Resources Thread

[Raholeun]

Waking this thread, because I am looking for a comprehensive grammar of the Arabic language, preferably with references to its different variants. Those that I found, expect me to master the writing system first, but I just want to check some paradigms. Do you have tips?

[WeepingElf]

Waking this thread, because I am looking for a comprehensive grammar of the Arabic language, preferably with references to its different variants. Those that I found, expect me to master the writing system first, but I just want to check some paradigms. Do you have tips?

Wikipedia has this, though I don't know how good it is. At least, it gives all the forms and paradigms both in Arabic script and in romanization.

[Glass Half Baked]

This pdf is pretty good, because it's succinct and hits all the points you want for comparative grammar. You don't really need Arabic script knowledge, because they give you all the vowel marks.
This one is a little longer and more rambling, but it's better for the details. Again, vowel marks are included so no real script knowledge required beyond the obvious.

[Raholeun]

Wikipedia has this, though I don't know how good it is. At least, it gives all the forms and paradigms both in Arabic script and in romanization.

That is indeed what I am looking for, and then some. The linked article isn't half bad, and I am assuming it is pretty much correct, but it is limited in scope (as a Wiki entry should be).

This pdf is pretty good, because it's succinct and hits all the points you want for comparative grammar. You don't really need Arabic script knowledge, because they give you all the vowel marks.
This one is a little longer and more rambling, but it's better for the details. Again, vowel marks are included so no real script knowledge required beyond the obvious.

Unfortunately, both of these do in fact presuppose that one learns the writing system. Which I think is odd. Why is it perfectly natural to write, let's say a grammar of Chinese, Acehnese or Mongolian, without demanding knowledge of Hanzi, Jawi or the Mongolian script, but not so for Arabic? Thusfar, I have found The Phonology and Morphology of Arabic by Watson which comes close, but is proverbially not a cigar.

[Glass Half Baked]

It's 28 letters.
I believe in you.

[bradrn]

It's 28 letters.

It’s still an annoyance if one just wants to look up some forms.

[Travis B.]

The big problems with Arabic script are A) it's cursive so you have to learn how all the letters link together and B) when written in-line with Latin script it is typically squished to the point of being completely illegible. E.g. I have a much harder time with Arabic script than with Hebrew script myself for these reasons.

[fusijui]

It's an idiosyncrasy of some academic subfields. Refusal to use interlinear text is a similar one, and probably related to some degree.

I don't have any suggestions for the OP though, sorry.

[Raholeun]

Turns out A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic by Ryding fits the bill.

[fusijui]

A happy ending!

And it's nice to see this thread revived again, even briefly.

[WeepingElf]

This month's Fiat Lingua post looks very useful for those who wish to create African-style tone systems, or systems in which something else behaves in a similar way. I'll use it for the vowel system of Old Albic.

[bradrn]

This month's Fiat Lingua post looks very useful for those who wish to create African-style tone systems, or systems in which something else behaves in a similar way. I'll use it for the vowel system of Old Albic.

What a pleasant surprise to see this! I actually helped Gabriel edit an earlier version of this article (in my capacity as editor of The Descriptivist), and I’m glad to see how well it’s turned out.

[WeepingElf]

A very valuable resource for those exploring the linguistic prehistory of Europe: Sub-Indo-European Europe - downloadable for free!

[Raphael]

A very valuable resource for those exploring the linguistic prehistory of Europe: Sub-Indo-European Europe - downloadable for free!

Thank you, sounds really interesting! And it's great that they have it as both pdf and epub. (On pcs I probably prefer pdfs, but they're a pain to read on smaller devices.)