ABSTRACT
In the social development of Arabic after the conquest, I will give due attention to the discussion of communal varieties and dialects. It is important to bear in mind that the purpose of this chapter is not to demonstrate the various varieties of Arabic, fascinating and informative as this may be. The main purpose is to show that the conquests and patterns of migration of Arabs from the peninsula were as infl uential in the development of the language as the trends that were current in pre-Islamic times, which I discussed insofar as the case system and dual paradigm are concerned. The chapter demonstrates the idea that in addition to the changes that were latent in pre-Islamic dialects, the demographic and geographical circumstances of migration also played a role in shaping the varieties of Arabic after the emergence of Islam and diversifying them as well.
