DOCSLIB.ORG

Negation and the Subject Position in San'ani Arabic Elabbas

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Negation and the Subject Position in San'ani Arabic Elabbas Negation and the Subject Position in San’ani Arabici Elabbas Benmamoun Khalid Al-Asbahi Introduction In this paper, we discuss a topic that has not received extensive attention within the lively debate about the syntax of sentential negation in Arabic varieties. The topic concerns the interaction between the subject of the sentence, particularly the pronominal subject, and the sentential negative. In most Arabic varieties, the pronominal subject precedes the sentential negative on a par with its lexical subject counterpart. San’ani Arabic, however, allows for the pronominal subject to follow the sentential negative. Assuming that the structure of sentential negation, and of the clause in general, is to a large extent uniform across dialects, we will provide an account that derives the somewhat peculiar pattern in San’ani Arabic and contrast it with a different pattern in Moroccan Arabic that illustrates a different manifestation of the interaction between negation and the pronominal subject. San’ani relies on cliticization (without movement) while Moroccan Arabic relies on head movement. In the course of the paper, we introduce data that have not figured prominently in the debate about sentential negation in Arabic varieties and also draw diachronic parallels between San’ani Arabic and Classical Arabic, where cliticization may have been the process that gave rise to the negative laysa. Morpho-Syntax of Sentential Negation in Arabic Varieties Most of the research on sentential negation in Arabic varieties, including both the so-called colloquial varieties and Standard Arabic, has focused on the position of the sentential negative and its interaction with the verb and its extended functional domain, particularly tense (Ouhalla, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2002; Eid, 1993, Benmamoun, 1992, 2000; Fassi Fehri, 1993; Shlonsky, 1997; Brustad, 2000; Onizan, 2005; Bahloul 2007, Lucas, 2007; Soltan, 2007, 2011; Hoyt, 2010; Aoun, Benmamoun & Choueiri, 2010; among many others). The paradigm cases of the intimate connection between sentential negation and the verb come from Standard Arabic, where the form of the sentential negative co-varies with tenseii. (1) a. yanbaħu l-kalb-u bark.3ms the-dog-nom ‘the dog is barking/barks’ b. nabaħa l-kalb-u barked.3ms the-dog-nom ‘The dog barked’ c. sa-yanbaħu l-kalb-u fut-bark.3ms the-dog-nom ‘the dog will bark’ (2) a. laa yanbaħu l-kalb-u neg bark.3ms the-dog-nom ‘the dog is barking/barks’ b. lam yanbaħ l-kalb-u neg.past bark.3ms the-dog-nom ‘The dog did not bark’ c. lan yanbaħa l-kalb-u neg.fut bark.3ms the-dog-nom ‘the dog will not bark’ The fact that the form of the negative varies according to tense even though the form of the verb remains relatively the same has led to the analysis whereby negation and tense merge with each other, assuming an analysis where tense and negation head their own phrases in the syntax as illustrated in (3). (3) Benmamoun (2000) argues that the reason the verb does not carry tense in Standard Arabic is due to its inability to move across the negative head which is a closer host. On the other hand, in the spoken Arabic dialects, the verb does carry tense in the context of sentential negation. This is the case for example, in Moroccan Arabic and Jordanian Arabic in the present, past, and future tensesiii: (4) a. ma-kəydir-š lli ʕlih (MA: native speaker) neg-do.3ms-neg what on.him ‘he does not do what he is supposed to do’ b. ma-ħdərti-š f-lwəqt (MA: native speaker) neg-arrive.3ms -neg in-time ‘you did not arrive on time’ c. ma-ɣadi-š yaʕqəl ʕlik (MA: native speaker) neg-fut-neg remember.3ms on-you ‘he will not remember you’ (5) a. maa-bnokil ʔilla beyd baladi (LDC Levantine CallHome) neg-eat.1p but eggs organic ‘we do not eat but organic eggs’ b. wallah maa-rtaħit yom (LDC Levantine CallHome) by god neg-rested.1s day ‘by god, I did not rest one single day’ The Moroccan Arabic negative is interesting in that it is made up of two parts, a proclitic and an enclitic. The two occur together and independent of other hosts, which suggests that their