This essay was written in 1878 by I. Goldziher, who is considered one of the founders and greatest masters of Islamic studies in Europe. He examines the origin and early history of Arabic grammar and some features of its later development with special regard to the cultural historical apsects of the question. Goldziher draws a picture of the most important trends and attitudes in the Arabic linguistics of the Middle Ages. The author's comprehensive historical approach enables him to integrate small, seemingly unconnected pieces into a whole system, fitting into our knowledge of other fields of Islamic culture and science. That is why his work may interest not only specialists of Arab linguistics but also historians of general linguistics and historians of Islam. Although a century and a quarter elapsed since its publication in Hungarian Goldziher's essay still has not become outdated, since no similar work has been published. The original text has been supplemented with amendments and explanations, a comprehensive and updated bibliography has also been added, together with an appendix (the original texts of the citations) and two indices.

Edited and translated by: Kinga Devenyi, Tamas Ivanyi