Word Stress and Vowel Neutralization in Modern Standard Arabic Jack Halpern (春遍雀來) The CJK Dictionary Institute (日中韓辭典研究所) 34-14, 2-chome, Tohoku, Niiza-shi, Saitama 352-0001, Japan [email protected] rules differ somewhat from those used in liturgi- Abstract cal Arabic. Word stress in Modern Standard Arabic is of Arabic word stress and vowel neutralization great importance to language learners, while rules have been the object of various studies, precise stress rules can help enhance Arabic such as Janssens (1972), Mitchell (1990) and speech technology applications. Though Ara- Ryding (2005). Though some grammar books bic word stress and vowel neutralization rules offer stress rules that appear short and simple, have been the object of various studies, the lit- erature is sometimes inaccurate or contradic- upon careful examination they turn out to be in- tory. Most Arabic grammar books give stress complete, ambiguous or inaccurate. Moreover, rules that are inadequate or incomplete, while the linguistic literature often contains inaccura- vowel neutralization is hardly mentioned. The cies, partially because little or no distinction is aim of this paper is to present stress and neu- made between MSA and liturgical Arabic, or tralization rules that are both linguistically ac- because the rules are based on Egyptian-accented curate and pedagogically useful based on how MSA (Mitchell, 1990), which differs from stan- spoken MSA is actually pronounced. dard MSA in important ways. 1 Introduction Arabic stress and neutralization rules are wor- Word stress in both Modern Standard Arabic thy of serious investigation. Other than being of (MSA) and the dialects is non-phonemic. great academic and theoretical interest, these Whereas in English words like the noun permit rules have practical applications in pedagogy, are distinguished from the verb permit by stress speech technology, lexicography and the compi- alone, stress cannot be used to distinguish mean- lation of learning materials such as grammar ings in Arabic. Thus even though Cariene speak- books and textbooks. Unfortunately, the results ers by influence of their dialect may deviate from of linguistic research in this area have hardly made their way into Arabic pedagogical materi- 'I wrote it' آَ ﺘَ ﺒْ ﺘُ ﻪُ the standard and stress words like als, including dictionaries. Consequently, almost as /ka-tab-tu-hu/ rather than the standard /ka- all grammar books give stress rules that are in- tab-tu-hu/, this difference in stress does not adequate or incomplete, while vowel neutraliza- change the meaning of the word (with rare ex- tion is rarely mentioned. ceptions discussed below). The aim of this paper is to present stress and Standard MSA stress is based on the dialects neutralization rules and exceptions that are both spoken in the Mashriq (east of Egypt and north linguistically accurate and pedagogically useful. of the Arabian Peninsula). Some fluctuations The rules are presented from a pedagogical, may occur in informally spoken MSA by influ- rather than a formal linguistic, point of view. ence of the local vernacular. For example, Egyp- Based on considerable research of the literature tians may apply dialectical stress patterns that on how MSA is actually spoken, and on informal sometimes differ from standard MSA, as in interviews with informants, the rules given here ‘school', stressed as /mad-ra-sa/ rather .aim to be unambiguous and complete ﻣَ ﺪْرَﺳَﺔ than the standard mad-ra-sa/. Although on the whole stress in formal MSA (as for example in newscasts) is fairly uniform throughout the Arab world, it is important to note that MSA stress 1 consonant followed by a ﺏَ ﺐْ Format and Definitions 3. CVC 2 /bab/ short vowel and a conso- Phonemic transcriptions are surrounded by nant slashes (except inside tables), while syllable boundaries, which do not necessarily coincide 3. A superheavy syllable consists of a conso- with morphemic boundaries, are indicated by nant followed by one or two vowels fol- hyphens. Parentheses indicate the second half of lowed by one or two consonants: a long vowel or consonant that is not pronounced + consonant + long vowel ﻧُﻮن neutralized), as in /ya(a)-baan/, or possibly pro- 4. CVVC) nounced half-long. Boldface is used to indicate /nuun/ consonant + consonant + diphthong ﻳَﻮْم the stressed syllable. CVVC /yawm/ consonant + consonant + short vowel آَ ﺐّ Two consecutive vowels (as in CVV or 5. CVCC the /kabb/ double consonant' ﻧُﻮن) CVVC) represent either a long vowel + consonant + short vowel َﺏﺮْق day' CVCC' ﻳَﻮْم) letter nuun' /nuun/) or a diphthong /yawm/). Similarly, two consonants (as in /barq/ consonant + consonant +consonant + long vowel ﺷَ ﺎ بّ CVCC) represent either a double consonant, in- 6. CVVCC pilgrimage' /Haj(j)/), or /shaabb/ double consonant' ﺣَ ﺞّ) dicated by a shadda .(/lightning' /barq' ﺏَﺮْق) distinct consonants Only one superheavy syllable can appear in a Disyllabic, as is self evident, refers to words word, which almost always occurs at word end. consisting of two syllables, while polysyllabic But occasionally superheavy syllables can occur .'shaad-da/ 'he argued/ ﺷَﺎﱠد refers to those consisting of three or more sylla- in other positions, as in bles but excludes those of two syllables. 