realization as enclitic and proclitic on a head could be due to merger of the head with sentential negation. In Moroccan Arabic, this merger certainly applies to verbs and could also be due to the movement of the verb through the negative projection. Unlike Standard Arabic, the negative actually merges with the verb, and the whole complex ends up in tense. The main patterns are summarized in Table 1. Tense Standard Moroccan Jordanian/Levantine Future lan ma-š maa or maa-š Present laa ma-š maa or maa-š Past lam ma-š maa or maa-š Imperative laa ma-š maa or maa-š Table 1: The distribution of the sentential negation in verbal contexts in Arabic varietiesiv In addition to the negation that occurs mostly in the context of verbs, there is another negation that occurs in the context of non-verbal predicates. This is illustrated by Moroccan Arabic in (6). (6) l-wəld maši hna the-boy neg here ‘the boy is not here’ This pattern arises because there is no head that moves to sentential negation and merges with itv. Table 2 summarizes the main distribution of negation in Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Levantine Arabic. Verbal Example Non-Verbal Example Negation Negation Levantine maa…(š) ma-ʔižat(-š) Nadia miš huwe miš hon ‘Nadia did not he neg come’ here ‘he is not here’ Moroccan maa…š(i) ma-žat-š Nadia maaši huwa maši hna he neg here ‘he is not here’ Standard laa/ lam/ lan/ lam ta’ti Nadia laysa huwa laysa maa neg.came Nadia huna “Nadia did not He not here come” “he is not here” Table 2. The distribution of sentential negation in Arabic varieties in verbal and non-verbal contexts Thus, the structure in (3) and the attendant syntactic analysis in terms of head movement and the related constraints helps account for the distribution of sentential negation in Standard Arabic and a number of spoken modern Arabic dialects. However, this is by no means the consensus within approaches to the syntax of sentential negation in Arabic varieties. For example, Soltan (2007) provides very plausible arguments that the negative projection is located higher than tense, an analysis adopted by Benmamoun et al. (2012) as an alternative to (3) for all Arabic varieties. One such argument that Soltan provides comes from the location of the future marker in Egyptian Arabic, which clearly precedes the future tense marker as illustrated in (7): (7) miš ha-yiskut-u ʕala kida Ɂabadan (Egyptian blog) neg fut-silent-3p on this ever ‘they will never remain silent about it’ According to this analysis, the negative head precedes the temporal projection of the clause as illustrated in (8). (8) In (7), Egyptian Arabic deploys the negative that we find in the context of non-verbal predicates, but the temporal marker precedes sentential negation, contrary to the prediction of the structure in (3). Benmamoun et al. (forthcoming) provide numerous arguments to support the analysis that the negative projection is located higher than the tense projection across Arabic varieties (including Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic and San’ani Arabic). Suffice it to say that the interaction between tense, the predicate, and negation requires an alternative account if it turns out that the structure in (8) is correct, which we assume it is. Sentential Negation and the Subject In all previous analyses, the status of the subject did not figure prominently in the debate about the syntax of sentential negation. However, there is interesting evidence in Arabic that the subject does interact with negation and that this interaction can shed further light on the issue of the position of the subject and the location of sentential negation. Two pieces of evidence are critical in this regard. First, Standard Arabic has a negative laysa that agrees with the subject and assigns accusative Case to the predicate: (9) a. laysa l-bayt-u kabiir-an neg.3ms the-house-nombig-acc ‘the house is not big’ b. lays-at l-madiinat-u kabiirat-an neg.3fs the-city-nom big-acc ‘the city is not big’ In fact, laysa patterns with verbs in that it agrees with the subject in number, person, and gender and can license null subjectsvi: (10) a. lays-uu fii l-bayt-i Neg-3mp in the-house-gen ‘they are not in the house’ b. las-na fii l-bayt-i neg-3fp in the-house’ ‘they are not