Historical Corpus on Arabic is Sharjah’s landmark project
The volumes trace the development of Arabic words used through the centuries, documents the entry of new words into the lexicon, and lists words no longer in use, explaining the reasons for it
The Historical Corpus of the Arabic Language is Sharjah’s landmark project to chronicle 17 centuries of development in the Arabic language spanning five distinct time periods. It is a very ambitious enterprise and a monumental undertaking as it aims to document and research the history and evolution of all Arabic words.
The project has been the lifelong dream of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and Chairman of the Corpus’ Executive Commitee. Under his special directives and generous patronage, the project has evolved into its present form and is well on its way to fruition.
The newly-revealed 8 volumes of the Historical Corpus document the original root of words starting with leters ‘hamzah’ and the ba and outline their evolution throughout five distinct time periods in history: pre-islamic period; the Islamic era from 1 AH to 132 AH; the Abbasid Caliphate from 133 AH to 656 AH; the development of nation states from 657 AH – 1213 AH; and the modern-day era from 1214 AH to date.
The volumes trace the development of Arabic words used through the centuries, documents the entry of new words into the lexicon, and lists words no longer in use, explaining the reasons for it. It also details semantic changes – be it semantic shit, progression, development, or drit, whether through Arabic speakers or speakers of other Semitic languages such as Hebrew, Akkadian, Syriac, Abyssinian, and others, that have influenced the Arabic language across all five time periods under the corpus’s purview.
The corpus uses a specific reference methodology which has been developed for the project and relies on a database of sources collected and digitised over the last three years. Apart from printed volumes, the project is also digitising nearly 20,000 Arabic books, manuscripts, sources, and historical documents, including old inscriptions and archaeological finds, dating back to the third century before Islam.
What makes the corpus unique is its focus on the use of living language, and cites usages in quotes from the Holy Quran, the Hadith as well as from poems, speeches, leters, and other sources.
With roots that lie in classical and modern Semitic, African and Asian languages, Arabic is a rich and sophisticated language that has had an enduring legacy in shaping civilisations across the Middle East and Africa. Spoken by more than 400 million people in these regions, it was also the medium through which philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers pursued knowledge during the Golden Age of Islam.
The Historical Corpus traces the usage of all Arabic words up to three centuries before Islam, when Arabic was an established language with its own rules, grammar, and syntax.
The birth of Islam has had a profound influence on the Arabic language. The Holy Quran is a most eloquent form of Arabic and has even used some non-arabic words. Due to their presence in the Holy Quran, words such as istabraq, araa’ek which are originally not Arabic, were Arabised.
The impact of Islam on the development of Arabic is also seen in the way a new meaning has been ascribed to already existing words. Due to this practice, these words now have an Islamic connotation and have since acquired a new interpretation in jurisprudence and other fields of Islam.
An interesting phase of development in the Arabic language occurred with the development of modern sciences and academic fields of study such as biology, botany, anatomy, history, and others. Words that were invented or created to suit the social realities will also find a place in the Corpus.
Reading is the easiest way to learn more about a language, and Arabic is no exception. Reading more and more of Arabic literature, poetry and even non-fiction books not only increases proficiency in the language it also inculcates a love for it. Youth should learn and master Arabic syntax, morphology, grammar, and rhetoric (al nahu, al sarf, al balagha).
As stated earlier, the Quran has had a great impact on the development on the language. Reading the Quran and studying Quranic language is thus a great way for youth to improve their knowledge of Arabic.