The state of learning in Syria and the Levant seems to have been steadily on the decline for some centuries. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it must have been at a very low ebb. Once flourishing literary centers were dead to scholarly impulses. Famous institutions and foundations for learning had vanished. The French campaign in the Levant, the assiduity of German and French scholars, but even more effectively of late the presence of the Western missionaries, have all been stimulative to a renewed literary activity in the Arabic language. One of the most noteworthy names in this nineteenth century revival is that of the poet YÂzijy (Shaykh NÂ?Îf ibn 'AbdallÂh al-YÂzijy) of the Lebanon, who is much esteemed as a sort of modern Hariri. His “Majma' al Ba?rain” (“Where the Two Seas Meet”) is a great favorite. He wrote on literature, logic and grammar. His works are used as text-books in the Syrian schools and his poems are available to readers. The presses of Beirut and Cairo have put forth a large number of works within the last century by both old and new authors. The services of the American Press in Beirut have been of very great value and influence in the near East. Excellent work is done also by the Jesuit and other presses in the same city. The press is not so restricted in Egypt as in Syria; hence the activity in journalism in the former country as compared with the latter. The periodical press of Egypt is quite varied. Though some of the journals there published are under the ban of the censor in the Turkish domains, yet subscribers in Palestine receive them by the French post. Beirut is the intellectual hub of Asiatic Turkey as it is also a chief center of trade. American and English educational enterprises have done much for Turkish subjects. Among the Syrians their influence has been very conspicuous. In Palestine proper the educational missionary work is largely in the hands of the English people and their church societies. Wherever missionary effort has been put forth it has stimulated local effort and lifted the educational standard. The old system of village boys’ schools under the care of the kha?Îb is about as weak as it can be and not actually vanish. The Greek Church schools in the Christian villages are in about the same condition. In such places only a few leading men will ordinarily be found able to read and write. But where missionary schools have entered the native schools have multiplied and improved. Robinson mentions a straggling school for boys in RÂm AllÂh, in 1838, where five or six boys were considered educated when they could read the Arabic Psalter. To-day things are considerably different, for some hundreds of the RÂm AllÂh children are in school, being educated in all branches of elementary education and some of the studies of secondary grade. The most notable difference, however, between then and now is that there are almost as many girls as boys in the schools of the village mentioned. Stimulated by the provision of the American Friends for the education of girls, the native Greek Church also has opened a school for the village girls.

We are reminded here of a story of the American scholar and missionary, Dr. Van Dyck, who, while on his way to a village in the Lebanon, was accosted by a Moslem, who asked after his errand. Dr. Van Dyck replied, “I am going to the village of A—— to introduce three schools.” “Three schools,” said the surprised questioner; “why, that is a good many for so small a village.” “Well,” said Dr. Van Dyck, “I am to open a school, but if I do that the Greeks will open one and the Roman Catholics another, so that I consider that I shall really be responsible for three schools.” At Schneller’s school for orphan children in Jerusalem are some hundreds of boys. They are divided into families of from twenty to thirty, with a monitor or group-father over each. The forenoons are taken up with schoolroom exercises and most of the afternoons are devoted to learning trades. Shoemaking, carpentry, pottery, printing, wood-carving and dairying are taught. Blind boys are taught to seat chairs and weave straw mats. The chief hindrances in the promotion of school enterprises in Palestine are all reducible to legal disabilities, which are the occasion and encouragement for many other petty annoyances. It is at times very difficult to secure valid titles to purchased property and more difficult to accomplish safely the erection of suitable buildings.

Of foreign tongues there are many to be heard in the country. Some friends in Jerusalem were one day discussing the numerous tongues and dialects used in a conversational way in and about the city. They began to count them up and reached something over fifty. Not all of these are heard by the country people, but many of them are heard occasionally as pilgrims and other travelers pass. Until comparatively recently the leading foreign tongue was French, but lately its influence has been lessened in favor of English and German.

The language of the people is Arabic. It is a virile tongue and destined to increase in use rather than diminish, though it may never again have the ascendency enjoyed in the days of the caliphates. One is tempted to say that the Syrian finds his nationality in his faith and his politics in his church only. But it would also be true to say that, to many, their clearest bond of national feeling is in their boasted language and in the masters of their old literature. The Arabic classics hold an equal sway over Christian and Moslem natives. If there is any possible place or condition in which the bitterness of the rival faiths can be assuaged it is in the discussion of Arabic lore. The language and its masterpieces are the source of much intellectual and esthetic delight to the people. In these they must find all the gratification that in Western societies is realized in the pursuit of the liberal sciences and arts.

