This is the third edition, fully revised and updated, of this indispensable introduction to Arabic linguistics. New for this edition: * Presents new perspectives on the history of Arabic from the period before Islam in two completely revised chapters reporting on the ground-breaking discoveries in this field * Covers recent developments in language use in the media after the Arab Spring * Examines the influence of social media on language use and language attitudes concerning Arabic, and the use of the language in political and religious discourse * Contains text samples of Standard Arabic in Arabic script and English translation as well as dialect texts in the major Arabic dialects * Engages with the huge amount of new publications on Arabic linguistics, including several handbooks Concentrating on the difference between the two types of Arabic - the classical standard language and the dialects - Kees Versteegh charts the history and development of the Arabic language from its earliest beginnings to the modern age. The reader is given a solid grounding in the structure of the language, its historical context and its use in various literary and non-literary genres, as well as an understanding of the role of Arabic as a cultural, religious and political world language. Key features: * Covers all aspects of the history of Arabic, the Arabic linguistic tradition, Arabic dialects, sociolinguistics and Arabic as a world language * Makes links between linguistic history and cultural history * Emphasises the role of contacts between Arabic and other languages.