%0 Journal Article
%T Lexical Borrowing in the Qur¡¯¨¡n
%A Catherine Pennacchio
%J Bulletin du Centre de Recherche Fran£¿ais de J¨¦rusalem
%D 2012
%I Centre de Recherche Fran?ais de J¨¦rusalem (CRFJ)
%X The last study offering an exhaustive presentation of loanwords in the Qur¡¯¨¡n is Arthur Jeffery¡¯s The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur¡¯¨¡n (1938). This lexicon comprises the 275 foreign words (not including proper nouns) found in the Qur¡¯¨¡n. It compiles previous studies dealing with lexical borrowing ¨C a topic at the heart of the Oriental research in an era when it focused on the origins of Islam. The quantity of sources mentioned in Jeffery¡¯s study was somewhat detrimental: throughout the past century, The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur¡¯¨¡n was considered a conclusive work whereas the author¡¯s intention simply was to collect everything written on the subject. It was meant to be a starting point for further studies but no additional research was undertaken in the field. Though outdated, these studies cannot be ignored. This article examines the problematic aspects of Jeffery¡¯s work. The list and the hypotheses on the origins of the loanwords need to be revised and updated along two lines: first, they need to include new linguistic knowledge, in particular in Ugaritic and in North Arabian and South Arabian epigraphy, which was in its early stages in 1938; second, they need to be placed in their political and socio-cultural contexts. This renewal in research is important since the loanwords in the Qur¡¯¨¡n constitute the historical traces of the ancient contacts between the Arab populations and their neighbors. These loanwords contribute to a better understanding of the Qur¡¯¨¡nic text and, generally, of the beginnings of the Arabic language.
%K Judaism
%K Hebrew
%K lexical borrowing
%K Arabic
%K Aramaic
%K Syriac
%K Akkadian
%K Ugaritic
%K South Arabia
%K Qur¡¯¨¡n
%K Torah
%K Targum
%K Peshitta
%K Arabia
%K Islam
%K Christianity
%U http://bcrfj.revues.org/6643