A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language

Abstract

This is a revised second edition of A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language first published in 1962. It is based on and replaces Thatcher's Arabic Grammar and has a vocabulary of over 4,000 words, almost twice as many as in the old Thatcher, while the number of chapters has been increased from forty-nine to fifty-two.The Supplement contains a number of new features. Apart from selections from the Qur'an, fables, stories, newspaper extracts, advertisements and letters, additional material in the form of extracts from classical and modern Arabic writings and proverbs is included. Appendix A provides a useful introduction to the main colloquial Arabic dialects, Appendix B, a useful reading guide, and Appendix C, further grammatical information not supplied in the first edition.This is above all a practical grammar, not an advanced reference grammar like Wright's. It is meant for the beginner who is not familiar with the peculiarities of Semitic languages. It will meet most students' needs for the first two or three years of their study.