Word Stress and Vowel Neutralization in Modern Standard

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 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 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 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

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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 ﺏَﺮْق 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/ ' argued/ ﺷَﺎدﱠ 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.

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3. In disyllabic words, stress falls on the - 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 آَﺘَﺒَﺎ 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 وَٱﻟْﻮَﻟَﺪ 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 ﻣَﺎذَا 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 ﻣَﻜْﺘَﺒَﺔ 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

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5.2 Ignoring Proclitics 5.4 Adjectives

Proclitics are not stressed and must be disre- The nisba is a type of adjective that indicates garded when applying stress rules. For example, relation or pertinence, such as nationality. The /iyy/ يّ wa-lad/ 'boy', stressed on the penultimate masculine is formed by adding the suffix/ وَﻟَﺪ -iyya/. For exam/ ﻳﱠﺔ and the feminine by addingِ وَ according to Rule 3, maintains the stress on the 'al-ya(a)-baa-nu/ 'Japan'/ اَ ﻟْ ﻴَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ نُ wa/ even when combined with the definite arti- ple, the nisba for/ ya(a)-ba(a)-niyy 'Japanese' in the/ ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲّ is stressed /'al-wa-lad/, not /'al-wa- becomes أَﻟْﻮَﻟَﺪ ,.cle; i.e ya(a)-ba(a)-niy-ya/ in the/ ﻳَﺎﺏَﺎﻧِﻴّﺔ lad/, as one would expect from Rule 5. To re- masculine and phrase, although /'al-wa-lad/ consists of three feminine/. Strictly speaking, in formal MSA /should be pronounced /ya(a)-ba(a)-niyy ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲّ syllables, the first is ignored so that stress rules are applied as if it were a disyllabic word (Rule ya(a)-ba(a)-niy-yun/ if the case ending/ ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲﱞ or) 3). is pronounced). Note that the stress is on the

/niyy/ according to Rule 1 because /niyy/ is a There is a small set of disyllabic words that superheavy syllable consisting of CVCC. In real- consist of a proclitic followed by a single sylla- ity, however, the masculine nisba suffix is often ,(/bi-kam/ 'how much' con- pronounced /ii/ or /iiy/ (normally shortend to /i/ ﺏِ ﻜَ ﻢْ ,ble. For example kam/ 'how rather than the formal /iyy/, causing the stress to/ آَ ﻢْ bi/ and/ بِ sists of the proclitic much'. If proclitics were not ignored, this word shift to the penultimate -- in this case /ya(a)-baa- would be stressed on the penultimate as /bi-kam/ ni(yy)/ -- according to Rule 4 (see more below). -can have at least two pronuncia ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲّ ,according to Rule 3. Ignoring the proclitic means In short that it should be pronounced /bi-kam/, so that it tions: the formal /ya(a)-ba(a)-niyy and the more is stressed as if it were monosyllabic according common /ya(a)-baa-ni(yy)/. to Rule 2 though in fact it is disyllabic. By ex- already', which consists Note that none of these subtleties regarding' ﻟَ ﻘَ ﺪْ ,actly the same logic qad/ 'al- nisba pronunciation constitutes an exception to/ ﻗَﺪ la/ combined with/ لَ the proclitic ready', is pronounced /la-qad/ according to Rule the stress rules. As long as the rules are applied 2, not /la-qad/ according to Rule 3. strictly based on how the word is pronounced, the stressed syllable can be predicted by the rules. 5.3 Stress Shift The reason that nisba adjectives can have two different stress patterns is because they can have The number of syllables is determined by how two (or more) different pronunciations. Since the the word is actually pronounced, not by how it syllabic structures for these different pronuncia- "should" be pronounced. Even in highly formal tions are not the same, different rules need to be spoken MSA case endings and some final vowels applied (Rule 1 or Rule 4). are often omitted, which cause the syllable count to decrease and the stress to shift backwards. For 5.5 Final Long Vowels -li' ﻣَ ﻜْ ﺘَ ﺒَ ﺔٌ tun/ of/ ةٌ example, if the case ending brary', pronounced /mak-ta-ba-tun/ according to Final long vowels, which are normally neutral- -they two' is pro' هُﻤَﺎ Rule 5, is omitted, the syllable count decreases ized, are not stressed. Thus from four to three. This causes the stress to shift nounced /hu-ma(a)/, not /hu-maa/. This is nei- backwards from /ta/ to /mak/ according to Rule 5 ther a rule nor an exception, but a logical corol- so that the word is pronounced /mak-ta-ba/. lary derived from the rules. For /hu-ma(a)/, ap- plying Rule 3 yields the correct stress. آِ ﺘَ ﺎ بٌ On the other hand, when words like 'book', pronounced /ki-taa-bun/ according to Arabic Roman English hu-ma(a) They هُﻤَﺎ ki-taab/, the stress/ آِ ﺘَ ﺎ ب Rule 4, are shortened to hu-na(a) Here هُﻨَﺎ shifts forward by one syllable according to Rule ba-na(a) he built ﺏَﻨَﻰ stress on superheavy). Interestingly, though) 1 the stress shifts from the penultimate /taa/ to the maa-dha(a) What ﻣَﺎذَا ultimate syllable /taab/, the stress is still on the qul-na(a) we said ﻗُﻠﻨَﺎ ./same long vowel /aa Table 6: Final long vowels

