DOCSLIB.ORG

Arabic Cross-Dialectal Conversations with Implications for the Teaching of Arabic As a Second Language

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Arabic Cross-dialectal Conversations with Implications for the Teaching of Arabic as a Second Language Rasha Kadry Abdelatti Mohamed Soliman Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD in Arabic Linguistics The University of Leeds Linguistics and Phonetics School of Modern Languages and Cultures July, 2014 ii The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Rasha Kadry Abdelatti Mohamed Soliman to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2014 The University of Leeds and Rasha Kadry Abdelatti Mohamed Soliman iii Dedication To my parents Hend El-Naggar and Kadry Soliman iv Acknowledgements "In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. All praise to Allah by whose grace good deeds are achieved" I wish to express sincere gratitude and deep thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Melinda Whong for her advice, patience and encouragement. I owe her much for her intellectual guidance and moral support throughout every stage of my study and for all the invaluable skills she taught me which I know I will continue to grow and utilise. From the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Leeds, I would like to thank Ms. Karen Priestley for her excellent and prompt administrative support and Dr. Diane Nelson as my postgraduate tutor for encouraging me as well as many postgraduate students to participate in the organised annual PG conferences in which I received insightful feedback. I am indebted to all the Arabic speaking individuals who agreed to take part in this study, giving their time and effort and allowing me to record their conversations. Their participation is greatly appreciated. Special thanks to all those who helped me to record high quality dialectal sentences to use in my case study; Mr. Aimen Ghummed and Mr. Abdurraof Shitaw for their input in the Libyan dialect, Ms. Arwa Gandeel for her input in the Hijazi dialect and to my dear sister-in-law Asmaa Soliman for her input in the Levantine dialects. I am also very grateful to Professor. Dilworth Parkinson at Brigham Young University for allowing me to join the online Arabic-L mailing list through which I reached many Arabic linguists who provided me with support and references in analysing the urban dialects I used in my study. I am grateful to the Arabic students at the University of Manchester who wholeheartedly participated in the case-study of my research and to all those who gave me insight into their Arabic language learning needs. v I am heavily indebted to my beloved husband, Najeeb, for his support of my Ph.D. endeavour and for always being there for me throughout the exciting times of my study as well as the stressful ones. My love and thanks to my sweet children, Yusuf, Ismail and Haroon for innocently allowing me to take some of our time together to spend on my research and for always bringing smiles on my face when needed. My appreciation also goes to my sisters, brothers and friends for all their love, prayers and good wishes. Last but not least, I will always be grateful to my parents who always had confidence in me. I am grateful for the opportunities they opened up encouraging me to get into the field of Arabic language teaching and linguistics, for their trust and support in sending me to do my M.A. far away from them and for encouraging me to pursue my Ph.D. study. My deepest appreciation and heartfelt thanks go to them for their patience, their prayers, their sacrifice, their endurance, and for their love and endless support of my education. Thanks to all of you. Without your support this work would have never been possible. vi Abstract This research is divided into two interlinked parts. The first part reviews literature on the diglossia and variability of the Arabic language and investigates how mutual intelligibility is achieved in informal conversations between speakers of different Arabic dialects. 11 conversations were recorded between speakers of 12 Arabic dialects. Instances of borrowing from Modern Standard Arabic were observed and analysed. The participants were also interviewed after the recorded conversations in order to get more insight into the listening comprehension strategies that they applied to achieve intelligibility. The results show that the native speakers tend to rely mostly on their native dialect in cross-dialectal interaction with a much smaller number of borrowings from Modern Standard Arabic in comparison with previous studies. A number of listening strategies were observed to be used in order to aid intelligibility. These strategies included making use of the context, ignoring non- content words and making use of their linguistic knowledge and the root and pattern system in Arabic as a frame of reference in comprehending unfamiliar cognates. The analysis also showed that dialect familiarity has a major role in aiding comprehension between the native speakers of different Arabic dialects. The second part, first, examines the needs of learning Arabic as a second language in Higher Education, then presents a case study that tests the advanced Arabic learners’ level of cognate recognition in unfamiliar dialects and whether explicit strategy teaching and lexical training can improve their dialectal lexical comprehension. Five final year university students of Arabic with an advanced level in MSA and exposure to a dialect participated in this study. Pre and post-tests of dialectal listening comprehension were administered. The results of a higher score in the post-test confirmed that the explicit strategy training helped the Arabic students to achieve better comprehension of cognates in unfamiliar dialects. vii Table of Contents Dedication ......................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................... iv Abstract ............................................................................................................. vi Table of Contents ...............................................................................................vii List of Tables ...................................................................................................... xi List of Figures .................................................................................................... xiii List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................... xiv Transliteration Scheme ...................................................................................... xv Chapter 1: Introduction: The Arabic language and its diglossic nature .................. 1 1.1 What is Diglossia? ........................................................................................ 2 1.1.1 Views on diglossia ............................................................................ 5 1.1.2 Diglossia versus standardisation ...................................................... 7 1.1.3 Diglossia versus bilingualism ............................................................ 8 1.1.4 Diglossia versus code-switching and code-mixing ........................... 9 1.1.5 Diglossia versus register ................................................................. 10 1.1.6 Diglossia and dialects ..................................................................... 11 1.2 Arabic Diglossia .......................................................................................... 12 1.2.1 Brief history of Arabic diglossia and its emergence ....................... 12 1.2.2 The standardisation of Arabic ........................................................ 13 1.2.3 The languages of the occupied lands ............................................. 14 1.2.4 The current Arabic varieties ........................................................... 15 1.2.4.1 Classical Arabic (CA) ........................................................... 15 1.2.4.2 Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) ......................................... 16 1.2.4.3 The Arabic dialects ............................................................. 17 1.2.4.4 Educated Spoken Arabic (ESA) ........................................... 19 1.3 Overview of this research project .............................................................. 21 Chapter 2: Cross-dialectal conversations: Literature Review .............................. 24 2.1 Cross-dialectal conversations and mutual intelligibility ............................ 24 2.2 Arabic cross-dialectal conversations .......................................................... 26 2.2.1 Blanc’s study (1960) ....................................................................... 28 2.2.2 Ezzat’s study (1974)........................................................................ 29 viii 2.2.3 Abu-Melhim’s study (1992) ............................................................ 31 2.2.4 Abu-Haidar’s study (1994) ............................................................. 33 2.2.5 Shiri’s study (2002) ......................................................................... 34 2.2.6 Limitations in the studies on Arabic cross-dialectal communication .............................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Automatic Identification of Arabic Language Varieties and Dialects in Social Media