The country and desert folk of Palestine and Arabia are justifiable in much of their pride in their really beautiful language. Some of the gutturals may seem unduly harsh, and when fully pronounced the word endings may at times seem monotonous; but rightly rolled and molded there is nothing more beautiful and clear than a well-spoken chain of Arabic sentences. One must prefer the country to the city speech. There are twenty-eight distinct letters in the Arabic alphabet. The first two letters alif and bay correspond to the aleph and beth of the Hebrew, also to the alpha and beta of the Greek, from which comes our word “alphabet.” The two letters lam and aleph written together are sometimes reckoned an extra letter. Many of the other letters are variants of each other phonetically, such as different kinds of t’s, h’s, d’s, s’s and k’s. Dialectical variations account in part for these numerous sounds and for others which were not given a distinguishing sign after the alphabet stiffened into its classical form. For instance, there is a character pronounced to-day by some ?ha, by others za. Another is pronounced koff, but by others aff, and by the BedawÎn, goff. In Egypt the sound for the fifth letter of the alphabet is hard g, while in Syria it is j. The fourth letter th tends to become a plain t, as in katÎr for kathÎr, or in talÂt for thalÂth.

There is a historical instance of such dialectical variance among Palestine country people (Judges 12: 6) where s and sh in sibboleth and shibboleth are the sounds in question. Both of these are represented in Arabic, the language of modern Palestine, in the letters sÎn and shÎn. This instance helps to suggest how close are the tongues of ancient and modern Palestine, Hebrew and Arabic. Aramaic was the historical bridge between the two.^[182]

Many of the place names to-day in use are probably not Arabic at all, though sounding very much like it, but old Aramaic or Hebrew names adapted to Arabic-speaking mouths. One of the adaptations thus made to render the ancient tongue palatable to the modern pronunciation is the change of final l to n. So Israel becomes Israin. Similarly, Gabriel is frequently heard in Arabic as Jibran. Instead of Bethel the modern Palestinian says BaytÎn, there being in Arabic no softening of the letters b, g, d, etc., after a vowel as in Hebrew. The Arabic language early lent itself to the grammarians who, with great skill, wrought out its inherent symmetry and logical possibilities. To look at the language as they have developed it and systematized it is quite a novel experience for one who has known only the European family of tongues. Stress is laid upon the substantial quality of almost every word except the mere particles, exclamations, etc. But the tendency is grammatically to refer the words to triliteral verbs. In the arrangement of verbs in paradigms the third person singular of the past or, rather, completed action or state of the verb, is made prominent. Inflection is managed by preformatives and afformatives denoting the person, number or gender; also by infixes and significant vowels to assist in determining voices and modes of action. The noun is similarly modified to denote gender and number. Verbs and nouns both take pronominal suffixes. There is a tendency to pleonasm in the use of pronouns and prepositions in connection with such suffixes. The dual is in constant daily use in the language.

What to us would seem like very picturesquely figurative tendencies in common speech are the relationships introduced by the use of such words as ab, father; umm, mother; dhÛ, master or possessor; ibn, son;^[183] and bint, daughter. This is carried to such an extent as really to include nicknaming.

Arabic has a large vocabulary and permits considerable further expansion. In remoter regions the borrowed words are few, but among those who hear other tongues they are numerous. In this respect the tongue has had an experience not different from others. Still it retains considerable independence, as languages go, and covers a wide empire. Even where Arabic is not actually spoken, its influence has been considerable. It has loaned large numbers of words and its script has covered many other languages, as, for example, Turkish, Persian, Hindustani, Malay, the African dialects, etc. The influence of the ?urÂn and IslÂm has been the real force in this expansion of idiom and script. Prominence in the written language is given to the consonants. Owing to its easily cursive form and the customary omission of vowels it can be written with great rapidity. For these very reasons it easily degenerates into a scrawl scarcely legible, but perhaps no worse than English or any language carelessly written. A piece of writing is called basÎ? when the vowels are left out, and mÛshakil when they are written.

The vowel signs are three, a, i, u, but according as these are preceded by a heavy or light consonant, or followed by such or by one of the semivowels, they admit of considerable modification. The vowel sounds in Arabic, therefore, are numerous. As the consonants are prominent in writing, so are the vowels very significant in speaking. Especially in speaking long distances in the wild country, across ravines from hillsides, etc., a peculiar and effective stress is placed on the vowels.

There are dialectical variations between the common spoken language of the peasantry and that of the city; also between both of these and what is termed church or high language, which is really a near approach to the classical Arabic; finally between the language of women and children on the one hand and men on the other.

