The Arabic Linguistic Tradition after Sībawayhi: A Study in the Profile of the Speaker

Abstract

The ‘profile of the speaker’ is the lens through which the present study will look into the Arabic linguistic tradition after Sībawayhi (d. 180/796?). Where the speaker appears in Sībawayhi’s Kitāb as an originator and arbiter, it comes across as a learner in the works of his successors. Notwithstanding some later attempts at restoring the profile of the speaker as an originator, the study will show that the change of the profile of the speaker reveals a shift in approach to linguistic analysis away from Sībawayhi’s. The causes of this shift and its impact on the development of the Arabic linguistic tradition will be examined.