Our guest blogger this week, Aisha Barisé, is a transdisciplinary language researcher and a PhD student specializing in language acquisition at the Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE) at McGill University. Her PhD research focuses on African and Black identity in relation to multi/plurilingualism in Canadian education.

The notion of a “native speaker” is a fuzzy term, that is traditionally a binary term used to describe a “mother tongue” (Skutnabb-Kangas & Phillipson, 1989) and that distinguishes an ideal speaker that acquired a language from birth relative to a non-native speaker who has acquired it as a second language (Davies, 2003, 2013). Currently this notion is undergoing criticism (e.g., Cook, 1999; Houghton & Bouchard, 2020), as it is based on purist and normative language ideologies rather reflecting discrete linguistic practices. Further, the notion hinders linguistic fluidity, by extension posing barriers to the sense of wellbeing, identity, and belonging of an individual. This notion is not a novel term, as it has implicit roots in linguistics dating back to early western linguists such as Leonard Bloomfield, for example in his (1933) notion native language where he defines it as: “the first language a human being learns to speak is his native language, he is a native speaker of this language” (p. 43). However, this notion surfaces explicitly through the work of the contemporary linguist Noam Chomsky (1965) (Davies 1991, 2003; Hackert, 2012).

Less has been written (historically and contemporarily) about non-European linguists and linguistics, and the construction of language ideologies such as native-speakerism in non-European contexts. As a transdisciplinary language researcher and a PhD student, part of my research is concerned with how epistemology (ways of knowing) influences language and ethics. The field of Linguistics tends to be dominated by western epistemologies; the history of Linguistics is often a recollection of work attributed to the European context. The Chinese, medieval Islamic and Indian contexts, for example, although profoundly influential in the historical and contemporary formation of the field of Linguistics (Robbins, 1997), are often omitted, rendering Linguistics very Eurocentric.

This post is dedicated to centering and understanding how non-western epistemology influences linguistics and language ideologies such as native-speakerism (Holliday, 2006). I do this by sharing the story of the “oriental” linguist, Sibawayh (سِيبَوَيْهِ ). The story of Sibawayh indicates how detrimental native speakerism is to plurilinguals, in the linguist’s imaginary.

Sibawayh was a Persian and a renowned grammarian of the Arabic language, born circa 143/A.D. 760 in Shiraz (contemporarily Fars Province), Iran. His name, Sibawayh, is an Arabized Persian nickname (Sibuyeh, in Farsi) meaning “scent of apples,” given by Sibawayh’s mother. Sibawayh moved to the city of Basra in Iraq, where he was under the tutelage of Arabic eminent grammarians at the Basra school of grammar. With time, Sibawayh learned to develop an especially high metalinguistic awareness of Arabic, becoming one of the leading grammarians of Basra. Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to consciously reflect on the structure of language, given that much of our knowledge of language is unconscious. This is an essential skill for linguists, as they are concerned with understanding the nature of language.

Despite Sibawayh being a leading grammarian of Arabic, his constructed status as a “non-native speaker” of Arabic was an overwhelming obstacle in his work and his life. The construction of Sibawayh’s status as a “non-native speaker” of Arabic was in comparison to the local “native speakers” of Arabic, who were ethnically Arab (unlike Sibawayh) and monolingual. In that context, language skills such as reciting poetry indexed high social capital, where Arabs would send their children to Bedouins to learn “pure” Arabic. Poets often competed in public, and Grammarians regularly debated in courts on grammatical issues. These debates were important, as they also informed interpretations of the Quran. The most infamous debate in Baghdad was one named the al-Mas’ala al-Zunburīyah, “The Question of the Hornet”. This debate was between Sibawayh (from the Basra school of grammar) and al-Kisa’i (from the rival Kufa school of grammar). They debated the grammatical form of the final clause of the following sentence:   

كُنْتُ أَظُنُّ أَنَّ ٱلْعَقْرَبَ أَشَدُّ لَسْأَةً مِنَ الزُّنْبُورِ

kuntu     ‘aẓunnu ‘anna l-‘aqraba       ‘ashaddu   las’atan  min az-zunbūri,

MOD:1SG:PST think:1SG:PST that DET-scorpion.MSC:NOM more:NOM sting.FEM PREP  DET-hornet.MSC:GEN,

‘I have always thought that the scorpion was more painful in stinging than the hornet, and sure enough it is’

The final clause is ‘…and sure enough it is’, literally ‘sure enough he (as in the scorpion) [is] she/her (the most painful)’since Arabic does express the copula verb ‘to be’ in this structure. Sibawyah argued that the feminine noun las’atan ‘bite’, should be replaced by a subject pronoun hiya ‘she’: 

فَإِذَا هُو هي

fa-‘iḏā,  huwa       ø            hiya

Surely,      3SG:MSC:NOM         COPULA          3SG:FEM:NOM

‘Sure enough he is she’ [sure enough he (the scorpion) is she (most painful one)]’

While Kisa’i opposed, Sibawayh proposed, arguing that the feminine noun las’atan ‘bite’, should be replaced by an object pronoun ha ‘her’: 

فَإِذَا هُوَ إِيَّاهَا

fa-‘iḏā    huwa          ø           ‘iyyā-hā

surely   3SG:MSC:NOM COPULA  PRTCL-3SG:FEM:ACCU

‘Sure enough he is her’ [sure enough he (the scorpion) is her (most painful one)]

Four judges (Boudins)–– assigned by Kisa’i—judged Sibawayh’s argument as wrong. Historians state that Kisa’i in fact bribed the judges to judge Sibawayh as wrong because of his “non-native speaker” status. This humiliating experience sent Sibawayh to his death, from deep sorrow or illness.  

