The Phonetics and Phonology of Classical Arabic as Described By Al-Jurjani's "Al-Muqtasad" (Middle East).

The main goal of this study is to explore the linguistic analysis of speech-sounds and the phonological processes of Classical Arabic as described in the most significant work of Al-Jurjan(')i, al-muqtasad. This book was believed until recently to be lost. The investigator found a copy of it in the Library of Dahiriyya in Damascus and was able to obtain a photocopy. This study consists of two parts and a conclusion. The first part includes an introduction to the problem and a statement of the problem as well as a quick review of the literature. It also includes Al-Jurjan(')i's description of speech, the production of speech-sounds, and manners of speech (voiced and voiceless, oral and nasal, emphatic and non-emphatic etc.). In this part, Al-Jurjan(')i's description is contrasted with modern studies in phonetics. Also, in this part some common ideas pertaining to Al-Jurjan(')i and some other Arab phoneticians are discussed. The second part of this study concentrates on the phonological content of al-muqtasad. In this part the following phonological processes are discussed:assimilation, glide transformation, glide elision, and nunation (tanw(')in). Findings of This Study. (1) This study gives many details about Al-Jurjan(')i's description of speech-sounds and phonological processes. This is the first time that Al-Jurjan(')i is classified as a phonologist. (2) This study refutes many claims about Al-Jurjan(')i. some of these claims tend to show Al-Jurjan(')i as a traditionalist or imitator. (3) Some new rules are discovered and some others are modified. Al-Jurjan(')i's description of phonological processes is expressed in new phonological formulae in order to simplify these rules and in order to show these rules can be understood in modern phonology.Ph.D.LinguisticsUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160152/1/8422256.pd