A linguistic study of the development of scientific vocabulary in standard Arabic

This book is an in-depth study of the development of scientific and technical vocabulary in Arabic throughout its history, with special emphasis on the issue in modern times and the potential the language has to cope with the ever-increasing demands of a rapidly changing world. The modern technological and educational developments that have taken place in the Arab world, following a long period of stagnation (from the end of the thirteenth until the nineteenth century), have made it essential for an increasingly large number of technical concepts to be transferred into Arabic in many fields. Prof. Ali investigates the various methods of terminological enrichment the language has followed to meet the need for such terms. He also examines the word formation techniques of Al-Qiyas – derivation by analogical formation, Arabization – absorbing foreign vocabulary, and Naht, compounding, and attempts to give guidelines for future development. His results derive from theoretical examination of the subject, examination of existing technical lexicons and journals, and a survey made with university students of technical subjects.

For further information, please contact the author at the following e-mail address: sahib@sharjah.ac.ae or sahibasm@hotmail.com