"Thoroughly backed up by numerous solid references in the dialectological literature . . . an important publication advancing the field of comparative Arabic dialectology."

This book is the first comparative study of the syntax of Arabic dialects, based on natural language data recorded in Morocco, Egypt, Syria, and Kuwait. These four dialect regions are geographically diverse and representative of four distinct dialect groups. Kristen E. Brustad has adopted an analytical approach that is both functional and descriptive, combining insights from discourse analysis, language typology, and pragmatics - the first time such an approach has been used in the study of spoken Arabic syntax. An appendix includes sample texts from her data. Brustad's work provides the most nuanced description available to date of spoken Arabic syntax, widens the theoretical base of Arabic linguistics, and gives both scholars and students of Arabic tools for greater cross-dialect comprehension.