One very peculiar custom is that in the use of the personal pronouns the order is always first, second and third. Not as with us, you and I, but I and you, or I and he, would be Arabic usage.

More closely significant in a study of the Palestinian peasant are those local turns of the language which we find in his colloquialisms, exclamations, etc. There is also a very fruitful field in the proverbs, songs and stories of the peasantry. A choice collection of stories as gathered by a lifelong resident of the country, Rev. J. E. Hanauer, has been edited by Dr. H. G. Mitchell.^[184]

The word hÔl is used in RÂm AllÂh and its environs to mean very or very much, that is, as a colloquialism for kathÎr. HÔl means, literally, frightful, so its use is equivalent to the analogous use of awful as a superlative in English. The RÂm AllÂh peasants would say Shughal hÔl, “An awful lot of work”; tÎn hÔl, “very many figs.”

The BÎreh people use fÔ? el-fÔ?, which means, literally, the up of the up, to express first-rate or excellent, instead of the customary 'Âl.

In Palestine the word shellaby is very commonly used to mean excellent; also to signify assent, like all right, instead of the still more common ?ayyib, literally, good. Syrians in America, when conversing in Arabic, sometimes use instead of either of the above words the English all right, which they clip into orrite.

Shu b'amal fÎh? equals “What shall I do about it?” or, literally, “What shall I do in it?”

YÂ abayyeh, literally an intensification of “O my father!” is used in the face of difficulty as a sort of expression of dismay. YÂ ibn Âdam, is used in expostulation, son of Adam, equalling man.

Of an exclamatory nature are the following as samples of peasant usage: HayÛ, “There you are,” as we might say in answer to a question as to the whereabouts of a tool or other article. 'Un is a sort of grunt to express proof of one’s own efficiency or honesty. If you infer that a workman is not doing his work well or skilfully, he will put in stroke after stroke under your eye, each stroke accompanied by a self-approving 'Un, 'un, as if to say, “See that and that. Don’t I know how?” Or if one complain to the man who is bringing a load of fire-wood that it is filled with dirt and is not well dried (it is sold by weight), he will throw out piece after piece of choicer wood with a grunt at each one, as much as to say, “Look at that, and that and that!” If you wish to convince him, you pick out piece after piece of the inferior wood and hold it up before his very eyes with a 'Un, 'un in each case. E? is a sort of aspirated e which means, “Yes, that’s the way,” or better, “That’s it, so.” For instance, if a boy or any one else is told to do a thing and he seems to be interpreting his instructions well, the one who is directing him will say encouragingly, E?, e[h.], the equivalent of the colloquial Arabic Ay na'am (or aywa) hayk, “That’s it,” or “That’s right,” or “Now you’ve got it.” A long-drawn 'Um is used to mean “I comprehend,” or “Is that the way of it? Yes, I see now,” after an explanation has been given. Uff is sometimes expressive of astonishment, but often of contempt in the sense of “What a fibber you are!” or “I can’t express my opinion of you.” U? is used in some such case as this. I ask a native, “Are the apples of ZebedÂny (near Damascus) good?” He, knowing that they are famous for quality, will preface his affirmative with a breathy U?, as if to say “Nice? Well, I should say!” “Of course they are,” or, “Better than they do not exist.” Then, perhaps, he will show their size by the circumference of a circle which he makes with all the fingers of one hand held up. Shi or Hi? is expressive of a little surprise or weak objection; or it may be merely a gratuitous exclamation thrown in where we should expect no expression, or might even think it saucy. It is used much like our “Humph.” If a child is set a task or a lesson and wishes to say, “It is very hard,” he is very apt to slat the fingers of the hand together and exclaim, E-e-ee with much the same force as YÂ abbayeh above. Thk, a sort of suck with the tongue and teeth means, “No.” Sometimes it is joined with MÂ fÎsh, “There is not,” or “I have nothing,” and the speaker may snap his thumb under the edge of his upper teeth in emphasis. Thk is very often given with an upward toss of the chin to mean, “No.” Hiss is used by a mother or older person to hush a child. It equals “Keep still” or “Enough of foolishness.”

In beckoning children the hand is held about as high as and near the shoulder, the palm downwards and the fingers shutting back and forth to the palm while “Come, come” is said. To hold all the fingers together and the hand, palm upward, about the height of the hip, means a threat like “You’ll see.”

