What others said about Arabic Read in the original
“The Arab mind, on the other hand, is clear and positive, and the Arabic language nervous, virile and rich both actually and potentially. The old Arabs were an acute and observant people, and for all natural objects which fell under their notice they had appropriate and finely differentiated words.”
Edward Granville Browne
1862–1926
British orientalist, Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic at Cambridge, historian of Persian literature.
In Arabic
أمّا العقل العربيّ فواضحٌ حاسم، واللغةُ العربيّةُ قويّةٌ جزلةٌ غنيّةٌ بما فيها فِعلاً وبما تقدِرُ عليه. وكان العرب القدماء قوماً حادِّي الذهنِ دقيقي الملاحظة، فكان لكلّ ما وقع تحت أنظارهم من أشياء الطبيعة ألفاظٌ ملائمةٌ دقيقةُ التمييز.
Source
Arabian Medicine (Fitzpatrick Lectures, 1919–1920), Lecture I, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1921, p. 29
«Nervous» in its older sense of vigorous. «Potentially» refers to the words Arabic can form, developed a few pages later.
Tap a card to see it full size; each has a download button below it for sharing.
Spotted a mistake, or have something to add?
Your note comes to us only; it is not published here. We read it, and if it holds we correct the card.
