Grammar and Semantics in Medieval Arabic - The Study of Ibn-Hisham's 'Mughni I-Labib' (Hardcover)

This study focuses on a famous work by a mediaeval Arab grammarian who was once called the "second Sibawayhi" (the pioneer of Arabic grammatical studies). Mughni l-Labib is an encyclopaedic work of immense richness, in which Ibn-Hisham (d.761/1359) analyzes the major syntactic elements of the Arabic language in a manner which has often been described as unique. What sets this work apart in particular from previous grammatical treatises of the mediaeval period is Ibn-Hisham's keen awareness of some of the semantic aspects of Arabic, many of which would normally fall within the domain of the rhetorician. In the Mughni he looks closely at the relationship between form and meaning, particularly in exegetical issues, in an attempt to further an understanding of the sacred work in the form of the Qur'an. This present study attempts to determine why the Mughni has always been held in such high esteem. It also assesses its significance in a wider social and historical context by demonstrating that Arabic grammar was a discipline that could never be studied in isolation without due consideration being given to the interrelated Islamic science of jurisprudence.