Sibawayh the Phonologist

In the last 20 years, the study of the history of linguistics has blossomed into a thriving "metadiscipline" within the discipline of linguistics. This volume reviews what is perhaps the best-known work of traditional Arab linguistics - "The Book" (Al-Kitab) of Sibawayh which has had a far-reaching and lasting effect on Arab linguistic scholarship, with the bulk of the terminology and the conceptual framework embodied in it still being in use today. Abu Bishr b'Amr, universally known as Sibawayh and considered the doyen of Arab mediaeval grammarians, was born in Shiraz, Persia in about 140 AH and died in Iraq in about 180 AH. It is generally thought that Sibawayh's methods, concepts and terminology draw heavily on a generally used body of knowledge current among scholars of the time. Nevertheless, since it is the earliest works to come down to us, it must be considered of immense importance in the history of scholarship.