The Greek influence on Arabic grammar

The Greek Influence on Arabic Grammar Dr. Solehah Haji Yaacob Dept. of Arabic Language and Literature of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia Abstract: The purpose of the article is to reexamine the validity of the influence of Greek concept of thinking on the Arabic Language. Is it the case that influences which have been claimed by some intellectuals are concentrated on vocabulary, the linguistic corpus or the grammatical system of Arabic itself? Keywords Influence, Greek, Arabic, Grammar, Grammarians, Sibawayh. A Brief History of Greek thinking There have been debates and discussions on the influence of Greek on Arabic. Modern historians such as Ahmad Amīn in his book Öuha al-Isl m(1969) say that Hunain bin Ish (260H/873A.D) ( J.Ruska,1980:134) went to Rome to learn Greek and then came back to Başrah to learn from Khalīl (Amīn Ahm d, 1978:v.1:313). This idea is strongly supported by Mustafa NaÐīf when he states that Khalīl was visited by Hunain to study Arabic (1978:vol.1:313). Modern historians believe that time were influenced by Greek civilization such as Bust nī, a learned man who was very competent in Greek, and Khalīl, who was influenced by Aristotle`s ideas especially on the concept of cause and effect ( Mahdī al-Makhzūmī,1986:68). Muş af Şadiq Raf„ie says that al-harak t in Arabic did not originate from Arabia but from Syria when it was governed by the Romans, who put some small harak t when they read the Bible (Karl Brokelman, 1968:vol.1:105). When we look at the historical stages by which Greek became a lingua franca, we find that at the same time the Aramaic dialect of Syria developed into an independent and important language under the influence of Greek civilization (C.H.M. Versteegh, 1977:1-2). Another version has it that the Persian Empire had built the school of Jundisapur near Kufa While it became a `refugee school` for those who had run away from other universities, like those of Alexandria and Antioch because of their heretical opinions (1977:2). This institution, disseminated the ideas of Greek philosophy in Mesopotamia and Greek writings were translated into Syrian and 1 Persian directly. It is evident here that Jundisapur became the greatest institution in giving inspiration and that it was the first sign of Greek influence on other cultures. Triggered by this influence, the first juridical speculation appeared among Muslim scholars in the shape of the first MuÑtazilite debate on the ur’Én, the problem of free will and the doctrine concerning the attributes of Allah (1977:2). It was also believed that the Hellenistic universities not only provided courses in Greek philosophy but also in the Greek language which was the most important medium of teaching and which constituted a compulsory subject for every student of philosophy (1977:3). Greek exercised an enormous influence upon Syrian in the form of many loan words, the system vowel-signs, even the literary style (1977:3). Obviously, this process became important after the Arab invasion of Syrian, now the Syrian versions were rendered into Arabic (1977:15) and the ideas of the translations passed into the language of administration such as for the tax register in Damascus (1977:17). Moreover, in the late 10th / 4th century, Hamzah Aşfah nī (d. 961 c.e.) used Greek historical materials directly in the court of Işfah nī (1977:18). According to G.Troupeau, A.Merx, (G.Troupeau,1993:vol.V11:913) a famous historian in his book Historia Artis Grammaticae Apud Syros tried to relate the dependence of Arabic grammar on the logic of the appearance of declension, the division of words into three parts of speech, the distinction of three tenses and the notions of Ñarf and h l (C.H.M. Verstegh,1977:8). Merx also believes that the influence of Greek linguistics appeared after the introduction of Greek logic which had been discussed among the MuÑtazilites (1977:16). The above discussion suggests that the influence of Greek thinking on the Arabic language was clearly used in the development of the judicial process during the time of the MuÑtazilites especially in the logic. However, the early historians argued that the influence of Greek on Arabic started from the establishment of the `Hellenistic Institution` when books of Greek philosophy and literature were translated into another