(PDF) A linguistic history of Arabic (review) - ResearchGate
: To support his claims, Owens uses the comparative-historical method —a standard in general linguistics but less commonly applied to Arabic until his work. He analyzes contemporary dialects from Nigeria to Uzbekistan to reconstruct the characteristics of their common ancestors. Book Structure and Themes A Linguistic History of Arabic
Jonathan Owens' (2006) is a seminal work that fundamentally challenges the traditional "linear" narrative of Arabic’s evolution. Instead of the standard view—where Classical Arabic is seen as the ancestor that later fragmented into modern dialects—Owens argues for a more complex, parallel development. Core Arguments and Methodology (PDF) A linguistic history of Arabic (review) -
: He explores whether case markings (the 'irab ) were universal in early Arabic or if "caseless" varieties existed from the start. Instead of the standard view—where Classical Arabic is
: Using statistical approaches, he examines features like verb forms and object pronouns across widely dispersed dialects to trace them back to a shared pre-diasporic stage.