Optional Course: Quranic Arabic
Course content
The course is an intensive 15 ECTS course in Quranic Arabic and exegesis. It is a demanding language to learn in just one semester, so students must be prepared to work diligently. The reward is gaining a solid understanding of Arabic grammar, sufficient to comprehend complex texts like the Qur'an. Students should thoroughly work through the exercises and only proceed when they fully grasp an exercise and remember the grammar. Students will also learn basic Quranic exegesis.
The course is taught in a 'flipped classroom' style, meaning all the basics of the grammar are taught via video. This allows contact time with the teacher to be used for asking questions rather than grammar lectures. Students need to watch the grammar lessons multiple times and pause the video frequently to digest the compact information provided.
The course is co-taught with students from the Master's programme ‘Religious Roots of Europe’.
Time Period:
- Teaching: Week 6-18, with a break for Easter.
Responsible Teacher and Institution:
- Martin Ehrensvärd, Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen
Syllabus and Exam: The syllabus for the exam includes:
- The first 57 verses of Sura 12 (Joseph Sura) from Brünnow-Fischer’s Arabische Chrestomathie (6.5 pages).
- Sura 1 and 22 from the same work (2.5 pages).
- Angelika Neuwirth’s "Scripture, Poetry, and the Making of a Community: Reading the Qur'an as a Literary Text" (470 pages).
Interreligious Islamic Studies
• The teaching will consist of Zoom lectures, Wednesdays
15:15-16:45 CET.
Always in the same Zoom
room,https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/5275448182.
There is no password. Students present in Copenhagen are welcome to
come to my office for these classes. I will audio record the
classes and share them. There will also be one in-person meeting
(Monday in week 11) where students actively participate in
discussions and analyses of the texts. There will be a focus on
both linguistic and literary analysis.
• The course is taught in the 'flipped classroom' style,
which means that all the basics of the grammar are taught by videos
on YouTube. Contact time with the teacher can be used for asking
questions rather than grammar lectures. You will need to watch the
grammar lessons multiple times and pause the video frequently to
digest the compact information provided.
Literature:
- Textbook: The textbook is a work in progress and is available for download on http://ehrensvard.dk/?Arabic.
- Grammar: Wolfdietrich Fischer, "A Grammar of Classical Arabic" (Yale University Press 2002).
- Chrestomathy: Rudolf-Ernst Brünnow and August Fischer, "Chrestomathy of Classical Arabic Prose Literature" (Harrasowitz 2008).
- Reading Arabic Aloud: You will receive mp3 files of Martin Ehrensvärd reading all of the exercises in Arabic.
Resources:
- Quran.com for grammatical resources – but beware, mistakes are frequent.
- Wolfdietrich Fischer: "A Grammar of Classical Arabic".
- Brünnow/Fischer: "Chrestomathy of Classical Arabic Prose Literature".
- Hans Wehr: "A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic".
- Badawi & Abdel Haleem: "Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur'anic usage".
Bachelor students may register for this course. It is highly recommended that they have prior general knowledge of Semitic languages, such as Hebrew or Arabic. The course's level of difficulty is significant, and a solid foundation in these languages will be beneficial for successful participation.
- ECTS
- 15 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
Written assignment, 48 hours
- Type of assessment details
- Examination takes the form of a fixed written paper. The student is given 48 hours to translate, grammatically analyze, and exegetically comment on an original language ancient text that may not have been discussed and analyzed as part of the teaching of the course.
- Exam registration requirements
-
Examination:
- Written exam with a duration of 48 hours.
- The exam assignment will consist of:
- Translation and linguistic analysis of approximately 6-8 lines from the syllabus (indicated as Qur’anic verse numbers).
- An exegetical commentary (including a brief literary analysis) of the sura in question.
Product:
- Students must submit a maximum of 5 pages of transliteration, translation, and grammatical analysis and a maximum of five pages of exegetical commentary. One page is defined as 2400 characters including spaces.
- The product should be uploaded in the digital exam system.
Requirements for Transliteration:
- Use of Times New Roman font.
- Full indication of nunation and the definite article al- always transliterated as al-.
- Prepositions transliterated with a hyphen: bi-, ta-, li-.
Requirements for Translation:
- Accuracy over eloquence.
- Identification of translation difficulties and alternative translations.
Requirements for Grammatical Commentary:
- Identification and analysis of basic grammatical features, including roots, verbs, gender, number, case, particles, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and prepositions.
- Most importantly: In each case, students must make sure to state how they reached your morphological conclusion, in other words, which features did they use to recognize the stem or inflection of a verb.
- Marking scale
- passed/not passed
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
- Exam period
-
Summer Exam
Criteria for exam assessment
Graded with internal examination
Single subject courses (day)
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 28
- Preparation
- 0
- Exam
- 0
- English
- 28
Kursusinformation
- Language
- English
- Course number
- TISKOPC15U
- ECTS
- 15 ECTS
- Programme level
- Full Degree Master
Full Degree Master choice
- Duration
-
1 semester
- Placement
- Spring
- Schedulegroup
-
Week 6-18, with a break for Easter.
- Studyboard
- Study board of Theology
Contracting department
- Interreligious Islamic Studies
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Theology
Course Coordinator
- Martin Gustaf Ehrensvärd (3-7d75785084757f7c3e7b853e747b)
Teacher
Martin Gustaf Ehrensvärd
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