in the house’ Second, in the so-called verbless sentences in Arabic dialects such as Moroccan Arabic, the subject must precede sentential negation regardless of whether it is a lexical noun phrase or a pronoun. (11) a. l-wəld maši hna the-boy neg here ‘the boy is not here’ b. huwa maši hna he neg here ‘he is not here’ (12) a. *maši l-wəld hna Neg the-boy here ‘the boy is not here’ b. *maši huwa hna he neg here ‘he is not here’ In (9-12) we see a striking contrast between Moroccan Arabic and Standard Arabic. In Standard Arabic, the subject can follow sentential negation but it cannot do so in Moroccan Arabic. If the structure in (8) is correct, the movement of the subject in Moroccan Arabic may have nothing to do with tense, as argued in Benmamoun (2000). Rather, it could be due to some property of negation that requires its specifier to be filled by the subject; or to some property of the clause that prefers the highest specifier position to be filled by the subject, or for the head to carry subject agreement (so called EPPvii).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 00. the Realization of Negation in the Syrian Arabic Clause, Phrase, And
    The realization of negation in the Syrian Arabic clause, phrase, and word Isa Wayne Murphy M.Phil in Applied Linguistics Trinity College Dublin 2014 Supervisor: Dr. Brian Nolan Declaration I declare that this dissertation has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and that it is entirely my own work. I agree that the Library may lend or copy this dissertation on request. Signed: Date: 2 Abstract The realization of negation in the Syrian Arabic clause, phrase, and word Isa Wayne Murphy Syrian Arabic realizes negation in broadly the same way as other dialects of Arabic, but it does so utilizing varied and at times unique means. This dissertation provides a Role and Reference Grammar account of the full spectrum of lexical, morphological, and analytical means employed by Syrian Arabic to encode negation on the layered structures of the verb, the clause, the noun, and the noun phrase. The scope negation takes within the LSC and the LSNP is identified and illustrated. The study found that Syrian Arabic employs separate negative particles to encode wide-scope negation on clauses and narrow-scope negation on constituents, and utilizes varied and interesting means to express emphatic negation. It also found that while Syrian Arabic belongs in most respects to the broader Levantine family of Arabic dialects, its negation strategy is more closely aligned with the Arabic dialects of Iraq and the Arab Gulf states. 3 Table of Contents DECLARATION.........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Uncorrected Proofs -  John Benjamins Publishing Company Doi 10.1075/Sal.4.07Akk © 2016 John Benjamins Publishing Company 154 Faruk Akkuş and Elabbas Benmamoun
    Clause structure in contact contexts The case of Sason Arabic* Faruk Akkuş and Elabbas Benmamoun Yale University / University of Illinois In this paper, we discuss the syntax of negation in Sason Arabic which patterns with both its Arabic neighbors, particularly the so-called Mesopotamian varie- ties (such as the Iraqi variety/varieties of Mosul) and the neighboring languages that are typologically different, particularly Kurdish and Turkish. We provide a description of copula constructions in Sason and discuss their word order pat- terns and interaction with sentential negation. Depending on the nature of the predicate, Sason displays both head-initial word order, which reflects its Arabic and Semitic lineage, and head-final word order, which shows the influence of its head final neighbors and competitors for linguistic space. Keywords: Sason Arabic, language contact, clause structure, copula 1. Introduction Language contact is a fact of life for many languages. The difference has more to do with the degree of contact and the impact on the languages involved in the contact situation.1 The latter critically depends on the relative status and roles of the languages, the size of their speech communities, the domains of interaction between the languages, literacy and education, among many others.2 The most * We would like to thank the audience at the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics 28 held at the University of Florida and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and sug- gestions. We also thank the editors of this volume, Youssef Haddad and Eric Potsdam, whose suggestions improved the paper substantially. All errors are ours.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Syntax of Sentential Negation in Yemeni Arabic
