Journal of Arabic and Islamic
Studies
CONTENTS
Volume VI, 2005-2006
Edited by Joseph Norment Bell with Walter
Herman Bell and Lutz
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Samer Mahdy Ali. Singing Samarra (861-956): Poetry and the
Burgeoning of Historiography upon the Death of al-Mutawakkil.
(Adobe Acrobat 7.0 PDF file, 215 kB,
pp. 1-23). HTML Unicode version.
Abstract: Historiography on the
patricide/regicide of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil (d.
861) developed from a stage of simple description to a burgeoning of mytho-historical narrative. It would appear that what began
as a palace scandal—profaning to a putatively sacral community already
torn by civil war—developed into a redemptive tragedy with perennial
appeal. In a patronage society governed by loyalty to one’s patron or
father, this transformation should count as nothing less than conspicuous. This
article examines the role of a major Abbasid poet, al-Buḥturī (d. 897), in
shaping public perception by cultivating genuine sympathy for the Abbasids and
planting the seeds of questions that would be addressed in historical
narratives. In particular, I discuss the importance of literary salons or
gatherings as a social institution where poetry and historical narratives were
recited orally as a means of transmitting knowledge to future generations.
These gatherings provide a likely forum where mythic questions of poetry could
inspire narrative.
Zev bar-Lev. Arabic Key
Consonants. (Adobe Acrobat 7.0 PDF file, 328 kB, pp. 24-63). HTML Unicode version to be posted later.
Abstract:
This article
outlines an approach to lexicon in Arabic linguistics, with special
implications for teaching Arabic as a foreign language. Its basic insight is
that individual initial consonants have their own meanings. On a
theoretical level, this key-consonant
system offers a pervasive theoretical insight about the structure of a
lexicon, and the nature of lexical acquisition; and on a practical level, it
offers a powerful key to learning vocabulary L2—which in turn may offer
the best possible validation of the theoretical claim. It is here related to
insights in linguistic theory on the submorpheme (and analogical
modeling); in L2 learning, such submorphemes can
help make learning of vocabulary easier, and sometimes even make it possible to
guess the meanings of new roots in context. An additional implication for the
history of Semitic linguistics is also drawn, proposing to bring back into
Semitic linguistics a set of insights that had been “banished” from
the mainstream with the advent of “scientific” Semitic grammar over
a thousand years ago. On the other hand, we will draw a sharp distinction
between the proposal and biconsonantal root theory,
with which it might be confused on first impression.
Last
modified December 16, 2006.