language such as Syrian. Thus, most of the historians believe that Syrian became the intermediary between Greek and Arabic. In Fact, there were a few famous translators at that time such as Hunain Ibn Ish and Yahya Ibn Bi ri . Evidently, Damascus became a center for the Greek language on 3 rd, 4th and 5th century ( 2 William Wright, 1998:vol.2:470) in which the language was officially used in the courts and administrative offices. A Brief History of Arabic Grammar In contrast, some historians and linguists believe that the Arabic language was totally free from Greek influences and its grammar originated with the Arabs themselves. We will discuss the concept of an-nahw in Arabic starting from ( Mahdī al-Makhzūmī, 1986:63-64) al-juz´Ê ilÉ al-kullÊ otherwise the concept of logic in Aristotle moving from al-kullÊ ilÉ al-juz´Ê . The word Nahw, which literally means intention, path or direction, has in the course of time acquired a special usage connoting a technical term an-nahw. However, it is not the only Arabic word whose sense has been restricted to denoting a particular discipline. `Fi h`, which literary means knowledge or apprehension, has also been used to designate a special branch of the Islamic sciences, namely Jurisprudence (Jamīl ÑAlūsh, 1980:17) . Information as to how the word nahw became a technical term or when the science of nahw first came into existence or who developed this discipline, is very obscure. Although nearly all the anecdotes which are reported in connection with this problem name Abū al-Asw d alDu`alī (Jurj nī, n.d.:78, Al-Sīr fī,1985:34-37, AbË Ùayyib, 1955:27, Shawqi Öaif,1995:13-15) when attempting to answer these questions, the information supplied by them is inconsistent. One of these anecdotes reports that Abū al-Asw d al-Du`alī, having seen a paper on which it was written that all speech falls into three categories; ism, fiÑil and harf,(Ibn al-AnbÉri, 1967:4) Alī said to Abū al-Asw d: UnhË haÐa an-nahwa wÉÌf ilaihi mÉ waqaÑa ilaika (Follow this direction adding to it whatever comes your way). In response to Caliph Alī asked him to include it. After that, Abū al-Asw d wrote two chapters on Ña f and na`a (Shawqi Öaif,1995:5) followed by two other chapters on taÑajjub and istifh m (1995:15), and continued to compile his grammar up to the chapter on inna wa akhaw tuh (Ibn al-AnbÉri, 1967:5) but, for some reason or other, he forgot to include lÉkinn . In revising the work, Caliph ÑAlī asked him to include it. After that, Abū al-Asw d submitted every chapter he wrote to ÑAlī addressing Abū al-Asw d said : ma ahsana hadha an-nahwa al-laÐÊ nahËta (What a marvelous direction you have followed). It is said that this occasion was the origin of the word nahw in the sense of `grammar`. It is also said in this connection that ÑAlī was motivated to put forward the fundamental principles of 3 grammar by hearing a Bedouin read the ur`anic verse lÉ ya´kulu illÉ al-khaÏÏa´Ëna incorrectly as(1967:8) lÉ ya´kulu illÉ al-khÉÏÏi´Êna . Another anecdote attributes the reason for Abū al-Asw d applying himself to his grammatical work to the fact that his daughter once said to him ma ahsanu as-sama` (What is the most beautiful part of the sky), and on hearing this, Abū al-Asw d replied nujËmuhÉ , its stars. When his daughter told him that she should have said ma ahsana as-sama`, he began writing his grammar starting with the chapter at-taÑajjub (al-SirÉfÊ, 1989:36). A third anecdote reports that, during the caliphate of ÑUmar al-Kha b, a Bedouin, on asking to be taught the qur’Én, was instructed by an unnamed Moslem whose incorrect reading of the verse (Surat Taubah, Óya 3) innallÉha barÊ´un mina almushrikÊn warasËlihi corrupted the meaning , for he said ` warasËlihi ` (genitive) implying that god is a governee rather that a governor towards His creator. In fact, classical Arab grammarians believed that the word nahw comes from an Arabic word meaning `a path` and the first man who introduced it was Abū al-Asw d al-Du`alī by using the word unhu and nahwan (Ibn KhalikÉn, 1299h:217). There are differences in terms between grammar and logic, for example, the preposition in grammar has an adequate meaning and it helps in combining elements in a sentence. In contrast, the logical approach is that there must be three elements to make a sentence combine well with a noun, a verb and a connective (MahdÊ al-MakhzËmÊ,1986:64). There is evidence which shows us that the ancient Arabs loved reading and writing. As a result, we find poems and great stories such al-Mu`alla t ( good poems which put on KaÑabah by great poets such ÑAmru` al- ais). It means that pre-Islamic Arabs did know how to read and write but only that they did not posses a highly developed morality. From here, we can say Arab civilization of thinking had started when many other nations and races were still in darkness or illiteracy (ÑAbd al-SalÊm alMakram,1993:10,16). Mahdī al-Makhzūmī, one of the Arab linguists, refutes the claim that Hunain Ibn Ish `s work as a translator of Greek texts into Arabic is proof that Greek influenced the Arabic language, especially when he learned Arabic directly from Khalīl .If so, this means that the influence of Greek on the Arab world came long after the Arabic 4 language had been established, since everybody knows the contributions of Khalīl and his predecessor in creating the grammatical system of the Arabic language. Another evidence is that Hunain Ibn Ish was born in 194h/809-810a.d. (J.Ruska, 1980:134) whilst Khalīl Ahmad died in 180h/ late 791a.d means 14 years after the death of Khalīl. During the late 7th early on centuries (MahdÊ al-MakhzËmÊ,1986:64) Syrian and Arabic were spoken in neighboring countries. It is a reasonable conjecture that Syrian first received the Greek influence but Arabic was exposed to in next. Thus, the information regarding the independence of the Arabic language from Greek influence gives us a new picture of the establishment and development of Arabic. The concept of logic and grammar are totally different, so how can they mix together? It is also believed that the ideas of Ñ mil (Grammatical governor in Arabic grammar) had been discussed before Khalīl`s time when Abdullah Ibn Abū Ish al-HaÌramī criticized a shiÑir of Farazda (Ibn al-AnbÉrÊ, 1967:64): waÑÌÌË zamÉni yabna marwÉn lam yadaÑ * mina al-mÉli illa musahtan au mujarrafun The word mujarrafun should be read as a genitive style(al-naşb) because of its system same as musahtan the word which came before. This fact indicates to us that it was during Abū al-Asw d`s time that an attempt was made to reform the foreign speaker`s use of Arabic. Otherwise, Khalīl had concentrated on phonology until he produced the dictionary of phonology called al-ÑAyn. This is not to say that he overlooked the subject of nahw. He actually classified nahw in Arabic into three categories: noun(ism), verb(fiÑil) and connectives(hurūf). What we need to stress here is that the system of nahw which is not discussed in al-Ñ mil itself was not quite familiar in Abū al-Asw d time although it was used in poetry. The dispute between Ibn Abū Ish q alHaÌrÉmī and Farazdak led to a difference of opinion on the question of harak t but by Sibawayh`s time a general agreement was reached in support of a single view. The Development of Arabic Grammar Here we can assume that the parts of nahw comprising Ìommah, fathah and kasrah are taken from older languages such as Syrian, Hebrew, Persian and Sanskrit but the 5 micro system of Arabic grammar comes from the Arabs themselves especially in confirmation of Ñ mil Ma′nawī in subject, predicate and present tense. The Basrah School of linguists believe al-Ñ mil al-ma′nawī concept of rafa′ in subject and present tense to be the Ibtida′. We believe this feature is not evident in many other languages because this rafa′ indicate that it is free from an intruder such as n şob or j rr. Otherwise, the accusative (n şob) and generative (j rr) are called al- mil alLafżī which could change the case form or declension. We should not forget that in Arabic the invisible governor or element zero in ideas of al-Ñ mil called al-ishtigh l. We cannot find exactly where the governor of the sentence is. In contrast, the governee appears very clearly, for example in Zayd n Ìarabtuhū (Zayd that I had beaten him) Zayd n becomes the governee whereas the governor of the sentence is Ìarabtuhū which is the precedent of the sentence and diasappears according to the Basran School. Otherwise, another group of Arab grammarians called the Kufah School believe that the governor of the sentence is Ìarabtu after Zayd n because Ìaraba comes from fiÑil mutaÑaddī (transitive verb). However, we do not want to dwell on their squabbles; what we have