al-Ibdal fi Lughat al-Azd Dirasa Sawtiyya fi Daw Ilm al-Lugha al-Hadith
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- Editions
- Islamic University of Madinah
al-Ibdal fi Lughat al-Azd: Dirasa Sawtiyya fi Daw Ilm al-Lugha al-Hadith (Substitution in the Dialects of Azd: A Phonetic Study in the Light of Modern Linguistics) is a specialized linguistic study by the Saudi scholar Ahmad bin Said Qashash, focusing on the phonetic phenomenon of consonant and vowel substitution (ibdal) across the dialects of the ancient Arabian tribal confederation of Azd .
Background and Purpose
The author composed the work while serving as an assistant professor at the College of Arabic Language at the Islamic University of Madinah . He noted that while classical Arabic works of lexicography, grammar, Quranic readings, and exegesis drew extensively upon the speech of Azd as a reliable authority for linguistic evidence (ihtijaj), contemporary dialectological studies had largely focused on other major tribal groups—such as Tamim, Tayyi', Qays, Rabi'ah, and Hudhayl—leaving Azdi speech without dedicated modern monographs . Having surveyed material attributed to Azd across classical sources during an earlier study on their standing in the Arabic language, he elected to dedicate this research specifically to the phenomenon of phonetic substitution (ibdal), viewing it as one of the most prominent features enriching the Arabic lexicon quantitatively and qualitatively .
Structure and Contents
The study is organized into an introduction, a preliminary overview (tamhid), two main chapters, a conclusion, and three indexes :
- Preliminary Overview (al-Tamhid): Provides a concise summary of the lineage of Azd, their major tribal branches, their geographical homelands, and their eloquence (fasaha) .
- Chapter One (al-Ibdal fi al-Huruf [al-Sawamit]): Addresses consonant substitution across two sections: the first examines named dialectal substitution phenomena (al-zawahir al-mulaqqaba), while the second treats unnamed substitution phenomena (ghayr al-mulaqqaba) .
- Chapter Two (al-Ibdal fi al-Harakat [al-Sawa'it]): Investigates vowel alternation across two sections: the first examines the alternation between fath and kasr in the imperfect verbal prefixes (ahruf al-mudari'a), and the second examines the same alternation in the genitive preposition lam (al-lam al-jarra) .
- Conclusion and Indexes: Summarizes the analytical findings and provides three reference indexes .
Methodology
The author adopts a descriptive and comparative phonetic method. For each feature attributed to Azd or any of its branches, he describes the linguistic phenomenon and cites attestations from the Quran, prophetic hadiths, classical poetry, or prose . He then traces the feature through classical and modern scholarly literature, comparing it with corresponding phenomena in other ancient Arab tribes as well as living contemporary Arabic dialects . Finally, he interprets and explains the phonetic mechanics of each change in light of modern linguistics, while incorporating classical Arabic phonetic analysis when available .
The study concludes by emphasizing that contemporary vernaculars in the al-Sarah mountains retain numerous dialectal features corresponding to or differing from those recorded for Azd in classical sources, stressing the necessity of documenting these spoken vernaculars before their disappearance to assist in clarifying under-recorded linguistic issues .
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