ASA All,
In thinking further about how rote memorization plays a role in learning, and how children instinctually learn the patterns of the grammar system, I am reminded of the "Father of Arabic Grammar", Sibawayhi.
As a side note, anyone embarking on learning the beautiful language of Arabic, quickly learns that in order to understand it beyond vocabulary lists, the classical texts (such as the Holy Qur'an and others) are also included in their studies because the grammar rules originate from them. It is virtually impossible to truly study the Arabic language without referring to classical Arabic and Islamic texts at some point in a student's quest for knowledge.
* * *
Mind over matter
5:33 am · 13 Comments
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh,
Sibawahyi is the forefather of Arabic grammar, the Imam of the grammarians, the first person to systemize the rules of Arabic grammar and present them in a book form to be available to the masses for generations to follow. Although there is doubt whether the contents of his book al-Kitaab are his words or the words of his teacher, al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi, there is no doubt that Arabic grammar is indebted to Sibawayhi.
There is an interesting story behind how he came to be the grammar genius he was though. As a young boy living in Basrah, he used to learn Fiqh [Islamic Law] and Hadith [Islamic traditions] from the scholars there. One day he went to his Shaykh [religious instructor] Hamad al-Basri to learn hadith, but when he recited a hadith to his teacher he made a grammatical mistake [he made the khabar of laysa marfoo' instead of mansoob] which changed the meaning. His teacher interrupted him and said, "You made a grammatical error, O Sibawayhi!"
Sibawayhi did not like to have made such an error, so he made a promise, "By Allaah [God], I will seek out a type of knowledge by which nobody will be able to point out any errors I make!" He then went to learn from grammarians such as al-Khalil ibn Ahmad and others, and thus began the journey of Sibawahyi through grammar, which took him to the heights that it did.
Mind over matter."
- source >
http://arabicgems.wordpress.com/2006/03/03/mind-over-matter/Additional reading and scholarly research:
http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/research_projects/sibawiki/homepage/kitab.htm* * *
This excerpt is from a site maintained by a woman who holds a Master's degree in Arabic Linguistics. Did you notice that she uses the term "genius"? It is interesting to me because it is an example of how whole word recognition/phonics/memorization set the foundation of understanding Arabic grammar patterns. Sibawayhi was a young Persian boy and Arabic was his second language and he was required to memorize more than most of us do in a lifetime. He was humiliated and embarrassed for making a mistake in reciting orally a word with a different vowel that it was written with - thus changing the entire meaning of the sentence - the "facts" had been changed because of a mistake in pronunciation of one vowel. And this was the catalyst that he then embarked on in order to codifiy the rules of Arabic grammar that everyone else follows to this day! And by a non-native speaker of the language is what is so inspiring to students of the Arabic language such as myself and millions others. His famous
Kitab derived from memorization as a child and instinctively knowing the rule patterns.
I just realized today that this is what resonates with me about the Doman method, as well as what I have briefly read on the Shichida method, and most recently, Native Reading methods.
Amazing, isn't it?
- Ayesha
Digg