Of curses^[185] there is a very great variety, expressive of animosity,^[186] disgust^[187] and impatience.^[188] Many of the formulÆ are shortened until only the direction and object of the curse are left in the expression. So, should you hear some one say impetuously to another, “Your father,” “Your eyes,” “Your breast,” or “Your faith,” you might know that a curse was intended with these as the objects. The verb la'ana, yal'anu, which signifies cursing, is generally understood. The curses are sometimes very indirectly aimed at the victim, as, for instance, when a donkey driver cursed a stumbling donkey with Abu jiddak, literally, “Cursed be the father of your grandfather.” The curser may in this circular way of attack reach even himself without apparently minding the implication, as when a man driving donkeys along the road became angry at one of them and shouted, “May your owner go into the grave.”

Colloquialisms and stories tend to pass into proverbs. The East is very rich in proverbial expressions, and the Arabic language has been used for the utterance of many thousands of them. The apt introduction and quotation of proverbs is considered an elegant accomplishment by conversationalists. Some of the proverbs are accompanied by explanatory stories telling how the proverb in each instance arose. Then there are expressions that are tending to the proverbial form. Some of these latter will be mentioned first.

Moslems are accredited with the saying that the bobbing ?irdhÔn (lizard) is praying.

When three or more persons in one place are found to have the same name the people say, “There must be a treasure about.”

Of the kind of young man slangily known among us as a masher the Palestinian says, “He has a heavy shadow.”

Of a miscellaneous pocketful of things, such as a boy might carry, they say, Mithl jerab il-?urdy, “Like the Kurd’s pocket.” This is from the story told of a Kurd who had lost his wallet-pocket by theft. When the thief was found the Kurd was asked in court to describe the pocket and its contents. He described the pocket accurately enough, but in telling the contents he named over thing after thing until he had mentioned a catalogue of much that the world contains.

With reference to the infection of yawning the story is told of a man who was riding a camel in the desert. The camel yawned and then the rider yawned. The rider said to the camel, “I took my yawn from you; from whom did you take yours?”

In a class of native youth learning the English language one of the boys lost his bearings and was unable to follow what the rest of the class was saying, so he mumbled Mithl akhras fy zeffeh. He meant, “I am like a dumb man at a wedding procession.” On such occasions a ready tongue is quite necessary.

When one does a foolish or witless thing, another is apt to say impatiently to him, KathÎr minnÂk thÎrÂn, that is, freely, “There are many oxen of your kind.”

When one shows lack of grace, they quote, “The bear stood up to dance and killed seven or eight persons.”

An ignorant or dull person is accused of not knowing his elbow from his wrist.

A rather cynical and unsentimental way of describing the effect on a man of the loss of his wife is that, “It is like knocking his funny-bone.”

Of course rain would never be expected in July. Such a thing would be called zelket fyt tammÛz, “a slip in July,” and this expression is used proverbially to describe any prodigy or any very surprising occurrence.

That good actions may be spoiled is expressed by the statement, “If a cow yields a large quantity and then kicks over the milk-pan she is not praised.”

An obstinate person is described by rÂs-hu yÂbis or rÂs-hu ?awy, “His head is dry or hard.”

Gift-taking, that is, bribery,^[189] is described as a sickness to which all officials are proverbially subject. Such a man is described by Butnhu wÂsi'a, byokul kathÎr,^[190] “He has an expansive stomach, he eats a great deal.”^[191] Of an official whose power is limited they say, “His arm is short.”^[192] Orders from headquarters in Constantinople not carried out by an under-official are said to have been “put under the carpet.”

“When the salt blossoms” denotes improbabilities, for which the following is also heard, though I should not want to vouch for its absolute impossibility, “When the goat climbs to the top of the minaret.” I have seen goats in very unlikely places.

The following list of proverbs gives a sample of expressions in common use among the peasantry of central Palestine.

Abu ?ashÎsh fy ?Âlat ghalbÂn: “Abu ?ashÎsh is overcome of his own matters.” This is used when a man already crowded with duties is asked to do something more.

?abÎby b?ibhu walau kÂn 'abd Âswad: “I would love my love even though he were a black slave,” illustrating constancy.

L ta?ul lil mughanny ghanny wal lil ra?Â? yar?u?: “Never tell a singer to sing nor a dancer to dance,” signifying natural obstinacy.

Tub il-jarreh 'ala fimhÂ, ta?la' il-bint mithl imhÂ: “Turn the jar on its mouth, the daughter comes up like her mother.” The first part of the saying is put in for rhythm, and the whole is one way of expressing family resemblances.

Labis el-'Ûd yajÛd: “Clothe a stick of wood and it will do well (or look well).” The 'Ûd is the wooden frame on which the bridal trousseau is rigged and carried in procession when the wedding garments are purchased for the bride. The proverb compares the clothing with the man who wears it and rather insinuates that clothing makes the man.

