"A Dictionary of Syrian Arabic" provides Syrian terms for the language spoken in everyday life by Muslims primarily in Damascus, but understandable throughout Syria as well as in the broader linguistic areas of present-day Lebanon, Jordan, and among the Palestinians and the Arabic-speaking population of Israel. Entries include examples, idioms, and common phrases to illustrate usage. The Arabic terms are presented in transcription. It is useful for students of Arabic, scholars wishing to train in the Syrian dialect, and visitors and travelers to Syria and other nations where the dialect is spoken. A thorough introduction outlines the sociolinguistic situation in Syria and covers phonology, morphology, syntax, grammar, and vocabulary. Alongside the other Arabic language-learning and reference works published by Georgetown University Press, this dictionary is yet another invaluable volume on spoken Arabic, belonging at the side of travelers and scholars, and on the shelves of research and reference libraries.

Maqrizi's delightful book is known to students of Arabic history by one untranslatable word of its lengthy title: al-Khitat, roughly rendered as Sketches. It is the crowning achievement of it's author, Ahmed ibn Ali al-Maqrizi (1364 - 1442) This annotated translation by Dr. Karl Stowasser has given new life in the English speaking world to an Arabic classic. It was a labor extending over twenty years and demanding the rich background of linguistic and historical knowledge that Dr. Stowasser brought to it. In his work on Maqrizi, his aim was to produce not just a highly readable translation but a full scholarly edition as well.