Chollie wrote:
> Luca Mangiat wrote:
> "It could sound strange, but I have some money in my wallet (my
grandma
> insisted on tipping me for my results at school...)."
> Lucky you...
: ) Well, the results were all good (Italian, Latin, English, German and
Philosophy among the best ones)... if we exclude helly Maths and Physics
(only 6/10!).
> I assume that you wish to learn Classical Arabic. If that is the
case,
> and you already know German, then the world is your oyster! More work has
> been done about Arabic in the German tongue than just about any other
> language.
What I originally wanted was a Classical Arabic grammar with exercises and
some references to modern dialects (as those fantastic Greek grammars with
references to Eolic, Doric etc.). Is it available?
> You'll probably want a good Arabic dictionary. Hans Wehr's
dictionary
> is the standard; it was originally composed in German but was translated
> into English by J. Cowan (!). It is generally quite expensive, but you
can
> find used copies on the Internet for less than thirty bucks. Try
> www.bookfinder.com and look for "Wehr, Hans."
I'll take a look to this Bookfinder, then.
> Looking at my own bibliographic notes, I see a couple of good
reference
> grammars in German. Recently, Wolfdietrich Fischer wrote a "Grammatik des
> Klassischen Arabischen," which I have yet to read. Generally, we in
America
> use Wright's grammar, which is very old-fashioned but very thorough (as
the
> old-fashioned grammars tend to be). Wright originally translated this
> grammar from (what else) a German edition written by a fellow named
Caspari,
> so I wouldn't be surprised if there was an Italian version as well. On
> Advanced Book Exchange, I see a copy (in Latin) for 50 bucks.
> If, on the other hand, you wish to learn spoken Arabic, the book I
used
> was entitled "al-kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya (a Textbook for
Beginning
> Arabic)" which was published by Georgetown. It's used in many American
> universities and has been recommended for private study, although I have
> never seen it used outside of a classroom. The authors are K. Brustad, M.
> Al-Batal, and A. Al-Tonsi. Another reference is J.R. Smart's book on
Arabic
> in the "Teach Yourself" series. This will be much cheaper than the rest,
> but you will get what you pay for. This book is wonderful for introducing
> oneself to Arabic grammar, but don't expect to be able to
> speak/write/understand Arabic after reading it.
My goal is getting a 'linguistic' knowledge of it. Knowing how it works,
and, if possible, a little of spoken Arabic.
> As far as Italian references go, I'm afraid that I don't know of any
> off hand. Italy produced many great Semitists, however, so try looking
for
> books written by Levi della Vida (an Arabist), Garbini (a NW Semitist),
> Moscati (ditto), etc.
> Good luck - and, a word of warning - books in Semitics tend to be
> overpriced when they first come out. It's always best to shop for
> second-hand books in this field because the book inevitably drops in
value.
> Actually, it plummets.
: )
> -Chollie
Luca