The Structure of Arabic Grammatical Rules as Conceptualized by the Scholars of Usul al-Nahw 'The Principles of Arabic Grammar': A critical Study of ' al-Khasais' by Ibn Jini,' ‘al-Luma'’ and ‘al-Ighrab’ by al-Anbari and ‘al-Iqtirah’ by al-Syuti

Abstract

This is an analytical and critical study of four Arabic traditional books that tackle the foundations of Arabic Grammatical rules. These books, among others, constituted in Arabic tradition what have become known Usul al-Nahw ‘The Science of Principles of Arabic Grammar.’ This Study maintains that these books have two main epistemological problems. First, they imitate some non-linguistical. Second, they do not base their theoretical reasoning on the core achievements of the old Grammarians who would hear directly from their Arab informants and whose efforts brought about the foundation of Arabic Grammar. These two problems led to an occurrence of points of weakness in these books such as mentioning aspects that have nothing to do with Arabic grammatical rules and, in the same time, ignoring aspects that are central in Arabic grammatical mode of thinking. Moreover, one can notice that these books elevate some minor issues to the position of central issues. These weaknesses make the assessed books fall short to theoretically conceptualize Arabic Grammatical rules as they really appear in the fundamental sources of Arabic Grammar such as al-Kitāb ‘The Book’ by Sībawayh.