4 Stress Rules Proclitics in Arabic refer to one-letter func- tion words such as the definite article and some 1. Stress always falls on the ultimate syl- prepositions attached to the beginning of a word. lable if that syllable is superheavy. -li/, This rule takes precedence over all oth/ لِ ,/bi/ بِ ,/fa/ فَ ,/wa/ وَ ,/al'/ اَ لْ These include .sa/, and are ignored in ers/ سَ a/ and'/ أَ ,/ka/ كَ ,/la/ لَ determining stress. Arabic Roman English 3 Syllabic Structure ri-jaal men رِ ﺟَ ﺎ ل To understand stress rules properly, it is neces- ja-diid new ﺟَ ﺪِ ﻳ ﺪ sary to understand how words are divided into ya(a)-baan ﻳَﺎﺏَﺎن syllables (syllabic structure). Arabic syllables are of six structural types that can be classified into ya(a)-ba(a)-niyy Japanese ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲّ the three categories defined below: light, heavy and superheavy. Table 1: Stress on superheavy 1. A light syllable consists of a consonant fol- 2. In monosyllabic words, stress falls on lowed by a short vowel (CV). the ultimate syllable. ka/ consonant followed by Arabic Roman English/ كَ CV .1 ma(a) what ﻣَﺎ .a short vowel qad already ﻗَ ﺪْ bi/ consonant followed by/ بِ CV la-qad already ﻟَ ﻘَ ﺪْ .a short vowel bi-kam how much ﺏِﻜَﻢ 2. A heavy syllable consists of either a conso- Table 2: Stress on ultimate nant followed by two vowels (CVV), or of a consonant followed by a short vowel and a Though it is self-evident that monosyl- consonant (CVC). labic words can only be stressed on the single syllable, it is necessary to keep in mind that proclitics are ignored in count- baa/ consonant followed by a/ ﺏَﺎ CVV .2 long vowel ing syllables, so that disyllabic words, are considered monosyllabic for ﻟَ ﻘَ ﺪْ like kay/ consonant followed by a/ آَ ﻲْ CVV diphthong stress purposes. 2 3. In disyllabic words, stress falls on the pe- nultimate syllable. 5. In polysyllabic words, stress falls on the antepenultimate if the penultimate is light. Arabic Roman English hi-ya she Arabic Roman English هِ ﻲَ ka-ta-ba he wrote آَ ﺘَ ﺐَ ba-na(a) he built ﺏَﻨَﻰ ka-ta-ba(a) they wrote آَﺘََﺒﺎ wa-lad son وَﻟَﺪ -kaa-ta-ba(a) he corre آَ ﺎ ﺕَ ﺐَ al-wa-lad the son‘ اَﻟْﻮَﻟَﺪ wal-wa-lad and the son sponded وَْٱﻟﻮَﻟَﺪ ka-ta-bat she wrote ﺒَ ﺖْ آَ ﺘَ baa-ta he spent the night ﺏَ ﺎ تَ ka-li-ma word آَﻠِﻤَﺔ maa-dha(a) what َﻣﺎذَا ka-li-ma-ti my word آَ ﻠِ ﻤَ ﺔِ kaa-tib writer آَﺎﺕِﺐ ka-li-ma-tun word آَ ﻠِ ﻤَ ﺔٌ naH-nu we ﻧَ ﺤ ﻦُ aa-Si-ma capital` ﻋَﺎﺻِﻤَﺔ qul-na(a) we said ﻗُﻠﻨَﺎ aa-Si-ma-tun capital` ﻋَ ﺎ ﺻِ ﻤَ ﺔٌ shaad-da he argued ﺷَ ﺎ دﱠ mak-ta-ba library ﻣَﻜْﺘََﺒﺔ a-jal indeed' أَﺟَﻞ mak-ta-ba-ti(i) my library ﻣَﻜْﺘَﺒَﺘِﻲ Table 3: Penultimate stress in disyllabic words mak-ta-ba-tun library ﻣَ ﻜْ ﺘَ ﺒَ ﺔٌ Every possible structure of disyllabic • words, including those with short vowels, Table 5: Antepenultimate stress long vowels, diphthongs and clitics, is shown above. In principle, stress is always on the first syllable of disyllabic words. 5 Applying Stress Rules However, some words that seem disyllabic, are actually monosyllabic with a Below are some points to keep in mind when , ﺏِ ﻜَ ﻢْ like proclitic attached. Since proclitics are not applying the stress rules. stressed, this must be pronounced /bi-kam, not bi-kam. On the other hand, though /'al- 5.1 Syllabification wa-lad/ and /wal-wa-lad/ are obviously polysyllabic, they are stressed like disylla- In standard pronunciation of MSA only the last bic words because the proclitics /wa/ and three syllables are relevant for determining stress, /'al/ are ignored in counting syllables. which means that stress never falls on the pre- • The stress on the ultimate syllable of /'a- antepenultimate syllable or before that. Thus if a jal/, a rare exception, is explained below. word consists of four or more syllables, only one of the last three is stressed. Dividing words into 4. In polysyllabic words, stress falls on syllables and counting the number of syllables the penultimate if that syllable is correctly is essential for determining stress. To heavy. do so properly, it is necessary to understand the structure of light, heavy and superheavy syllables. Arabic Roman English ja-diid/ 'new' (CV-CVVC) is/ ﺟَ ﺪِ ﻳ ﺪ ,For example ja-dii-dun new disyllabic because it consists of one light and one ﺟَ ﺪِ ﻳ ﺪٌ /ja-dii-dun/ ﺟَ ﺪِ ﻳ ﺪٌ ka-tab-tum you wrote superheavy syllable, whereas آَ ﺘَ ﺒْ ﺘُ ﻢْ ka-li-maa-ti(i) my words (CV-CVV-CVC) polysyllabic because it consists آَ ﻠِ ﻤَ ﺎ ﺕِ ﻲ .(ya(a)-baa-ni(yy) Japanese of one light and two heavy syllables ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲّ ya(a)-ba(a)-niy- Japanese ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲﱞ yun ya(a)-ba(a)-ni- Japanese َ ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻴُ ﻮ ن yuu-na Table 4: Penultimate stress on heavy syllables 3 5.2 Ignoring Proclitics 5.4 Nisba Adjectives Proclitics are not stressed and must be disre- The nisba is a type of adjective that indicates garded when applying stress rules.