Professor Ramzi Mounir Baalbaki

Ramzi Baalbaki earned his BA with high distinction and Penrose Award in 1973 and an MA in Arabic Language and Literature in 1975 from the American University of Beirut (AUB), and a Ph.D. in Arabic Grammar and Comparative Semitics from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 1978. During his academic career at AUB which spans over 30 years, he established himself as a distinguished teacher and scholar, particularly in the field of Arabic grammatical thought. He quickly progressed from Assistant Professor in 1978 to full Professor in 1989, and is currently the Margaret Weyerhaeuser Jewett Professor and Chairman of the Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages at AUB. He was Visiting Scholar at the Universities of Cambridge in 1988, Chicago in 1993 and Georgetown in 1998, and a scholar in residence at Georgetown University in 1999. He also served as Director of the Center for Arab and Middle East Studies from 1985 until 1990, and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1997 until 2004 at AUB.

Professor Baalbaki is one of the most respected scholars of Arabic grammatical studies. He wrote several major books and about 60 scholarly articles and book chapters on this subject. He also produced critical editions of Arabic texts in grammar, biographical writing and lexicography. His books include: Al-Kitaba aAl-Arabiyya wa-l Samiyya: Dirasat fi Tarikh Al-Kitaba ind Al-samiyyin (Studies in Arabic and Semitic Epigraphy),(1981; 424 pp); Dictionary of Linguistic Terms: Arabic-English (1990; 806 pp); Fiqh aAl-Arabiyya aAl-Muqaran: Dirasat fi Aswat Al-Arabiyyia wa Sarfiha wa Nahwiha ala Daw’ Al-Lugat aAl-Samiyya (Comparative Arabic Philology: Studies in Arabic Phonology, Morphology and Syntax in the Light of Semitic Languages) (1999; 277 pp); Grammarians and Grammatical Theory in the Medieval Arabic Tradition (2004; 354 pp); and The Legacy of the Kitab: Sibawayhi’s Analytical Methods Within the Context of the Arabic Grammatical Theory (2008; 334 pp). He also completed Al-Mawrid aAl-Akbar (2005; 2155 pp) which was started by his late father Mounir Baalbaki.

Professor Baalbaki’s editions include: Das Biografische Lexikon des Salahaddin Halil ibn Aibak as-Safadi vol. 22, Bibliotika Islamika vol. 5 (1983; 568 pp); A Study and Edition of Ibn Duraid’s Gumharat al-Luga (3 volume; 1997-1988; 1782 pp); A Study and Edition of Ibn Aqil’s Sharh ala Alfiyyat Ibn Malik (1992; 762 pp) and Al-Baladhuri’s Ansab al-Ashraf, vol 7/1 Bibliotika Islamika, 28i (1997; 672 pp) He also edited the following volumes: Arab Language and Culture, Special volume of al-Abhath (1983; 242 pp); Quest for Understanding Arabic and Islamic Studies: in Honor of Malcolm H. Kerr (co-edited with S. Seikaly and P. Dodd) (1990; 326 pp); The Formation of the Classical Islamic World: The Early Islamic Grammatical Tradition (2007; 336 pp) and Poetry and History; The Value of Poetry in Reconstructing Arab History (co-edited with T. Khalidi and S. S. Agha).

Professor Baalabaki’s insightful and coherent research and his publications (in Arabic and English) on Arabic grammar, its origins, its centrality within the wider Arab culture and its relationships and contributions to several areas of Islamic studies have brought new dimensions to the study of Arabic grammatical heritage and analytical methods of early grammarians, and significantly enhanced knowledge of early Arabic grammatical thought among Western scholars, particularly with regards to the Kitab of Sibawayh, a revered ancient scholar and founder of Arabic grammar. In view of his outstanding contributions to the study of the history of the Arabic grammatical tradition, Professor Baalbaki was chosen by the prestigious series The Formation of the Classical Islamic World to produce its volume The Early Islamic Grammatical Tradition (2007) while the Variorum Collected Studies Series reprinted eighteen of his articles under one title Grammarians and Grammatical Theory in the Medieval Arabic Tradition (2004). He was also awarded the 1999 Prize for Humanities by Abdel Hadi Al-Dibs Foundation in Lebanon. He is a member of the editorial boards of: Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Brill, Leiden; Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Oslo; Journal of Arabic Linguistic Tradition, Washington, D.C.; Langues et Littératures du Monde Arabe, Paris; Majallat Al-Mu’jamiyya Al-‘Arabiyya, Tunisia; Romano Arabica, Bucharest and The Arabic Historical Dictionary (Arab Language Academy, Cairo). He also served as editor of Al-Abhath from 1985 to 1996.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.