Arabic Lexicon and National Identity

Abstract

Lexicon is the natural site for reflecting a language's view of the world, as well as reflecting the development of the language and its speakers. Starting from this proposition, the author considers the tendency of lexicographers for "linguistic Salafism", by closing the door to innovation on the grounds of preserving the classical purity of the language. This, he maintains, led to a rupture between the lexicon and the language whose words it specifies, turning the dictionary into "a record of nothing but deaths." The study concludes that Arabic is subject to a severe test following its contacts with European colonialism and its languages which calls for a new lexicographical revolution.