Sibawayh the phonologist. A critical study of the phonetic and phonological theory of Sibawayh as presented in his treatise Al-Kitab. ByA. A. Al-Nassir.(Library of …

A book on Sibawayh, the greatest of all the Arabic grammarians, is bound to be received with interest, not least because book length studies of this linguist's work are a rarity. This is all the more applicable in this case because research on Sibawayh in the West has tended to focus on his grammatical ideas and their genesis at the expense of the vast phonological materials that fill his Kitab. It is with this frame of mind that I have approached the task of reviewing this book. I say this here because it will help contextualise my remarks on this book, both the positive and the negative
ones.