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Grammaticalization in Emirati Arabic Arabica 64 (2017) 742-760 brill.com/arab Grammaticalization in Emirati Arabic Najib Ismail Jarad University of Sharjah [email protected] Abstract This paper is concerned with the process of language change whereby lexical items and constructions, in specific contexts, come to serve new grammatical functions. Emirati Arabic provides us with a wide range of grammaticalization phenomena. The aim of this paper is twofold: to shed light on the basic concepts relating to grammaticaliza- tion phenomena and to examine the grammaticalization of a number of constructions in Emirati Arabic, investigating their formation and the changes in their functions. The development of these grammatical constructions follows a grammaticalization path- way identified for a wide range of linguistic items cross-linguistically. Keywords Emirati Arabic, grammaticalization, volition verb, genitive exponent, reflexive pro- noun, subordinate conjunction Résumé Cet article s’intéresse au processus du changement de la langue dans laquelle des élé- ments et des constructions lexicales, dans des contextes spécifiques, viennent assu- rer de nouvelles fonctions grammaticales. L’arabe émirati nous offre un large éventail * This paper was presented at the 3rd International Conference on “Language, Linguistics, Literature and Translation: Connecting the Dots in a Globalized World” in 2016, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. I would like to thank the audience for their comments and suggestions. I am also extremely grateful for the insightful comments of three anony- mous reviewers whose input has greatly improved this paper. Needless to say, all remaining errors and shortcomings are my own responsibility. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/�5700585-��Downloaded34�473 from Brill.com09/29/2021 10:17:47PM via free access Grammaticalization in Emirati Arabic 743 de phénomènes de grammaticalisation. L’objectif de cet article est double : mettre en lumière les concepts fondamentaux relatifs au phénomène de grammaticalisation et examiner la grammaticalisation d’un certain nombre de constructions en arabe émi- rati, en étudiant leur formation et les changements dans leurs fonctions. Le dévelop- pement de ces constructions grammaticales suit un processus de grammaticalisation identifié pour un large éventail d’éléments linguistiques. Mots clefs Arabe émirati, grammaticalisation, verbe de volonté, génitif, pronom réfléchi, con- jonction subordonnée 1 Introduction This study deals with some aspects of language change in Emirati Arabic. Given the dynamic nature of language, language change, according to Bybee, is “an integral part of language and an inevitable outcome of language use.”1 Language is always evolving and adapting to the needs of its users. Changes are inherent in language and reflect progress rather than decay. Cross-linguistic research on grammatical categories has made it possible to establish and predict regular evolution pathways. The predictability of the rise of grammatical categories is based on the principle that lexical items (e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) in specific contexts attain a grammatical status (e.g. auxiliaries, connectives, clitics, etc.). The evolution pathways are often convergent, which means one type of grammatical marker can be shown to de- velop from a number of distinct lexical sources. Therefore, future markers—in addition to evolving from motion verbs such as “go” and “come”—also evolve from verbs of volition (e.g. Greek tha < thelo hina “I wish that,”2 Romanian voi < Latin velle “to wish,” Bulgarian ŝte < “I want that,” Swahili -ta < taka “want”).3 1 Joan Bybee, Language Change, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015, p. 10. 2 See Ian Roberts and Anna Roussou, Syntactic Change: A Minimalist Approach to Grammaticalization, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (“Cambridge studies in linguis- tics”, 100), 2003, p. 58-71. 3 See Bybee, Joan and William Pagluica, “The Evolution of Future Meaning”, in Papers from the 7th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, eds. Anna Ramat, Onofrio Carruba Giacalone and Giuliano Bernini, Amsterdam-Philadelphia, John Benjamins (“Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science. Series 4, Current issues in linguistic Arabica 64 (2017) 742-760 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 10:17:47PM via free access 744 Jarad When a lexical item in specific contexts attains a grammatical status through the process of grammaticalization, it undergoes structural, semantic, and pho- nological change. For example, the English modal will developed out of a verb of desire (Old English willan “want”). The old (“She makes you will your own destruction,” George Bernard Shaw; “John can pass the test if he wills it”) and the new meanings exist side