The Importance of Grammar in Determining the Arabic Language Identity

Abstract

Grammar rules were not once a sword drawn over the Arabic language, and controlled by non-linguistic influences, but rather a faithful image of the language in which they invoked.

The grammarians followed a sound scientific method when they formed the rules of Arabic in the most eloquent way, and when they went beyond the stage of induction and description to deducing the linguistic laws that they estimated that the Arabs speak Arabic in avery natural way.

The function of grammar was not limited at any time to studying the endings of words, including their parsing and syntactic structure. Rather, it sought to reveal the secrets of Arabic, its methods of expression, and the explanation of its phenomena, leading the speaker to discover the characteristics of Arabic  speech, as Ibn Jinni said.

Since its inception, the goal of grammar was to surround Arabic with a boundary of rules that would protect it from all forms of weakness, and it remained faithful to this goal, until it became a basic pillar in defining its identity.