Pluriel<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>
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\nRamzi Baalbaki’s lecture focuses on two main themes: the relationship between orientalists and Arab scholars, and the demonstration of the theoretical and coherent nature of Arabic grammar. The professor begins by exposing the historical tension between orientalist and Arab approaches. He quotes several orientalists, such as the French scholar Ernest Renan (1823-1892), who expressed doubts about Arabs’ ability to develop coherent theoretical systems. This orientalist view presupposed that any Arabic linguistic innovation must necessarily have been borrowed from other civilizations. However, Baalbaki qualifies this picture by acknowledging that some orientalists provided constructive criticism, particularly regarding the lack of critical approach in some traditional Arab studies.<\/p>
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The central part of the conference aims to demonstrate the existence of a coherent and complete Arabic grammatical theory. Baalbaki identifies five fundamental concepts that structure this theory: grammatical operation, analogy, justification, estimation, and origin. He demonstrates how these concepts are interconnected and form a robust theoretical system. The example of S\u012bbawayh’s <em>Book of Grammar<\/em> (born around 760, died around 793) is highlighted as the first complete formalization of this theory.<\/span><\/p>
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\nA remarkable aspect of this theory is its ability to handle exceptions. Arab grammarians developed sophisticated methods to integrate special cases into their theoretical framework, considering that the exception confirms the rule rather than invalidates it. This approach is illustrated by numerous examples drawn from the grammatical tradition.<\/p>
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Regarding Arabic lexicography, Baalbaki adopts a more nuanced position. While acknowledging major innovations such as the root-based classification developed by Al-Khalil (718-786), he notes that lexicographic theory did not reach the same level of systematization as grammatical theory. Nevertheless, Arab lexicographers developed important methodological reflections on the reliability of sources and the organization of entries.<\/p>
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The conference ends on a note of openness, suggesting that recognition of the sophistication of Arabic grammatical theory should not lead to a hagiographic view. On the contrary, Baalbaki advocates for a balanced approach that acknowledges both the original contributions of the Arabic tradition and the usefulness of critical methods developed by Western scholars.<\/p>
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The Foundations of Arabic Grammatical Theory - Pluriel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/en\/videos\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Foundations of Arabic Grammatical Theory - Pluriel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"
Cairo. In a lecture delivered in Arabic on Saturday, January 25, 2025, at the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO) in Cairo, Professor Ramzi Baalbaki, holder of the Chair of Arabic Studies at the American University of Beirut, explores the foundations of Arabic grammatical theory. This talk, organized by Jean Druel, specialist in Arabic […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/en\/videos\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pluriel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-24T18:42:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Capture-Dr-Ramzi-Baalbaki-corrige-1500.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/en\\\/videos\\\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/en\\\/videos\\\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Foundations of Arabic Grammatical Theory - Pluriel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/en\\\/videos\\\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/en\\\/videos\\\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/Capture-Dr-Ramzi-Baalbaki-corrige-1500.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-07T15:33:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-24T18:42:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/en\\\/videos\\\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/en\\\/videos\\\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/en\\\/videos\\\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/Capture-Dr-Ramzi-Baalbaki-corrige-1500.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/Capture-Dr-Ramzi-Baalbaki-corrige-1500.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":788},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/en\\\/videos\\\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/?lang=en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Foundations of Arabic Grammatical Theory\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pluriel\",\"description\":\"University Platform for Research on Islam\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pluriel.fuce.eu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Foundations of Arabic Grammatical Theory - Pluriel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/en\/videos\/the-foundations-of-arabic-grammatical-theory\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Foundations of Arabic Grammatical Theory - Pluriel","og_description":"
Cairo. In a lecture delivered in Arabic on Saturday, January 25, 2025, at the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO) in Cairo, Professor Ramzi Baalbaki, holder of the Chair of Arabic Studies at the American University of Beirut, explores the foundations of Arabic grammatical theory. 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