Arabic-L:LING:Tunisian dialect question words

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Mon 15 Apr 2013
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject:Tunisian dialect question words

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1)
Date: 15 Apr 2013
From:Taoufiq Ben Amor <tb46 at columbia.edu>
Subject:Tunisian dialect question words

Dear Jonathan,

Thank you for the reply and please forgive me for the back and forth. For
the sake of accuracy, please allow me to comment on your answers:

What you are hearing is not a glide but a frontal alif, which is very
common in the dialect of Tunis. The 'a' in 'ash' is so quick and the
general rule in Tunisian pronunciation, despite the fact that you can start
certain words with a sukun, is that you cannot have two consecutive
vowel-less consonants in the beginning of a word; that is both carrying a
sukun. So your example of 'shthibb' made of 'sh' and 'thibb' (not 'tahibb'
as you spell it) cannot be pronounced by any Tunisian even if they think
they can. Besides, the same 'ash' is clearly present in other question
words such as lwash/'lash, kifash, waqtash, etc. So the fact that you are
just hearing 'sh' does not mean it is just that. (by the way, there are
other versions of these, such as 'lwah', '3lah', etc.).

If your Tunisian informant told you that 'fin' is egyptian, though it is
used in Tunisia, that is her linguistic attitude not a linguistic fact.

Where in the south do they use 'hal' as I never heard it? The south has
many dialects and so does the north depending on whether you are closer to
the west or the east and some towns have their own specific dialect.
'Yakhi' (literally 'ya akhi') in your example of the northern dialects does
not equate 'hal'. It just means 'so' and is used not only in questions.

If you have a recording of the use of 'hal' in any Tunisian dialect, I
would be very grateful if you share it with me.

Best,

taoufik ben amor

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