This undertaking represents the first dedicated attempt at a complete coverage, both geographically and chronologically, of all linguistic traditions, from the earliest beginnings in the Near East of the third millennium B.C. to present-day discussions in "cognitive linguistics". This means that every effort is made to go far beyond the traditional Eurocentric accounts which, for instance, include the work of Indian grammarians because (and only so far as) they have become of interest to the discovery of the Indo-European language family, or which at times include a small chapter on classical...

Brill is delighted to announce the publication of a major new multi-volume reference work, the Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. A unique collaboration of over hundreds of scholars from around the world, the Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics covers all relevant aspects of the study of Arabic and deals with all levels of the language (pre-Classical Arabic, Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, Arabic vernaculars, mixed varieties of Arabic).

This second volume on The Foundations of Arabic Linguistics contains contributions from the second conference on Arabic linguistics, hosted by the University of Cambridge in 2012. All contributions deal with the grammatical theories formulated by the first grammarian to write a complete survey of the Arabic language, Sībawayhi (died at the end of the 8th century C.E.). They treat such topics as the use of hadith in grammar, the treatment of Persian loanwords, the expression of modality, conditional clauses, verbal valency, and the syntax of numerals. Contributors are: Georgine Ayoub,...