    International Journal of English Linguistics; Vol. 10, No. 2; 2020 ISSN 1923-869X E-ISSN 1923-8703 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education On the Syntax of Sentential Negation in Yemeni Arabic Abdulrahman Alqurashi1 & Mukarram Abduljalil1 1 Department of European Languages & Literature, King Abdelaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Correspondence: Abdulrahman Alqurashi, P.O. BOX 80200, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: [email protected] Received: December 26, 2019 Accepted: January 31, 2020 Online Published: February 23, 2020 doi:10.5539/ijel.v10n2p331 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v10n2p331 Abstract In this paper we explore the system of negation in modern Arabic dialects with a particular focus on Yemeni Arabic (Raymi dialect). The data observed in this dialect incorporate important and novel facts related to the syntax of sentential negation in Arabic. This includes the distribution of negation patterns and the interaction between negation and negative polarity items, which challenges the two widely adopted analyses for sentential negation in Arabic: The Spec-NegP analysis and the discontinuous Neg analysis. In this paper we argue that neither analysis can provide an adequate account of Raymi Arabic facts. Instead, a more recent analysis, the Spilt-Neg analysis, can accommodate them. In addition, in the study we provide empirical evidence in support of the Higher-Neg analysis, wherein Neg is projected higher than T in the derivation. Keywords: Arabic dialects, discontinuous negation, negative polarity items, non-discontinuous negation, Raymi dialect, sentential negation, Yemeni Arabic 1. Introduction The syntax of negation in Arabic is as extremely diverse as the varieties of the language themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • The Dehortative in the Spoken Arabics Of.Pdf
    UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST CENTER FOR ARAB STUDIES ROMANO-ARABICA XVI Modalities in Arabic editura universităţii din bucureşti ® 2016 Editors: George Grigore (University of Bucharest, e-mail: [email protected]) Laura Sitaru (University of Bucharest, e-mail: [email protected]) Associate Editors: Gabriel Biţună (University of Bucharest, e-mail: [email protected]) Ovidiu Pietrăreanu (University of Bucharest, e-mail: [email protected]) Editor in charge of this issue Ovidiu Pietrăreanu (University of Bucharest, e-mail: [email protected]) Blind peer reviewed Editorial and Advisory Board: Jordi Aguadé (University of Cadiz, Spain) Montaser Amein (Taif University, KSA) Andrei A. Avram (University of Bucharest, Romania) Ramzi Baalbaki (American University of Beirut, Lebanon) Ioana Feodorov (Institute for South-East European Studies, Bucharest, Romania) István T. Kristó-Nagy (University of Exeter, UK) Pierre Larcher (Aix-Marseille University, France) Jérôme Lentin (INALCO, Paris, France) Giuliano Mion (“Gabriele d’Annunzio” University, Chieti-Pescara, Italy) Luminiţa Munteanu (University of Bucharest, Romania) Bilal Orfali (American University of Beirut, Lebanon) Stephan Procházka (University of Vienna, Austria) Mehmet Hakkı Suçin (Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey) Shabo Talay (Free University of Berlin, Germany) Irina Vainovski-Mihai (“Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University, Bucharest, Romania) Ángeles Vicente (University of Zaragoza, Spain) John O. Voll (Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., USA) Cover Design: Gabriel Bițună Published by: © Center for Arab Studies 7-13, Pitar Moş Street, District 1, 010451, Bucharest, Romania Website: http://araba.lls.unibuc.ro © Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti Şos. Panduri nr. 90-92, 050663 Bucureşti, ROMÂNIA. Tel./Fax: +40214102384 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://editura-unibuc.ro; Centru de vânzare: Bd.
