Munther A. Younes

Reis Senior Lecturer of Arabic Language and Linguistics

Image of Munther A. Younes
420 White Hall
may2@cornell.edu

Education

  • Ph.D. Department of Linguistics, The University of Texas at Austin, 1982.
  • Diploma, 1975, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan (English as a second language)
  • B.A., 1974 University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan (English Language and Literature)

 

Departments and programs

  • Linguistics
  • Near Eastern Studies
  • Religious Studies Program

Affiliated Colleges

  • College of Arts and Sciences

Overview

Courses Developed and Taught:

  • Arabic Language (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, and Intensive Arabic)
  • Arabic for Heritage Speakers
  • Arabic Grammar and Writing
  • Introduction to Qur’anic Arabic
  • In Search of the Original Qur’an
  • Palestine in the News
  • Current Events in the Arabic Media
  • Modern Arabic Literature
  • Arab Society and Culture
  • Comparative Semitic Linguistics
  • Arabic Pedagogy Practicum

Research Focus

Arabic linguistics (phonetics, phonology, morphology, sociolinguistics, and comparative/historical dialectology), teaching Arabic as a foreign language, the language of the Qur’an, comparative Semitic linguistics.

Publications

Books

  • RiHla ilaa Bilaad al-‘Arab: A Comprehensive Introductory Course for Arabic Heritage Speakers. Routledge 2021.
  • Arabiyyat al-Naas fii MaSr, Part I, with Makda Weatherspoon, Elizabeth Huntley and Jonathan Featherstone, Routledge 2020. (A first-year Arabic textbook with an audio and video component.)
  • Kalila wa Dimna for Students of Arabic, Second Edition,  Routledge 2020.
  • Charging Steeds or Maidens Performing Good Deeds: In Search of the Original Qur’an. Routledge, 2019.
  • The Integrated Approach to Arabic Instruction, Routledge 2015.
  • Arabiyyat al-Naas, Part III, (for third-year Arabic), with Yomna Chami, Routledge 2014.
  • Arabiyyat al-Naas, Part II, (for second-year Arabic), with Hanada al-Masri, Routledge, 2013.
  • Arabiyyat al-Naas, Part I (for first-year Arabic), with Makda Weatherspoon and Maha Saliba Foster, Routledge 2013.
  • The Routledge Introduction to Qur’anic Arabic, Routledge 2013.

Articles

  • “Entering the House through the Front Door: The Integrated Approach to Arabic Instruction”, to appear in Relating Arabic L2 Teaching to CEFR Guidelines: Principles, Approaches, and Practices (Proceedings of the conference “Mastering Arabic Variation” held at the University of Genoa, Italy in September 2018.
  • “Solving the Arabic Language Dilemma: First Steps”.  In Revisiting Levels of Contemporary Arabic in Egypt: Essays on Arabic Varieties in Memory of El-Said Badawi, edited by Zeinab Taha. The American University in Cairo Press, 2020.
  • (With Elizabeth Huntley) “From an MSA-Only to a Fully Integrated AFL Curriculum”. In The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics. Edited by Enam El-Wer and Uri Horesh. Routledge, 2019.
  • “To Separate or to Integrate, That Is the Question”. In Arabic Integration. Edited by Mahmoud al-Batal. Georgetown University Press, 2018.
  •  “Blessing, Clinging, Familiarity, Custom -- or Ship: A New Reading of the Word Īlāf  in Q 106”, Journal of Semitic Studies LXII/1 Spring 2017.
  • “Angels, Death, the Soul, Stars, Bows--or Women?: The Opening Verses of Qur’an 79.” New Perspectives on the Qur’aan: The Qur’an in Its Historical Context 2”. Edited by Gabriel Said Reynolds. London and New York: Routledge 2011.
  • “In Suffering or in Honor: A Reinterpretation of Q 90 (al-Balad)”, Die Entstehung einer Weltreligion I. Edited by Markus Groß and Karl-Heinz Ohlig. Berlin/Tübingen: Verlag Hans Schiller 2010.
  • “The Case for Integration” The NECTFL Review. Fall-Winter 2009.
  • “Ingrate or Honorable: A reexamination of the word kanuud in Qur’an:100 (Al-‘Aadiyaat)”, Arabica 56, 2009.
  • “Charging Steeds or Maidens Doing Good Deeds: A Re-Interpretation Of Qur’an 100 (Al-‘Aadiyaat)”, Arabica 55, 2008.
  • “On ’I‘raab, Power, and Language Reform in the Arab World”, Al-‘Arabiyya 40-41, 2008.
  •  “Bringing Hamza under Control:  A Proposal for Simplifying Hamza-Writing Rules in Arabic”. Al-'Arabiyya 38-40, 2008.
  • “Integrating the Colloquial with Fusha in the Arabic-as-a-Foreign-Language Classroom”, in Handbook for Arabic language teaching professionals in the 21st century (edited by Kassem M. Wahba, Zeinab A. Taha, Liz England).Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006.
  • “Redundancy and productivity in Palestinian Arabic verb derivation”, in Proceedings of the Third International Conference of AIDA (Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe),  2000.
  •  "An Integrated Curriculum for Teaching Elementary Arabic,"  The Teaching of Arabic in the 1990’s: Directions and Issues, 1995.
  • "On Vowel Shortening in Palestinian Arabic," Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics VII: Papers from the Seventh Annual Symposium on Arabic  Linguistics, 1995.
  • "On Emphasis and /r/ in Arabic," Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics VI: Papers from the Sixth Annual Symposium on Arabic  Linguistics,  1994.
  • "Emphasis Spread in Two Arabic Dialects," Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics V: Papers from the Fifth Annual Symposium on Arabic  Linguistics, 1993.
  • "An Integrated Approach to Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language," Al-‘Arabiyya 23, 1990.
  • "The Stressing of Superheavy Syllables by Saudi Learners of English: Implications for the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis,"  Proceedings of the Third Annual Yarmouk University Linguistics Conference, Irbid, Jordan, 1984.
  •  "Emphasis and the Low Vowels in Palestinian Arabic”, Texas  Linguistics  Forum  23, 1984.

In the news

NES Courses - Fall 2024

ARAB Courses - Fall 2024

NES Courses - Spring 2025

ARAB Courses - Spring 2025

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