Diss.--Universität Heidelberg, 1994.

Diss.--Philosophie--München, 1980. / Bibliogr. p. 411-427. Index.

This is a sociolinguistic investigation that focuses on variation and change in Medini Arabic (Saudi Arabia). Data in the form of sociolinguistic interviews were collected from 58 speakers, and analysed quantitatively within the framework of the quantitative variationist paradigm using Rbrul. The study investigates the correlation between two linguistic variables and the social variables of age, gender and community (urban and Bedouin). The dialects under investigation originate from two different norms: ‘Bedouin’, in this study a sub-type of Najdi; and ‘Sedentary’, the traditional dialect of Medina (viz. Medini). The Bedouin group share the same origin and culture whilst the urban group come from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The first linguistic variable is (ʤ), which has two realisations in both communities: a traditional affricate [ʤ] and an innovative fricative [ʒ]. The second linguistic variable is resyllabification, which is precipitated by syncope or epenthesis. The innovative variant for the urban group is syncope whereas for the Bedouin group it is epenthesis. Overall, the results indicate that both dialects are undergoing levelling of marked linguistic features and change in progress towards the adoption of koineised or supra-local forms. In the case of (ʤ), the change towards the innovative form is led by the younger women in both communities. With respect to the resyllabification variable, the age group of adult (30-44) urban and Bedouin men take the lead in syncope and epenthesis, respectively. The interpretation of the results is twofold: (i) linguistic, where the results are interpreted within the principles of Optimality Theory and Moraic Theory; (ii) sociolinguistic, where the focus is on social structure, socio-political and socioeconomic change in the locality.

Informe de Seminario para optar al grado de Licenciado en Filosofía. / Acercarnos a la tarea de dilucidar el fondo último de nuestro pensar, en sí ya es una aventura que no puede ser abarcada en su totalidad aquí. Quién sabe si algún día lleguemos a ello -de la forma que sea-. Quién sabe también si esa tarea sea ‘la tarea’ a la cual hemos sido convocados en nuestra condición de ‘animal rationale ’. Pues bien, aquí hemos intentado crear un puente que una a Occidente con Oriente, ya que la curiosidad de que ha sido objeto la filosofía oriental y en particular la budista no se debe sólo a una ‘moda oriental espiritual’, sino quizás al reconocimiento del olvido que esta ‘otra filosofía’ -a modo de amnesia filosófica- habría sufrido en Occidente. La imagen del puente nos llama a fijar nuestra mirada en el centro de él. Ya sabemos que el puente acerca a una orilla de la otra, pero la acerca porque está separada y aquello que las separa, mienta a la vez de aquello que las une. Pensemos en un río y construyamos en nuestra mente un puente. Ahora, atrevámonos a cruzarlo. ¡Qué nos ha ocurrido! Hemos llegado al otro lado. Y si se nos preguntara ¿qué de especial tiene el otro lado? Podríamos responder, por lo pronto, que ahora podemos descubrir el lado contrario, a saber, el lugar en donde partimos al atravesar el puente; de forma distinta, ya que lo vemos desde fuera y eso nos hace inmediatamente ver aquello que sólo la distancia permite, se vea.

Texte remanié de: Diss--Berlin--Freie Universität, 1999. / Contient des textes en syriaque moderne en appendice. Bibliogr. p. 251-261. Notes bibliogr.

Tesi doctoral. / Notes bibliogr. Bibliogr. p. 639-657.

No description available.

The present study of Fatḥ al-Mannān bi-Tafsīr al-Qur'ān, is based on the writing of ʻĀkish, as well as on other books and documents. My study is divided into two sections, the one in Arabic and the other in English. The Arabic section consists of the actual text of ʻĀkish which comprises his introduction, his exegesis of al-Fatih'ah, al-Baqarah, Al 'Imran, and al-Nisa'; it also contains an Epilogue which is followed by Footnotes, Bibliography, Index and an Appendix, which contains photographs and letters. The English section consists of an introduction which indicates the importance of the manuscript and the difficulties that I faced during my analysis of the manuscript. Also included in this section is a biography of the author and his work, highlighting characteristics of his tafsir, enumerating errors and drawing a comparisons between him and his teacher al-Shawkani.