    [Show full text]
  • Pre-Final Version in .Pdf
    إﻟﻰ اﻷﺳﺘﺎذ اﻟﺪآﺘﻮر ﻋﻮﻧﻲ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮؤوف، اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﻔﺎﺿﻞ، واﻟﻤﻌﻠ ـّﻢ اﻟﺠﻠﻴﻞ، واﻟﺼﺪﻳﻖ اﻟﻌﺰﻳﺰ. ﺗﻌﺠﺰ ﺗﺮاآﻴﺐ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ ﻋﻦ وﺻﻒ اﻋﺘﺰازي ﺑﻜﻢ، واﻣﺘﻨﺎﻧﻲ ﻟﻜﻢ، وﺗﻘﺪﻳﺮي ﻟﺸﺨﺼﻜﻢ اﻟﻜﺮﻳﻢ. ﻓﻀﻠﻚ ﻋ ﻠ ﻲّ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﻠﻢ واﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ ﻏﺰﻳﺮ، واﻟﺠﻠﻮس ﺑﻴﻦ ﻳﺪﻳﻚ 1 واﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع إﻟﻴﻚ ﻣﺎ ﻟﻪ ﻧﻈﻴﺮ. أﻃﻴﺐ ﺗﺤﻴﺎﺗﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﻴﺪ اﻟﺜﻤﺎﻧﻴﻨﻲ. اﻟﻌﻨﺎﺻﺮ اﻟﺘﺮآﻴﺒﻴﺔ ﻣﻊ أﻣﺜﺎﻟﻬﺎ "ﺗﺘﻮاﻓﻖ": دراﺳﺔ ﻟﻐﻮﻳﺔ ﻟﺘﺮاآﻴﺐ اﻟﻨﻔﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ أﺳﺎﻣﺔ ﺳﻠﻄﺎن – ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ ﻣﻴﺪﻟﺒﺮي ﻳﻘﺪم هﺬا اﻟﺒﺤﺚ دراﺳﺔ ﺗﺤﻠﻴﻠﻴﺔ ﻟﺘﺮاآﻴﺐ اﻟﻨﻔﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﻈﻮر ﻣﺎ ﻳﺴﻤـّﻰ ﺑﺎﻟﺒﺮﻧﺎﻣﺞ اﻻﺧﺘﺰاﻟﻲ ﻟﻠﻨﻈﺮﻳﺔ اﻟﻠﻐﻮﻳﺔ The Minimalist Program، وﻳﻨﺎﻗﺶ ﻓﻲ هﺬا اﻟﺼﺪد ﺗﺮاآﻴﺐ اﻟﻨﻔﻲ ﺑﺎﺳﺘﺨﺪام "ﻻ" ( و"أﺧﻮاﺗﻬﺎ" إذا ﺟﺎز اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ)، و"ﻟﻴﺲ"، و"ﻣﺎ". وﻳﻌﺮض اﻟﻨﺼﻒ اﻷول ﻣﻦ اﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﻟﻠﺪراﺳﺎت اﻟﺘﻮﻟﻴﺪﻳﺔ اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻘﺔ ﻟﺘﺮاآﻴﺐ اﻟﻨﻔﻲ ﻣ ﺸ ﻴ ﺮ اً إﻟﻰ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﺸﻜﻼت اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻮاﺟﻪ ﻣﺜﻞ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺎت ﻟﻴﺲ ﻓﻘﻂ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻨﺎﺣﻴﺔ اﻟﻨﻈﺮﻳﺔ، وﻟﻜﻦ أ ﻳ ﻀ ﺎً ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻗﺪرﺗﻬﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺷﺮح اﻟﺤﻘﺎﺋﻖ اﻟﻠﻐﻮﻳﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﻔﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ، ﻓﻲ ﺣﻴﻦ ﻳﻘﺪم اﻟﻨﺼﻒ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﺗ ﺤ ﻠ ﻴ ﻼً ﺟﺪﻳﺪاً ﻳﻘﻮم ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﻄﺒﻴﻖ ﻣﺒﺎدئ وﻓﺮﺿﻴﺎت اﻟﺒﺮﻧﺎﻣﺞ اﻻﺧﺘﺰاﻟﻲ، وﺧﺎﺻﺔ ﻓﻜﺮة "اﻟﺘﻮاﻓﻖ" Agree ﺑﻴﻦ اﻟﻌﻨﺎﺻﺮ اﻟﻠﻐﻮﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮاآﻴﺐ، ﺑﻬﺪف ﺗﻔﺴﻴﺮ اﻟﺨﺼﺎﺋﺺ اﻟﺼﺮﻓﻴﺔ واﻟﺘﺮآﻴﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ ﻟﻈﻮاهﺮ اﻟﻨﻔﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ. وﻳﺘﻤﻴﺰ اﻟﺘﺤﻠﻴﻞ اﻟﻤﻘـﺪّم هﻨﺎ ﺑﺘﻔﺎدي اﻟﻤﺸﻜﻼت اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻮاﺟﻪ اﻟﺪراﺳﺎت اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻘﺔ، وإﻟﻰ ﺟﺎﻧﺐ ذﻟﻚ ﻳﻔﺴﺮ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻈﻮاهﺮ اﻷﺧﺮى ذات اﻟﺼﻠﺔ، ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﻨﻔﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻻﺳﻤﻴﺔ، واﻟﻨﻔﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺮاآﻴﺐ اﻟﻤﻀﺎرع اﻟﻤﻨﺼﻮب، وآﺬﻟﻚ اﻟﺨﺼﺎﺋﺺ اﻟﺼﺮﻓﻴﺔ ﻷﻓﻌﺎل اﻷﻣﺮ. 1 I’m deeply grateful to Prof. Awni Abdel-Ra’ouf for his generous guidance, his incessant encouragement, his unwavering support over the years, long sessions of learning and thought-provoking discussions, and his everlasting friendship. I have been fortunate and honored to be among his students.
