DOI: 10.5176/2251-3566_L319.429
Authors: Prof. Kazuhiko Nakae
Abstract: The utopian vision of native speakers of Arabic language is to utilize Classical Arabic as they wish. In reality even if they can approach Standard Arabic they can just touch on as far as Qurʾānic Arabic most of the cases. Where can we situate Classical Arabic in native speakers’ mind ? This is the target of this paper. I asserted there is a pulling-up power in the diglossic imagination link (Nakae 2018ab). The important link: Standard Arabic < Qurʾānic Arabic < Classical Arabic is a controversial point. We can understand that speakers of Standard Arabic can approach Qurʾānic Arabic, especially in a religious domain. But unfortunately we cannot agree that native speakers who know Qurʾānic Arabic can approach Classical Arabic as if they can manipulate Classical Arabic as they wish. According to my survey I assert here that native speakers recognize Classical Arabic as the same one as Qurʾānic Arabic or as ʿarabiyya or Old Arabic (Versteegh 2014) with the Arab nostalgic feeling. This ʿarabiyya is one standard in which we can judge speakers’ capability of Classical Arabic1.
Keywords: component; Arabic, Classical Arabic, ʿarabiyya diglossia, imagination, sanctification
Updating...