Arabic Beyond the Arabs
Ibn Ajurrum: a Berber who wrote the first grammar a student learns
ابن آجُرُّوم: بربريٌّ كتب أوّل ما يحفظه طالب النحو
Ibn Ajurrum belonged to the Sanhaja, a Berber tribe of Morocco, and was born and died in Fez. «Ajurrum» is a Berber word said to mean «the Sufi poor man». He wrote a short introduction to grammar, known as the Ajurrumiyya, and for a long time schools and mosques began the teaching of grammar to beginners with it.
- In brief
- The Ajurrumiyya: a short text from Fez that opened grammar to generations, east and west
- Outside Arabic
- Ājurrūmiyya
«المشهور بابن آجروم … ومعناه بلغة البربر الفقير الصوفي، صاحب المقدمة المشهورة بالجرومية … ويشهد بصلاحه عموم نفع المبتدئين بمقدمته.»
The meaning of «Ajurrum» is reported with reserve: al-Asmari cites Ibn ʿAnqaʾ as finding that Berbers did not know it. He was born in Fez in 672 AH (or 682) and died there in 723 AH (1323).
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