AN ARABIC MANUAL.
Arabic Manual : a Colloquial Handbook in the Syrian Dialect in English Characters. By F. E. Crow. (Luzac. 7s. 6d.)—Uni- form with Rosen's well-known " Modern Colloquial Persian Grammar," Messrs. Luzac have now issued a manual of colloquial Syrian Arabic which will be of the gregest use to visitors, merchants, and consoler officers. Hitherto we have relied upon Hartmann's " Arabischer Sprachfahrer flip Reisende," a useful little pocket-book which has the advantage of giving the Egyptian as well as the Syrian pronunciation for each word; but, unhappily, there are still a great many Englishmen who do not understand German, and for such the new manual will prove a treasure. It would be difficult to find a more competent compiler thau Mr. Crow, formerly one of the most brilliant linguists of the student-inter- preters of Constantinople, afterwards Vice-Consul at Beyrut and Acting-Consul at Damascus, and now Vice-Consul at the Darda- nelles. He possesses a natural talent for mastering colloquial dia- lects, and his official residence in Syria has made him specially familiar with the form of Arabic there spoken. Perhaps we should say with some of the forms, for the Syrian dialects are many ; but that which is spoken at Beyrut is the most useful for foreigners. and Mr. Crow has added variations in the Damascus dialect. To the classical Arabic scholar this "lingo" is abomination ; even to one accustomed to the Egyptian speech the pronunciation of Beyrut seems finicking and clipped : but this has nothiag to do with the value of Mr. Crow's handbook. It is intended for English beginners who want to speak Arabic in Syria, and who do not care to make a scientific study of the language. Hence every word is in English letters, and the grammar, which is skilfully compressed into sixty by no means closely printed pages, is arranged on practical lines, without refer- ence to philological processes. It is rather difficult for the Arabic scholar to pat himself in the place of the beginner, and we should have thought, for example, that a more scientific explanation of the changes in the to marbata would have been really simpler than the sales on termination (p. 7) and on the "intercalation" of the t in the dual (p. 11). A very brief outline of what Arabic scholars call the laws of imctla would have made it perfectly clear why the Syrians say merji (for marjeh) and hare (for halkah). But Mr. Crow doubtless knows the needs of the tiro, and his experience teaches him that it is better not to trouble his pupil with anything but rules of thumb. On the same principle he fully conjugates a verb "to be," which does not properly exist in Arabic, but is represented " by means of a personal pronoun and an adjective, verbal adjective or participle." Oddly enough, neither he nor Dr. Hartmann explains the origin of the prefixed bi of the present. which is specially exasperating to the classical Arabist. Surely it is a mistake to give a long vowel to the last syllable of the noun of comparison, as cikluir (p. 12): it is just as short as abyad. The vocabulary is the strong feature of Consul Crow's book, and will be of the greatest use to all visitors to Syria, as will also the dialogues at the end of the volume, though these might be enlarged with advantage. There is no question that he has rendered a considerable service in publishing so clear and easy a guide to conversation in Syrian Arabic. Why does he not do the same for Turkish, now that he is stationed in European Turkey again ? We are badly off for Turkish manuals, despite the works of the late Sir James Red- house, and latterly beginners have found Karl Wied's the best and simplest introduction to that troublesome language; but this, again, is in German, like so many books that Englishmen, if they were less lazy, might have written. We look to Mr. Crow to take up our challenge. One word should not be left unsaid. The book is admirably printed (though with foreign punctuation) by Messrs. Brill's famous press at Leiden. We have a great admiration for Messrs. Brill's Oriental printing ; but are there no English printers of Arabic ? We know of at least six. It is regrettable that foreigners should outbid the printers of the greatest Mohammedan Empire in producing books in the chief Mohammedan language.
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