Cornelis HM Versteegh

Cornelis Henricus Maria Versteegh (the first name often in the short form Kees ; * 1947 ) is a Dutch Arabist and linguist .

After studying Classical Philology and Semitic Studies , Versteegh received his doctorate in 1977 from Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen . There he was a lecturer in the Talen en Culturen van het Midden-Oosten department until 1987 . From 1987 to 1989 he was director of the Nederlands Instituut te Cairo . In 1989 he was appointed Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Nijmegen . In May 2011 he was retired there.

The focus of his research is on Arabic linguistics in two senses: Versteegh is one of the leading authorities in the field of Arabic theories of linguistics and their reception of ancient Greek linguistics and grammar, as well as in the field of the linguistic assessment of Arabic and its many varieties , including the phenomenon the language change and diglossia within Arabic. From this perspective, Versteegh also examined the importance of grammar in early Koranic exegesis .

Fonts (selection)

• Greek elements in Arabic linguistic thinking. Leiden, 1977, translation into Arabic: Amman, 2000.
• The Stoic verbal system . In: Hermes 108 (1980), pp. 338-357.
• (Eds., With Konrad Koerner, Hans-Josef Niederehe): The history of linguistics in the Near East . Amsterdam, 1983.
• (Ed., With Hartmut Bobzin ): Studies in the history of Arabic grammar, I . Wiesbaden, 1985.
• (Ed., With Michael Carter): Studies in the history of Arabic grammar, II . Amsterdam, 1990.
• Arabic grammar and Qur'anic exegesis in early Islam . Leiden, 1993.
• The explanation of linguistic causes: Az-Zağğāğī''s theory of grammar . Amsterdam, 1995.
• The Arabic language . Edinburgh, 1997, second edition 2001 Partial online view , translation into Arabic: Cairo, 2003.
• The Arabic linguistic tradition . London & New York, 1997.
• (with Wout van Bekkum, Jan Houben and Ineke Sluiter): The emergence of semantics in four linguistic traditions: Hebrew, Sanskrit, Greek, Arabic . Amsterdam, 1997.
• Linguistic Contacts between Arabic and Other Languages , in: Arabica Vol. 48, No. 4: Linguistique Arabe: Sociolinguistique et Histoire de la Langue (2001), pp. 470–508, online ( Memento from October 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.5 MB)
• Over taal en verandering (farewell lecture May 30, 2011), online
• (Ed., With Meikal Mumin): The Arabic Script in Africa. Studies in the Use of a Writing System. Brill, Leiden 2014 (Studies in Semitic Languages ​​and Linguistics, 71).

literature

• Everhard Ditters, Harald Motzki (eds.): Approaches to Arabic linguistics: presented to Kees Versteegh on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Brill, Leiden 2007 (Studies in Semitic languages ​​and linguistics, Volume 49), online .

Web links

• Personal page, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen