Adverbial Subordination in Egyptian Judaeo-Arabic and Muslim Middle Arabic Versions of Qiṣṣat al-ğumğuma from the Ottoman Period

Abstract

In examining two Judaeo-Arabic adaptations of Qiṣṣat al-ğumğuma ‘The Story of the Skull’ (Cairo JC 104 and CUL T-S 37.39) alongside two Muslim Middle Arabic versions (CUL Qq. 173 and BnF Arabe 3655) from the Ottoman period, this paper explores the extent of linguistic similarities and divergences on the level of adverbial subordination, and the means through which these are expressed. It questions the long-established methodological boundaries imposed on the study of Middle Arabic, in which linguistic features of confessional varieties are generally examined in relation to Classical Arabic grammatical rules and modern spoken dialects, rather than other contemporaneous denominational varieties of written Arabic.