Stray Arrows: Criticising the Narrative of the Difficulty of Arabicand the Complexity of its Systems

Abstract

This paper examines misconceptions about the Arabic language in terms of difficulty, complexity and linear structures, and examines the strategies employed to refute this narrative. To this end, the paper examines the negative, ill-conceived strategies that seek to label discard the Arabic language as difficult and switch to other languages, and looks into the positive, sound strategies that invoke the connection to religion, history, or linguistics as rationales. Upon exploring these strategies, it is clear that the Arab mind was able to confront the claims made against the Arabic language in a variety of scientific ways.