A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic

This volume offers the most comprehensive linguistic analysis to date of Vatican Arabic MS 13, a late 9th/early 10th-century Arabic Gospel manuscript. Combining meticulous quantitative study with wide-ranging comparative evidence, this book provides an in-depth examination of the manuscript's orthog...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Stokes, Phillip W.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Open Book Publishers 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:2632-6914
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1869522295106568192
author Stokes, Phillip W.
author_browse Stokes, Phillip W.
author_facet Stokes, Phillip W.
author_sort Stokes, Phillip W.
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This volume offers the most comprehensive linguistic analysis to date of Vatican Arabic MS 13, a late 9th/early 10th-century Arabic Gospel manuscript. Combining meticulous quantitative study with wide-ranging comparative evidence, this book provides an in-depth examination of the manuscript's orthography, phonology, morphology, morpho-syntax, and syntax. Through extensive charts, tables, and multiple interpretive frameworks, the author illuminates how linguistic features pattern across every dimension relevant to accurate analysis.Crucially, the study does not treat MS 13 in isolation. Its features are systematically compared with those of other Christian Arabic manuscripts, Quranic traditions, medieval Arabic registers, early poetry, and modern dialects. This contextualised approach situates the manuscript within the rich linguistic diversity of medieval Arabic and challenges long-standing assumptions about 'Middle Arabic' and 'Classical Arabic'. By demonstrating that many features of MS 13 align with broader scribal and linguistic practices of the period, the book makes a compelling case against the notion that scribes worked towards a single, unified register or variety. Rather, they drew creatively and pragmatically from a diverse repertoire of features and linguistic traditions, revealing a far more dynamic and multifaceted approach to written composition than previously recognised.An outstanding and field-shaping contribution, this volume provides an essential model for future work on Christian Arabic, medieval Arabic varieties, and the history of Arabic more broadly.
format Online
id doab-20.500.12854ir-176523
institution Directory of Open Access Books
language eng
publishDate 2026
publishDateRange 2026
publishDateSort 2026
publisher Open Book Publishers
publisherStr Open Book Publishers
record_format ojs
spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1765232026-05-19T07:47:32Z A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic Stokes, Phillip W. Arabic Codicology Arabic Linguistic History Arabic Linguistics Christian Arabic Medieval Arabic Writing Cultures Middle Arabic The Bible in Arabic thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFF Historical and comparative linguistics thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFH Phonetics, phonology thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMF Christianity: sacred texts and revered writings thema EDItEUR::Y Children’s, Teenage and Educational::YP Educational material::YPC Educational: Language, literature and literacy::YPCS Educational: Classical and ancient languages This volume offers the most comprehensive linguistic analysis to date of Vatican Arabic MS 13, a late 9th/early 10th-century Arabic Gospel manuscript. Combining meticulous quantitative study with wide-ranging comparative evidence, this book provides an in-depth examination of the manuscript's orthography, phonology, morphology, morpho-syntax, and syntax. Through extensive charts, tables, and multiple interpretive frameworks, the author illuminates how linguistic features pattern across every dimension relevant to accurate analysis.Crucially, the study does not treat MS 13 in isolation. Its features are systematically compared with those of other Christian Arabic manuscripts, Quranic traditions, medieval Arabic registers, early poetry, and modern dialects. This contextualised approach situates the manuscript within the rich linguistic diversity of medieval Arabic and challenges long-standing assumptions about 'Middle Arabic' and 'Classical Arabic'. By demonstrating that many features of MS 13 align with broader scribal and linguistic practices of the period, the book makes a compelling case against the notion that scribes worked towards a single, unified register or variety. Rather, they drew creatively and pragmatically from a diverse repertoire of features and linguistic traditions, revealing a far more dynamic and multifaceted approach to written composition than previously recognised.An outstanding and field-shaping contribution, this volume provides an essential model for future work on Christian Arabic, medieval Arabic varieties, and the history of Arabic more broadly. 2026-05-19T07:47:26Z 2026-05-19T07:47:26Z 2026-05-18T03:33:32Z 2026 book 2632-6914 https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/OBP.0517 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/113008 9781805118343 9781805118350 9781805118367 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/176523 eng Semitic Languages and Cultures open access image/jpeg https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/113008/4/9781805118367.pdf Open Book Publishers Open Book Publishers 10.11647/OBP.0517 10.11647/OBP.0517 b014b543-78bd-4c3b-bc71-b68e2ac855b9 9781805118343 9781805118350 9781805118367 Open Book Publishers 434 Cambridge, UK open access
spellingShingle Arabic Codicology
Arabic Linguistic History
Arabic Linguistics
Christian Arabic
Medieval Arabic Writing Cultures
Middle Arabic
The Bible in Arabic
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFF Historical and comparative linguistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFH Phonetics, phonology
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMF Christianity: sacred texts and revered writings
thema EDItEUR::Y Children’s, Teenage and Educational::YP Educational material::YPC Educational: Language, literature and literacy::YPCS Educational: Classical and ancient languages
Stokes, Phillip W.
A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic
title A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic
title_full A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic
title_fullStr A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic
title_full_unstemmed A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic
title_short A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic
title_sort multipolar approach to early christian arabic
topic Arabic Codicology
Arabic Linguistic History
Arabic Linguistics
Christian Arabic
Medieval Arabic Writing Cultures
Middle Arabic
The Bible in Arabic
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFF Historical and comparative linguistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFH Phonetics, phonology
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMF Christianity: sacred texts and revered writings
thema EDItEUR::Y Children’s, Teenage and Educational::YP Educational material::YPC Educational: Language, literature and literacy::YPCS Educational: Classical and ancient languages
topic_facet Arabic Codicology
Arabic Linguistic History
Arabic Linguistics
Christian Arabic
Medieval Arabic Writing Cultures
Middle Arabic
The Bible in Arabic
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFF Historical and comparative linguistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFH Phonetics, phonology
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMF Christianity: sacred texts and revered writings
thema EDItEUR::Y Children’s, Teenage and Educational::YP Educational material::YPC Educational: Language, literature and literacy::YPCS Educational: Classical and ancient languages
url 2632-6914
work_keys_str_mv AT stokesphillipw amultipolarapproachtoearlychristianarabic
AT stokesphillipw multipolarapproachtoearlychristianarabic