Arabic-L:LING:Gulf Arabic Syllabification

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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1) Subject: Gulf Arabic Syllabification

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1)
Date:24 Mar 2000
From: "Frederick M. Hoyt" <fmh2 at cornell.edu>
Subject: Gulf Arabic Syllabification

Greetings,

I am posting this on behalf of one of my graduate student colleagues, who
is concerned with syllabification in Gulf Arabic (Qafisheh 1977, Holes
1990). Are there any of native speakers of this dialect on this list (these
dialects?) who could take a look at the questions?

Thank you and best wishes,

Fred Hoyt
Cornell University

____________________

QUERY: SYLLABLE STRUCTURE OF GULF ARABIC

	I am working on the syllable structure of Gulf Arabic, and I am
uncertain about the status of some onset clusters. (My sources --mainly
Qafisheh 1977 and Holes 1990-- are silent on the matter.) Could you help me
out by telling me which parse of the syllables below is appropriate, and
whether these consonant clusters are common/genuine to Gulf Arabic (as
opposed to being constrained to loan words)? I'm particularly interested in
the intuitions of native speakers of Gulf Arabic, but any feedback as to
the appropriate syllable division in this or other Arabic varieties is more
than welcome.

1. Are [dr] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (madrasa "school")?

	    i.e. is it	a. ma.dra.sa		or 	b. mad.ra.sa

2. Are [tr] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (yitrayyaq "to have breakfast?")?

	    i.e. is it	a. yi.tray.yaq		or	b. yit.ray.yaq

3. Are [br] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (9ibra "lesson" or "example")?

	    i.e. is it	a. 9i.bra		or	b. 9ib.ra

4. Are [theta-r] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (ka0ra "abundance")? (Note: Because of font incompatibility, I'm
using [0] as a theta, corresponding to English 'th'.)

	    i.e. is it	a. ka.0ra		or	b. ka0.ra

5. Are [kr] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (mikrufuun "microphone")?

	    i.e. is it	a. mi.kru.fuun		or	b. mik.ru.fuun

6. Are [gr] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (tagriib "approximation")?

	    i.e. is it	a. ta.griib		or	b. tag.riib

7. Are [fr] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (yifra "hole")?

	    i.e. is it	a. yi.fra		or	b. yif.ra

8. Are [bl] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (gaabluu "they met him")?

	    i.e. is it	a. gaa.bloo		or	b. gaab.loo

9. Are [fl] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (?aflas "poorer")?

 	   i.e. is it	a. ?a.flas		or	b. ?af.las

10. Are [gl] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (?aghla "richer")?

	    i.e. is it	a. ?a.ghla		or	b. ?agh.la

11. Are [by] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (liibya "Libya")?

	    i.e. is it	a. lii.bya		or	b. liib.ya

12. Are [ry] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (maryamoo "little Miriam")?

	    i.e. is it	a. ma.rya.moo		or	b. mar.ya.moo

13. Are [zy] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (tilivizyuun "television")?

 	   i.e. is it	a. ti.li.vi.zyuun	or	b. ti.li.viz.yuun

14. Are [ly] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (balyon "billion")?

	    i.e. is it	a. ba.lyon		or	b. bal.yon

15. Are [dy] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (baadiya "semi-desert")?

	    i.e. is it	a. baa.dya		or	b. baad.ya

16. Are [gw] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (tagwiim "estimation")?

	    i.e. is it	a. ta.gwiim		or	b. tag.wiim

17. Are [Sw] sequences (where S stands for a palatal fricative
corresponding to English 'sh') syllabified together, or are they in
separate syllables (raSwa "better")?

	    i.e. is it	a. ra.Swa		or	b. raS.wa

18. Are [kw] sequences syllabified together, or are they in separate
syllables (Sakwa "complaint")? (Note: S represents a palatal fricative
corresponding to English 'sh'.)

	    i.e. is it	a. Sa.kwa		or	b. Sak.wa

19. One last question: Do borrowings like sibreey (< English spray),
sikraab (< English scrap) have alternants without the epenthetic [i], i.e.
sbreey, skraab?



Thank you very much for your help.




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End of Arabic-L: 24 Mar 2000