Eurasiatica Quaderni di studi su Balcani, Anatolia, Iran, Caucaso e Asia Centrale

Collana | Eurasiatica
Miscellanea | Armenia, Caucaso e Asia Centrale
Capitolo | “Mountain of Tongues”

“Mountain of Tongues”

The Languages of the Caucasus in Arabic-Islamic Sources

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the linguistic diversity of the Caucasus as reflected in the writing of Arab-Muslim geographers and historians. Dealing with the locus classicus jabal al-alsun ‘mountain of tongues’ in the output of Arab-Muslim authors, the author juxtaposes the current state of the study of Caucasus polyglossia with the description of the jumble of languages in the works of Ibn al-Faqīh, al-Mas‘ūdī, Abū al-Fidā’, al-Muhallabī and other authors. Outlining some parallels in Graeco-Roman historians, the author concludes that the diversity of languages spoken in the Caucasus as described by Arab-Muslim geographers appears to be in concord with the degree of the linguistic diversity as conceived today in areal-typological studies.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Presentato: 04 Marzo 2021 | Accettato: 30 Giugno 2021 | Pubblicato 21 Dicembre 2021 | Lingua: en

Keywords Arab-Muslim geographersJabal al-alsun ‘mountain of tongues’Areal-typological studiesCaucasian languagesLinguistic diversityJabal al-alsun ‘mountain of tongues’


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