Bedouin and sedentary Arabic dialects and diglossia in Ibn Ǧinnī (4th/10th century). Sociolinguistics and history of the language vs epilinguistic discourse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/alqantara.2018.012Keywords:
Ibn Ǧinnī, bedouin and sedentary Arabic dialects, faṣāḥa, ’i‘rāb, diglossia, sociolinguistics, history of the language, epilinguistics, linguistic ideology, theologyAbstract
In his Ḫaṣā’iṣ, Ibn Ǧinnī (d. 392/1002) refers, incidentally, to a differentiation between bedouin and sedentary Arabic dialects, the latter being characterized by a partial loss of the case and mood endings (’i‘rāb). In so far as Ibn Ǧinnī refers on this point to an earlier source of nearly two centuries, on the one hand, and indicates that there was hardly any Bedouin at the time to speak “correct” Arabic (faṣīḥ, that is to say, inflected mu‘rab) on the other hand, we can see in his remarks an implicit recognition of a situation of diglossia, the Bedouin dialects being at the origin of the high variety (al-luġa al-‘arabiyya al-faṣīḥa). This situation is also revealed by an anecdote, where we see a speaker of Bedouin origin alternating between what Ibn Ǧinnī calls “the two ways of speaking” (ǧihatā al-kalām), with and without case and mood endings. Despite appearances, it is not about sociolinguistics and history of language. It is about language theory, with the hypothesis of a phenomenon of entropy, linked to the use of the language, in which the speaker gets rid of case and moodendings, a source of difficulty and errors. It is also and above all an epilinguistic discourse, consistent with the linguistic ideology (thesis of the Bedouin faṣāḥa) and with theology (thesis of the “language of Ḥiǧāz” as al-luġa al-fuṣḥā), two theses difficult to reconcile.
Downloads
References
Ahmad Ali, Mustapha, "Un suffixe relateur -an en arabe soudanais", Comptes rendus du Groupe Linguistique d'études chamito-sémitiques (g.l.e.c.s.), 29-30 (1984-1986), Paris, Geuthner, 1989 [dépôt légal]-1991 [année d'impression], pp. 141-144.
Ayoub, Georgina, "Faṣīḥ", Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, II, leiden, Brill, 2007, pp. 84-90.
Baalbaki, ramzi, The Arabic Lexicographical Tradition From the 2nd/8th to the 12th/18th Century, leiden, Brill, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004274013
Bally, Charles, Linguistique générale et linguistique française, 4e édition revue et corrigée, Berne, Francke, 1965 [2e édition entièrement refondue, Berne, Francke, 1944].
Blachère, régis, Histoire de la littérature arabe des origines à la fin du XVe siècle de J.-C., tome 1, Paris, Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1952.
Blanc, haïm, "Diachronic and Synchronic ordering in Medieval Arab Grammatical Theory", dans Joshua Blau (éd), Studia Orientalia Memoriae D.H. Baneth Dedicata, Jerusalem, The Magnes Press, The hebrew University, 1979, pp. 155-180.
Blau, Joshua, A Grammar of Christian Arabic, based mainly on South-Palestinian texts from the first millenium, Fasc. I : §§ 1-169 Introduction - orthography & Phonetics - Morphology ; Fasc. II : §§ 170-368 Syntax I ; Fasc. III §§ 369-535 Syntax II, louvain, Secrétariat du CorpusS[criptorum]C[Christianorum] o[rientalium], 1966-1967.
Corriente, Federico, "Marginalia on Arabic Diglossia and Evidence Thereof in the Kitab al-Agani", Journal of Semitic Studies, 20 (1975), pp. 38-61. https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/XX.1.38
Corriente, Federico, "From old Arabic to Classical Arabic through the Pre-Islamic Koine: Some notes on the native Grammarian's Sources, Attitudes and Goals", Journal of Semitic Studies, 21 (1976), pp. 62-98. https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/XXI.1-2.62
Corriente, Federico, "Arabic dialects before and after Classical Arabic", dans Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala and nader Al Jallad (eds), The Arabic Language across the ages, Wiesbaden, Dr ludwig reichert Verlag, 2010, pp. 11-21.
Ducrot, oswald et Todorov, Tzvetan, Dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences du langage, Paris, le Seuil, 1972.
Ducrot, oswald et Schaeffer Jean-Marie, Nouveau dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences du langage, Paris, le Seuil, 1995.
Dye, Guillaume, "Traces of Bilingualism/Mutilingualism in Qur'ānic Arabic", dans Ahmad Al-Jallad (éd), Arabic in Context. Celebrating 400 Years of Arabic at Leiden University, Brill, leiden, 2017, pp. 337-371. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004343047_012
EI2 = Encyclopédie de l'Islam, 2e édition, 12 vols, leiden, Brill, 1960 2005.
EI3 = Encyclopaedia of Islam, 3e édition, leiden, Brill, 2007-.
Elie de nisibe, al-Maǧlis al-sādis, dans Maǧālis 'Īliyyā maṭrān Nuṣaybīn, louis Cheikho (éd), al-Mašriq, 20 (1922), pp. 366-377.
