An Introduction to Modern Literary Arabic First Edition

Nice.

Far surpassing in quality the few other beginning textbooks available, David Cowan's "Introduction to Modern Literary Arabic" certainly is a sine qua non to students of the Arabic language. The grammar within is clearly, concisely, and traditionally presented in the incisive Cambridge fashion; imperative for the instruction of such a difficult language. Unlike many others, it does not create gaps in the learner's knowledge as it progresses from chapter to chapter by omitting necessary, especially basic aspects of the Arabic grammar. For example, grammatical case endings of words (nominative, accusative, genitive) are presented promptly and are not left as a mystery for half of the book: in other texts they unexpectedly arise, confuse and discourage the learner thoroughly, especially in combination with other complex grammatical structures such as those related to possession. Every necessary part of the grammar is introduced in the most logical manner possible, and examples and drills are presented from the start in every chapter, thus exercising the Arabic grammatical muscle of the learner which takes ever so long and much care to develop. Truely, the tone and language of the author may be considered obsolete, but his knowledge and presentation of Arabic grammar is absolutely not, and both have the precision of a razor. This is a necessary pedagogical characteristic especially at the beginning level. And so this book is almost certainly the gold standard to learners and adepts of Arabic alike for the purpose of learning and perfecting the elusive grammar of the Arabic language.

I will recommend this book for anyone having difficulty learning arabic. It is very good and resourceful. I don't regret buying it.

I might hesitate to recommend this book to someone completely new to MSA, but if you've had previous exposure to the language and want to review the essentials of Arabic grammar, you simply won't find a better book. It can also serve as a basic reference work, although there's no index.The autodidact who knows no Arabic might be better served with a book that presents the material at a more leisurely pace; a basic knowledge of grammatical terminology would also be useful. A very motivated self-teacher could emerge from these pages with an admirably solid grounding in the fundamentals of Arabic grammar, though.This is an excellent book, and I recommend it.

I do not recommend it

Comprehensive. First grammar I studied, suitable for the beginning Arabic scholar. The style is limpid and sobre but it is one of the best introductions to the language. For the first time language learner, I recommend a preliminary recourse into English Grammar. Those already familiar with grammar terms in English or corresponding European grammars should endeavour into explicatory texts (Tritton, Learn Arabic For English Speakers)to thoroughly grasp the Arabic concept of Aspect and its usage. For the speaker whose native language is not a highly inflected one (i.e. ablative language, etc.)particular attention should be paid to Case, or even Mood to fully understand the material presented. For most European users, familiar concepts may prove distracting rather than helpful. It is important, after completing the course to be able to think outside of the metalanguage frame, since we know that all grammars are unique. When in possesion of the book, do not be overwhelmed with the beginning language learner's first impression, that of tedious, prolix data which would be impossible to attain. The presentation should in fact redound to one's advantage in future as the features of the book can be made suitable as a reference grammar for both Classical and Modern varieties in place of the more expensive and non-extant grammatical corpuses.

Lessons are very clear and concise. Plenty of examples & exercises. I have been looking for an arabic learning course book for quite some time, and non thus far excel Mr Cowan's book in clearity & exciting... Learning through the lessons, I feel more and more at ease with the Arabic language and flame my interest to learn more. No stress in learning...But the book need to be revised as it was published in 1958... sooo long ago.In my opinion, it is the BEST book on introduction to learning the arabic language that I have come acrossed...Highly recommended...

It is not being picky - the size of Arabic script is so small that the printing press could not handle it and it came out blurred. I have many books in/about Arabic and I can tell the difference between just small (but legible) font and blurred words/diacritics, and this book is the second case.I am sure it is of high standard material but trying to decipher Arabic text just makes it not worth it for me. To compare I attach the photo - on the left is  Arabic Through the Qur'an (Islamic Texts Society)  and on the right is this book so you can see yourself.With all due respect to the author and the publisher it is not the only book to learn Arabic.P.S. Mine is the year 2000 reprint of the original year 1958 edition, it is theoretically possible that earlier printings are of better quality so check them as well.

One of the most comprehensive, easy to read books that covers a lot of ground in an easily digestible format

Wonderful Book.

This along with Learn the Language of the Holy Qur'an is the very best text available for learning arabic in the English language. Very methodical, with an intresting vocabulary. All of the various verb changes and grammar rules are explained with coupious use of examples and all of the revelvant translation drills and focus on the writing and reading without vowel marking are present. This is an excellent text for both complete beginners to the subject and those who have some basic knowlege of the language. It caters for everyone and if one works consistently through it and makes a point of learning the rules and vocab, it will give you a very solid grounding in the language

...more thorough than anyone, bar linguist academics will ever need! This was a re-purchase, as I first used this book some 20 years ago when I had my first taster