    Automatic Identification of Arabic Language Varieties and Dialects in Social Media

    Automatic Identification of Arabic Language Varieties and Dialects in Social Media Fatiha Sadat Farnazeh Kazemi Atefeh Farzindar University of Quebec in NLP Technologies Inc. NLP Technologies Inc. Montreal, 201 President Ken- 52 Le Royer Street W., 52 Le Royer Street W., nedy, Montreal, QC, Canada Montreal, QC, Canada Montreal, QC, Canada [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abstract Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the formal language in most Arabic countries. Arabic Dia- lects (AD) or daily language differs from MSA especially in social media communication. However, most Arabic social media texts have mixed forms and many variations especially be- tween MSA and AD. This paper aims to bridge the gap between MSA and AD by providing a framework for AD classification using probabilistic models across social media datasets. We present a set of experiments using the character n-gram Markov language model and Naive Bayes classifiers with detailed examination of what models perform best under different condi- tions in social media context. Experimental results show that Naive Bayes classifier based on character bi-gram model can identify the 18 different Arabic dialects with a considerable over- all accuracy of 98%. 1 Introduction Arabic is a morphologically rich and complex language, which presents significant challenges for nat- ural language processing and its applications. It is the official language in 22 countries spoken by more than 350 million people around the world1. Moreover, the Arabic language exists in a state of diglossia where the standard form of the language, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and the regional dialects (AD) live side-by-side and are closely related (Elfardy and Diab, 2013).
  • The Past, Present, and Future of English Dialects: Quantifying Convergence, Divergence, and Dynamic Equilibrium

    The Past, Present, and Future of English Dialects: Quantifying Convergence, Divergence, and Dynamic Equilibrium

