Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Georgetown Classics in Arabic Languages and Linguistics

Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties

Rate this book
The revised and updated edition of Modern Arabic takes this authoritative, concise linguistic description of the structure and use of modern Arabic to an invaluable new level. Clive Holes traces the development of the Arabic language from Classical Arabic, the written language used in the 7th century for the Qur'an and poetry, through the increasingly symbiotic use of Modern Standard Arabic or MSA (the language of writing and formal speech) and dialectal Arabic (the language of normal conversation). He shows how Arabic has been shaped over the centuries by migration, urbanization, and education―giving us "a balanced, dispassionate, and accurate picture of the structures, functions, and varieties of the contemporary Arabic language."

Holes explains the structural characteristics―phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and lexical and stylistic developments―that the majority of the dialects share, as distinguished from Modern Standard Arabic. He also shows how native speakers use both types of Arabic for different purposes, with MSA being the language of power and control as used on television and in political speeches, and the dialects serving as the language of intimacy and domesticity. He further shows how MSA and spoken dialects are not as compartmentalized as one might be led to believe. Modern Arabic illustrates the use of the Arabic language in real life, whether in conversation, news bulletins and newspaper articles, serious literature, or song.

This new edition takes into account research published in several areas of Arabic linguistics since the first edition was published in 1995. It includes more extensive comment on the North African Arabic vocabulary of Modern Standard Arabic, more information about "mixed" varieties of written Arabic that are not in MSA (especially in Egypt), updated references, explanations, and many new examples. All Arabic is transcribed, except for an appendix presenting the Arabic alphabet and script. Students of the Arabic language will find Modern Arabic without peer―as will those general linguists who are interested in discovering how Arabic compares structurally and sociolinguistically with European languages.

440 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Loading interface...
Loading interface...

About the author

Clive Holes

27 books5 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
10 (66%)
4 stars
3 (20%)
3 stars
2 (13%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Cullen.
3 reviews
December 20, 2020
One of the best books on Arabic I've read. Super important read those at the intermediate to advanced levels.
Profile Image for Marc Adler.
28 reviews5 followers
September 5, 2009
For a language junkie like me, it doesn't come much better than this...
Profile Image for Serra.
10 reviews
January 27, 2018
Modern Arabic linguistic book that doesn't have any Arabic character on it along the pages of this book (just the romanized Arabic for the sentence a, except on its glossary part i think?)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.