Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface to First Edition -- Preface to Second Edition -- Figures and Maps -- Tables -- Note on Transcription and Glossing -- 1. The Study of Arabic in the West -- 2. Arabic as a Semitic Language -- 3. The Earliest Stages of Arabic -- 4. Arabic in the Pre-Islamic Period -- 5. The Development of Classical Arabic -- 6. The Structure of Arabic -- 7. The Arabic Linguistic Tradition -- 8. The Emergence of New Arabic -- 9. Middle Arabic -- 10. The Study of the Arabic Dialects -- 11. The Dialects of Arabic -- 12. The Emergence of Modern Standard Arabic -- 13. Diglossia -- 14. Bilingualism -- 15. Arabic as a Minority Language -- 16. Arabic Pidgins and Creoles -- 17. Arabic as a World Language -- Bibliography -- Abbreviations -- Index