    [Show full text]
  • Negative Sensitive Indefinites in Maltese
    Negative Sensitive Indefinites in Maltese Maris Camilleri Louisa Sadler University of Essex University of Essex Proceedings of the LFG’17 Conference University of Konstanz Miriam Butt, Tracy Holloway King (Editors) 2017 CSLI Publications pages 146–166 http://csli-publications.stanford.edu/LFG/2017 Keywords: Maltese, negative sensitive indefinites, negation, negative concord, neg- ative polarity Camilleri, Maris, & Sadler, Louisa. (2017). Negative Sensitive Indefinites in Mal- tese. In Butt, Miriam, & King, Tracy Holloway (Eds.): Proceedings of the LFG’17 Conference, University of Konstanz (pp. 146–166). Stanford, CA: CSLI Publica- tions. Abstract This paper looks at sentential negation in Maltese and the syntactic be- haviour of a group of negative sensitive indefinite items in Maltese, for which existing literature offers only a partial (and indeed partially incorrect) charac- terisation. We focus on syntactic aspects of the interplay between sentential negation and negative sensitive items (NSIs), both negative concord items (NCIs) and negative polarity items (NPIs). Our primary aim is to provide a solid description of the somewhat complex facts and some formalisation of the syntactic aspects in LFG, building on previous work on syntactic aspects of negation in this framework. 1 Sentential Negation in Maltese In broad terms, Maltese uses a bi-partite strategy, realized as ma ...-x/m’ ...-x, in the negation of finite verbal predicates, as described in several sources, including Borg & Azzopardi-Alexander (1997) and Lucas (2009). It thus shares a number of aspects of the morphosyntax of negation with closely related varieties of ver- nacular Arabic. The examples in (1) illustrate this with a finite, perfective verb. Imperfective forms also use this circumfixal strategy.
    [Show full text]
  • Negative Polarity Items and Negative Concord in Modern Standard Arabic
    Negative Polarity Items and Negative Concord in Modern Standard Arabic by Muqbil Alanazi A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Approved April 2013 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Elly Van Gelderen, Chair Carrie Gillon Roy Major ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2013 ABSTRACT This thesis explores the distribution of certain lexical items in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and their relationship with two linguistic phenomena, negative concord (NC) and negative polarity items (NPIs). The present study examines two central questions: the first question investigates whether or not MSA shows the patterns of negative concord languages. The second question concerns the distribution of N-words and NPIs in MSA, and in which environments they appear. To answer the research questions, the thesis uses the framework of generative grammar of Chomsky (1995) and The (Non)veridicality Approach by Giannakidou (1998, 2000, 2002). The data reveal that MSA shows the patterns of strict negative concord languages that are suggested by Giannakidou (2000) in the sense that the negative particle obligatorily co-occurs with the N-words which strengthen the degree of negation, and never lead to a double negation interpretation. Moreover, the data show that there is only one pure NPI which appears optionally in two environments, antiveridical and nonveridical environments, and it is disallowed in veridical environments. On the other hand, the investigated indefinite nouns show a mixed picture since they work differently from their counterparts in Arabic dialects. Their descendants in Arabic dialects appear as NPIs while they tend to be indefinite nouns rather than NPIs in MSA.
