13.00 ʔimālah and the Dialects in Sībawayh82

In his discussion of ʔimālah ‘inclination’, Sībawayh is careful to point out that even though ʔimālah is a common phenomenon, found to a greater or lesser extent in different dialects, it is neither a uniform nor a universal phenomenon in all its manifestations. There are individual speakers, certain groups of speakers, or whole speech communities that may or may not use ʔimālah in their speech in specific contexts. There are scattered references to these speakers throughout the six chapters discussed above. It is of interest to students of Arabic and linguistics that Sībawayh gave so much attention to the dialects of Arabic. By taking account of their differences at this early stage of the analysis of Arabic he showed his positive attitude to the dialects. It is of equal fascination that Sībawayh isolated the same rules and the same postulated generalizations that were operative across dialectal boundaries. In this approach, the ʔimālah rules assume the status of language rules that apply to the Arabic language in all its dialectal variations.

Throughout his discussion of ʔimālah, Sībawayh frequently refers to specific tribal preferences in the use of ʔimālah. He also offers his opinion on the acceptability, unacceptability or the degree of acceptability of the use or non-use of ʔimālah when looked at from the vantage point of the rules. There is, however, no social stigma attached to its use or non-use.