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Seeming exceptions to this corollary include /a(a)/ that sounds as if there is weak stress on the ,/(-on-the line. For ex- ultimate syllables, i.e., /hu-ma(a) ka-ta-ba(a ء words ending in a goodbye' sounds like it is pro- contradicting Rule 3. Other speakers sound as if' إِﻟَﻰ ٱﻟﻠﱢﻘَﺎء ,ample nounced /'i-lal-li-qaa/, with the last long /aa/ they pronounce both syllables with more or less stressed, but in fact its precise pronunciation is equal stress. The most common pronunciation /'i-lal-li-qaa'/ (Rule 1), with the final unvoweled probably follows rules 2 and 3, with primary hamza inaudible or hardly audible. The reason stress on the /hu/ and /ka/ and the final half long that this word does not contradict the rules or the final vowel carrying secondary stress. The stress corollary becomes clear if we look at how the of dual forms is a borderline case that requires word is formally pronounced with the case end- further research. ./i-lal-li-qaa-'i'/ إِﻟَﻰ ٱﻟﻠﱢﻘَﺎءِ ,.ing, i.e 6 Vowel Neutralization 5.6 Exceptions to Stress Rules Long vowels and double consonants in spoken MSA are normally shortened or neutralized in There are some relatively rare exceptions to the unstressed syllables. Though in carefully enunci- word stress rules, especially to stressing the pe- ated formal MSA, especially in liturgical Arabic, nultimate of disyllabic words. long vowels and double consonants may be fully pronounced, in normal spoken MSA vowel neu- 1. Some disyllabic words formed by the suf- tralization is a firmly established phenomenon. fixation of a pronominal enclitic directly to the bi/ do not follow the nor- Neutralization is almost totally ignored in/ بِ la/ or/ لَ proclitics mal rules of ignoring proclitics when counting reference works such as grammar books and dic- I' and' أَﻧَﺎ for you' consists of tionaries. Even such common words as' ﻟَ ﻜُ ﻢْ ,syllables. For example this' are incorrectly transcribed as /'anaa/ and' هٰﺬَا لَ kum/ suffixed to the proclitic/ آُ ﻢْ the enclitic /la/. Normally Rule 2 would apply, the proclitic /haadhaa/, misleading one to think that the final would be ignored, and the word would be pro- vowel must be pronounced long, whereas in fact nounced as /la-kum/ with stress on the ultimate, these words are pronounced /'a-na(a)/ and /haa- is dha(a)/. Some authors describe neutralization ﻟَ ﻜُ ﻢْ is pronounced /bi-kam/. In fact ﺏِ ﻜَ ﻢْ just like pronounced /la-kum/, just like any normal disyl- inaccurately. For example, Holes (2004) states labic word. What is exceptional here is that the that pronominal enclitics are generally kept long proclitic is not being ignored and Rule 3, rather in pausal pronunciation, but we could find no the Rule 2, is applied. Below are some more ex- evidence to support this claim. amples. It should be noted that neutralization may not Arabic Roman English always result in a fully shortened vowel; that is, a la-kum for you long vowel may be shortened somewhat but not ﻟَ ﻜُ ﻢْ la-ha(a) for her entirely, so that it would be about 1.5 times the ﻟَﻬَﺎ la-hu for him length of a short vowel. This is referred to as a ﻟَ ﻪُ half-long vowel and the process may be called bi-ka for you ﺏِ ﻚَ Table 7: Exceptions to Rule 2 semi-neutralization. Neutralized or semi- neutralized long vowels are indicated in this pa- in the sense of 'indeed' is nor- per by enclosing the second part of the long أَﺟَﻞ The word .2 vowel in parentheses, i.e., /hu-na(a)/. mally stressed as /'a-jal/ according to Rule 2, but in the sense of 'more sublime', a shortened form Neutralized long vowels are generally pho- a-jal-lu/, it is stressed on the ultimate'/ أَ ﺟَ ﻞﱡ of netically indistinguishable from the correspond- syllable since /jal/ is the originally stressed sylla- ,هُﻨَﺎ ing short vowels. For example, in a word like ble. This is a minor phenomenon and can be theoretically pronounced /hu-naa/, the final /aa/ safely ignored. is neutralized to /a/ and it sounds just as if it were

