Arabic-L:PEDA:Grammar Book Suggestions

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Thu 08 Nov 2007
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject:Grammar Book Suggestions
2) Subject:Grammar Book Suggestions
3) Subject:Grammar Book Suggestions

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1)
Date: 08 Nov 2007
From:"Alex Magidow" <amagidow at gmail.com>
Subject:Grammar Book Suggestions

There is also an excellent reference grammar by Ron Buckley,  
published by
Librarie du Liban (Maktabat Lubanan Nashiriin), entitled "*Modern  
Literary
Arabic* - A Reference Grammar." Though he does not necessarily follow  
the
Arabic system of presenting grammar (any sentence including a verb is a
verbal sentence according to his definition, for example), he does  
present
copious examples drawn from various modern literary works and has  
extremely
excellent indices.

Here is a link where you can purchase the book(I don't know anything  
about
the site- I purchased my copy in the Middle East):
http://www.albalagh.net/bookstore/?action=view&item=1061

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2)
Date: 08 Nov 2007
From:"Nader K. Uthman" <nku2001 at columbia.edu>
Subject:Grammar Book Suggestions

Greetings Abu Samy and all,

With apologies for any repeats, I'd suggest Schulz, Eckehard. _A  
Student Grammar of MSA_ (Cambridge, 2004). For a short "all-around,"  
it's top-notch. Its type (including short vowels) and charts are  
especially clear; it contains all sorts of examples (with useful,  
contemporary vocab) and indices in Arabic and English.

A reliable one in Arabic has always been Fuad Ni>ma's ملخض  
قواعد اللغة العربية; it has ultra-concise and clear  
definitions and fold-out reference charts. Excerpts could conceivably  
be recommended to elem./intermed. students to reinforce particular  
topics; otherwise, it's for advanced learners and beyond. Finally,  
for a slim but masterful choice, there's Hassanein, Azza. _MSA  
Grammar: A Concise Guide_ (AUC,
  2006). It covers only the "greatest hits" in a couple pages each,  
so it would ideally accompany the main text used in the classroom.  
Its explanations are wonderful, and like Schulz, it gives both Arabic  
& English grammatical terms throughout. Its topics range from novice  
to superior. In my experience, students respond very enthusiastically  
to its style and presentation.

I can't speak to errata (though I'm glad to have read Prof. Schub's  
lovely selection!) but all of the above have been very helpful to me  
in a lot of different contexts.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions. I would be interested  
in learning more about the book Prof. Gunaydin mentioned.

With best wishes,

Nader Uthman
MEALAC & CLS
Columbia University

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3)
Date: 08 Nov 2007
From:"khorshid" <khorshid at aucegypt.edu>
Subject:Grammar Book Suggestions

Dear colleagues,
I cannot disagree with the importance of "context", but I do disagree  
with the place of context. I don't think it should be in a grammar  
book. In my opinion, the primary function of a grammar book is to  
explain the rules briefly and, hopefully, in a meaningful way.  
Context should be sought elsewhere; in reading, audio and video  
material, and in conversation. I believe that a badly missed item  
here is graded stories. These exist in many languages but not in  
Arabic. Personally, I've used graded stories when learning English,  
German, French and Spanish. They were very useful. If some teachers  
are to get together to write any books, that type of stories should  
have priority.

salaam wa tahiyya.

Ahmad Khorshid
Arabic Language Instructor
The American University in Cairo

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End of Arabic-L:  08 Nov 2007
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