    Language Variation and Change, 22 (2010), 69–104. © Cambridge University Press, 2010 0954-3945/10 $16.00 doi:10.1017/S0954394510000013 The past, present, and future of English dialects: Quantifying convergence, divergence, and dynamic equilibrium WARREN M AGUIRE AND A PRIL M C M AHON University of Edinburgh P AUL H EGGARTY University of Cambridge D AN D EDIU Max-Planck-Institute for Psycholinguistics ABSTRACT This article reports on research which seeks to compare and measure the similarities between phonetic transcriptions in the analysis of relationships between varieties of English. It addresses the question of whether these varieties have been converging, diverging, or maintaining equilibrium as a result of endogenous and exogenous phonetic and phonological changes. We argue that it is only possible to identify such patterns of change by the simultaneous comparison of a wide range of varieties of a language across a data set that has not been specifically selected to highlight those changes that are believed to be important. Our analysis suggests that although there has been an obvious reduction in regional variation with the loss of traditional dialects of English and Scots, there has not been any significant convergence (or divergence) of regional accents of English in recent decades, despite the rapid spread of a number of features such as TH-fronting. THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF ENGLISH DIALECTS Trudgill (1990) made a distinction between Traditional and Mainstream dialects of English. Of the Traditional dialects, he stated (p. 5) that: They are most easily found, as far as England is concerned, in the more remote and peripheral rural areas of the country, although some urban areas of northern and western England still have many Traditional Dialect speakers.
  • “The Overuse of Italian Loanwords in the Daily Speech of Tripoli University Students: the Impact of Gender and Residential Place”

    “The Overuse of Italian Loanwords in the Daily Speech of Tripoli University Students: the Impact of Gender and Residential Place”

    العدد العشرون تاريخ اﻹصدار: 2 – ُحزيران – 2020 م ISSN: 2663-5798 www.ajsp.net “The Overuse of Italian Loanwords in the Daily Speech of Tripoli University Students: the Impact of Gender and Residential Place” Prepared by Jalal Al Dain Y. Abidah, English Dept., Faculty of Education - Janzour, Tripoli University 19 Arab Journal for Scientific Publishing (AJSP) ISSN: 2663-5798 العدد العشرون تاريخ اﻹصدار: 2 – ُحزيران – 2020 م ISSN: 2663-5798 www.ajsp.net Abstract The study tries to explore the impact of social factors of gender and residential place on the use of Italian loanwords by Libyan university students (using Tripoli University as an example) and how the mentioned social factors affect their daily speech. To answer the questions of the study, a sample of 60 Tripoli university students are selected randomly in the campus (A) of University of Tripoli. They were divided into two groups according to their Gender and residential place. In order to collect data, a questionnaire was developed for this purpose. It generated data regarding the use of 150 Italian loanwords by both groups. The mean of using Italian loanwords in both groups was analyzed and computed using SPSS. However, the study reveals the impact of residential area where Italian loanwords were more incorporated by rural students than urbanites. The results of the study revealed that there was a significant statistical difference at (α≤0.05) among the means of both groups regarding the use of Italian loanwords in daily speech due to residential area. In contrasts, gender emerges as insignificant. Keyword Italian loanwords, Colloquial Arabic, Gender, Libya.
  • Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies

    Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies

    Arabic and its Alternatives Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies Editorial Board Phillip Ackerman-Lieberman (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA) Bernard Heyberger (EHESS, Paris, France) VOLUME 5 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/cjms Arabic and its Alternatives Religious Minorities and Their Languages in the Emerging Nation States of the Middle East (1920–1950) Edited by Heleen Murre-van den Berg Karène Sanchez Summerer Tijmen C. Baarda LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Assyrian School of Mosul, 1920s–1930s; courtesy Dr. Robin Beth Shamuel, Iraq. This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided no alterations are made and the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Murre-van den Berg, H. L. (Hendrika Lena), 1964– illustrator. | Sanchez-Summerer, Karene, editor. | Baarda, Tijmen C., editor. Title: Arabic and its alternatives : religious minorities and their languages in the emerging nation states of the Middle East (1920–1950) / edited by Heleen Murre-van den Berg, Karène Sanchez, Tijmen C. Baarda. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2020. | Series: Christians and Jews in Muslim societies, 2212–5523 ; vol.
  • Exonormativity, Endonormativity Or Multilingualism: Teachers' Attitudes

