ABSTRACT
Introduction The chapter introduces some of the main structural and functional aspects of Classical Arabic in its pre-Classical phase. Pre-Classical Arabic is an ambiguous term designating an equally unclear structural form and period. Three definitions are currently prevalent in the field. First, some Western scholars such as Fischer (2002: 1) consider it a term that stands for the era before the standardization of Classical Arabic in the eighth and ninth centuries CE (Owens 2006: 39). It seems that this definition includes the period from which we only have data from inscriptional material from the first century. The second definition is offered by a group of scholars, who understand pre-Classical Arabic differently. It is, according to these scholars, only the variety of pre-Islamic poetry and the direct predecessor of Classical Arabic before its standardization (Rabin 1951: 74). It must have originated as an earlier form of Classical Arabic in the central area of Najd, where West Arabian and East Arabian dialects met. Pre-Classical Arabic, therefore, exhibited some features from each dialect group. This second definition distinguishes pre-Classical Arabic from the non-poetic pre-Islamic vernacular dialects. However, this variety is assumed to have exhibited important differences from the later Classical Arabic as well (Blau 1981: 148).
