Al-Bustanı’ s approach to the Arabic language: From theory to practice

Butrus al-Bustanı (1819–1883) was one of the leading figures of the Nahda period. In most studies on the Nahda, his activities, work and projects are seen as having made an important contribution to the revival of the Arabic language by transforming it to meet the needs of modern times. Although his lexical contribution has been researched there is no comprehensive research on his grammatical contribution to the Arabic language. This article shows that al-Bustan ı’ s Encyclopedia reflects a conservative approach toward grammar in that he confined himself to abridging the grammatical rules enshrined by traditional grammarians. However, he took a liberal and reformist approach to the lexicon that drew on both classical and Western sources.