    [Show full text]
  • Evidence from Cairene Egyptian Arabic Sentential Negation*
    The Fine Structure of the Neg-Domain: Evidence from Cairene Egyptian Arabic Sentential Negation* USAMA SOLTAN Middlebury College [email protected] Abstract: The goal of this paper is to revisit sentential negation patterns in Cairene Egyptian Ara- bic at the syntax-morphology interface and to propose a novel analysis for the structure of bipartite negation in this Arabic dialect. In particular, it is argued that the distribution of negation patterns is morphologically, rather than syntactically, conditioned; that the head hosting negation is higher than T on the clausal hierarchy; and that the Neg-domain in this dialect is split into two separate heads, one encoding semantic negation, and the other being marked for formal negativity only. Evidence that the proposed analysis is on the right track is discussed with reference to morphosyn- tactic effects of the interaction between negation and Negative Polarity Items, as argued in Soltan (2012). 0. Introduction: Patterns of Sentential Negation in Cairene Egyptian Arabic Cairene Egyptian Arabic (CEA, henceforward) utilizes two patterns for sentential negation: (i) the discontinuous maa…š-pattern, which is used, among other contexts, with perfective verb forms, where the predicate appears sandwiched between two negative elements, forming one morphological unit, as illustrated in (1a); and (ii) the independent miš-pattern, which is used, among other contexts, in verbless copular structures, where the predicate follows the negation marker miš, without them forming a unit, as in (1b).1 (1) a. maa-ruħ-t-i-š NEG-go.PERF-1SG-EV-NEG ‘I did not go.’ b. ʔanaa miš taʕbaan I NEG tired ‘I am not tired.’ * For valuable comments and questions, I’d like to thank Elabbas Benmamoun, Fred Hoyt, Sarah Ouwayda, Martin Walkow, and several members of the audiences at the 26th Arabic Linguistics Symposium at Columbia University and the 3rd Annual Tampa Workshop at the University of South Florida.
    [Show full text]
  • The Morphosyntax of Negative Pronouns Constructions in Jordanian Arabic
    Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 8 No. 3; June 2017 Flourishing Creativity & Literacy Australian International Academic Centre, Australia The Morphosyntax of Negative Pronouns Constructions in Jordanian Arabic Issa Abdel Razaq (Corresponding Author) Department of English Language & Literature – Isra University, P. O. Box- 22-23—Pin Code Amman 11622, Jordan E-mail: [email protected] Mohammed Mahameed Department of English Language & Literature – Isra University, P. O. Box- 22-23—Pin Code Amman 11622, Jordan E-mail: [email protected] Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.3p.133 Received: 23/04/2017 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.3p.133 Accepted: 16/06/2017 Abstract The main aim of this paper is to investigate the asymmetric distribution of negation strategies in verbless constructions in Jordanian Arabic and similar dialects. In particular, negative pronouns constructions present two major problems for analyses of sentential negation. The first problem lies in the use of the verbal negation strategy in such constructions although they are verbless. The second problem is the merger of subject pronouns that are clear maximal projections with the negative marker occupying the head of the negative projection. To solve these problems, the paper provides an analysis that is based on the morphosyntactic properties of negative pronouns as well as the discourse properties of the constructions in which they occur. To account for the merger between the pronoun and the head of the negative, the study demonstrates that such pronouns belong to the class of weak bound subject pronouns that undergo head movement to Neg to check and delete its uninterpretable [+D] feature.
