Classical Arabic Grammar, Modern Arabic Grammar, Syntax of the Qur'an
I received my BA in Arabic and Middle East Studies from the Hebrew University, a Masters in Arabic from the University of Haifa and a PhD in Arabic from Erlangen-Nürnberg University, Germany (2010). Since 2019, I have been a senior lecturer at the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Haifa.
I teach courses as Arabic Grammar, Syntax of the Qur’ān, Time and Aspect in the Qur’ān, Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic
My primary interest is Arabic syntax, particularly the syntax of the Qur’ān. My current articles concern different grammatical and syntactic phenomena in the Qur’ān, such as: revealing new functions of particles and pronouns used in the Qur’ān, understanding the usages (pragmatics) of various syntactic structures, discussing issues of time (tense) and aspect, defining the linguistic features of the various discourses in the Qur’ān and grammatical issues integrated within Qur’ānic Exegesis. My research methodology draws on discourse analysis, Qur’ānic translations, Qur’ānic exegeses, Western grammatical theories and comparing the Qur’ānic structure with parallel structures used in Biblical Hebrew.
Besides my work on the syntax of the Qur’ān, I study grammatical phenomena and terms as they are described in traditional Arabic linguistic thought. I also examine grammatical phenomena of modern standard Arabic, such as passive types as well as collective nouns and their agreement types.
I see great importance in academic collaboration and interdisciplinary studies. I am working in cooperation with a researcher from the Hebrew language department at the University of Haifa. This has led to a joint article, but it has also made me aware of a new corpus and new methods. I have also written two articles on the language of the nahḍa together with a colleague from the department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.
The following is a selected list of my most recent publications:
1. Yehudit Dror. “Is Each Particle in the Qurʼān Translatable? The Case of wāw al-istiʼnāf Preceding the Fawāṣil.” Babel: International Journal of Translation, 61/1 (2015): 22-42.
2. Yehudit Dror. “The Collective Nouns in the Qurʼān.” Journal of Semitic Studies 61 (2016): 103-137.
3. Yehudit Dror. “The Demonstrative Particle ḏālika and Its Anaphoric Function in the Qur’ān.” Studia Orientalia Electronica 4 (2016): 131-149.
4. Sol Azuelos-Atias and Yehudit Dror. “The Modes of Action of Jews in the Muslim Public Sphere in Morocco – Linguistic and Pragmatic Analysis of Legal Texts.” Peamim 156 (2019): 75-101. (in Hebrew).
5. Sachs Fruma and Dror Yehudit. “al-Bustānī's Approach to the Arabic Language: From Theory to Practice.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 29/3 (2019): 393-413.
