Questioning the Desert Arabs on Issues of Morphology and Syntax

Abstract

Abstract

This research paper studies the phenomenon in which early scholars of Arabic sought to question the Arabs of the desert (bedouin) regarding issues of morphology and syntax and aims to analyze the reasons that prompted them to do so, and the types of questions they posed. Attention is then given to discover the effect those queries had on morphology and syntax and the relation between them and the formulation of grammatical rules.

Through this paper, it becomes clear that early scholars of Arabic were keen to pursue this line of inquiry which was used to settle disputes between grammarians regarding correct Arabic usage. In later times, this phenomenon gradually diminished.