Grammars of Classical Arabic in Judaeo-Arabic

Nadia Vidro

doi:10.1163/2212943x-20201010

Abstract

Abstract This article presents an overview of medieval Classical Arabic grammars written in Judaeo-Arabic that are preserved in the Cairo Genizah and the Firkovich Collections. Unlike Jewish grammarians’ application of the Arabic theoretical model to describing Biblical Hebrew, Arabic grammars transliterated into Hebrew characters bear clear evidence of Jewish engagement with the Arabic grammatical tradition for its own sake. In addition, such manuscripts furnish new material on the history of the Arabic grammatical tradition by preserving otherwise unknown texts. The article discusses individual grammars of Classical Arabic in Judaeo-Arabic and tries to answer more general questions on this little known area of Jewish intellectual activity. An analysis of the corpus suggests that Jews who copied and used these texts were less interested in the intricacies of abstract theory than in attaining a solid knowledge of Classical Arabic. Court scribes appear to have been among those interested in the study of Classical Arabic grammar.

Highlights

Medieval Jewish grammatical interests centered around the study of the language of Jewish Scripture—Biblical Hebrew
While there is little doubt that Jewish scholars could read and study works on Classical Arabic grammar penned in Arabic script, it is the Judaeo-Arabic copies that most clearly testify to Jews’ active engagement with this material
They represent a means of appropriating knowledge that originated outside of the Jewish culture[4] and demonstrate Jewish interest in Classical Arabic grammar for its own sake rather than as a theoretical framework for analysing Biblical Hebrew

Summary

Introduction

Medieval Jewish grammatical interests centered around the study of the language of Jewish Scripture—Biblical Hebrew. Some of these manuscripts are in Arabic script, others are transliterated into Hebrew characters. While there is little doubt that Jewish scholars could read and study works on Classical Arabic grammar penned in Arabic script, it is the Judaeo-Arabic copies that most clearly testify to Jews’ active engagement with this material. Like any transliterations, they represent a means of appropriating knowledge that originated outside of the Jewish culture[4] and demonstrate Jewish interest in Classical Arabic grammar for its own sake rather than as a theoretical framework for analysing Biblical Hebrew. Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 8Do(w2n0lo2ad0e)d f2ro8m4B–ri3ll.0co5m11/02/2021 10:24:07AM via free access vidro

Judaeo-Arabic Versions of Known Muslim Grammars

Judaeo-Arabic Grammars of Classical Arabic that Could Not Be