also explained diachronically how they developed and evolved into the systems found in modern dialects. I had always wanted to know this information, but there was never an opportunity to ask in my language class (the lecturer probably wouldn't have been able to explain it anyway). I also understand the sociolinguistic diglossic situation in the Arab world a lot better now, and have a better idea of when to tilt my speech more towards the dialect or more towards MSA and which sounds to change gradually as I climb the hierarchy.

This is a wonderful book with a consistent Romanization (important when dealing with multiple dialects since a letter like qaf can have several different pronunciations), tons of information, and a comfortable read.