Mortimer Sloper Howell Explained

Mortimer Sloper Howell [1] (3 February 1841 – 9 September 1925) was a British magistrate[2] and scholar[3] of Asiatic studies. Howell served his term as magistrate in the administrative region of the North-Western Provinces of British India from October 1862 to April 1896. During his tenure as magistrate, he composed a voluminous reference work titled A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities.

Education and career

Howell was educated at Christ's Hospital in his junior years.[4] He then went on to study at Corpus Christi College at the University of Oxford.[5] Howell retired from Her Majesty's service as Judiciary Commissioner of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh in April 1896.[6] On returning to England, he resided at Woodbury of Clevedon, Somerset, until his death.[7] He died of natural causes at the age of 84 at his home on 9 September 1925.

The Grammar

Howell's grammar, A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities, was composed as an amalgamation of every significant Classical text of grammar, from the early Islamic period, authored between the 8th and 13th centuries.[8] It is set apart from other Classical Arabic grammars written in English by virtue of its inclusion of the discussions and debates that circulated among Classical Arabic grammarians and lexicologists with regard to syntactic rules and morphology. It covers with considerable detail the topics of Incorporation[9] (Arabic الإدغام) and of Imāla[10] (Arabic الإمالة) that seldom feature in comparable works.

Owing to the sheer bulk of Howell's grammar, the work was published as fasciculi over a period of 31 years;[11] the first fasciculus being published in 1880, and the last in 1911.[12] As regards pagination, the work is divided into 2 volumes that were issued as 6 fasciculi in total.[13] Including all appendices, frontal matter, notes, and parsing perusals, the work is constituted of more than 4000 pages.

The work has long since been out of print, although, several[14] [15] [16] publishers offer printed copies of scanned versions on demand.

Several[17] [18] websites offer, for download, versions in pdf format of Howell's grammar.

Three original prints are known to exist: one in the British Library of London,[19] one in the Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford,[20] and one in the library of the University of Toronto.

References

Notes and References

  1. Rao, Conjeeveram H. (editor, 1915) The Indian Biographical Dictionary, Madras: Pillar & Co.
  2. A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities [1880–1911] Preface, First Fasciculus
  3. A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities [1880–1911] Preface, First Fasciculus
  4. Rao, Conjeeveram H. (editor, 1915) The Indian Biographical Dictionary, Madras: Pillar & Co.
  5. Rao, Conjeeveram H. (editor, 1915) The Indian Biographical Dictionary, Madras: Pillar & Co.
  6. Rao, Conjeeveram H. (editor, 1915) The Indian Biographical Dictionary, Madras: Pillar & Co.
  7. Rao, Conjeeveram H. (editor, 1915) The Indian Biographical Dictionary, Madras: Pillar & Co.
  8. A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities [1880–1911]
  9. A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities [1880–1911] Volume 2, Sixth Fasciculus
  10. A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities [1880–1911] Volume 2, Fifth Fasciculus
  11. A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities [1880–1911]
  12. A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities [1880–1911]
  13. A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, Translated and Compiled from the Works of the Most Approved Native or Naturalized Authorities [1880–1911]
  14. Web site: Mortimer Sloper Howell - AbeBooks.
  15. Web site: Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language ..., Part 1 : Mortimer Sloper Howell : 9781148541297.
  16. https://www1.lightningsource.com/default.aspx
  17. Web site: Grammar of the classical Arabic language.
  18. Web site: Asim Iqbal 2nd - Mission RSEI: A Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language by Mortimer Sloper Howell. 21 November 2013.
  19. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?mode=Basic&vid=BLVU1&vl(freeText0)=a%20grammar%20of%20the%20classical%20arabic%20language&fn=search&tab=local_tab&
  20. http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=oxfaleph014383574&indx=1&recIds=oxfaleph014383574&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&dscnt=1&scp.scps=scope%3A%28OX%29&frbg=&tab=local&dstmp=1376359531776&srt=rank&mode=Basic&dum=true&vl(254947567UI0)=any&tb=t&vl(1UIStartWith0)=contains&vl(254947564UI1)=all_items&vl(freeText0)=mortimer+sloper+howell&vid=OXVU1

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mortimer Sloper Howell".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.