Klasifikacija riječi u arapskome jeziku
Word Classification in Arabic

Summary/Abstract: Determining and defining the basic categories of words is considered a first step in mastering Arabic grammar. It is also an important stage in analysing the sentence because defining various kinds of words helps explain grammatical relations among elements of the sentence and the mutual impact of words in the sentence structure. The significance of determining categories of words is further indicated by the fact that, according to some traditions, the beginnings of studying Arabic grammar are linked to the classification of words. Right from the beginnings of their studies into Arabic language, Arab grammarians decided that there were three basic types of words: nouns (asmā’), verbs (af‘āl) and particles (ḥurūf ). This classification was based on the semantic, syntactic, and morphological features of words. When interpreting this type of classification, grammarians most commonly stress one of those features and, except for few cases, they never question such a classification. However, there are modern Arab linguists, along with some European scholars of Arabic, who question this three-way classification of words and even suspect its originality by arguing that it was formed under the influence of Greek science, that is to say, Plato’s philosophy and Aristotle’s logic. These scholars reject all three arguments advanced by the proponents of the traditional word classification. Particularly prominent critics are Egyptian linguists Ibrāhīm Anīs and Tammām Ḥassān. They offer their own classifications which, as they see it, take into account all three fundamental principles of classification: meaning, form and function of the word in sentence, that is to say, the criteria of semantics, morphology and syntax. Nevertheless, the majority of modern Arab grammarians do not accept their word classification. They reject the claims about influences by Greek philosophy and logic. Consequently, they stress that theoretical foundations for the Arabic grammar, most of the grammatical rules and ideas as defined during the period of their emergence, development and maturation were Arabic in origin and were shaped by al-Ḫalīl ibn Aḥmad and registered by Sībawayh in his al-Kitāb.

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