In Chapter III I take a first step towards Identifying Margah's account of God's nature, by expounding his conception of divine oneness. Margah regards God as one, both in the sense that He is unique and in the sense that He lacks internal plurality. I trace this conception of divine oneness back through Philo to Aristotle. Certain implications of divine oneness are discussed, namely, the spacelessness, timelessness and incorporeality of God, and Marqah's position on these conceptions is shown to be the same as those of earlier philosophers. In Chapter IV I discuss, with special reference to Philo, Marqah's account of the unknowability of God. His account is based conceptually on his conception of God's oneness. I show how passages in which Marqah speaks of men knowing God can be squared with his doctrine of God's unknowability; we can know that ; God is, but not what He is. On this matter Margah's position is identical with Philos. In Chapter VI discuss Marqah's apparent inconsistency in holding both that God is internally one and that He has many attributes, such as justice, mercy, knowledge and power. I argue that all these attributes, which can be regarded as the powers of God, are God's "properties" in the Aristotelian logical sense of the term; they are not part of God's essence but belong to Him by virtue of His essence. Various characteristics of God's. powers, and the question of the knowability of those, powers, are discussed. Philo’s writings are frequently referred to since they shed a great deal of light on the teaching of the Memar on the divine powers. On this topic the positions of Philo and Marqah are almost identical. In Chapter VI I discuss Marqah's conception of God's personhood, contrasting his position with Aristotle's and showing its similarity to Philos. Margah speaks of God as just, merciful, compassionate, loving and so one I discuss the various ways in which Marqah's position can be defended against the charge of anthropomorphism, and then examine: various of the personal qualities Marqah attributes to God. Special attention is payed to the nature of divine knowledge and of the divine will. It is argued that Marqah held that divine knowledge and the divine will are in crucial respects wholly unlike human knowledge and will. Chapter VII deals with Marqah's account of the creation and of the nature of the created world. His position is contrasted with that of Hellenic philosophers from Thales to Aristotle, who either ignore the possibility of creation ex nihilo (Thales and Anaximander) or reject its possibility (Aristotle), Plato's Timaeus doctrine, involving the idea of the demiurge employing a model in creating, is expounded, and it is suggested that Plato was Marqah's target when Marqah attacks the idea that God used a model. Marqah's account of the ac? of creation, seen as an act of divine will, is examined. His acceptance of miracles is discussed, and Is squared with his idea that the systematicity of the world testifies to the oneness of God.

Popular poetry, under various names, is composed in many of the Arabic speaking countries. Bedouin poetry is an important element in the daily life of any Arab tribal society, and the poet is highly respected as he is considered to be the voice of the tribe. Poetry is composed and recited by poets on every occasion and covers every aspect of tribal society. It reveals their feelings and needs, reminds them of their history and depicts their culture. It is the most usual form of entertainment for any gathering of men in a majlis, and at wedding parties poetry is recited in the evenings, for at least three days; for several hours, poets chant and recite poems to accompany the men's dance. They celebrate the deeds of warrior ancestors, battle victories and love. In the past, this sort of poetry was not written down, it was inherited orally. We have very little of it, and what we have is often altered or incomplete, as is common in undocumented cultures. Some poets have written or dictated their poems, but few have been published. Occasionally, poems are heard recited among other tribes, due to the importance of their subject matter - perhaps criticising the authorities, or giving a political point of view. Some of this poetry, if it had been composed early this century, might have led to fighting between tribes, as in the case of the insults that were traded in the poetry about Attubayg, in which war of words the authorities of Jordan and Saudi Arabia were obliged to intervene. Neither the authorities nor the universities are interested in this poetry, partly because the dialects make it difficult to understand, and partly because the rules of censorship prevent the publication of anything contentious. There are two elements which will endanger the survival of this poetry; sedentarisation and education. Sedentarisation has a physical and psychological effect on poets. Away from the desert, living in houses with doors that close, people have less contact with each other than they used to. There are fewer discussions and so less poetry (women's social life has suffered even more than men's: see the comments of Dihma Faris in Chapter 2). Education has an impact on tribal poetry because children are taught classical poetry at school, by teachers who are mainly from an urban background. They would not be likely to encourage a child to compose popular poetry, and might even humiliate him for his lack of culture. These negative attitudes do nothing to help the survival of this form of poetry.