    Exonormativity, Endonormativity Or Multilingualism: Teachers' Attitudes

    Exonormativity, Endonormativity or Multilingualism: Teachers’ Attitudes towards Pronunciation Issues in Three Kachruian Circles Mohammad Amin Mozaheb Abbas Monfared* Department of Foreign Languages, Language Center, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran *Corresponding author Abstract Despite the accumulated body of debates surrounding English as an international language (EIL), and stronger orientations towards mutual intelligibility, little research has been done on teachers’ attitudes towards English pronunciation pedagogy in ELT classes. To address this gap, this study explores the perceptions of 352 English teachers from all Kachruvian Circles towards pronunciation pedagogy within the framework of English as an international language. Using a questionnaire, supplemented with interviews, the findings demonstrated an exonormative-endonormative gap among teachers in expanding circles (EC) and outer circles (OC). While teachers in the EC circle were in favour of native-speakerism, OC teachers highly valued their own local forms of English while they were in favour of native English. Native English teachers’ replies were also indicative of their acceptance of different varieties of English. Teachers’ preferences in regard to their attitudes towards varieties of English also show a disconnection between teachers’ theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge about world Englishes (WEs) in ELT classes which might have influenced the construction of their professional identity. This article argues that together with encouraging and valuing
  • The Historical Development of the Maltese Plural Suffixes -Iet and -(I)Jiet Having Spent the Last Millennium in Close Contact Wi

    The Historical Development of the Maltese Plural Suffixes -Iet and -(I)Jiet Having Spent the Last Millennium in Close Contact Wi

    The historical development of the Maltese plural suffixes -iet and -(i)jiet Having spent the last millennium in close contact with several Indo-European languages, Maltese, the modern descendant of Siculo-Arabic (Brincat 2011), possesses various pluralization strategies. In this paper I explore the historical development of two such strategies of Semitic- origin: the suffixes -iet and -(i)jiet (e.g. papa ‘pope’, pl. papiet; omm ‘mother’, pl. ommijiet). Specialists agree that both suffixes originated from the Arabic plural suffix -āt (Borg 1976; Mifsud 1995); however, no research has explained the development of -(i)jiet, nor connected its development to that of -iet. I argue that the development of -(i)jiet was driven by the influx of i- final words which resulted from contact with Italian: Maltese speakers affixed -iet to such words, triggering a glide-epenthesis that occurs elsewhere in Maltese (e.g. Mifsud 1996: 34) and in other varieties of Arabic (e.g. Erwin 1963; Cowell 1964; Owens 1984; Harrell 2004). With a large number of plurals now ending in ijiet, speakers reanalyzed this sequence as a unique plural suffix and began applying it to new non-i-final words as well. Since only Maltese experienced this influx of i-final words, it was only in Maltese that speakers reanalyzed this sequence as a separate suffix. Additionally, I argue against an explanation of the development of -(i)jiet that does not rely on epenthesis. With regard to the suffix -iet, I argue that two properties unique to it – the obligatory omission of stem-final vowels upon pluralization, and the near-universal tendency to pluralize only a-final words – emerged from a separate reanalysis of the pluralization of collective nouns that reflects a general weakening of the Semitic element in Maltese under Indo-European contact.
  • Different Dialects of Arabic Language

    Different Dialects of Arabic Language

    e-ISSN : 2347 - 9671, p- ISSN : 2349 - 0187 EPRA International Journal of Economic and Business Review Vol - 3, Issue- 9, September 2015 Inno Space (SJIF) Impact Factor : 4.618(Morocco) ISI Impact Factor : 1.259 (Dubai, UAE) DIFFERENT DIALECTS OF ARABIC LANGUAGE ABSTRACT ifferent dialects of Arabic language have been an Dattraction of students of linguistics. Many studies have 1 Ali Akbar.P been done in this regard. Arabic language is one of the fastest growing languages in the world. It is the mother tongue of 420 million in people 1 Research scholar, across the world. And it is the official language of 23 countries spread Department of Arabic, over Asia and Africa. Arabic has gained the status of world languages Farook College, recognized by the UN. The economic significance of the region where Calicut, Kerala, Arabic is being spoken makes the language more acceptable in the India world political and economical arena. The geopolitical significance of the region and its language cannot be ignored by the economic super powers and political stakeholders. KEY WORDS: Arabic, Dialect, Moroccan, Egyptian, Gulf, Kabael, world economy, super powers INTRODUCTION DISCUSSION The importance of Arabic language has been Within the non-Gulf Arabic varieties, the largest multiplied with the emergence of globalization process in difference is between the non-Egyptian North African the nineties of the last century thank to the oil reservoirs dialects and the others. Moroccan Arabic in particular is in the region, because petrol plays an important role in nearly incomprehensible to Arabic speakers east of Algeria. propelling world economy and politics.
  • Arabic Sociolinguistics: Topics in Diglossia, Gender, Identity, And

