Manuela E.B. Golfo, lecturer in Arabic at Exeter University 2008-2013, is lecturer in Arabic and Arabic philology at Genoa University and chercheuse associée at IREMAM, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, from which she holds a Ph.D. in Arabic linguistics. She was the organizer of the fourth FAL conference (2016). Kees Versteegh is emeritus professor of Arabic and Islam at the University of Nijmegen. He specializes in historical linguistics and the history of linguistics. He published The Arabic language (revised ed. 2014) and was editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Arabic language and linguistics (2006-2009). Contributors are: Hassina Aliane, Georgine Ayoub, Ramzi Baalbaki, Michael G. Carter, Hanadi Dayyeh, Joseph Dichy, Jean Druel, Manuela E.B. Giolfo, Wilfrid Hodges, Éva Jeremiás, Almog Kasher, Aryeh Levin, Arik Sadan, Haruko Sakaedani, Manuel Sartori, Beata Sheyhatovitch, and Kees Versteegh.