pronounced /hu-na/. It is difficult to predict 3. Many dual forms end in long /aa/, such as when a long vowel is to be fully neutralized as .'hu-ma(a) ka-ta-ba(a)/ 'they two wrote/ هُﻤَﺎ آَﺘَﺒَﺎ opposed to semi-neutralized. There is a tendency According to Rule 3, these should be pronounced to pronounce vowels half long in unstressed syl- /hu-ma(a) ka-ta-ba(a)/. However, some speakers lables when the long vowel has phonemic value, pronounce these words with a final half-long

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ka-ta- 3. All long vowels are neutralized, except/ آَﺘَﺒَﺎ such in the dual forms of verbs like ba(a)/. for the one nearest the end.

The sections below describe the neutraliza- Arabic Roman English ya(a)-baan Japan ﻳَﺎﺏَﺎن ,tion rules for spoken MSA. Unlike stress rules maa-dha(a) What ﻣَﺎذَا the neutralization rules cannot be said to provide saa-far-tu I travelled ﺳَ ﺎ ﻓَ ﺮْ تُ -a full and objective account of how MSA is pro nounced by all speakers. There is some variation Table 10: Long vowel nearest end among speakers, especially when long vowels have phonemic value and in dual forms. The except for part above applies to long vowels literally nearest the end, not at the 7 Neutralization Rules end, since final long vowels are neutralized ﻣَﺎذَا Below are the rules for neutralizing long sylla- according to Rule 2. Thus the /maa/ in bles in standard spoken MSA. These rules are /maa-dha(a)/ is kept long (Rule 3) but basically for words of Arabic origin and do not /dha(a)/ is neutralized (Rule 2). If there is always apply well to loanwords and foreign only one non-final long vowel, it should names. not be neutralized, even if unstressed. Thus /saa-far-tu/ is pronounced with long /saa/ 1. Long vowels in stressed syllables are since it is the long vowel nearest the end, never neutralized. though some speakers may pronounce it half long or even neutralize it completely. Arabic Roman English ,ka-li-maa-ti my words 4. If a word ends in a double consonant آَ ﻠِ ﻤَ ﺎ ﺕِ ﻲ .ja-diid new the last consonant is often neutralized ﺟَ ﺪِ ﻳ ﺪ

ya(a)-baan Japan ﻳَﺎﺏَﺎن Arabic Roman English ri-jaal men رِ ﺟَ ﺎ ل Haj(j) pilgrimage ﺣَ ﺞّ Table 8: Long vowels rule kab(b) overthrow آَ ﺐّ Superheavy syllables are always stressed, Table 11: Double consonant neutralization so they can never be neutralized because neutralization only occurs in unstressed Some speakers may pronounce final dou- syllables. ble consonants, but on the whole they tend to be omitted. This even happens in un- 2. Final long vowels are normally neutral- stressed syllables in non-final positions, ./ta-ta-ka(l)-la-mii-na/ ﺕَﺘَﻜَﻠﱠﻤِﻴﻦَ ized. such as in

8 Applying Neutralization Rules Arabic Roman English hu-ma(a) they Below are principal points to keep in mind when هُﻤَﺎ .bay-ti(i) my house applying the neutralization rules ﺏَﻴْﺘِﻲ ya(a)-baa-ni(yy) Japanese ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲّ ma(a) what 8.1 Unstressed Syllables ﻣَﺎ

maa-dha(a) what ﻣَﺎذَا There is a tendency, especially among Egyptian ka-ta-bu(u) they wrote speakers of MSA, to neutralize all unstressed آَ ﺘَ ﺒُ ﻮ ا Table 9: Final long vowels long vowels. In casual or rapid speech this tends

to occur even in formal MSA, but not in liturgi- This stems from the fact that long vowels ﻟِﺴَﺎﻧِﻴﱠﺎت cal Arabic. In formal MSA, such words as at word end are not stressed, and holds 'linguistics' are normally pronounced /li-sa(a)- even for monosyllabic words or pronomi- ni(i)-yaat/, with /saa/ pronounced long or half- nal enclitics. However, in formal MSA and long and /nii/ (formally /niyy/) completely neu- liturgical Arabic the final /a(a)/ of dual tralized. In Egyptian-accented MSA unstressed forms is often pronounced as a half long long vowels are probably almost always neutral- vowel or even as a full long vowel. ized.