    Arabic Sociolinguistics: Topics in Diglossia, Gender, Identity, And

    Arabic Sociolinguistics Arabic Sociolinguistics Reem Bassiouney Edinburgh University Press © Reem Bassiouney, 2009 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in ll/13pt Ehrhardt by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and East bourne A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 2373 0 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 2374 7 (paperback) The right ofReem Bassiouney to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Contents Acknowledgements viii List of charts, maps and tables x List of abbreviations xii Conventions used in this book xiv Introduction 1 1. Diglossia and dialect groups in the Arab world 9 1.1 Diglossia 10 1.1.1 Anoverviewofthestudyofdiglossia 10 1.1.2 Theories that explain diglossia in terms oflevels 14 1.1.3 The idea ofEducated Spoken Arabic 16 1.2 Dialects/varieties in the Arab world 18 1.2. 1 The concept ofprestige as different from that ofstandard 18 1.2.2 Groups ofdialects in the Arab world 19 1.3 Conclusion 26 2. Code-switching 28 2.1 Introduction 29 2.2 Problem of terminology: code-switching and code-mixing 30 2.3 Code-switching and diglossia 31 2.4 The study of constraints on code-switching in relation to the Arab world 31 2.4. 1 Structural constraints on classic code-switching 31 2.4.2 Structural constraints on diglossic switching 42 2.5 Motivations for code-switching 59 2.
  • Possessive Constructions in Najdi Arabic

    Possessive Constructions in Najdi Arabic

    Possessive Constructions in Najdi Arabic Eisa Sneitan Alrasheedi A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical Linguistics School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics Newcastle University July, 2019 ii Abstract This thesis investigates the syntax of possession and agreement in Najdi Arabic (NA, henceforth) with a particular focus on the possession expressed at the level of the DP (Determiner Phrase). Using the main assumptions of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995, and subsequent work) and adopting Abney’s (1987) DP-hypothesis, this thesis shows that the various agreement patterns within the NA DP can be accounted for with the use of a probe/goal agreement operation (Chomsky 2000, 2001). Chapter two discusses the syntax of ‘synthetic’ possession in NA. Possession in NA, like other Arabic varieties, can be expressed synthetically using a Construct State (CS), e.g. kitaab al- walad (book the-boy) ‘the boy’s book’. Drawing on the (extensive) literature on the CS, I summarise its main characteristics and the different proposals for its derivation. However, the main focus of this chapter is on a lesser-investigated aspect of synthetic possession – that is, possessive suffixes, the so-called pronominal possessors, as in kitaab-ah (book-his) ‘his book’. Building on a previous analysis put forward by Shlonsky (1997), this study argues (contra Fassi Fehri 1993), that possessive suffixes should not be analysed as bound pronouns but rather as an agreement inflectional suffix (à la Shlonsky 1997), where the latter is derived by Agree between the Poss(essive) head and the null pronoun within NP.
  • Catalog INTERNATIONAL

