Publisher's Synopsis
Due to the rapid expansion of Islam in the 8th century, many people learned Arabic as a lingua franca. For this reason, the earliest grammatical treatises on Arabic are often written by non-native speakers. The efforts of three generations of grammarians culminated in the book of the Persian scholar Sibawayhi. "Sibawayh (Sibuyeh in Persian, +ÿ-¦+Ö+á+ÿ-¿+Ö-å+Ö+á+ÖÔÇí S+â-«bawayh in Arabic, +ÿ-¦+ø+Æ+ÿ-¿+Ö-å+ø+Æ+ÖÔÇí) was a linguist of Persian origin born ca. 760 in the town of Bayza (ancient Nesayak) in the Fars province of Iran, died in Shiraz, also in the Fars, around 180 AH (796-797). His full name is: +èÔÇóAmr ibn +èÔÇóUthm+ä-ün ibn Qanbar - al-mulaqqab bi-"Sibawayhi". That is: "+èÔÇóAmr ibn +èÔÇóUthm+ä-ün ibn Qanbar - a.k.a. Sibawayhi". He was one of the earliest and greatest grammarians of the Arabic language, and his phonetic description of Arabic is one of the most precise ever made, leading some to compare him with Panini. He greatly helped to spread the Arabic language in the Middle East. Sibawayh was the first non-Arab to write on Arabic grammar and therefore the first one to explain Arabic grammar from a non-Arab perspective. Much of the impetus for this work came from the desire for non-Arab Muslims to understand the Qur'an properly and thoroughly; the Qur'an, which is composed in a poetic language that even native Arabic speakers must study with great care in order to comprehend thoroughly, is even more difficult for those who, like Sibawayh, did not grow up speaking Arabic. Additionally, because Arabic does not necessarily mark all pronounced vowel sounds, it is possible to misread a text aloud ; such difficulty was particularly troublesome for Muslims, who regard the Qur'an as the literal word of God to man and as such should never be mispronounced or misread."This well-known edition of the text, published in 1881, is mainly based on a Parisian manuscript. It is still considered as a reference among three or four editions that came later. This book, "Le Livre De S+â-«bawaihi. Trait+â-® De Grammaire Arabe. Tome Second.", by Hartwig Derenbourg, is a replication of a book originally published before 1889. It has been restored by human beings, page by page, so that you may enjoy it in a form as close to the original as possible. This book was created using print-on-demand technology. Thank you for supporting classic literature.
