Navigating language in the early Islamic world : multilingualism and language change in the first centuries of Islam / edited by Antoine Borrut, Manuela Ceballos, and Alison M. Vacca.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Borrut, Antoine, editor.

Ceballos, Manuela, editor.

Vacca, Alison, editor.

Sabin W. Colton, Jr., Memorial Fund.

Series:

Interdisciplinary studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance ; v. 2.

Interdisciplinary studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance ; volume 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Multilingualism--Middle East.

Multilingualism.

Linguistic change--Middle East.

Linguistic change.

Language policy--Islamic Empire.

Language policy.

Arabic language--History.

Arabic language.

Physical Description:

500 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Multilingualism and language change in the first centuries of Islam

Place of Publication:

Turnhout, Belgium : Brepols, [2024]

Summary:

"Traditional accounts of Arabicization have often favoured linear narratives of language change instead of delving into the diversity of peoples, processes, and languages that informed the fate of Arabic in the early Islamic world. Using a wide range of case studies from the caliphal centres at Damascus and Baghdad to the provinces of Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, and Central Asia, Navigating language reconsiders these prevailing narratives by analysing language change in different regions of the early Islamic world through the lens of multilingualism. This volume complicates the story of Arabic by building on the work of scholars of Late Antiquity who have abundantly demonstrated the benefits of embracing multilingualism as a heuristic framework. The three main themes include imperial strategies of language use, the participation of local elites in the process of language change, and the encounters between languages on the page, in the markets, and at work. This volume brings together historians and art historians working on the interplay of Arabic and other languages during the early Islamic period to provide a critical resource and reference tool for students and scholars of the cultural and social history of language in the Near East and beyond."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

Multilingualism in the early Islamic world / Antoine Borrut, Manuela Ceballos, and Alison M. Vacca

Section one. Languages of the Umayyad Caliphate

The early Islamic empire's policy of multilingual governance / Petra M. Sijpesteijn

The translation of the Dīwān and the making of the Marwanid 'language reform': secretarial agency, economic incentives, and regional dynamics in the Umayyad state / Marie Legendre

Towards an Arabic cosmopolis: culture and power in early Islam / Antoine Borrut

Section two. Multilingualism, empires, and local elites

The Arabs and northern languages and scripts before Islam / Muriel Debié

Triliteral coins and political authority along a contentious frontier: between Arabic, Bactrian, and Pahlavi in late antique Khurāsān / Robert Haug

Arabic and the public performance of power in early medieval Armenia / Alison M. Vacca

From Bactrian to Arabic: changes in seals and sealing practices as observed in the documents from Bactria / Judith A. Lerner

Section three. Languages in contact and shared spaces

Navigating Persian: the travels and tribulations of Middle Iranian languages / Khodadad Rezakhani

Once again, the twin histories of Arabic and Aramaic (with a focus on Syriac) / Aaron Michael Butts

Sharing the written space: contact and interaction between Arabic and other cultures and scripts / Arianna d'Ottone

'Abbāsid book culture and ninth-century Jewish sectarianism / Fred Astren.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Sabin W. Colton, Jr., Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9782503603018

2503603017

OCLC:

1417089499