Word Stress in Qassimi Arabic: A Constraint-Based Analysis

This study aimed to produce a formalism of word stress in Qassimi Arabic (QA), which is a sub-dialect of Najdi Arabic (NA), using a constraint-based approach. To this end, this paper investigated two main topics: The first topic explored word stress in QA. Word stress in QA, as well as in NA, is predictable; it can be determined by syllable weight and position. However, two cases do not conform to such straightforward stress rules. These cases are represented by the words: [ʔal.ʕa.sˤir] ‘afternoon’ and [ʔa.ʕa.rif] ‘I know’. Derivational analysis of these exceptions shows the importance of relating the surface structures of such forms to their underlying representations. The second topic aimed to make a formalism for stress patterns in QA using optimality theory (OT). Thus, QA word stress rules and their exceptions are translated into conflicting constraints that are ranked relative to one another by the use of constraint-relation tableaux. This ranking eventually produced the following constraint-relation hierarchy: Lx≈Pr, SYLLABLE-INTEGRITY, TROCHAIC, FAITH-PK >> NONFINAL >> *[ʔa. >> FTBIN-µ, WSP, ALL-FEET-RIGHT >> MAIN-RIGHT, PARSE-σ.

Marking Mirativity in Syntax: Minimalsit Mechanisms

This paper offers a generative minimalist investigation to the derivation and interpretation of mirativity information in Central Najdi Arabic (CNA), arguing that grammar of CNA morphologically marks mirativity in syntax by means of the discourse particle wara. Implementing minimalist mechanisms (Chomsky 2001), it is shown that wara instantiates a functional, discoursal projection MrvP in the left periphery of the sentence, articulating the feature [Mrv] at the PF-interface. LF-interface analyses demonstrate that [Mrv] on wara is interpretable/valued, while the counterpart on the subject DP that wara marks is uninterpretable/unvalued. Agree between wara and the subject DP creates a PF-chain wara>SubjectClitic>SubjectDP that results in the subject DP being marked with and interpreted mirativity at LF-interface. Further explorations show that movement of the subject DP across wara is only legitimised if the subject DP has a discourse, information structural feature beyond [Mrv]. Evidence for this claim comes from the fact that when wara marks the subject DP with mirativity, the subject DP remains in situ. Thus, on minimalist empirical groundings, movement is argued to be motivated by interpretive reasons beyond mirativity. Further analyses show that Agree between wara and subject is of mutual manner; wara u-[φ]-probes the subject goal, while the goal seeks valuation of u-[Mrv] on it (Alshamari 2017).

ACOUSTIC EFFECTS OF DURATIONAL CUES IN THE PERCEPTION OF NAJDI ARABIC VOWEL CONTINUA

This paper explores how the manipulation of vowel duration as a perceptual cue influences listeners’ perceptual ability. Four native speakers of Najdi Arabic, a well-known variety of Arabic in the Arabian Peninsula, were tested on the perception of /a/ vs. /ɛ/ vowels. Listeners’ identification and discrimination rates along each vowel continuum showed a clear effect of duration on the perception of /a/-/ɛ/ contrast. In each vowel continuum, listeners were more inclined to classify stimuli as belonging to one vowel or the other based on relative proximity to the steady-state vowel duration. Perceptibility naturally improved as duration approximated the normal duration of either vowel. Listeners’ perceptual judgments in the identification and discrimination of the vowels were swayed by their aural sensitivity to perceptual shifts (/a/-/ɛ/ at 185-195ms; /ɛ/-/a/ at 195-205ms). Moreover, findings of the identification task followed predictably from the discrimination task; this could be taken as evidence for the existence of categorical perception. Results aggregately indicate that perception of the two Najdi Arabic vowels proceeded as a function of duration.

The pragmatic functions of religious expressions in Najdi Arabic

PurposeThis study attempts to identify and analyze the pragmatic functions of religious expressions, that is, invocations that include the name of Allah (God), in naturally occurring social interactions in Najdi Arabic, which is spoken in Central Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the speech act theory and politeness model, an analysis of the data illustrates that religious expressions, in addition to their prototypical religious meanings and uses in everyday interactions, are employed to communicate a wide range of pragmatic functions.FindingsThese include signaling the end of a conversation, persuading, mitigating and hedging, showing agreement and approval, reinforcing emphasis, expressing emotions, seeking protection from the evil eye, conveying skepticism and ambiguity, expressing humor and sarcasm, and showing respect and honor. The embedded multifunctional dimension of religious expressions in the present data is interpreted as serving as a politeness marker with which speakers promote both positive politeness (by showing solidarity, claiming common grounds, and building rapport) and negative politeness (by reducing imposition and emphasizing personal autonomy).Originality/valueThis study further highlights the interplay between religion, culture, and language use in Najdi Arabic.

