ABSTRACT
Forquitealongtimeitwasgenerallyagreedbybothwesternand easternArabiststhatSibawayhi'sKitabcontained,evenbeitinan incipientandsomewhatunsystematicanddisorderedway,what wastobecometheclassicalformulationofgrammaticaltheory. Ofcourse,itwasadmittedthatsomedifferencesexistedonsome pointsbetweenSibawayhi'sviewsandthoseofsuchandsuchlater grammarian,butthentheywereusuallyexplainedawayasmerely terminological,orasordinaryinstancesofthefactthatsome degreeofdisagreementonminorissueswascommonlyaccepted aslegitimatewithiP.theArabictradition.Truetosay,thisviewof Sibawayhi'splacewithinthedevelopmentofAGT,embodiedin itsmostrepresentativeforminJahn'stranslationoftheKitab (Jahn,1895-1900),wasbasedontheexplicitstatementsofthe grammariansthemselves.Theseneverceasedtoreferto Sibawayhiasthemainfoundingfatheroftheirdiscipline,quoting hisviewsandcommentinghisanalysesasifnodifferenceexisted betweenhisapproachandtheirown.