by side (“The results of the test will appear later”). The degree of grammaticalization of the same lexical item is subject to both regional and social variation, i.e. the item may vary from one variety to another, both geographically and socially.4 The aim of this paper is to examine the grammaticalization of a number of constructions in Emirati Arabic, investigating their formation, as well as the changes in their functions. Emirati Arabic, a variety of Gulf Arabic, is the va- riety used in informal situations by the sedentary native people of the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al- Khaima, and Fujaira). It should be highlighted here that there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility among these Emirates; minor phonological and lexical differences do exist.5 Synchronic documentation of this variety is scanty. The googlization of “Emirati Arabic” yielded two results: one doctoral dissertation titled Morphology of United Arab Emirates Arabic, Dubai Dialect by Benjamin Theodore Hoffiz (1995),6 and an MA thesis titled A Phonological Description of Emirati Arabic written by Hana al-Ameri (2009).7 There is only one gram- mar reference on Emirati Arabic: A Short Reference Grammar of Gulf Arabic (1977) by Hamdi Qafisheh. The title refers to Gulf Arabic but the book is actu- ally based on the dialect of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. It presents an explicit outline of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of this variety. Emirati Arabic is also sporadically mentioned in the four-volume Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics as part of Gulf Arabic. theory”, 48), 1987, p. 112-114. See also Joan Bybee, Revere Perkins and William Pagliuca, The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World, Chicago- London, University of Chicago Press, 1994, p. 240 and 53 ff. 4 For detailed discussion of the development of will/shall, see, among others: Joan Bybee, Language, Usage and Cognition, Cambridge-New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010, and Rena Torres Cacoullos and James A. Walker, “The Present of the English Future: Grammatical Variation and Collocations in Discourse,” Language, 85/2 (2009), p. 321-354. 5 Due to the limited scope of the present study and the lack of sufficient data, the differences between Sedentary and Bedouin Emirati Arabic dialects will not be attempted. 6 This dissertation is available at http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/ 187179, accessed 26/07/2017. 7 This thesis is available at http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI1475967/, accessed 26/07/2017. DownloadedArabica from 64 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2017) 742-760 10:17:47PM via free access Grammaticalization in Emirati Arabic 745 The significance of the present study lies in the fact that it provides a de- scription of some structures in an understudied Arabic variety. It also provides support for the mechanisms involved in grammaticalization and adds to the growing literature of studies of grammaticalization on other Arabic spoken varieties. It is hoped that the present study would contribute to future studies of Gulf Arabic, particularly the variety of Arabic spoken in the United Arab Emirates. A study like this might generate more interest in Emirati Arabic in general and might also pique the curiosity of scholars who work on language change. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. First, we provide an overview of some major concepts of the theoretical framework: grammatica- lization. Next, the paper presents the methods of data collection and analysis. The main body of the paper provides brief description and analysis of four examples of grammaticalization in Emirati Arabic: volitional verb > future marker, noun > subordinate conjunction, noun >reflexive pronoun and, finally, noun > possessive exponent. 2 Theoretical Preliminaries Grammaticalization is present in all languages at all times and is a type of in- novation and linguistic change. Although the use of the term grammaticaliza- tion goes back to Meillet in 1912,8 studies in this field did not flourish until the beginning of the 1980’s, and the application of this term to the study of Arabic is even more recent.9 It is not my purpose here to give a full introduction to grammaticalization.10 However, it is useful here to explain some of the basic 8 Antoine Meillet, Linguistique historique et linguistique générale, Paris, Librairie ancienne Honoré Champion (“Collection linguistique”, 8), 1921, p. 130-148. 9 Balkees Al-Najjar, “Grammaticalization of Lexical Markers in Kuwaiti Arabic,” Folia Linguistica, 25 (1991), p. 665-674; Mohsen Esseesy, “Grammaticalization,” in Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, ed. Kees Versteegh, Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2007, II, p.
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