The Word gid in Najdi Arabic: An Evidentiality Head

This research paper investigates the word gid which is used in Najdi Arabic, a dialect spoken in Najd region in Arabic peninsula. This particle is analyzed syntactically using the recent assumptions of the minimalist program (Chomsky 1993, 1995, and subsequent work). As for the findings, it turns out that gid functions as a head that instantiates its maximal projection above TP and under CP. So, this word is not a property of TP domain nor a CP domain. Due to the fact that this word is only used when a speaker is certain of the propositional content of his/her utterance, we argue that gid is an evidential head that scopes over the tense layer. Furthermore, we argue that gid has an EPP feature, hence the specifier position of the functional phases headed by it must be filled by some element which is the subject. This accounts for the fact that subject must precede gid in declarative sentences. Additionally, gid has [PAST] feature which is uninterpretable and hence must be deleted before the derivation is handed over to the LF following the general lines of feature deletion of Chomsky (1995 and 2005). We argue that the deletion of [PAST] feature is conducted through an Agree operation that is established between gid and the verb. This is why gid comes exclusively with past tense. Otherwise [PAST] feature on gid remains active, leading to the ungrammaticality of the given sentence.

Apology Strategies in Qassimi Arabic

This study aims to discover what types of apology strategies are utilized by Qassimi speakers. To achieve this, the data were collected by observations (n=34) where apology speech acts were produced. All the participants (n= 53) are Qassimi Arabic speakers (a variety of Najdi Arabic spoken in central Saudi Arabia) as their L1. The data were analyzed according to Blum-Kulka’s framework of apology strategies. The findings showed that Qassimi Arabic speakers used a range of apology strategies. Principally, they used a combination of illocutionary force indicating devices (IFIDs) and explanations of the reason for their apology. Besides, a range of alternative apology strategies was also evident; namely, using explicit expressions (only IFIDs), denying/taking responsibility, offering repair, and the promise of forbearance. Moreover, another novel apology strategy was also evident that has not been addressed previously in the literature; namely, where a victim apologies to an interlocutor who has offended them. These strategies differed in their popularity among the participants. The present study makes several noteworthy contributions to the field of pragmatics in general and the speech act of apology in particular.

A Constraint-based Analysis of Velar Affrication in Najdi vs. Hijazi Arabic

This paper attempts to account for the velar affrication in Najdi Arabic (NA) and its absence in Hijazi Arabic (HA). While NA consistently alters /k/ into [ts], and /ɡ/ into [dz], HA retains the velars and as such is more faithful to standard Arabic. The analysis follows from an Optimality-Theoretic (OT) framework (Prince and Smolensky, 1993) explicating different constraint interactions and introducing new markedness constraints. It is argued that the realizations of the velars as [k] and [ɡ] are in free variation distribution with their allophonic affricate counterparts [ts] and [dz], respectively, although the two variants of the same phoneme alternate under phonologically conditioned contexts.

R-Expressions and the Interrogative Use of Anaphora in Najdi Arabic

This paper endeavors to explain how Najdi Arabic (NA), one of the dialects spoken in the central region of the Arabian Peninsula, diverges from Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in its anaphoric treatment of R-expressions and pronominals. Data from a native Najdi Arabic informant suggest that only a subset of NA verbs allow proper names to be referentially bound by their antecedent pronouns in interrogative structures. Although this property is characteristic of Najdi Arabic not MSA, it yields certain challenges to the basic tenets of the Binding Theory. While Principle C of the Binding Theory requires R-expressions to be free, a referential reading of the NA data, which syntactically binds proper names with their pronominal referents, violates such principle.

Sound Correspondences of Modern Standard Arabic Moroccan Arabic and Najdi Arabic

This paper studies the process of sound correspondences that occur in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Moroccan Arabic (MAR), and Najdi Arabic (NAR). It attempts to find answers for the following questions: a) What are the identical word pairs, words couples that have a phonemic correspondence, a phonetic similarity, and a pair of words that contains difference of one phoneme, b) What are the process of morphophonemic in the form of assimilation, metathesis, and epenthesis. It is addressed to portray the process of morphophonemic assimilation, metathesis and epenthesis in three Arabic languages using Crowley’s theory. This study used 207 of Morris Swadesh's basic vocabulary as the key standard procedure for collecting data. The criteria adopted to analyze the data were orthographic, sound-change, phonological, and morpheme contrast. This research used descriptive qualitative method. The source of the data was basic-word vocabulary. The data were gathered from three dictionaries as sources to get information. The data were analyzed by using structural linguistics, especially phonology, morphology, and semantics. This investigation informed several aspects of findings such as identifying prefixes, suffixes, assimilation, metathesis, and epenthesis. Using the Swadesh vocabulary list, the results of this study found 207 vocabularies for each language. By analyzing parts of speech, it was found that these vocabularies can be classified into five-word classes, namely, nouns, pronouns, verb, adjectives, adverbs, and determiners.