Al-Fārābī, 'Abū naṣr, Kitāb al-ḥurūf (Alfarabi's Book of Letters), Muhsin Mahdi (éd), Beyrouth, Dar el-Machreq, 1969, coll. recherches publiées sous la direction de l'Institut de lettres orientales de Beyrouth, 46, Première série : Pensée arabe et musulmane.
Al-Farrā', 'Abū zakariyyā Yaḥyā b. ziyād Ma'ānī al-Qur'ān, Muḥammad 'Alī al-naǧǧār et 'Aḥmad Yūsuf al-naǧātī (éds), 3 vols, Beyrouth, 1403/1983.
Ferguson, Charles A., "Diglossia", Word, 15/2 (1959), pp. 325-340. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1959.11659702
Ferrando, Ignacio, "le morphème de liaison /-an/ en arabe andalou. notes de dialectologie comparée", Oriente Moderno, 19 (80), n.s. (2000), pp. 25-46. https://doi.org/10.1163/22138617-08001003
Fleischer, heinrich leberecht, "Ueber einen griechisch-arabischen Codex rescriptus der leipziger Universitäts-Bibliothek", Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländichen Gesellschaft, 1 (1847), pp. 148 160 [repris dans Kleinere Schriften, t. III, ch. XXII, pp. 378-388].
Fleischer, heinrich leberecht, "Ueber arabische lexicographie und Ṯa'ālibī's Fiḳh al-luġah", Berichten über die Verhandlungen der Königlich Sächs.
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften. Philol.-histor. Cl. (1854), pp. 1-14 [repris dans Kleinere Schriften, t. III, ch. IX, pp. 152-166].
Fleischer, heinrich leberecht, Kleinere Schriften, gesammelt, durchgesehen und vermehrt, 3 vols, leipzig, hirzel, 1885-1888 [neudruck der Ausgabe 1885-1888, osnabrück, Biblio Verlag, 1968].
Fück, Johann, 'Arabīya. Recherches sur l'histoire de la langue et du style arabe, traduction de Claude Denizeau, avec une préface de l'auteur et une introduction de Jean Cantineau, Paris, Didier, 1955 [tr. fr. de 'Arabīya. Untersuchungen zur Sprach- und Stilgeschichte, Abhandlungen der sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu leipzig, Philologisch-historische Klasse, Band 45, heft 1, Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 1950].
Goldziher, Ignaz, On the History of Grammar among the Arabs. An Essay in Literary History, Kinga Dévényi et Tamás Iványi (translation and edition), Amsterdam/Philadelphia, Benjamins, 1994, Studies in the history of the language Sciences, 73 [tr. angl. de A nyelvtudomány története az araboknál, Nyelvtudomány Közlemények 14 (1878), pp. 309-375]. https://doi.org/10.1075/sihols.73
Ibn Fāris, 'Abū al-Ḥusayn 'Aḥmad Ibn Fāris, al-Ṣāḥibī fī fiqh al-luġa wa-sunan al-'arab fī kalāmihā, Moustafa El-Chouémi (éd.), Beyrouth, A. Badran & Co, 1383/1964, coll. Bibliotheca philologica arabica, publiée sous la direction de r. Blachère et J. Abdel-nour, 1.
Ibn Ǧinnī, 'Abū al-Fatḥ 'Uṯmān Ibn Ǧinnī, al-Ḫaṣā'iṣ, Muḥammad 'Alī alnaǧǧār (éd), 3 vols, Beyrouth, Dār al-hudā li-l-ṭibā'a wa-l-našr, s.d.
Ibn Ḫaldūn, Walī al-dīn 'Abd al-raḥmān b. Muḥammad Ibn Ḫaldūn, al-Muqaddima, t. I du Kitāb al-'ibar, Beyrouth, Maktabat al-madrasa et Dār al-kitāb al-lubnānī, 1967.
Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-'Arab al-muḥīṭ, Yūsuf al-Ḫayyāṭ (éd), 4 vols., Beyrouth, Dār lisān al-'Arab, s.d..
Kahle, Paul, The Cairo Geniza, Second Edition, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1959 [First Edition 1947].
Kahle, Paul, "The Qur'ān and the 'Arabīya", dans Samuel löwinger & Joseph Somogyi (eds), Ignace Goldziher Memorial Volume, Part I, Budapest, 1948, pp. 163-182.
Kahle, Paul, "The Arabic readers of the Koran", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 8/2 (1949), pp. 65-71. https://doi.org/10.1086/370914
Larcher, Pierre, "'ayy(u) šay'in, 'ayšin, 'ēš : moyen arabe ou arabe moyen ?", Quaderni di Studi Arabi, 20-21 (2002-2003), pp. 63-78.
Larcher, Pierre, "Théologie et philologie dans l'islam médiéval : relecture d'un texte célèbre de Ibn Fāris (Xe siècle)", dans Patrick Sériot et Andrée Tabouret-Keller (éds) Le discours sur la langue sous les régimes autoritaires, Cahiers de l'ILSL,17, Université de lausanne, 2004, pp. 101-114.
