26.2324, Review: Language Documentation: Rubin (2014)

Mon May 4 18:31:59 UTC 2015

LINGUIST List: Vol-26-2324. Mon May 04 2015. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 26.2324, Review: Language Documentation: Rubin (2014)

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Date: Mon, 04 May 2015 14:31:41
From: Kevin Schluter [kevin.schluter at nyu.edu]
Subject: The Jibbali (Shaḥri) Language of Oman

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/25/25-885.html

AUTHOR: Aaron D. Rubin
TITLE: The Jibbali (Shaḥri) Language of Oman
SUBTITLE: Grammar and Texts
SERIES TITLE: Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Brill
YEAR: 2014

REVIEWER: Kevin T Schluter, NYU Abu Dhabi

Review's Editors: Malgorzata Cavar and Ashley Parker

INTRODUCTION

Rubin presents an overview of Jibbali grammar in 14 chapters along with a
large selection of short Jibbali texts. This is a sorely needed resource for
this understudied modern Semitic language. The book now serves as a valuable
introduction for students and scholars of Semitic languages in general and
those interested in further documentation of Jibbali and other Modern South
Arabian languages.

SUMMARY

This book is a grammar and set of texts in Jibbali, one of the Modern South
Arabian languages of Oman.  The grammar is morphologically focused, giving us
chapters on topics such as pronouns, nouns, adjectives, numerals, adverbs,
interrogatives, particles, and verbs. Jibbali phonetics and phonology get one
chapter as does examples of syntax that do not fit in other chapters. The
texts are numerous and short (generally less than one page), and largely drawn
from the previously unpublished work of T.M. Johnstone.

Chapter 1 presents an overview of the language, detailing the history of
Jibbali scholarship, the place of Jibbali in historical and comparative
Semitic studies, and the sources used in the grammar. The review of previous
literature is extensive covering works from the 1800s to the present day, with
a brief commentary surrounding the importance and context of the various
works. While the sources are revealed to be primarily the texts and recordings
of T.M. Johnstone, the author supplements them with limited data from native
speakers.

Chapter 2 covers both the phonetics and phonology of Jibbali. These are still
poorly understood, but Rubin carefully notes when the phonetic or phonological
nature of the sounds and alternations are unclear and await further study. The
chapter includes discussion of consonants, vowels, the loss of some labial and
coronal consonants in some environments, the effects of nasals on vowels, and
word stress.

Chapters 3 through five deal with pronouns, nouns, and adjectives. Chapter 3
details independent and bound pronouns, as well as direct object pronouns,
demonstratives, indefinites, reflexives, reciprocals, and relative pronouns.
Chapter 4 deals with nouns and their associated properties: gender, duals,
plurals, definite articles, diminutives, and construct state. Chapter 5 covers
adjectives: agreement, declension, substantivization, comparatives, and
quantifiers. Syntactic information is spread between these topics.

Verbs are dealt with in Chapters 6 and 7. First, Chapter Six gives an overview
of the basic and derived stems of Jibbali. There are two basic stems (Ga and
Gb, with internal passive of Ga), a D/L (with internal passive, corresponding
to Arabic forms II and III), an H-prefix causative, two Š-prefix stems, and
two T-infix stems along with quadriliterals. Then, Chapter 7 details inflected
forms for tense and mood, along with the inflected and derived forms of
phonologically weak verbs.

Chapters 8 is a list of prepositions along with their suffixed forms and
usage. Chapter 9 describes numerals (both cardinal and ordinal), fractions,
and numbers used in daily life including days of the week and telling time.
Chapter 10 details the few adverbs of Jibbali: there are no productive ways of
deriving adverbs, but a few adverbs of place, time, and manner exist.

Syntax is described in chapters eleven through fourteen. Chapter 11 discusses
interrogatives, focusing on the list of interrogative words. Chapter 12 lays
out a variety of particles: conjunctions, exclamations, vocatives, the
genitive marker, and miscellaneous other particles (most of which appear to be
mood markers). Chapter 13 gives us “Some Syntactic Features,” including
copular sentences, negation, expressing possession, conditionals, and a few
types of subordinate clauses. Finally, Chapter 14 presents a few greetings and
basic phrases.

