Born in 1930 in Mangesh, a small Chaldean village in Iraq, late Prof. Solomon I. Sara (Šlīmōn Īšō Ṣārā) traversed numerous physical, cultural, and religious boundaries on his path to becoming a Jesuit priest in the US. Renowned as a specialist in classical Arabic phonetics and phonology, his notable contribution includes his 2007 book on imāla in Sībawayh’s Kitāb.1 This work shed light on a phenomenon often perceived solely from a phonetic perspective, neglecting its crucial phonological aspect.
In 2010, his presence enriched the inaugural conference of FAL held in Cambridge, where his insights furthered scholarly discourse. He passed away in Weston, Massachusetts, in 2016, leaving behind a legacy that continues to influence and inspire us within the field.
- Sara, Solomon I., Sībawayh on ʔimālah (inclination): text, translation, notes and analysis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007 ↩︎
