"Gulf Arabic" is the term used to refer to a number of related dialects which are spoken along the Gulf shore from northern Kuwait to Oman in the south-eastern corner of the Arabian peninsula. The people who live in this area are linked to each other by trading and seafaring traditions which go back many centuries, as well as by the complex tribal structure of Arabia. With the development of education since the second world war, and increasingly close social, political, and developmental ties between Gulf states, a form of dialectical Arabic has evolved which is not closely associated with any one particular state, and which exhibits features common to them all. It is still unmistakably Gulf' in its basic pronunciation and morphology, as well as in its basic lexical stock, but its syntax and to some extent lexicon have been influenced by standard Arabic and other Arabic dialects. Clive Holes provides an in-depth description of this educated, pan-Gulf dialect.

First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The revised and updated edition of "Modern Arabic" takes this authoritative, concise linguistic description of the structure and use of modern Arabic to an invaluable new level. Clive Holes traces the development of the Arabic language from Classical Arabic, the written language used in the 7th century for the Qur'an and poetry, through the increasingly symbiotic use of Modern Standard Arabic or MSA (the language of writing and formal speech) and dialectal Arabic (the language of normal conversation). He shows how Arabic has been shaped over the centuries by migration, urbanization, and education - giving us "a balanced, dispassionate, and accurate picture of the structures, functions, and varieties of the contemporary Arabic language". Holes explains the structural characteristics - phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and lexical and stylistic developments - that the majority of the dialects share, as distinguished from Modern Standard Arabic. He also shows how native speakers use both types of Arabic for different purposes, with MSA being the language of power and control as used on television and in political speeches, and the dialects serving as the language of intimacy and domesticity. He further shows how MSA and spoken dialects are not as compartmentalized as one might be led to believe. "Modern Arabic" illustrates the use of the Arabic language in real life, whether in conversation, news bulletins and newspaper articles, serious literature, or song. This new edition takes into account research published in several areas of Arabic linguistics since the first edition was published in 1995. It includes more extensive comment on the North African Arabic vocabulary of Modern Standard Arabic, more information about "mixed" varieties of written Arabic that are not in MSA (especially in Egypt), updated references, explanations, and many new examples. All Arabic is transcribed, except for an appendix presenting the Arabic alphabet and script. Students of the Arabic language will find "Modern Arabic" without peer - as will those general linguists who are interested in discovering how Arabic compares structurally and sociolinguistically with European languages.

This new edition of Colloquial Arabic of the Gulf has been revised and updated to make learning this variety of Arabic easier and more enjoyable than ever before. Specially written by an expert for self-study and classroom use, the course offers you a step-by-step approach to spoken Arabic of the Gulf, together with an introduction to reading signs, business cards, advertisements and other realia. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Each unit presents numerous grammatical points that are reinforced with a wide range of exercises for regular practice. A full answer key can be found at the back as well as useful vocabulary summaries throughout. Features new to this edition include: a 'Cultural Point' section in each unit on important aspects of Gulf culture, society and history, with photographs and realia a 'Reading Arabic' section in each unit, plus a special appendix on the Arabic script comprehensive glossaries, both English-Arabic and Arabic-English, containing all the words in the book extra notes on the dialects of Oman. By the end of this rewarding course you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in Arabic in a broad range of situations. Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills. .

This book, by a group of leading international scholars, outlines the history of the spoken dialects of Arabic from the Arab Conquests of the seventh century up to the present day. It specifically investigates the evolution of Arabic as a spoken language, in contrast to the many existing studies that focus on written Classical or Modern Standard Arabic. The volume begins with a discursive introduction that deals with important issues in the general scholarly context, including the indigenous myth and probable reality of the history of Arabic; Arabic dialect geography and typology; types of internally and externally motivated linguistic change; social indexicalisation; and pidginization and creolization in Arabic-speaking communities. Most chapters then focus on developments in a specific region - Mauritania, the Maghreb, Egypt, the Levant, the Northern Fertile Crescent, the Gulf, and South Arabia - with one exploring Judaeo-Arabic, a group of varieties historically spread over a wider area. The remaining two chapters in the volume examine individual linguistic features of particular historical interest and controversy, specifically the origin and evolution of the b- verbal prefix, and the adnominal linker -an/-in. The volume will be of interest to scholars and students of the linguistic and social history of Arabic as well as to comparative linguists interested in topics such as linguistic typology and language change.

Nabati poetry is the traditional poetry of the Arab tribes of Arabia and neighbouring areas. Though composed in an artistic variant of ordinary Bedouin speech, historically it is the descendant of the pre-Islamic Classical Arabic poetry of antiquity, and its modern exponents still compose in the traditional genres of boasting, praise, satire, elegy, advice and guidance, love and lyric poetry. Nowadays, there is also a thriving tradition of poetic comment on contemporary social and political issues. This book gives an account of the tradition as practiced in the United Arab Emirates, exemplified by English verse translations of fifty-three poems by twenty-five different poets covering the last half century. The original Arabic poems are also included, with brief notes on their language, rhyme, and scansion. Thee book is accompanied by a CD containing recordings of twenty-two of the poems in the original Arabic.