<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Arabic-L: Fri 12 Feb 2009</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <<a href="mailto:dilworth_parkinson@byu.edu">dilworth_parkinson@byu.edu</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">[To post messages to the list, send them to <a href="mailto:arabic-l@byu.edu">arabic-l@byu.edu</a>]</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">[To unsubscribe, send message from same address you subscribed from to</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a href="mailto:listserv@byu.edu">listserv@byu.edu</a> with first line reading:</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> unsubscribe arabic-l ]</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">-------------------------Directory------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">1) Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">2) Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">3) Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">4) Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">5) Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">-------------------------Messages-----------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">1)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 12 Feb 2009</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:Uri Horesh <<a href="mailto:uri.horesh@fandm.edu">uri.horesh@fandm.edu</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; ">'m assuming this isn't specifically what you were talking about, but Levantine dialects (probably most notable the dialect of Damascus) have a /m-/ prefix for 1st person plural verbs. It is merely the result of phonological assimilation:<br><br>b --> m /_n<br><br>E.g.: bnoktob --> mnoktob 'we write'.<br><br>To be precise, these prefixes don't denote any particular time/tense, but rather the indicative mood.<br><br>Another instance of this phonological assimilation is the adverb /bnoob/ '[not] at all', which is often pronounced [mnoob] in Damascene.<br><br>I, for one, would like to hear more about these Central Asian dialects.<br><br>Thanks,<br>Uri<br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">2)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 12 Feb 2009</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:Robert Ratcliffe <<a href="mailto:ratcliffe@tufs.ac.jp">ratcliffe@tufs.ac.jp</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div>Dear Keri, a very interesting question. I think its the first time I have seen Central Asian Arabic refered to on this list. Of course you have b- assimilating to the n- of the 1pl. maker and becoming m- in Damascus (mi-n-kitib "we are writing" or "will write") and I'm not sure how much farther afield. My best guess (Ratcliffe 2005) is that the Central Asian m- (as in: eysh kom m-isuun "they were making bread") either reflects a similar assimilation of b- plus analogic extension or it's borrowed from the Persian present progressive mi-. Of course you have a bunch of these little particles filling this function, d- in Iraq, k- and t- in Morocco, etc. and the etymologies are fairly obscure in most cases, so it could be an independent development of something else. If you come up with a better idea let us know.</div><div> </div><div><font face="MS UI Gothic" size="2">Ratcliffe. R. 2005. "Bukhara Arabic: a Metatypized Dialect of Arabic in Central Asia." in Csato, Isaksson and Jahani, eds. Linguistic Convergence and Areal Diffusion, case studies from Iranian, Semitic, and Turkic. RoutledgeCurzon: London.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'MS UI Gothic'" size="2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><br></span></font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">3)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 12 Feb 2009</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:"A. Ferhadi" <<a href="mailto:af3@nyu.edu">af3@nyu.edu</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Dear Keri,<br><br>In Iraqi Arabic the prefix /da-/ is used in the same way the prefix /b-/ is used in Egyptian and Levantine Arabic to for the present continuous/progressive as exemplified in the affirmative, interrogative and negative below:<br><br>da-yibchi "He is crying."<br><br>lesh da-tSayyiH "Why are you screaming?"<br><br>ma da-asma9 "I am not hearing."<br><br><div class="moz-signature"><font color="#000000"><br>Ahmed Ferhadi<br></font></div><div><br></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">4)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 12 Feb 2009</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:Steve Robertson <<a href="mailto:stevebinrobert@gmail.com">stevebinrobert@gmail.com</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> think you are unlikely to find other dialects that use /m-/ as a indicator of present continuous due to its likely origin in what is now the present/future marker in Persian (/mi-/ in Persian, /me-/ in Tajik). I have only heard of it being used in the dialects in Uzbekistan and the related dialects in the Balkh region of Afghanistan.<br><br>As for other dialects using /m-/, it is used as a phonemic variant of /b-/ in the environment of /n/ in the first person plural of verbs in Syrian Arabic, e.g. /mniktub/, /mnidrus/, /mniHki/, /mnit3ashsha/<br><br>Hope this helps,<br><br>Steve Robertson<br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">5)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 12 Feb 2009</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:Afra Al-Mussawir <<a href="mailto:afraalmussawir@yahoo.com">afraalmussawir@yahoo.com</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Arabic Dialects with /m-/ prefix for present continuous</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Dear Keri,<br>To answer your question directly: no, I don't know of any dialects of Arabic which use /m/ as a progressive marker for verbs.<br><br>However, the Baghdadi dialect I know best uses /d/ as such a marker. Given Iraq's historical geographical and political position between the Middle East and Asia, you may find this fact meaningful.<br><br>Best,<br>Afra Al-Mussawir<br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">End of Arabic-L: 12 Feb 2009</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>