Larcher, Pierre, "D'Ibn Fāris à al-Farrā' ou un retour aux sources sur la luġa alfuṣḥā", Asiatische Studien/Ẻtudes asiatiques, 59/3 (2005), pp. 797-814.
Larcher, Pierre, "Un texte d'al-Fārābī sur la "langue arabe" réécrit ?", dans lutz Edzard & Janet Watson (éds) Grammar as a Window onto Arabic Humanism. A Collection of Articles in Honour of Michael G. Carter. Wiesbaden, harrassowitz, 2006a, pp. 108-129.
Larcher, Pierre, "Que nous apprend vraiment Muqaddasī de la situation de l'arabe au IVe/Xe siècle ?", Annales Islamologiques, 40 (2006b), pp. 53-69.
Larcher, Pierre, "Sociolinguistique et histoire de l'arabe selon la Muqaddima d'Ibn Ḫaldūn (VIIIe/XIVe siècle) », dans Pier Giorgio Borbone, Alessandro Mengozzi e Mauro Tosco (éds) Loquentes linguis. Studi linguistici e orientali in onore di/ Linguistic and Oriental Studies in Honour of/ Lingvistikaj kaj orientaj studoj honore al Fabrizio A. Pennacchietti, Wiesbaden, harrassowitz, 2006c, pp. 425-435.
Larcher, Pierre, "al-luġa al-fuṣḥā : archéologie d'un concept 'idéolinguistique'", dans Catherine Miller et niloofar haeri (éds), Langues, religion et modernité dans l'espace musulman, Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée, 124 (2008), pp. 263-278. https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.6035
Larcher, Pierre, Syntaxe de l'arabe classique, Aix-en-Provence, Presses Universitaires de Provence, 2017, collection Manuels.
Larcher, Pierre, "Une relecture critique du chapitre XVII du 'Īḍāḥ d'al zaǧǧāǧī", dans lutz Edzard, Manuel Sartori, Philippe Cassuto (éds), Case and Moodendings in Semitic Languages - Myth or Reality ?/ Désinences casuelles et modales dans les langues sémitiques - Mythe ou réalité ?, Wiesbaden, harrassowitz, 2018, pp. 45-67. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvcm4f7q.7
La rosa, Christina, "le relateur -Vn en arabe de Sicile : exemples et remarques linguistiques", dans George Grigore et Gabriel Biţună (éds). Arabic Varieties : Far and Wide, Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of AIDA - Bucharest, 2015, Bucarest, Presses de l'Université, 2016, pp. 359-367.
Owens, Jonathan, A Linguistic History of Arabic, Oxford-New York, Oxford University Press, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199290826.001.0001
Owens, Jonathan, "Chapter 504 and modern Arabic dialectology: What are kaškaša and kaskasa, really?" dans Clive holes et rudolf de Jong (éds), Ingham of Arabia : a collection of articles presented as a tribute to the career of Bruce Ingham, leiden, Brill, 2013, pp. 173-202. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004256194_010
Rabin, Chaïm, Ancient West-Arabian. london, Taylor's Foreign Press, 1951.
Sartori, Manuel, "Les 'six noms'. Grammaire arabe et pudibonderie", Synergies Monde arabe, 7 (2010), pp. 35-45.
Sībawayhi, 'Abū Bišr 'Amr b. 'Uṯmān b. Qanbar Sībawayhi, al-Kitāb, 'Abd al-Salām hārūn (éd.), 5 vols. Beyrouth, 'Ᾱlam al-kutub, s.d.
Al-Suyūṭī, Ǧalāl al-dīn 'Abd al-raḥmān 'Abū Bakr al-Suyūṭī, Kitāb al-Iqtirāḥ fī'ilm 'uṣūl al-naḥw, Ḥaydarābād, 1359 h. [reimp. Alep : Dār al-Ma'ārif, s.d.].
Al-Suyūṭī, Ǧalāl al-dīn 'Abd al-raḥmān 'Abū Bakr al-Suyūṭī, al-Muzhir fī 'ulūm al-luġa wa-'anwi'ihā, éd. Muḥammad 'Aḥmad Ǧār al-Mawlā, 'Alī Muḥammad al-Baǧāwī et Muḥammad 'Abū al-Faḍl 'Ibrāhīm (éds), 2 vols, le Caire, 'īsā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī, s.d.
Versteegh, Kees, "Bedouin and townspeople. Ibn Ḫaldūn's view of the development of Arabic", dans Ton van naerssen, Marcel rutten et Annelies zoomers (éds), The Diversity of Development. Essays in honour of Jan Kleinpenning, Assen, Van Gorcum, 1997, pp. 332-340.
Vollers, Karl, Volksprache und Schriftsprache im alten Arabien, Strassburg, 1906 [réimp. Amsterdam, APA-oriental Press, 1981]. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111667904
Al-zaǧǧāǧī, 'Abū al-Qāsim al-zaǧǧāǧī, al-'Īḍāḥ fī 'ilal al-naḥw, Māzin Mubārak (éd), 2e édition, Beyrouth, Dār a-nafā'is, 1973.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International” (CC BY 4.0) License. You may read here the basic information and the legal text of the license. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 License must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the published by the Editor, is not allowed.