Part Two presents over 70 short texts, mostly drawn from the work of T.M.
Johnstone.  The Johnstone texts remained unpublished for over 40 years due to
Johnstone’s untimely death. These texts were mostly drawn from one consultant
and some have Mehri equivalents in Johnstone’s Mehri texts. Rubin’s
publication of these texts alone is a welcome addition to the field.

The texts present the Jibbali in the author’s transcription system -- largely
familiar to Semiticists and those who worked with Johnstone’s Jibbāli Leixcon
(1981) -- as well as an English translation. One of the texts is presented
with an interlinear gloss and Arabic script (Appendix A and B), and it serves
as a good entry to the texts themselves. Johnstone (1981) will be needed to
understand these texts, and it is supplemented in Appendix C. 

Finally, Appendix D presents additions and corrections to Rubin’s “The Mehri
Language of Oman” (2010) and a Mehri version of one of the texts (Appendix E).
The extensive bibliography includes relevant works which were not cited in the
introduction. There are two indexes: an index of original text passages and
one of select Jibbali words occurring in the work.

EVALUATION

As an introductory grammar of Jibbali, this work largely succeeds at providing
an entry point to the Jibbali language for students and scholars of Semitic
languages and linguists in general. Any future work on Jibbali or comparative
studies on the Modern South Arabian languages will benefit from this text.

The organization of the text is based on the word and the morpheme (roots and
stems specifically). While this morphology-based organization is useful for
the students and Semiticist, the organization may leave linguists or advanced
users wondering why three particles were presented along with the prepositions
(Chapter 8) or whether there are active participles or infinitives in the
language. Unfortunately, there is no grammatical index to clarify these
issues. 

While the grammar is largely based on the texts collected over 40 years ago,
Rubin also notes important aspect of language change. For example, older forms
found in texts are recognized but not used by younger speakers (e.g. the dual,
various contracted forms, etc.) and where Jibbali differs from Omani Mehri
(e.g. distinction of gender in second person pronouns, prefix t- with D/L and
H-stem verbs, etc.) are covered, and the work clarifies points of historical
origin (e.g. the Š-stem in Jibbali is not descended from the Proto-Semitic
Š-stem, but is an ST-stem). This is a huge boon not only due to the age of the
texts but the age of previous scholarship on Jibbali (which Rubin covers
extensively in chapter 1). A few more comparisons with more commonly studied
Semitic languages (e.g. Arabic or Hebrew) or historical studies of Semitic in
general may have improved the usability of the grammar, particularly in the
discussion of verbal stems in Chapter 6.

Perhaps due to the text-based nature of the grammar, there are few interlinear
glosses and literal translations, and quite limited segmentation of morphemes
outside of Appendix A. This makes the grammar more difficult to use for
students or general linguists who are not accustomed to examining Semitic
data. Luckily, Appendix A does serve as a good entry point to the study of the
Johnstone’s texts.

The prose is, in general, quite clear though there are a few repetitive
phrases and oddities. For example, “there are two types of prepositions, the
first of which are the three which attach to a noun (l-, b-, k-).” We never
learn what the second type is, though it is not hard to figure this refers to
independent, rather than bound, pronouns. 

Overall, the grammar is an excellent contribution to the growing literature on
the Modern South Arabian languages of Oman and Yemen. This work is now one of
the main sources of information on the Jibbali language. Along with
Johnstone’s Jibbali Lexicon (1981), it is an excellent springboard for
students or scholars working on Jibbali and  related languages, and there is
still ample room for documentation and linguistic analysis.

REFERENCES

Johnstone, T.M. 1981. Jibbāli Lexicon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rubin, Aaron. 2010. The Mehri Language of Oman. Studies in Semitic Languages
and Linguistics. Leiden: Brill.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Kevin Schluter is a post doctoral associate in the Division of Science
(Psychology) at New York University Abu Dhabi. His work, both formal and
experimental, focuses on lexical representations and processing, with a
particular emphasis on the unusual morphophonology of Semitic languages.

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