compendious introduction to Arabic Grammar for the use of English students, is a serious impediment to the acquisition of the language. For those who desire to pursue their studies into elaborate detail, nothing better than De Sacy's Grammaire Arabe can be desired. It is full of research, is accurate and comprehensive. Its very size, however, renders it a tedious book for beginners, and it appeared to me possible to compress into a short manual the main principles of the language. The distinction between the Vulgar and the Written Arabic is not more than the distinction between the speech of a ploughboy and the essay of a philosopher; I have not thought it necessary, with some authors, to treat them as separate objects of study. In the preparation of the present work I have availed myself largely of the labours of preceding writers, and gladly acknowledge my especial obligations to De Sacy, (of whose book Stewart's is a poor abridgment,) to Caspari, and to the Grammar of the American Missionaries published in Arabic at Beyrout for the use of Arab boys. That I might have the advice of native philologists, I visited Cairo for the third time last winter, and el obtained the assistance of Sheikh Ali Nady Barrany, one of the Sheikhs of the El Azhar Mosque. My mode of proceeding was to translate portions of the manuscript into Arabic and amend or improve it according to his criticisms. He was pleased to bestow a high commendation upon the work, and made a special request that I would connect his name with it on publication. W. J. B. TRINITY COLLEGE. |