    Catalog INTERNATIONAL

    اﻟﻤﺆﺗﻤﺮ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻲ اﻟﻌﺸﺮون ﻟﺪﻋﻢ اﻻﺑﺘﻜﺎر ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺎل اﻟﻔﻨﻮن واﻟﺘﻜﻨﻮﻟﻮﺟﻴﺎ The 20th International Symposium on Electronic Art Ras al-Khaimah 25.7833° North 55.9500° East Umm al-Quwain 25.9864° North 55.9400° East Ajman 25.4167° North 55.5000° East Sharjah 25.4333 ° North 55.3833 ° East Fujairah 25.2667° North 56.3333° East Dubai 24.9500° North 55.3333° East Abu Dhabi 24.4667° North 54.3667° East SE ISEA2014 Catalog INTERNATIONAL Under the Patronage of H.E. Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi Minister of International Cooperation and Development, President of Zayed University 30 October — 8 November, 2014 SE INTERNATIONAL ISEA2014, where Art, Science, and Technology Come Together vi Richard Wheeler - Dubai On land and in the sea, our forefathers lived and survived in this environment. They were able to do so only because they recognized the need to conserve it, to take from it only what they needed to live, and to preserve it for succeeding generations. Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan viii ZAYED UNIVERSITY Ed unt optur, tet pla dessi dis molore optatiist vendae pro eaqui que doluptae. Num am dis magnimus deliti od estem quam qui si di re aut qui offic tem facca- tiur alicatia veliqui conet labo. Andae expeliam ima doluptatem. Estis sandaepti dolor a quodite mporempe doluptatus. Ustiis et ium haritatur ad quaectaes autemoluptas reiundae endae explaboriae at. Simenis elliquide repe nestotae sincipitat etur sum niminctur molupta tisimpor mossusa piendem ulparch illupicat fugiaep edipsam, conecum eos dio corese- qui sitat et, autatum enimolu ptatur aut autenecus eaqui aut volupiet quas quid qui sandaeptatem sum il in cum sitam re dolupti onsent raeceperion re dolorum inis si consequ assequi quiatur sa nos natat etusam fuga.
  • Agreement in Tunisian Arabic and The

    Agreement in Tunisian Arabic and The

    Agreement in Tunisian Arabic and the collective-distributive distinction Myriam Dali and Eric Mathieu The puzzle Like their sound plural (SP) counterparts, the φ-features of broken plurals (BP) subjects in Tunisian Arabic (TA) normally agree with the verb in gender and number but, as seen in (1), they can also fail to agree with the verb. Rjel `men' is masculine plural while the verb is unexpectedly inflected in the feminine singular (in Standard Arabic, this is only possible with non-humans). Is this a case of agreement failure? (1) El rjel xerj-u / xerj-et The man.bp go.outperf-3.masc.pl / go.outperf-3.fem.sg `The men went out.' [Tunisian Arabic] The proposal First, we show that the contrast in (1), gives rise to a semantic alter- nation, as first observed by Zabbal (2002), where masc plur agreement has a distributive interpretation, while fem sing agreement receives a collective interpretation. We build on Zabbal's (2002) insights but re-evaluate them in light of recent developments in the syntax and semantics of plurality and distributivity, and we add relevant data showing that the collective-distributive contrast seen in (1) is not tied to the nature of the predicate. Zabbal makes a distinction between plurals denoting groups (g-plurals) and plurals denot- ing sums (s-plurals). He first argues that the g-plural is associated with N (making it lexical and derivational) while the s-plural is under Num (inflectional). We provide arguments and evidence for his second proposal, briefly introduced towards the end of his thesis, namely that the g-plural is in fact inflectional and thus not under N.
  • Arabic and Contact-Induced Change Christopher Lucas, Stefano Manfredi

    Arabic and Contact-Induced Change Christopher Lucas, Stefano Manfredi

    Arabic and Contact-Induced Change Christopher Lucas, Stefano Manfredi To cite this version: Christopher Lucas, Stefano Manfredi. Arabic and Contact-Induced Change. 2020. halshs-03094950 HAL Id: halshs-03094950 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-03094950 Submitted on 15 Jan 2021 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. Arabic and contact-induced change Edited by Christopher Lucas Stefano Manfredi language Contact and Multilingualism 1 science press Contact and Multilingualism Editors: Isabelle Léglise (CNRS SeDyL), Stefano Manfredi (CNRS SeDyL) In this series: 1. Lucas, Christopher & Stefano Manfredi (eds.). Arabic and contact-induced change. Arabic and contact-induced change Edited by Christopher Lucas Stefano Manfredi language science press Lucas, Christopher & Stefano Manfredi (eds.). 2020. Arabic and contact-induced change (Contact and Multilingualism 1). Berlin: Language Science Press. This title can be downloaded at: http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/235 © 2020, the authors Published under the Creative Commons Attribution