31215 - Arab Philology 1

Learning outcomes

Students know the fundamental aspects of the Arabic language’s structure, being able to compare them with the linguistic phenomena occurring in the same area (Semitic). They are aware of the Arabic language’s evolution within its cultural and geographical framework diachronically.

Course contents

The Arabic Philology course is designed to provide students the theoretical and practical tools they need to study the Arabic language and its linguistic legacy, as well as investigate its written representations. The study of the main sources and processes of knowledge transmission, as well as an understanding of the particular aspects of the Arabic manuscript, will contribute to the reconstruction of the Arabic philological tradition.
With this in mind, special emphasis will be placed on the history of the Arabic grammatical tradition and linguistic thought, as evidenced by the examination of grammatical schools and theories developed by prominent Arab grammarians and lexicographers.
A better understanding of the Arabic-Islamic textual, lexicographical, and scientific traditions will result through observation of the various movements of translation and generation of new knowledge.
Through the study of case-studies (such as, for example, Judeo-Arabic), students will also be invited to reflect on the importance of language and writing systems, in general, as identity factors of a community, and on the concept of linguistic continuity in Arabic multiglossia for the representation of linguistic variation that avoids a hierarchical description of languages (in terms of high and low varieties), even in modern thought.

A theoretical approach will be complemented by a practical-experimental one that will consist of reading, translating and analyzing selected printed texts and manuscripts in Arabic.

Required languages: Italian; English; Arabic

Readings/Bibliography

All texts are available on Virtuale. Throughout the course, students will be informed of possible changes.

Bibliography:

• Carter, Michael G., “Linguistica e lessicografia”, in S. Petruccioli (ed.), Storia Della Scienza, III, (Roma: Enciclopedia italiana, 2002): pp. 76-85.
• Versteegh, Kees, The Arabic Language, Second edition, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014) (sezioni scelte).
• Carter, Michael G., “Sībawayhi”, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, (2012). https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/sibawayhi-COM_1068?s.num=429&s.rows=100&s.start=400.
• Carter, Michael G., “The Development of Arabic Linguistics after Sībawayhi: Basra, Kufa and Baghdad”, in Auroux, Sylvain, Koerner, E. F. K., Niederehe, Hans-Josef, Versteegh, Kees, and Philipps, Sören (eds.), History of the Language Sciences. An International Handbook on the Evolution of the Study of Language from the Beginnings to the Present, 1 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2000): pp. 263–72.
• Baalbaki, Ramzi, The Arabic Lexicographical Tradition: from the 2nd/8th to the 12th/18th Century, (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2014) (sezioni scelte).
• Gutas, Dimitri, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early ʻAbbāsid Society (2nd-4th/8th-10th Centuries), (London; New York: Routledge, 1998) (sezioni scelte).
• Zack, Liesbeth e Schippers, Arie, (a cura di) Middle Arabic and Mixed Arabic: Diachrony and Synchrony, 64, (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2012) (sezioni scelte).
• Hary, Benjamin, “The Importance of the Language Continuum in Arabic Multiglossia”, in Elgibali, Alaa (a cura di), Understanding Arabic. Essays in Contemporary Arabic Linguistics in Honor of El-Said Badawi, (Cairo, Egypt: The American University in Cairo Press, 1996): pp. 69–89.
• Heijer, Johannes den, Schmidt, Andrea B. e Pataridze, Tamara, (a cura di) Scripts Beyond Borders: a Survey of Allographic Traditions in the Euro-Mediterranean World, (Louvain-la-Neuve: Leuven: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste; Peeters, 2014) (sezioni scelte).
• Internullo, Dario e D’Ottone Rambach, Arianna, “One Script for Two Languages: Latin and Arabic in an Early Allographic Papyrus”, Rivista degli Studi Orientali, XC (2018): pp. 53–72.
• Gacek, Adam, Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers, (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2009) (sezioni scelte).
• Hirschler, Konrad, Leggere e scrivere nell’Islam medievale, translated by Arianna D’Ottone, (Roma: Carocci editore, 2017) (sezioni scelte).
• Bausi, Alessandro et al., (a cura di) Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: an Introduction, (Hamburg: COMSt, Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies, 2015) (sezioni scelte).

Additional teaching materials, which will form an integral part of the examination program, will be provided during the course.

Teaching methods

• Frontal lessons
• Interactive lessons

Assessment methods

The final test is an oral exam that assesses knowledge of the subject matter and analytical skills related to the Arabic language texts that were taught in the course.

Inter-course, a written test covering a portion of the program's theoretical themes may be taken. This test is optional, and all qualifying students will be excluded from that portion of the program in the final examination. Specific instructions on the midterm exam topics will be presented in class.

Teaching tools

Texts, power-point, and additional materials provided by the instructor and made available on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Valentina Bella Lanza