The students of Sibawayh saw the “non-native speaker” injustice inflected upon Sibawayh, so they confronted Kisa’i about the incident, then published the first and most influential foundational Arabic grammar book, called ‘Alkitaab’ under the name of Sibawayh. Unfortunately, Sibawayh did not live to see the publication of his book, nor did he live to witness the apology of Kisa’i. 

I have always thought that native-speakerism is more painful in stinging than the scorpion and hornet. Native-speakerism stings are lethal as they leave hidden scars.

The story of Sibawayh is explicit evidence of linguicism (Skutnabb‐Kangas, 2015) in Arabic linguistics, as there is a record of this story by historians. However, there are many unrecorded instances of native speakerism (Holliday, 2006), that Sibawayh and many like Sibawayh have endured, given that this language ideology is resilient (Bouchard, 2020) and continues to persist globally.

This story makes me reflect on how focus on linguistic form has its benefits, yet it should not be at the expense of language learners/speakers. Linguistics should not be at the expense of linguists. Further, as linguists and applied linguists, it is imperative for us to critically interrogate our epistemologies to develop a holistic view of language, language learners, and language learning. Critically interrogating our ways of knowing entails undoing linguistic epistemicide —narratives that omit and silence nonwestern linguists, language ontology, and epistemologies. Undoing linguistic epistemicide generates multiple and diverse perspectives on language, language learners, and language learning. 

Links to the history of Arabic language and Arabic linguistics:

Al-Nassir, A. A. (1993). Sibawayh the phonologist: A critical study of the phonetic and phonological theory of Sibawayh as presented in his treatise Al-Kitāb. Kegan Paul International. https://doi.org/10.1163/1570058952583237

Brustad, K. (2016). The Iconic Síbawayh. In A. Korangy, W.M Thackston, R.P Mottahedeh, & W. Granara (Eds.), Essays in Islamic Philology, History, and Philosophy (pp. 141-65). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110313789-009  

Carter, M. G. (2004). Sibawayhi. Makers of Islamic civilization series. I.B. Tauris.

Coulmas, F. (2016). Guardians of Language: Twenty Voices Through History. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198736523.003.0002

Korangy, A., Thackston, W. M., Mottahedeh, R. P., & Granara, W. (2016). Essays in Islamic philology, history, and philosophy (Studies in the history and culture of the middle east series, v. 31). De Gruyter. 

Owens, J. (2006). A Linguistic History of Arabic. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199290826.001.0001

Versteegh, K. (2014). Arabic Language. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748645299

References:
Amin, N. (2000). Negotiating nativism: Minority immigrant women ESL teachers and the native speaker construct. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Bouchard, J. (2020). The Resilience of Native-Speakerism: A Realist Perspective. In S. Houghton &  J. Bouchard (Eds.). Native Speakerism (pp. 17-45). Springer.

Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press.

Cook, V. (1999). Going beyond the native speaker in language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 33 (2): 185–209.

Davies, A. (1991). The native speaker in applied linguistics. Edinburgh University Press.

Davies, A. (2003). The native speaker: Myth and reality, 2nd edition. Bilingual education and bilingualism series 38. Multilingual Matters.

Davies, A. (2013). Native speakers and native users: Loss and gain. Cambridge University Press.

Hackert, S. (2012). The Emergence of the English Native Speaker: A Chapter in Nineteenth-Century Linguistic Thought. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.1515/9781614511052

Holliday, A. (2006). Native-speakerism. ELT Journal. 6(4), 385–387. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccl030

Houghton, S., & Bouchard, J. (2020). Native Speakerism. Springer.

Robbins, R.H. (1997). A Short History of Linguistics. Routledge

Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove & Phillipson, Robert (1989). Mother tongue: The theoretical and sociopolitical construction of a concept. In U., Ammon (Ed.), Status and function of languages and language varieties (pp.450-477). De Gruyter.

Skutnabb‐Kangas, T. (2015). Linguicism. In C.A. Chapelle (Ed.). The encyclopedia of applied linguistics, (pp. 1-6). Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1460

[Photograph of Noam Chomsky]. (2020) Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://kidega.com/blog/noam-chomsky-felsefesi/

Ganjavi (n.d.). [Photograph of Iranian art and apples]. Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://in.pinterest.com/pin/6122149483110067/

[Photograph of classical scholars debating]. (2022) Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://qatardebate.org/qatardebate-journal/debating-in-islamic-heritage/

Mad Science en. (2021). [Photograph of video thumbnail of hornet and scorpion]. Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ4ahpsBn10&ab_channel=MADSCIENCEen

 [Photograph of Al kitab, the classical text of Sibawayh]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://sites.google.com/site/thearchiveofnaushera/sibawayh-al-kitab