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Definiteness in the Arabic Dialects

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Definiteness in the Arabic Dialects The Dissertation Committee for Michael Lee Turner certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Definiteness in the Arabic Dialects Committee: Kristen Brustad, Supervisor Patience Epps Mahmoud Al-Batal Cinzia Russi Definiteness in the Arabic Dialects by Michael Lee Turner Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2018 Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following people: Kristen Brustad and Mahmoud Al-Batal, through whose vision, mentorship and guidance this project was first set into motion; Pattie Epps, Cinzia Russi, Tony Woodbury, Jacqueline Toribio, and Na’ama Pat-El, whose scholarship in linguistics has been foundational and in- spiring; Alex Magidow, Emilie Zuniga, Thomas Leddy-Cecere, Jason Schroepfer, Phillip Stokes, Beki Post, Ryan Fan, Mona AlShihry, Sarah Schwartz, Nav Sokhey, and our other UT colleagues in Arabic linguistics, who have been a constant source of ideas and motivation; Nadia Yaqub, Laila Familiar, and Hoda Mansouri, whose teaching truly made me into a speaker of Arabic; David Justh and Lisa Parisi, whose flawless attention to details and timing have simplified my graduate experience over and over again; Nesrine Basheer, Ari Schriber, Radwa El Barouni, Peter Kit- las, and Susan Abraham, friends and colleagues alike whose energy and passion are contagious; Jim Miller of MACECE in Rabat; John Davidson, Yhtimad Bouziane, and Latifa Samadi at the American Legation in Tangier; Anouar Majid and the staff at the University of New England’s international campus in Tangier; My parents, Dwan and Harold; my sisters, Sarah and Laura; and my wife, Kenza, whose love and encouragement have seen me through every word. This project was supported in part by a CAORC-Mellon Fellowship. iii Definiteness in the Arabic Dialects by Michael Lee Turner, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2018 Supervisor: Kristen Brustad This dissertation proposes a model, based roughly on Dryer’s (2014) refer- ence hierarch, that can systematically account for variation in the morphosyn- tactic strategies used to mark different degrees of definiteness and indefiniteness in the Arabic dialects. These primarily spoken varieties display a great deal of diver- sity in this domain, not only in the forms of the articles and affixes and that they use to mark referential status in noun phrases, but also in the semantic notions with which formal marking strategies can be associated. Although there is some information available in individual Arabic dialect grammars, many of which note the existence of any reference-marking strategies perceived as unique or signifi- cant, there has been relatively little comparative work on these strategies and only limited progress toward describing them using cross-linguistically applicable mod- els for semantic typology. The present study fills this gap by providing a case study based, textually supported account of key points of grammatical variation and a preliminary typological classification system for dialects’ treatment of definiteness. The goal of this approach is to clarify the discrete semantic parameters that gov- ern the use of marking strategies across a diverse set of Arabic varieties, thereby opening the door for a more thorough comparative analysis of the corresponding forms’ semantic properties and diachronic origins. iv Table of Contents List of Tables viii List of Figures ix 1 Introduction: Definiteness in Arabic 1 1.1 Issues in Arabic............................................................................. 4 1.1.1 A Standard Model, with Falsifiable Standards ........................ 5 1.1.2 Semasiology before Onomasiology........................................ 7 1.1.3 Diachronicity without Synchronicity..................................... 9 1.1.4 Trickle-Down Typology ....................................................... 11 1.2 Questions, Goals and Scope of the Project........................................ 12 1.3 Layout of this Dissertation ............................................................. 14 1.4 Dialects and Textual Sources .......................................................... 16 1.5 Transcriptions and Conventions...................................................... 19 2 Approaches 22 2.1 Beyond a Binary Model of Definiteness............................................ 23 2.1.1 Problematizing the Binary Model.......................................... 24 2.1.2 Models for Definiteness and Referentiality............................. 30 2.1.3 The Reference Hierarchy in Extended Application.................. 36 2.2 Approaching Arabic....................................................................... 44 2.2.1 Previous Views ................................................................... 45 2.2.2 Semantic Views of Common Structures ................................. 51 2.3 Diagnostic Strategies for Semantics in Context ................................. 64 2.3.1 Structural Correlates ........................................................... 66 2.3.2 Structural Correlates for the Reference Hierarchy .................. 67 2.3.3 Textual Applications............................................................ 71 v 3 The Leveled Dialects 74 3.1 Hassaniya (Mauritania & Mali) ....................................................... 75 3.1.1 Basic Arrangement .............................................................. 76 3.1.2 Generic, Plural and Non-Count Referents .............................. 85 3.1.3 Attributive Structures .......................................................... 90 3.1.4 Further Observations........................................................... 94 3.1.5 Summary: Hassaniya........................................................... 97 3.2 Sana’ani (Yemen) .......................................................................... 99 3.2.1 Basic Arrangement ..............................................................100 3.2.2 Generic, Plural and Non-Count Referents ..............................108 3.2.3 Attributive Structures ..........................................................113 3.2.4 Further Observations...........................................................115 3.2.5 Summary: Sana’ani .............................................................117 3.3 Discussion ....................................................................................118 3.3.1 Other Dialects with Leveled Features ....................................119 3.3.2 Summary: Variation Within the Leveled Dialects ...................122 4 The Conservative Dialects 126 4.1 Rural Sudanese .............................................................................127 4.1.1 Basic Arrangement ..............................................................128 4.1.2 Generic, Plural and Non-Count Referents ..............................135 4.1.3 Attributive Structures ..........................................................138 4.1.4 Further Observations...........................................................141 4.1.5 Summary: Rural Sudanese ...................................................144 4.2 Levantine (Lebanon & Syria) ..........................................................145 4.2.1 Basic Arrangement ..............................................................146 4.2.2 Generic, Plural and Non-Count Referents ..............................155 4.2.3 Attributive Structures ..........................................................158 4.2.4 Further Observations...........................................................162 4.2.5 Summary: Levantine ...........................................................164 4.3 Discussion ....................................................................................166 4.3.1 Other Dialects with Conservative Features.............................166 4.3.2 Summary: Variation Within the Conservative Dialects............169 vi 5 The Innovative Dialects 174 5.1 Moroccan .....................................................................................175 5.1.1 Basic Arrangement ..............................................................176 5.1.2 Generic, Plural and Non-Count Referents ..............................188 5.1.3 Attributive Structures ..........................................................192 5.1.4 Further Observations...........................................................196 5.1.5 Summary: Moroccan ...........................................................200 5.2 Central Asian (Uzbekistan & Afghanistan) .......................................201 5.2.1 Basic Arrangement ..............................................................203 5.2.2 Further Observations...........................................................209 5.2.3 Summary: Central Asian ......................................................214 5.3 Discussion ....................................................................................215 5.3.1 Other Dialects with Innovative Features ................................216 5.3.2 Summary: Variation Within the Innovative Dialects ...............220 6 Conclusion 224 6.1 Review of Findings........................................................................226 6.1.1 Basic Arrangements.............................................................226 6.1.2 Treatment of Generic, Plural and Non-Count Nouns ...............232 6.1.3 Treatment of Nominal Attributes ..........................................235
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