The Arabic Language and Syro-Lebanese National Identity Searching in Butrus Al-Bustānī's Muhīt Al-Muhīt

Abstract

Over centuries, Arabic lexicography had operated under a solid myth of pure linguistic origins rooted in the terra prima of the Arabian Desert. Butrus al-Bustānī's Muhīt al-Muhīt is the earliest Arabic lexicon that breaks with this tradition. In this modern lexicon, al-Bustānī recollected the biblical origins of key Arabic words. By introducing the Bible into the Lexicon, al-Bustānī revolutionized some conventions of Arabic lexicography which usually operated under a solid - mainly Quranic - notion of what constitutes a legitimate source for lexical elaboration. The inclusion of the Bible competitively decentred the foundational texts of the classical lexicon. Although al-Bustānī relied on conventional methodologies in his approach to lexicography, he succeeded in constructing an alternative, rival narrative about the biblical origins of the civilization of the Arabs. These changes went in tandem with al-Bustānī's contribution to the Christianization of Syro-Lebanese national identity in the nineteenth century. © 2017 The author.