Arabic Grammatical Terminology in Pedro De Alcalá

In 1505 a Spanish priest, Pedro de Alcalá, published a short descriptive grammar and a dictionary of the Arabic dialect spoken in Granada. Although most of the grammatical concepts and terminology he used in this description were those of Latin grammar, he did use some concepts and terms taken from the tradition of the Arab grammarians in their analysis of Classical Arabic. These terms are presented here with commentary on Pedro de Alcalá’s use of them.