A sociolinguistic study of the Tihami Qahtani dialect in Asir, Southern Arabia Khairiah Alqahtani A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Languages and Linguistics University of Essex June 2015 To my beloved late sisters Zahrah & Jamila You will be always in my heart 3 Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................... 8 List of tables ............................................................................................................................. 10 List of figures ........................................................................................................................... 12 List of maps.............................................................................................................................. 13 Phonetic transcription .............................................................................................................. 14 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 1: ʿAsīr: history and geography ............................................................................ 19 1.1 Geography and population ................................................................................................. 22 1.2 The Politics of ʿAsīr in modern times ................................................................................ 25 1.3 The Economic situation .................................................................................................... 26 1.4 Education ........................................................................................................................... 29 1.5 The linguistic situation in ʿAsīr ......................................................................................... 30 1.6 The Qaḥtāni tribe in ʿAsīr .................................................................................................. 34 1.7 Tihāmat Qaḥṭān .................................................................................................................. 35 1.7.1 Al-Farša............................................................................................................... 40 1.7.2 Al-Jawwa .......................................................................................................... 41 1.8 Summaray .......................................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 2: Linguistic Description of the Tihāmi Qaḥṭāni Dialect ................................... 44 2.1 Phonology .......................................................................................................................... 45 2.1.1 Consonants ......................................................................................................... 45 2.1.2 Vowels ................................................................................................................ 51 2.2 Morphology........................................................................................................................ 52 2.2.1 Pronouns ............................................................................................................ 52 2.2.1.1 Independent personal pronouns ........................................................... 52 2.2.1.2 Possessive/object suffixes .................................................................... 53 2.2.1.3 Indirect object suffixes ......................................................................... 54 2.2.1.4 Demonstratives .................................................................................... 55 2.2.1.5 Presentatives ........................................................................................ 56 2.2.1.6 Interrogatives ........................................................................................ 57 2.2.1.7 Relative pronouns ................................................................................ 58 4 2.2.2 Adverbs ............................................................................................................... 59 2.2.3 Particles ............................................................................................................... 60 2.2.3.1 Article .................................................................................................. 60 2.2.3.2 Genitive marker ................................................................................... 61 2.2.3.3 Negation ............................................................................................... 61 2.2.3.4 Prepositions .......................................................................................... 62 2.2.3.5 Conjunctions ........................................................................................ 63 2.2.4 Nominal Morphology.......................................................................................... 63 2.2.4.1 Gender .................................................................................................. 63 2.2.4.2 Productive patterns............................................................................... 64 2.2.5 Numerals ............................................................................................................. 64 2.2.6 Strong verbs ........................................................................................................ 64 2.2.6.1 Forms ................................................................................................... 64 2.2.6.2 Inflections ............................................................................................ 66 2.2.6.2.1 Perfect ................................................................................... 66 2.2.6.2.2 Imperfect ............................................................................... 67 2.2.7 Weak verbs.......................................................................................................... 67 2.2.7.1. Geminated verbs ................................................................................. 67 2.2.7.2 Verbs I .................................................................................................. 68 2.2.7.3 Verbs Iw ............................................................................................... 69 2.2.7.4 Verbs IIw/y ........................................................................................... 70 2.2.7.5 Verbs III ............................................................................................... 71 2.3 Syntax ................................................................................................................................ 71 2.3.1 Noun phrase ........................................................................................................ 71 2.3.2 Verb phrase ......................................................................................................... 72 2.3.2.1 Tense and aspect .................................................................................. 72 2.3.3 Word order .......................................................................................................... 74 2.3.4 Conditional sentences ......................................................................................... 75 2.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 75 Chapter 3: Methodology and data collection ...................................................................... 77 3.1 Sampling ............................................................................................................................ 77 3.1.1 Adopting the snowball method in the current project ......................................... 80 3.2 The researcher ................................................................................................................... 86 3.3 Accessing the two communities ........................................................................................ 88 3.3.1 Research in the lowlands ..................................................................................... 88 5 3.3.2 Research in the highlands .................................................................................... 90 3.4 Data collection .................................................................................................................... 93 3.4.1 The interviews ..................................................................................................... 95 3.4.1.1 The recording device ............................................................................ 95 3.4.1.2 The interview design ............................................................................. 95 3.4.1.3 The pilot interviews .............................................................................. 98 3.4.1.4 Interviews with women ......................................................................... 99 3.4.1.5 Interviews with men ............................................................................ 102 3.4.1.6 Methodological issues and limitations .................................................. 103 3.5 Data analysis and coding procedure ..............................................................................