    [Show full text]
  • Reinventing Negation Patterns in Moroccan Arabic Mena B
    Reinventing Negation Patterns in Moroccan Arabic Mena B. Lafkioui To cite this version: Mena B. Lafkioui. Reinventing Negation Patterns in Moroccan Arabic. Mena Lafkioui. African Arabic: Approaches to Dialectology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp.51-94 2013, 978-3-11-029232-9. hal- 01411665 HAL Id: hal-01411665 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01411665 Submitted on 9 Dec 2016 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs 258 Editor Volker Gast Founding Editor Werner Winter Editorial Board Walter Bisang Hans Henrich Hock Heiko Narrog Matthias Schlesewsky Niina Ning Zhang Editors responsible for this volume Walter Bisang Volker Gast De Gruyter Mouton Authenticated | [email protected] Download Date | 4/25/13 10:11 AM African Arabic: Approaches to Dialectology edited by Mena Lafkioui De Gruyter Mouton Authenticated | [email protected] Download Date | 4/25/13 10:11 AM ISBN 978-3-11-029232-9 e-ISBN 978-3-11-029234-3 ISSN 1861-4302 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
    [Show full text]
  • The Morphosyntax of Negation in Rural Palestinian Arabic
    IPRPD International Journal of Arts, Humanities & Social Science ISSN 2693-2547 (Print), 2693-2555 (Online) Volume 01; Issue no 06: November 07, 2020 The Morphosyntax of Negation in Rural Palestinian Arabic Neimeh Mousa 1 1 School of International Letters & Cultures, Arizona State University, Arizona, Email: [email protected] Received: 31/10/2020 Accepted for Publication: 05/11/2020 Published: 07/11/2020 Abstract This paper explores the morphosyntactic properties of the sentential negation in Rural Palestinian Arabic (RPA) and how it is related to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) morphosyntax. The study shows that the negative markers ma: and – iš are used to negate perfective and imperfective verbs, while muš is a head element where the negative precedes non-verbal predicates such as adjectives, prepositional phrases (PP) and participles. The main predicate in negative phrase does not need the noun phrase (NP) to raise to T if there is no need to merge with the negative element. The study also investigates the differences between RPA and Urban Palestinian Arabic (UPA). The main difference is that the use of –iš as a post verbal clitic in both perfective and imperfective tense is more common in the Rural dialect. Keywords: Modern Standard Arabic, Rural Palestinian, Urban Palestinian, Arabic negation 1.1 Introduction Negation is one of the basic concepts of any language. Every language has its own negative system that involves negative particles and negated elements. Many studies have been conducted on negation in MSA and other Arabic dialects from a morphosyntactic perspective. The distribution of negative particles in verbal and nonverbal sentences have been explored by many linguists, such as Al-Tamari (2001), Aoun et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction Christopher Lucas SOAS University of London Stefano Manfredi CNRS, Sedyl
    Chapter 1 Introduction Christopher Lucas SOAS University of London Stefano Manfredi CNRS, SeDyL This introductory chapter gives an overview of the aims, scope, and approach of the volume, while also providing a thematic bibliography of the most significant previous literature on Arabic and contact-induced change. 1 Rationale With its lengthy written history, wide and well-studied dialectal variation, and in- volvement in numerous heterogeneous contact situations, the Arabic language has an enormous contribution to make to our understanding of how language contact can lead to change. Until now, however, most of what is known about the diverse outcomes of contacts between Arabic and other languages has remained inaccessible to non-specialists. There are brief summary sketches (Versteegh 2001; 2010; Thomason 2011; Manfredi 2018), as well as a recent collection of articles on a range of issues connected with Arabic and language contact in general (Manfredi & Tosco 2018), but no larger synthesis of the kind that is available, for example, for Amazonian languages (Aikhenvald 2002). Arabic has thus played little part in work to date on contact-induced change that is crosslinguistic in scope (though see Matras 2009; Trudgill 2011 for partial exceptions). By providing the community of general and historical linguists with the present collaborative synthesis of expertise on Arabic and contact-induced change, we hope to help rectify this situation. The work consists of twenty- nine chapters by leading authorities in their fields, and is divided into three Christopher Lucas & Stefano Manfredi. 2020. Introduction. In Christopher Lucas & Stefano Manfredi (eds.), Arabic and contact-induced change, 1–33. Berlin: Language Science Press.
    [Show full text]