to point out here is that in Arabic grammar according to Basran School that an invisible al-ÑÓmil al-Muqaddam existing. We believe there are differences between the national varieties of Arabic, with the Kur’Én as its model and Arabic grammar which is based on standard written. It is possible that historians of Arabic are not always aware of these differences. Thus, they treat the Arabic language and Arabic grammar in the same manner. Actually from our analysis the situation is totally different. We could not deny that the Arabic language has been influenced by other languages which in their own turn strongly influenced by Greek, like Assyrian, Syrian, Persian and Sanskrit. The influences are clearly seen in that we find many loan words from other languages such as Greek (Ahmad Amin,1969:vol.3:267) (Fasafah, Geografiah, Zaburūd, Zamrūd, Yaqūt); Sanskrit (1969:vol.3:267) (Zan bil, Kapūr, Babgh k, Khaizur n, Filfīl, Ahlīl j); Assyrian (MagÊd Khair BÊk, 1992:25-26) (Akhū, ′Ummatun, Tişhū, Zabū,ilÉ, Qarbun, Mal kū) and Syrian (Aramaic dialects) ( b , Shama′, Habl ). There were even some pronouns similar to Aramaic such as ′An ′īnu which means ′An in Arabic and ′Ant Anta which means Anta Antuma. 6 To strengthen the point, this paper agrees that Sibawayh was the first grammarian who brilliantly undertook the task of assembling the linguistic facts, which form part of a social system, into a juridical organized corpus(C.H.M. Versteegh, 1977:14). He adduces four important terminological arguments: first the use of moral criteria in grammar such as hassan (good), abīh (bad), the iy s (a juridical method), MaudhiÑ (derived a legal turn). A great many linguistic terms have a juridical connotation, e.g. Shar (condition),ÑIw d (compensation), Badal (replacement), Hadd (limitation), Hujjah (argument), Niyyah (intention) (1977:14). However, we believe that it cannot be accepted if we base a spontaneous linguistic corpus on Sibawayh alone, because he himself acknowledged that many authorities named in his book, such as Abū alAsw d al-Du`alī, Yūnus bin Habīb, Khalīl, Abū Amrū, Kis `ī and Farr ` also helped in collection of linguistic corpus. This kind of information shows us that Sibawayh never ignores the contribution of others. It is possible that as a supporter of the theory of Nahw in Arabic he moulded the theory according to his own understanding of the life of the Arab tribes of his time. Nevertheless, he introduced the system which contrasts with his own Arabic grammar and he called it `Lughah Akalūnī alBar ghīthū` where one governor governs two governees. This phenomenon Sibawayh found in use by the tribe of al- hai and Azdī as-Shanū′ah ( As-Sayū ī, n.d.:514). In the case of Tan zuÑ, on the other hand, two governors govern one governee as in ÑAmrū Ibn al- ais`s verse: Walau anna mÉ asÑÉ li adnÉ maÑÊÎatin * kafÉnÊ walam aÏlob alÊlun minal al-mÉlÊ One of the strictest rules in Arabic syntactic theory is precisely that one governor can never govern more than one element at the same time, for instance in the verse quoted above the words kafÉnÊ and walam aÏlob are al-Ñ mils. He didn`t say alÊlan but alÊlun with Ìommah meant it is belong to kafÉnÊ nor walam aÏlob. This verse indicates that Arabic was not influenced by Greek thinking at the time that ÑAmrū Ibn al- ais introduced the system of al-Ñ mil accidentally. This point has been supported by C.H.M Versteegh “We do not assert that Arabic linguistic thinking was a copy of Greek grammar, but we do believe that the instruction of Greek grammar was the model and the starting point for Arabic grammar”(1977:15). 7 These pieces of evidence strongly suggest that the influence of Greek on Arabic occurred only in respect of vocabulary. The system of Nahw in Arabic came from the Arab intellectuals themselves. So, the claim that Arabic language has been influenced by Greek grammatical thinking is very questionable and needs to be modified. 8 References: ÑAbū ayyīb al-lughawī (ed.) (1955) Mar tib an-Nahwiyyīn Cairo: Maktab t Nahdah, Mesir wa Ma baÑatiha. ÑAbd al-Salīm al-Makram (1993) al-Halqah al-Mafqudah Fī T rīkh an-Nahw alÑArabī, Beirut: MuasasÉt ar-Risalah. Al-Sīr fī (ed.) (1985) ′AkhbÉr an-Nahwiyyīna, Cairo: D r al-Itişom. Amīn Ahm d (1978) Öuha al-Isl m, Cairo: Lujnah al-Ta′līf wal Tarjamah. As-Sayū ī, (n.d.) 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