This book is the first volume devoted to the issues raised by the definition of 'word' in Arabic. Papers include studies on the history of Arabic grammatical and rhetorical traditions, current theoretical and applied linguistics, and language contact.

Giuliano Lancioni, Ph. D. (1995) in Linguistics, Roma Tre University, is Professor of Linguistics at Roma Tre University. He has published extensively on the history of the Arabic grammatical tradition and on Arabic generative and computational linguistics.
Lidia Bettini is professor of Arabic language and literature at the University of Florence. Her research interests include Arabic medieval linguistic thinking and modern Arabic Bedouin dialects. Her recent publications include the volumes Contes féminins de la Haute Jézireh syrienne - Matériaux ethno-linguistiques d'un parler nomade oriental, (Firenze, 2006) and Min sawālif al-ḥarīm fī l-Jazīra al-sūriyya al-'ulyā, published by the Ministry of Culture of the Syrian Arab Republic, Damascus.