Sudanese Arabic

Phonematics and Syllable Structure

by James Dickins

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Extent: 128 pages

Publisher: Harrassowitz Verlag

Subjects: Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies, Language & Linguistics

Series: Semitica Viva

Series volume number: 38

Language: Arabic

Paperback (Published)

(June 2007)

ISBN: 9783447055192

6.65 x 9.45 inches

Price: $55.00

On back order

This book – the first detailed study of Sudanese Arabic phonology for many years – proposes a functionalist analysis which is strikingly simpler than standard accounts. Consonants and vowels are integrated into a single phoneme system; consonantal [y] and vocalic [i], consonantal [w] and vocalic [u], and consonantal [?] and vocalic [a] are analysed as allophones of a single phoneme respectively. The putative phonemes ‘ee’ and ‘oo’ are analysed not as phonemes in their own right, but as realisations of /ai/ and /au/ phoneme sequences, differing from ‘ay’ and ‘aw’ in terms of their phonotactic structuring rather than the identity of the phonemes which make them up. The potential for zero distinctive features to further significantly simplify the analysis is explored, particularly in the light of Jakobson’s (1957) account of North Palestinian Druze. The models hyperphoneme and archiphoneme are shown to provide elegant solutions to otherwise problematic areas of analysis. Phonological arguments are supported throughout by detailed phonetic analyses of both canonical and non-canonical phonetic realisations, and a novel account is proposed of ’emphasis spread’.

  • By (author) James Dickins