Saudi Arabian Dialects

Prochazka, Theodore Prochazka

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136880452
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

First published in 1988. Arabic linguistics is developing into an increasingly interesting and important subject within the broad field of modern linguistic studies. The scope of this discipline is wide and varied, covering diverse areas such as Arabic phonetics, phonology and grammar, Arabic psycholinguistics, Arabic dialectology, Arabic lexicography and lexicology, Arabic sociolinguistics, the teaching and learning of Arabic as a first, second, or foreign language. The present work by Prochazka is the first general survey of the dialects of Saudi Arabia covering a wide range from north to south recording of linguistic variation in that vast region. It is particularly strong in covering a number of localities in the southwest and it is the first linguistic study of the dialect of the Ruwala bedouin of the northern desert. The work reveals a major division into two areal blocks: (i) the southern Hijaz and Tihamah and (ii) the Najdi and Eastern Arabian dialects.

1 Phonology

A The phonemes: The sounds listed below occur in all the dialects, unless specified.

CONSONANTS

Plosives:

Fricatives:

f (

): voiceless labiodental. In (i) Rufaidah it is realized as v in some environments: dirf [dirv] “shutter”, ṣafa [ṣava] “smooth rock”.

θ (

): voiceless interdental

ð (

): voiced interdental. There are instances of ð being voiced realizations of θ: ḥaða and ḥaθa (i) Rufaidah “to throw sand or ashes”; mu?annaðah (ii) Najrān “feminine gender” (cf. Cl.Ar. mu?annaθah); yinða (ii) Najrān “female” (cf. Cl.Ar. ?unθā).

s (

): voiceless dental (see also š)

z (

): voiced dental (see also ž)

ṣ (

): voiceless dental emphatic

: voiced interdental emphatic. This sound is a reflex of the Cl.Ar. phonemes ḍād (

) and

ā? (

).

š (

): This sound is realised mostly as a voiceless apical alveolar. In (i) Ghāmid and in (ii) Najrān it was heard as an apical palatal. The sound š is also a variant of s in (i) between the regions of Tanūmah in the north and Sarāt ^cAb

dah in the south, and in (ii) Najrān. Some examples are: (i) gāsim and gāšim Tanūmah “vertical dividing piece in the window”; magris and magriš Tanūmah “threshold”; šarāt ^cab

dah “Sarāt ^cAbīdah” Sarāt ^cAbīdah; yiksir and yikšir Tanūmah “he breaks”; (ii) tiš^c

n Najrān “ninety” (cf. Cl.Ar. tis^c

na); xams

n Najrān “fifty” (cf. Cl.Ar. xamšīna); šabab Najrān “reason” (cf. Cl.Ar. sabab); šōda Najrān “black (f.s.)” (cf. Cl. Ar. sawdā?); fāriš Najrān “horseman” (cf. Cl. Ar. fāris); nafših Najrān “himself” (cf. Cl.Ar. nafsihi).

The realisations of the reflexes of Cl.Ar. s in the regions of (i) mentioned vary from s to š with shades in between, depending on dialect and speaker.

ž : voiced apical alveolar. This sound is a reflex of Cl.Ar. j in Ghāmid. In (i) Sarāt ^cAb

dah, and in (ii) Najrān there are instances of ž as a reflex of z (cf. s>š above). Some examples are: (i) žyārah Sarāt ^cAbīdah “visit” (cf. Cl. Ar. ziyārah); yzūr and yžūr Sarāt ^cAb

dah “he visits”; (ii) ḥažm Najran “elevated stony ground in the desert” (cf. Cl.Ar. ḥazm); ražžah Najrān “part of lock” (cf. Cl.Ar. razzah); žēn Najrān “good” (cf. Riyadh zēn).¹

x (

): voiceless uvular. In parts of (i) Tihamat ^cAsir k>x. Thus: tanaxah Rijāl “tanakah (a liquid measure)”; ġayrax (< ġayrak) Maḥāyil region “other than you (m.s.)”; ^calāxũ (< ^calākũ) Maḥāyil region “on you (c.pl.)”.

ġ (

): voiced uvular. In (ii) Hufuf it is often heard as a voiced uvular plosive q.²

ḥ (

):...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Editor’s Note
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Transcription and transliteration
• Introduction
• 1 Phonology
• 2 The Verb: General
• 3 The Strong Verb
• 4 Geminate Verbs
• 5 The Weak Verb: Hamzated Verbs
• 6 The Weak Verb: Verbs Initial w
• 7 The Weak Verb: Verbs Initial y
• 8 The Weak Verb: Hollow Verbs
• 9 The Weak Verb: Verbs Final y
• 10 Doubly Weak Verbs
• 11 Quadriliteral Verbs
• 12 The Passive Verb
• 13 The Pronouns
• 14 The Suffixation of Verbs
• 15 The Suffixation of Nouns
• 16 The Suffixation of Prepositions and Other Forms
• Bibliography
• Glossary of Technical Terms
• Arabic Section