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Modern Arabic dialects should be considered separate languages. Tom Send a noteboard - 31/05/2010 11:53:37 PM
In most cases, instances when "dialects" are not mutually intelligible someone is artificially designating them as the "same" language for political reasons. In the case of "Arabic" it's all about the unity of disparate polities that have little in common beyond a shared heritage that stopped being "shared" centuries ago. Of course, it cuts both ways, because if you recognize "Arab unity" then you undermine the argument that Palestinians should live in Palestine, because it's hard to say why they couldn't live in, say, Damascus or Baghdad.

Another great example is Chinese. Cantonese sounds radically different from Mandarin and, although they're related, it's more like the way Russian and Polish are related. The only plausible argument is that literary Mandarin and literary Cantonese would look alike (but not if one picks up popular writing - Cantonese uses a bunch of its own characters that are different from the standard Chinese characters).

In response to your point about undermining the fundamentals of the Arabic language, yes, he does a great job of it. He shows how many of the "archaic" and "classic" constructions were the result of a poor understanding of an Aramaic substratum and were only ever really used by people trying to model their language on the Qur'an.

As for the 'Alaq sura, his contention is that the "first sura revealed" is the result of a poor understanding of what it's saying.

Essentially, if you boil it all down, he says "The Arabs weren't literate and the Qur'an is the result of borrowing Aramaic words and phrases from the high literary culture of the region and applying it to Arabic to sound more 'proper', and after two centuries the Arabs had so distorted the original readings as a result of no pointing that they had to mark it all to avoid drastically variant readings. This led to the creation of a grammar that had never existed as they struggled to understand their own holy book."

Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
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The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran by Christoph Luxenberg - 31/05/2010 07:42:58 PM 1154 Views
Nice review! *NM* - 31/05/2010 08:35:42 PM 333 Views
Thanks! I realize most people aren't going to rush out and read this, but the book was interesting. *NM* - 31/05/2010 10:01:28 PM 295 Views
Re: Thanks... - 02/06/2010 03:35:47 AM 619 Views
Sounds interesting. - 31/05/2010 09:11:31 PM 595 Views
Syriac is just a specific Aramaic dialect. You know one if you know the other, essentially. - 31/05/2010 10:01:00 PM 687 Views
Right. - 31/05/2010 10:58:16 PM 703 Views
Modern Arabic dialects should be considered separate languages. - 31/05/2010 11:53:37 PM 653 Views
Fair enough. - 02/06/2010 12:50:32 AM 684 Views
It's hardly revolutionary from a scholarly perspective. - 02/06/2010 05:06:13 AM 590 Views
Your question about forgetting (before I forget) - 01/06/2010 12:12:08 AM 565 Views
I see. Interesting. - 02/06/2010 12:52:09 AM 588 Views
Ooh, interesting. - 01/06/2010 10:51:42 PM 602 Views
I'm glad you enjoyed the review. I doubt you'll enjoy the book. - 01/06/2010 10:56:12 PM 591 Views
Damn. - 01/06/2010 11:01:30 PM 565 Views
There will probably be a more "general reader"-friendly book on it in the future. - 01/06/2010 11:27:15 PM 626 Views
Excellent. I shall (forget to) keep an eye out for it. *NM* - 01/06/2010 11:30:58 PM 280 Views
The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran for Dummies? - 02/06/2010 12:33:47 AM 602 Views
That would be a great book - 02/06/2010 12:40:38 AM 615 Views
excellent - 02/06/2010 12:44:50 AM 587 Views
Tired? - 02/06/2010 01:14:53 AM 581 Views

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