Skip to main content
Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services

John Benjamins Publishing Company

Visit our Partner Page See all our books
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Some grammatical features of Faifi Arabic with a focus on emphatic fricatives

  • and

Abstract

After overviewing some unusual features of Faifi Arabic, the present study investigates the distribution of emphatic fricatives in a subvariety of Faifi Arabic (FA) focusing on their unique realizations. First, we observe that the emphatic /sˤ/, which is cognate with Classical Arabic /sˤ/, is typically realized as [st] in FA. Second, FA emphatic fricative /ðˤ/ is affected by a process of root-initial devoicing, whether it is cognate with Classical Arabic /ðˤ/ or /dˤ/. When root-initial /ðˤ/ is cognate with Classical Arabic /ðˤ/ and low vowels occur in the first two syllables, the emphatic devoices, resulting in the surface allophone [θˤ]; if a high vowel is present, the emphatic also depharyngealizes, resulting in [θ]. When FA root-initial /ðˤ/ is cognate with Classical Arabic /dˤ/, it typically surfaces as labiodental fricative [f]; otherwise, it is realized as [ðˤ].

Abstract

After overviewing some unusual features of Faifi Arabic, the present study investigates the distribution of emphatic fricatives in a subvariety of Faifi Arabic (FA) focusing on their unique realizations. First, we observe that the emphatic /sˤ/, which is cognate with Classical Arabic /sˤ/, is typically realized as [st] in FA. Second, FA emphatic fricative /ðˤ/ is affected by a process of root-initial devoicing, whether it is cognate with Classical Arabic /ðˤ/ or /dˤ/. When root-initial /ðˤ/ is cognate with Classical Arabic /ðˤ/ and low vowels occur in the first two syllables, the emphatic devoices, resulting in the surface allophone [θˤ]; if a high vowel is present, the emphatic also depharyngealizes, resulting in [θ]. When FA root-initial /ðˤ/ is cognate with Classical Arabic /dˤ/, it typically surfaces as labiodental fricative [f]; otherwise, it is realized as [ðˤ].

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Introduction ix
  5. Part I. Sociolinguistics
  6. Palestinian Arabic in the diaspora 3
  7. Dialect contact and change in the Arabic feminine ending morpheme 27
  8. Variability of nominal genitives in Casablanca Moroccan Arabic 51
  9. Part II. Phonetics and phonology
  10. Plain-emphatic R phonemes in Arabic 77
  11. Some grammatical features of Faifi Arabic with a focus on emphatic fricatives 99
  12. Part III. Syntax
  13. The imperfective verb and the progressive aspect in Arabic 121
  14. Remnant-movement analysis of questions with final wh-words in Jordanian Arabic 147
  15. Part IV. First language acquisition
  16. Tracing the acquisition of definiteness in Emirati Arabic 169
  17. Index 199
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXIII
This chapter is in the book Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXIII
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.11.05alf

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Introduction ix
  5. Part I. Sociolinguistics
  6. Palestinian Arabic in the diaspora 3
  7. Dialect contact and change in the Arabic feminine ending morpheme 27
  8. Variability of nominal genitives in Casablanca Moroccan Arabic 51
  9. Part II. Phonetics and phonology
  10. Plain-emphatic R phonemes in Arabic 77
  11. Some grammatical features of Faifi Arabic with a focus on emphatic fricatives 99
  12. Part III. Syntax
  13. The imperfective verb and the progressive aspect in Arabic 121
  14. Remnant-movement analysis of questions with final wh-words in Jordanian Arabic 147
  15. Part IV. First language acquisition
  16. Tracing the acquisition of definiteness in Emirati Arabic 169
  17. Index 199
Downloaded on 18.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/sal.11.05alf/html
Scroll to top button