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The stress and neutralization rules for loan- 8.2 Half-long Vowels words differ from those of etymologically Arabic words and require further research. Probably the strongest motivation for pronounc- ing unstressed long vowels as long or half-long is 9 Conclusions homophonic clash. Such words as 'I trav- The stress rules described in this paper may seem ﺳَ ﺎ ﻓَ ﺮْ تُ eled', even in Egyptian MSA, "should" be pro- more complicated than they actually are. Disre- nounced as /saa-far-tu/, with long or half-long garding the rare exceptions, the rules can be con- /saa/ according to Rule 3, otherwise this word cisely stated as follows: /sa-far-tu/ ﺳَ ﻔَ ﺮ تُ would be indistinguishable from 'I removed the veil'. Other cases in which there is 1. If the last syllable is superheavy, it is a strong tendency to pronounce half-long vowels stressed. ma-ka(a)-tiib 'writing', 2. If not, stress the penultimate if it is heavy/ ﻣَﻜَﺎﺕِﻴﺐ include words like in which /a(a)/ is pronounced half-long. In dual or if the word is disyllabic. .hu- 3. Otherwise, stress the antepenultimate/ هُﻤَﺎ آَﺘَﺒَﺎ forms ending in long /aa/, such as in ma(a) ka-ta-ba(a)/ 'they two wrote', the final vowel is normally pronounced half-long since it The neutralization rules can be summarized as :ka-ta-ba(a)/ 'they follows/ آَﺘَﺒَﺎ ,is phonemic; if it were not two wrote' would be pronounced identically to ka-ta-ba/ 'he wrote'. 1. Neutralize long vowels except for the one/ آَ ﺘَ ﺐَ nearest the end. 8.3 Nisba Adjectives 2. Never neutralize stressed vowels. 3. Almost always neutralize final long vowels. In formal MSA, nisba adjectives (which end in a superheavy syllable, not a long vowel) are Though stress and neutralization rules are often stressed on the ultimate syllable. For example, ignored in pedagogical materials and dictionaries, ,is pronounced /ya-ba-niyy/, with double /y/ they are of great importance to both pedagogy ﻳَ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲّ at the end, though it may sound like /ya(a)-ba(a)- speech technology and lexicography. Our insti- nii/. In less formal MSA this is pronounced /ya- tute has launched a project based on the research baa-ni/, but not /ya(a)-baa-nii/ (rules 2 and 3). done for this paper to compile the world's first Arabic-English dictionary that indicates both 8.4 Loanwords stress and neutralization in the transcription of each entry. Stress and neutralization deserve Loanwords, especially foreign names, are nor- more attention from linguists and educators, and mally written with long vowels. This is a tech- lexicographers should incorporate the fruits of nique to indicate vowels, since short vowels are linguistic research into textbooks, dictionaries not normally written in unvocalized Arabic. It and CAL applications. does not generally mean that the vowels are ac- tually pronounced long. References Clive Holes. 2004. Modern Arabic Structures, -is pro- Functions and Varieties. Georgetown Univer ﺕَﺎﻧَﺎآَﺎ For example, the Japanese name nounced with short vowels as /ta(a)-na(a)-ka(a)/, sity Press. Washington, D.C. though the 'alifs seem to indicate long vowels. This actually contradicts stress Rule 4 which re- Gerard Janssens. 1972. Stress in Arabic and quires stress on the penultimate if the penulti- Word Structure in the Modern Arabic Dialects. mate is heavy, and proves that the three syllables Peeters. Belgium. though they appear to be long, are only T.F. Mitchell. 1990. Pronouncing Arabic. Oxford ,ﺕَﺎﻧَﺎآَﺎ of orthographically long and must be considered University Press. Oxford, U.K. short both for stress and pronunciation purposes. On the other hand, some foreign names do con- Karin C. Ryding. 2005. A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic. Cambridge Univer- Tokyo’ and‘ ﻮ آِ ﻴُ ﻮ ﻃُ tain real long vowels, as in sity Press, Cambridge, UK. -Japan’, which are pronounced /Tuu-ki‘ اَﻟْﻴَﺎﺏَﺎب yu(u)/ (or /Too-ki-yo(o)/) and /’al-ya(a)-baan/.

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