Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: عبد الرحمن حاج صالح) was an Algerian linguist (8 July 1928 - 5 March 2017), popularly labelled the "father of linguistics" in Algeria.

Life

Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah was born in Oran on 8 July 1928. He joined the anti-colonial Algerian People's Party at the age of 15, and soon afterward took refuge in Egypt, where he began studying the Arabic language at Al-Azhar University. He later studied at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a Lists of universities in France, public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southern France, southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bor ...

, gaining a BA in Arabic language and literature (1958) and a ''Diplôme d'études supérieures'' in French philology. After obtaining an Agrégation Certificate in Language and Literature from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

(1961), he briefly worked as assistant professor at the College of Arts, Rabat University (

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

). Once Algeria became independent from France in 1962, Hadj-Salah joined the

University of Algiers The University of Algiers (Arabic:جامعة الجزائر – بن يوسف بن خـدة ), commonly called the Algiers 1 University, is a public research university located in Algiers, Algeria. It is the oldest and most prestigious universi ...

, where he would spend the remainder of his academic career. He was dean of the university from 1965 to 1968. During his university career, he also founded a journal of linguistics, ''Al-Lisaniyyat'', and developed a master's program in linguistics.

Linguistic theory and research

Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah analysed the grammatical theory of

Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi Abu ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad ibn ‘Amr ibn Tammām al-Farāhīdī al-Azdī al-Yaḥmadī ( ar, أبو عبدالرحمن الخليل بن أحمد الفراهيدي; 718 – 786 CE), known as Al-Farāhīdī, or Al-Khalīl, ...

, and advocated a modern version of this theory which he called "neo-Khalilian", sometimes translated as "modern Khalilian". According to Hadj-Salah, this theory is distinguished from post-Saussurian structuralism notably by its use of '' qiyas'' (approximately: analogy) as a process of constructive abstraction, and from

generative grammar Generative grammar, or generativism , is a linguistic theory that regards linguistics as the study of a hypothesised innate grammatical structure. It is a biological or biologistic modification of earlier structuralist theories of linguisti ...

by adopting a syntheticist viewpoint treating the syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes as two components of the same matrix.

Reception and influence

In 2000, Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah was appointed Chairman of the Algerian Arabic Language Academy. In 2010, he won the

King Faisal Prize The King Faisal Prize ( ar, جائزة الملك فيصل, formerly King Faisal International Prize), is an annual award sponsored by King Faisal Foundation presented to "dedicated men and women whose contributions make a positive difference". T ...

for Arabic Language and Literature.

References

{{Authority control Linguists from Algeria 1928 births 2017 deaths People from Oran Province Grammarians of Arabic 21st-century Algerian people