Northwest Arabian Arabic

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Northwest Arabian Arabic (also called Levantine Bedawi Arabic or Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic) is a proposed[1] subfamily of Arabic encompassing the traditional Bedouin dialects of the Sinai Peninsula, the Negev, Gaza Strip, southern Jordan, and the northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia.[1]

The dialect of the Maʿāzah in the Egyptian Eastern Desert borders the dialect of the ʿAbābdah, who speak a dialect more closely related to Sudanese Arabic.Template:Sfn Research is needed to establish whether the Maʿāzah dialect is the southwestern extremity of Northwest Arabian on the Egyptian mainland.Template:Sfn

In Saudi Arabia, the dialects of the eastern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, the Hisma, and the Harrat al-Riha belong to the Northwest Arabian type, but the dialect of the Bili to the south is not closely related.[2]

Classification

The Northwest Arabian Arabic dialects display several innovations from Proto-Arabic:[1]

  1. The voiced reflex of *q ([g])
  2. The gaháwah syndrome: insertion of /a/ after X in (C)aXC(V) sequences where X is /h/, /ʿ/, /ḥ/, /ġ/, or /ḫ/, e.g. gahwa(h) > gaháwa(h) "coffee", baġl > baġal "mule".
  3. The definite article al- and the relative pronoun alli are stressable as an integral part of the word, e.g. álwalad, áljabal. The initial /a/ is stable enough to be preserved after -ī (-iy), which is dropped: f-albēt, rāʿ-álġanam.
  4. A number of typical Bedouin lexical items (gōṭar "to go", sōlaf "to tell, narrate", ṭabb "to arrive", nišad ~ nišád "to ask").
  5. Absence of tanwīn and its residues.
  6. Absence of final /n/ in the imperfect, 2nd person feminine singular, 2nd person masculine plural, and 3rd person masculine plural.
  7. The pronominal suffix of the 2nd person masculine plural is -ku (-kuw).
  8. Stressed variants -ī and -nī of the pronominal suffix in the 1st person singular.
  9. Plural comm. forms haḏalla, haḏallāk, etc.
  10. Initial /a/ in Forms VII, VIII, and X in the perfect, and stressed when in stressable position.
  11. Initial /a/ in a number of irregular nouns (amm, aḫt, aḫwan, adēn, afám).

Varieties

Northwest Arabian Arabic can be divided into a western branch spoken in Sinai and the Negev, and an eastern branch spoken to the east of the Wadi Araba.[1] Several dialects of the eastern branch, such as that of the Zalabiah and Zawaidih of Wadi Ramm,[3] and that of the Bdul,[4] have been argued to be closely related to the western branch.

Differences between western and eastern branches:[1]
Western branch Eastern branch
b- imperfect in regular use does not occur in plain colloquial
analytic genitive šuġl, šuġlah, šuġlīn, šuġlāt as genitive markers
Form I imperfect performative vowel harmony generalized /a/
reflexes of *aw and *ay partially monophthongized; monophthongs fluctuate with long phonemes /ō/ ~ /ū/, /ē/ ~/ī/. well-established monophthongs /ō/ and /ē/
gahawa syndrome gaháwa only ghawa ~ gaháwa
I-w imperfect yawṣal ~ yōṣal yāṣal
Template:Gcl object suffix -ha/-hiy in Negev -ha
Template:Gcl object suffix phonetically conditioned C-ih/-ah, C-u(h) in southern Sinai C-ah
Template:Gcl subject pronoun iḥna, aḥna ḥinna, iḥna
reflex of -ā(ʾ) in neutral environments -iy -a

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Interdental Dental/Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
plain emph. plain emph. plain emph.
Nasal Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Plosive voiceless Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link) (Template:IPA link)
voiced Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Affricate Template:IPA link
Fricative voiceless Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
voiced Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link) (Template:IPA link) Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Trill Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)
Approximant Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
  • Phonemes in parentheses occur either marginally or across different dialects
  • Script error: No such module "IPA". can be heard as an allophone of Script error: No such module "IPA"..
  • Script error: No such module "IPA". is mostly heard in the Hindiy and Ṭuwara dialects

Vowels

Vowels occur in both long and short positions:Template:Sfn

Front Back
Close Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Mid Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Open Template:IPA link Template:IPA link

Vowels are recognized as allophones in the following positions:[5]

Phoneme/Sound Allophone Notes
i Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink in lax position
u Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink in lax position
Template:IPAblink when preceding emphatic sounds
a Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink in lax position
Template:IPAblink when preceding or following emphatics
eː Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink when following emphatic or back fricatives
oː Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink when preceding velar consonants
aː Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink in velarized environments
Template:IPAblink when following pharyngeal consonants
Script error: No such module "IPA". in neutral position in the Tarabin dialect