Idhkur idh-DhÎb wahayay lahu il-?a?Îb: “If you think of the wolf, get the stick ready for him.”

Il-harÎbeh thulthay il-marÂjal: “Running away is two-thirds of strength.” (Notice the dual, without ending n, in the colloquial.)

YÂm kassar h il-jamal ba??Îkh: “Oh, how often the camel broke melons.” It is said of one who, having done well, ends by spoiling all. It is also applied to one who, in making purchases, at last buys something quite beyond his means. Or it is used to indicate that the man is well known as a blunderer and that no one ought to be surprised at a fresh sample of his failing.

?allil il-?aky tirtÂ? wakuththirahu fa??Â?: “Diminish the talk and you will have rest; increase it [and have] disgrace.”^[193]

MÂl ?alÎl majmÛ'a khayr min mÂl kathÎr mubaddad: “A little wealth in hand (gathered) is better than much wealth scattered abroad [i. e., on loan].”

Kul shay 'ind il-'a?Âr ill min ?Ûl ?abbany: “Everything may be found at the spice-sellers’ except the saying ‘love me.’” This is to the effect that real love is the one thing that cannot be purchased.^[194]

Ish-sharaf a?san min khazÂyn mÂl: “Nobility is better than treasure-chests of wealth.”

Âb i??a' il-?u?f wal tahÂb: “In August cut the bunch [grapes] and fear not [its being unripe].” Everything in its proper season.

Id-dÂr ?afrat wal-mazÂr ba'Îd: “The house is empty and the visiting place is far,” meaning we are out of whatever it is that is needed and the place where more may be had is far off.

I?lab il-jÂr ?ubl id-dÂr war-rafÎ? ?ubl i?-?arÎ?: “Seek the neighbor before the house and the company before the route.” Make sure of good neighbors and companions, as they are more necessary to your welfare than the mere house or road.^[195]

Ta'allam il-bay?arah fy ?amÎr il-ÂkrÂd: “He learned to shoe horses among the donkeys of the Kurds.” This is a contemptuous way of indicating that one’s preparation for the trade or profession followed was inadequate.

'Ala ?adar firÂshak midd rijlayk: “According to the measure of your bed stretch your legs.” This is quoted in favor of living within one’s means.

Il-ghÂib jihathu ma'hu: “The absent one has his excuse with him.”

FÂlij la tu'Âlij: “Palsy, don’t doctor it.” This one has a hopeless touch.

Ish-shay matta zÂd nu??: “Anything carried to excess diminishes.” This proverb advises against overdoing.

M fy kabÎr ill il-jamal: “Nothing is large except the camel.” Compare this with “Comparisons are odious.”

Il-walad walad walau kÂn kÂ?y balad: “The boy is a boy though he be judge of the country.”

In kÂn rÂy? kaththir min il-?abÂy?: “If one be going away, increase the mischief.” This may refer to an official who becomes reckless on the eve of his discharge, or possibly to the people who, in view of the near departure of their superior, take advantage of the fact to perpetrate mischief. Compare, “When the cat’s away the mice will play.”

MÂl il-majÂnÎn lil-'a?Âl: “The wealth of the crazy is for the wise.”

Kalb hÂmil khurj mÂl: “A dog carrying a saddle-bag of wealth.” This refers to an unworthy owner of wealth.^[196]

In rÂ?at ghannat wan jÂt ghannat: “Whether it goes or comes I shall sing.” The one so saying declares that he will be joyous despite circumstances.

Bayn hÂn wamÂn rÂ?at lihÂnÂ: “Between this and that the beard went.” In case a man is given conflicting orders he quotes the above to the effect that between coming and going one’s beard is in danger of flying off. The syllable na on the end of the last word is added for euphony merely.

HÂfitha 'ala i?-?adÎ? walau fil-?arÎ?: “Succor your friend though he be in fire.”

Khayr il-ÂmÛr l-was?: “The good of things is in moderation.”^[197]

ZiyÂdeh il-khayr khayr: “Increase makes good better.”

I?-?ubr miftÂh il-faraj: “Patience is the key of relief.”

'AllamnÂk ish-shi?deh saba?than 'ala il-bÂb: “I taught you begging and you got to the door before I did.” This was a beggar’s proverb originally and illustrates the fact that the pupil may outdo his teacher.

Mithl azÎmeh il-?amar lil-'urs: “Like the invitation of a donkey to a wedding.” This is applicable when one who is invited as a guest is asked to work. The donkey’s function on festive occasions is to fetch and carry.