The simplification of Arabic grammar and the problematic nature of the sources.

So far, little work has been done in the West on the various proposals to simplify Arabic grammar for pedagogic purposes (Stetkevych,
1970; Suleiman, 1991a; Omran, 1991), although this subject has
been extensively debated in the Arab world at various sessions of the
Arabic Language Academy of Cairo ('Qararat', 1951; Husayn, 1963;
al-Najjar, 1963a, b and c and Mustafa, 1963) and in various studies
this century (Frayhah, 1955, 1956, 1959 and 1966; Mustafa, 1959;
Baraniq, 1957; al-Tanukhl, 1966; Sam'an, 1967; Husayn, 1971;
Tarzl, 1973; Dayf, 1981, 1985, 1986a and b; al-Jawari, 1984; Khallfah, 1986; Juha, 1990 and al-Musa, 1990).' In discussing this issue,
the Arab participants in the debate use a variety of terms to designate what is being referred to here as 'simplification', including
taysir (Tarzl, 1973; al-Jawarl, 1984; Dayf, 1986; Khallfah, 1986)
and its derivatives muyassarah in reference to Arabic (Frayhah, 1959)
and yassiru (Frayhah, 1956), as well as ihya' (Mustafa, 1959), tabsit
(Frayhah, 1955) and tajdld (Dayf, 1986). Although these terms do
not all designate the same meaning — for example, ihya designates
both the concepts of'reform' and 'revival', while tabsit \s intended to
refer to the setting up of a new classification or format for grammar
without changing its substance in any significant way — the participants in the debate all agree on the following: (a) Arabic speakers
display massive weaknesses (da'f) in their use of the language;
(b) these weaknesses are inextricably linked with the fact that Arabic
grammar is judged to be difficult (sa'b) to learn; (c) simplification of
Arabic grammar is therefore an important step in dealing with this pedagogically oriented linguistic situation; however, (d) all proposals
to simplify Arabic grammar must respect the integrity of the Arabic
language by leaving it fully 'intact'. As we shall see in the course of
this discussion, these assumptions are not rigorously formulated,
especially (b) and (c), a fact which causes misunderstanding and, at
times, accusations of ossification or tampering with the language
between the participants in this debate.