Which Arabic Came First?
Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/01/2023
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location
The University of Texas at Austin
Categories
Cost:
USD
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Website:
https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/mes/events/which-arabic-came-first
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Organization:
Date: Wednesday November 1, 2023
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Location: RLP 1.302B
Every student of Arabic becomes intimately familiar with the phenomenon of Arabic diglossia, where one standardized form of Arabic (called al-fuṣḥā “the purest (language)”) is used in published writing, the media, and formal discourse, but a seemingly endless number of local dialects (called al-ʿāmiyyah “the common (language)”) are used for daily communication. But has it always been this way? And if not, when did this stark distinction begin? Where did al-fuṣḥā come from? Are the dialects today the result of the corruption of al-fuṣḥā, as traditionally held? In this talk, visiting scholar Dr. Phillip Stokes will take us on a whirlwind tour of Arabic’s past in order to better understand and appreciate how today’s Arabic diglossia came about.
