Sibawayh

Sibawayhi (Persian سيبويه Sībawaih; * 760, † by 793 in Shiraz ) was a Persian linguist from Bayza in the province of Fars and author of al - kitab fi n- nahw ( book about the grammar). The work represents one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the Arabic language and is, in particular in the fields of phonetics and phonology extremely detailed and precise. His real name was Abū ʿ Amr ibn ʿ Uthmān Baschr ibn al - Basri Qanbar / أبو بشر عمرو بن عثمان بن قنبر البصري / Abū ʿ Amr b BaSr. ʿ Uthman b. Qanbar al - Basri. He was a student of Khalil ibn Ahmad al - Farahidi.

Sibawayhis linguistics was not an end in itself but should primarily help originally non- Arabic speaking Muslims to read and understand the Koran. This Sibawayhi contributed to the spread of the Arabic language in the Middle East.