Imala

Word-internal imala of */-ā-/

Some varieties of Negev Arabic are characterized by word-internal imala of *-ā- to /ē/ in patterns where /i/ historically occurred in an adjacent syllable. It does not occur when one of the adjacent consonants is emphatic or a back consonant. Some of the patterns where it is found include the following:[6]

  • Reflexes of *CāCiC: šēyib “elder, old man”, ḥēmiy “hot”, gēyil “having said”, bēkir “morning”, wēḥid “one”, ṯēniy “second”
  • Reflexes of *CiCāC(ah): srēǧ “oil lamp”, ktēbih “writing”
  • Reflexes of *miCCāC(ah): miftēḥ “key”, miknēsih “broom”
  • Broken plurals *CaCāCiC: gibēyil “tribes”, šinētiy “bags”
  • Imperfect *yuCāCiC: ysēwiy “it equals”, yǧēwib “he replies”

Similar raising is found in the Bdul dialect of Jordan: minǣsif “mansaf (pl.)”, hǣḏi “this (f.)”, ḏ̣aygǣt “narrow (pl.)”, iblǣdna “our land”.[4]

Word-final imala of */-ā(ʾ)/

Some of the western dialects of Northwest Arabian Arabic (Central Sinai and Negev in particular) are characterized by an Imala of Old Arabic word-final *-ā(ʾ) to /iy/ in certain patterns of nouns and adjectives. Emphatics seem to block the shift. The following examples are from Negev Arabic:Template:Sfn

  • Reflexes of *CiCāʾ, *CuCāʾ: štiy “rainy season”, ḥḏiy “footwear”, dʿiy “cursing”, ndiy “call”, zniy “adultery”, ġniy “song”, ʿšiy “evening prayer”, dliy “pails (pl.)”, mliy “full (pl.)”, rwiy “well-watered (pl.)”, miy “water”
  • Reflexes of *CiCā, *CuCā: lḥiy “beards”, griy “hospitality”, hdiy “right guidance”, hniy “here”
  • Reflexes of *CiCCā(ʾ), *CuCCā(ʾ): yimniy “right side”, yisriy “left side”, sifliy “nether millstone”, ʿilyiy “upper millstone”, miʿziy “goats”, ḥimmiy “fever”, ḥinniy “henna”, juwwiy “inside”, ḥiffiy “barefoot (pl.)”, mūsiy “Moses”, ʿīsiy “Jesus”
  • Feminine adjective *CaCCāʾ: sawdíy “black”, ṭaršíy “deaf”, tarjíy “sloping downwards (ground)”, šahabíy “grey, light blue”, ḥawwíy “salt-and-pepper, black with white spots (animal)”, zargíy “blue”, ʿawjíy “crooked”, šadfíy “left-handed, left”, ḥawlíy “cross-eyed”, safʿíy “black-eared (goat)”
  • Broken plural *CaCCā:[6] nōmiy “asleep (pl.)”, mōtiy ~ máwtiy “dead (pl.)”

In the dialects of southern Sinai, word-final imala typically results in /iʾ/. Some examples are íštiʾ “winter”, ǧiʾ “he came”, ḏiʾ “this, these”, tižibhiʾ “you get it”, ifṭarniʾ “we had breakfast”. In some, but not all groups, /a/ in a previous syllable blocks this imala. Like the dialects of central Sinai and Negev, the imala of feminine adjectives of color and defect on the pattern CaCCāʾ results in stressed /íy/: sōdíy “black; bad”.Template:Sfn

Characteristics

The following are some archaic features retained from Proto-Arabic:[1]

  1. Gender distinction in the 2nd and 3rd person plural pronouns, pronominal suffixes, and finite verbal forms.
  2. Productivity of Form IV (aC1C2aC3, yiC1C2iC3).
  3. The initial /a/ in the definite article al- and the relative pronoun alli.
  4. Frequent and productive use of diminutives (glayyil "a little", ḫbayz "bread").
  5. Absence of affricated variants of /g/ (< */q/) and /k/.
  6. The use of the locative preposition fi (fiy).
  7. The invariable pronominal suffix -ki of the 2nd person feminine singular.

See also

References

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  1. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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Sources

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  • Judith Rosenhouse. 1984. The Bedouin Arabic Dialects: General Problems and Close Analysis of North Israel Bedouin Dialects. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

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