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Sep 2024
58m 9s

When Did Arabic Start | Ahmad Al-Jallad

AFIKRA
About this episode

Classical Arabic, MSA, and Fusha — all names that the Arabic language goes by. This conversation with Professor Ahmad Al-Jallad takes us through the origins and evolution of the Arabic language. Tracing back to the pre-Islamic and Nabatean Aramaic history through to the modern day, this episode is for grammar-nerds and Arabic speakers alike. We learn about where Arabic "came" from, what it means to define a language, and how it remained so stable despite instability in the region.

Professor Ahmad Al-Jallad is a philologist, epigraphist, and historian of language. His work focuses on the languages, writing systems, history, and cultures of pre-Islamic Arabia and the ancient Near East. Some of the areas he has contributed to include Quranic studies and the history of Arabic, including recent work he has done on the Safaitic and Paleo-Arabic scripts. He is currently professor in the Sofia Chair in Arabic Studies at Ohio State University. 

Connect with Professor Al-Jallad 👉 https://nesa.osu.edu/people/al-jallad.1

Read more about mm:museum's 2024 exhibition "The limits of my language are the limits of my world" 👉 https://mediamajlis.northwestern.edu/en/whats-on/exhibitions-programs/the-limits-of-my-language-are-the-limits-of-my-world-27-aug-2024-05-dec-2024

Connect with the mm:museum at Northwestern University Qatar 👉 https://www.instagram.com/themediamajlis/

Hosted by:

Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/

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THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
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ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
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