This book traces the origins and development of the Arabic grammatical marker š/šī, which is found in interrogatives, negators, and indefinite determiners in many Arabic dialects. It argues that š/šī does not derive from Arabic šay 'thing' but from a Semitic demonstrative pronoun.

• 1: Introduction


• 2: On the age and origins of spoken Arabic vernaculars


• 3: f¿š wa bidd¿š: The functions of š¿


• 4: Andalusi Arabic negators and interrogatives: Early evidence of grammatical š¿


• 5: Interrogation and negation with š¿ in North African and Levantine Arabic


• 6: Origins of grammatical š¿: Southern Arabia or the Levant?


• 7: Proto-Semitic and Proto-Arabic origins of grammatical š¿


• 8: On explanation and theory in Arabic linguistics

David Wilmsen is Professor of Arabic in the Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages at The American University of Beirut. He has spent 30 years studying Arabic, and 20 years living in Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon. He has previously held posts at The American University in Cairo and Georgetown University, and his work has been published in a number of journals including Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik, Journal of Semitic Studies, and Arabica.