A Comparative Lexical Study of Qur?anic Arabic

INTRODUCTION 6
then discussed from the semantic point of view in chapter 4. Chapter
five tackles the statistical data accruing from the lexical data and
chapter 6 offers the final observations and conclusions. The aim of
this research is not to compile an etymological dictionary of Qur'anic
Arabic, nor does it suggest a new classification of the Semitic languages.
9 This study offers insights into the internal lexical relationships
characterizing nine Semitic varieties. A lexical corpus which takes
into account nine cognate languages of the Semitic area is bound
to yield substantially reliable information about the Semitic lexicon.
Such a quantitatively significant database makes it possible to determine,
amongst others, whether certain meanings are specialized in
one language and semantically unmarked in other cognate languages.
Preliminary background
That comparative Semitic studies in general and Semitic lexicography
in particular are an offshoot of Biblical Scholarship is an undeniable
historical fact. St Jerome, St Augustine and Priscan were
among the very first, in the West, to notice linguistic links between
'oriental' languages (Hebrew, Punic, Syriac and Chaldaean). 10 From
the 10th century A.D. onwards, and under the impetus of Muslim
philology, the first steps in Semitic studies were made. Most important
of all were the works by such Jewish scholars as Sa'adiya Gaon,
Ibn Qurays, Judah Hayyug, Ibn Ganah, and Ibn Barun. 11 Grammatical
and lexical comparative studies of various Semitic languages were
undertaken, 12 theories were formulated, 13 and the first Hebrew grammars
and lexica were produced. From the 16th c. onwards, a number
9
See chapter 6 for a summary of the various hypotheses regarding the classification
of the Semitic languages.
10
See Burrini 1978: 116. S. Gaon (892-942) produced the Agron, a first Hebrew
dictionary, whereas Qurays's work, Sefer ha-yahas studies the relationship between
Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic, including references to Berber and Persian.
11
See Kaltner 1996: 5-11, quoting H. Hirschfeld 1926 regarding the fact that
the Arab scholars "... confined their linguistic studies to the most minute elaborate
study of the rules of their own language without acknowledging the existence
of the kindred tongues."
12
The Samaritans in Palestine produced, amongst others, the trilingual Hebrew-
Aramaic-Arabic dictionary called ha-melis, sometime around the year 1200.
13
See Burrini 1978: 116 re Hayyug's formulation of the theory of Hebrew roots
and its extension to weak verbs.