As one of several books published under the Arabic Research Program at Georgetown U., Harrell's (1928-1964) text has continued to serve as a valuable resource on spoken Arabic and on Arabic
dialectology since its initial publication in 1964. The text contains some 15,000 main and subentries, representing the everyday usage of educated Arabic speakers in Damascus. Written for
native speakers of American English, the text is suitable for students of Arabic, scholars wishing to learn the Syrian dialect, and visitors and travelers to Syria and other nations where the
dialect is spoken. Annotation 穢2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
