Speech Characteristics of Arabic Speakers: Dialect Variations A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Majid Ibrahim Alshahwan Supervisors: Prof Sandra Whiteside & Prof Patricia Cowell Department of Human Communication Sciences Faculty of Medicine University of Sheffield December 2015 2 Abstract Arabic is spoken by more than 280 million people around the world and has been subject to attention in a number of acoustic phonetic studies. However, there are a limited number of studies on Gulf Arabic dialects and the majority of these studies have focused mainly on male speakers. Therefore, this study aimed to explore two Gulf Arabic dialects, the central Najdi dialect from Saudi Arabia and the Bahraini Bahraini dialect from Bahrain. It aimed to establish normative data for the Diadochokinetic Rate (DDK), Voice Onset Time (VOT), Fundamental Frequency (F0) and Formant Frequencies (F1-F3) for male (n = 40) and female (n = 40) speakers from both dialects. Furthermore, it aimed to investigate whether there are differences between the two dialects. Another direction of the research was to examine whether differences between male and female speech will be evident in both dialects. The study was accomplished using different stimuli where the monosyllables /ba, da, ga/ and a multisyllabic sequence /badaga/ were selected to analyse the DDK rates. VOT duration was examined in monosyllablic minimal pair words containing the initial voiced stops /b, d/ and the three long vowels /a:, i:, u:/, and in words containing the initial voiceless stops /t, k/, initial voiced/voiceless stops /d, t/ and plain/emphatic alveolar stops /t, t≥/ and the two long vowels /i:, u:/. F0 was examined in the sustained phonation of the /a, i, u/, vowels in the words presented earlier and in sentences from the Arabic version of “The North Wind and the Sun” (Thelwall & Sa’Adeddin, 1990) and two verses from the first chapter of the Quran. F1, F2 and F3 values were examined in the sustained phonation of individual vowels and in vowels in the words described earlier. Acoustic analysis was carried out by using Praat (Boersma & Weenink, 2013). A series of mixed model ANOVAs were performed to investigate dialect and sex differences for each of the parameters. Dialect and sex were the I main independent variables; however, additional variables were assessed (syllable type, voicing, vowel context, place of articulation and emphasis). The first aim has been met, with normative data being established for males and females from both dialects. The results showed that for each of the parameters (DDK, VOT, F0 and formant frequencies), the dialect differences as well as the degree of differences were dependent on the stimuli type. Furthermore, sex differences were apparent for F0, F1, F2 and F3 where males had lower frequencies than females in all tasks. In addition, the results showed that females had longer VOT durations than males for voiceless stops; and in the initial emphatic /t≥/ context; males had longer VOT duration than females. However, there were no differences between male and female speakers with regard to the DDK rates, and in the VOT analysis, initial voiced stops did not show an effect for dialect and sex. Furthermore, the impact of other variables other than dialect and sex are discussed. In conclusion, dialect, and to a lesser extent, sex differences in the Arabic dialects under study, are dependent on the stimulus type. The study also showed that emphatic /t≥/ might help in differentiating between different Arabic dialects. II Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the soul of my grandfather and to my Mother and Father III Acknowledgments بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم "In the Name of Allah the most merciful, the most compassionate" Thank you Allah for your blessing and for giving me the strength to overcome those difficult times Anyone embarking on a PhD would remember the difficult times and sleepless nights filled with doubt. However, there are certain faces and names that had helped in easing the whole process and for their faces and names will always be grateful. I’m extremely thankful to my supervisors, Prof Sandra Whiteside and Prof Patricia Cowell who have helped me enormously throughout this Journey. Sandra, without your support and an unfailing patience and believing in this project, this work would never have been done. I will always be grateful for teaching me at times the basics of phonetics and pushing me towards being an independent thinker which would hopefully make a better researcher. Words of gratitude will never be enough for your help for everything over the past years but it has to be said “Thank you”. Patricia, your words “the results are interesting “has always been ringing in my ears whenever, I felt doubt. Your help is much appreciated, especially at that difficult time. To both examiners, Dr Stuart Cunningham and Prof Samantha Hellmuth, your comments and discussion were invaluable and have added much towards improvement of this document and future research. IV To the staff and faculty members of the department of Human Communication Sciences, Univiertsy of Sheffield, thank you for equipping me with the skills that are the basis of this study. To the researchers of Arabic young and old, and principally those of no Arabic origin, your work is the core of enabling new Arabic researchers to flourish and for that, we will always be thankful. To those who have helped me with data collection, in Riyadh at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre and to Dr. Khouloud Alhussain from King Fahad Hospital for their help. In Bahrain, a special thanks to Dr.Mona Mohammed from Alsalmaniya Hospital as well as to her Brothers and family for welcoming in Bahraini as well as Dr.Hesham Albinali. Thank you to all those participating, without you, there would be no study. Thank you to Katie Finnegan for helping me with proofreading the many drafts of this thesis. My warmest thanks to a few colleagues, whom I call friends, Nisreen, Faisal, Haythem, Saad, Mohammed, Abdullah, Mohammed²,Murad, Turki and Bader. To my dearest of friends, Omar thank you for pushing when I needed more than a shove and to Bander, your words of encouragement and believing in me when I was down, will never be forgotten my dear friends. I’m grateful to the Rehabilitation department at the College of Medical Sciences at King Saud University for their support in fulfilling a dream which would hopefully be repaying by clinical practice and research. A special thanks to Dr.Abdualsalaam Alhaidery for his help and support. V To my family, I would never to be able to thank you for support throughout the years of leaving you all. Thank you Arwa, Latefah, Omar and Alanoud. To my parents, your support was the anchor I relied on. To my mother Aljoharah, your prayers and kind words dwarf any thanks I can direct at you. To my Father, Prof Ibrahim, you are an inspiration and wish I can repay your love and support. To my larger family and to my family in-laws, thank you for your support. In their absence, my wonderful son “Khalid” has filled me with joy and happiness at times when I felt low. My love and gratitude goes to my dear wife Aliyah for enduring many years filled with stress and leaving her mother to encourage me on this ride. Thank you, Aliyah. You are truly a blessing. It is not possible to remember everyone that had helped me during these years; however, you are not forgotten and thank you. VI Author’s Declaration I hereby acknowledge that the work contained in this thesis is my own original work and has not previously in its entirety or in part been submitted to any academic institution for degree purposes. ------------------------------------------- Majid Ibrahim Alshahwan 2015 VII Table of contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….................................I Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….III Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………………………………….......................IV Author’s Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….VII Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…VIII List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..XXII List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..XXIX Chapter 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Overview of the Arabic language ............................................................................. 1 1.3 Aims of the study ....................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Motivation for the study ........................................................................................... 3 1.5 Contributations of the thesis .................................................................................... 4 1.6 Organisation of the thesis ......................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2. Arabic: the Dialects of Najdi Saudi and Bahraini Bahraini....................... 7 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Written Arabic ........................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Spoken Arabic ..........................................................................................................