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Aspects of syllabication in the spoken Arabic of 'Anaiza

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

T. M. Johnstone
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Extract

The variety of spoken Arabic some aspects of which are discussed in this article is the dialect of 'Anaiza, a fairly large town of the Qaṣm province of Nejd.

Most of the work on this dialect I have done with Mr. Muḥammad al-Shmikh of 'Anaiza ('Unaizah).

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Articles
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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , February 1967 , pp. 1 - 16
Copyright
Copyright School of Oriental and African Studies 1967

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References

1 I hope to publish at a later date a description of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of this dialect. The system of transcription in this article is broader than would be desirable in a fuller treatment, and only those features of the dialect are discussed which are essential for the understanding of the main theme.

2 The work was done in this country. I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr, Shmikh for his patience and exactness. His own speech includes many elements which because of his education are not typical of the local dialect. These he has always taken the greatest care to distinguish from representative local forms and vocabulary, checking the facts whenever necessary with other speakers of his dialect, and bringing them to meet me on many occasions. I am also grateful latterly for many valuable suggestions from Mr. Wuhaibi whose home is at al-Khabra, about 25 miles from 'Anaiza. It goes without saying, however, that the forms actually quoted are only those of 'Anaiza, unless otherwise specified.

3 Socin's Diwan sus Centralarabien (Leipzig, 19001) includes a number of poems (Nos. 4060) the rw for which came from 'Anaiza. The forms in these poems are not all typical of the dialect, however; indeed it may be that such poems must be recited in koin rather than in a local dialect. More recent collections are: al-Ḥtim, 'Abdallh b. Khlid, Khiyr ma yultaqaṭ min al-shi'r al-nabaṭ (vol. I), Damascus, 1952,Google Scholar and (vol. n) al-Shi'r al-nabaṭ. Dwn al-'Abdallh al-'AwniMuḥammad al-'Abdallh al-Qḍi'A.bdallh b. Sabl. Wa-yalhi 'uyn min al-shi'r al-nabaṭi, Damascus, 1956;Google Scholaral-Waiḥn, 'Abdallh, Raw'' min al-shi'r al-nabaṭ, Cairo, 1381 19612;Google ScholarDwn shi'r 'Al al-'Abd al-Raḥmn Ab Mjid: Maẓlm (pt. 1), Damascus, 1962;Google ScholarBaṭn, 'Abd al-Muḥsin b. 'Uthmn Ab, al-Majm'a al-bahiyya min al-ash'r al-nabaṭiyya, Cairo, 1961.Google Scholar Compare also the study of nabaṭi poetry by Khams, 'Abdallh b., al-Adab al-sha'b f jazrat al-'Arab, Riyḍ, 137819589.Google Scholar

4 It does not, however, have all the features which characterize the Shammar dialects. Cf. Cantineau, J., tudes sur quelques parlers de nomades arabes d'Orient, AIEO, II, 1936, 1118, and III, 1937,119237 generally, and particularly III, 22931 and 235.Google Scholar

5 These features bring about considerable differences in the syllabication of the two dialect types.

6 In one word, tsuud (inn-) perhaps, ts occurs in the contiguity of a back vowel. In tsid ts corresponds to in the Arabic orthography. In one root, jsm is the allophone of g. Although it seems improbable, the root may have been borrowed from a dialect (such as that of Kuwait or al-ḥas) in which k and g have the allophones and j respectively.

7 Vowel quality is not affected, however, by the affixation of the personal suffixes. Thus your (f.s.) stick, and saagi sa:gi my leg.

8 Viz. the 3 m.pl. imperative and perfect of gaddar to aim and gabbal to turn someone to face Mecca.

9 For a discussion of a dialect whose features in this respect are broadly comparable, see Mitchell, T. F., Prominence and syllabication in Arabic, BSOAS, XXIII, 2, 1960, 36989CrossRefGoogle Scholar (especially pp. 378 ff.). Compare also Blanc, H., Communal dialects in Baghdad, Cambridge, Mass., 1964, 3840.Google Scholar

10 Where nominal and verbal patterns are classified separately in the tables, this is done for ease of reference and not because the phonetic treatment of comparable nominal and verbal patterns is ordinarily different. Compare, however, Exceptions (i) (p. 13).

11 Most of these are sequences of short syllables whose vowel must be a which, unlike i, cannot be elided. Thus contrast with dxiltah she entered it (f.) dxlawah they entered it, where the final syllable (viz. w+ac) determines the shape of the form. It should, however, be noted that the suffixation of tanwn does not affect the syllable structure of a form. Thus yanam, bigar + in = yanamin, bigarin.

12 Suffixed forms are discussed in more detail below.

13 Viz. the imperfect tense of themes V and VI. yti- is realized itI-.

14 Compare Socin, op. cit., III, 150; Mitchell, art. cit., 379.

15 Compare Exceptions (i), p. 13.

16 Viz. in patterns corresponding to Classical Arabic (pausal) patterns of the type CaCaC, CaCaaC, etc. It should be noted that Classical Arabic patterns of the type CiCaC and CiCaaC in the dialect of 'Anaiza are iCCac (as iḥjar rooms, grapes) and (i)CCaaC (as head-rope, tether) respectively.

17 Although in fact the final consonant of the following syllable has no effect on the vowel of the open syllable, the examples have been matched as exactly as possible.

18 More commonly

19 Viz.

20 The word is used only in the curse dzf, ya maal n-nigar Stop, you one marked for so-and-so !; usually said to cattle, occasionally to people. Like many words used only in curses, the meaning is rather obscure, and can only be guessed at by dialect speakers.

21 To the best of my knowledge the influence of the consonants r, 1, n, and W has not been noted before. More examples, especially of simple forms, are therefore given here so that other explanations can be excluded.

22 a does not occur after r unless there is another effective factor. Thus the 3 f.s. of these verbs is brimat, drisat, fridat, jrifat, sritat, etc., but srahat, ʂraxat, in which the guttural is the effective factor.

23 Less exact comparative examples like this show only that the occurrence of the a is not dependent on the preceding consonant.

24 Good comparative examples are not available except in a few instances. Bracketed forms are added for interest.

25 Viz. plurals corresponding to Classical Arabic pattern.

26 See note 24.

27 The use of sanad as a verb is rare. In Mr. Wuhaibi's speech the verb is sinad, not sanad.

28 Other than hamza. Compare Exceptions (i), p. 13.

29 Forms of this pattern are rare, however.

30 Where the i of the following syllable is phonologically ii, however, there is a difference of treatment corresponding to grammatical category. Thus xifii it was unknown (xafiya) but xafii hidden, obscure (xafiyyun)

31 In the dialect of al-Khabra this is apparently not so.

32 The only exception is ?abad ever, but the total of non-literary examples of the occurrence of initial hamza is very small.

33 For a fuller statement cf. the author's article BSOAS, XXVII, 1, 1964, 80 ff.Google Scholar

34 But in Mr. Wuhaibi's speech ʂixlih.

35 Von den Beduinen des inneren Arabiens, Zrich, , Leipzig, 1938.Google Scholar

36 op. cit., III, 150.

37 I recently had the opportunity of checking the position in Kuwait with Mr. Sulaimn Kalandr (in London) and with Mr. Aḥmad b. ḥasan in Qatar, and Mr. 'Abd al-ḥamd b. ḥfiẓ in Dubai.

38 Neglecting, of course, the pan-Arabic koin forms which occur so commonly as to make it next to impossible to establish the facts from within these dialects.

39 Less commonly in Kuwait and Qatari and more frequently in the Dubai dialect kitbat and Kitbaw.

40 also ybilat.

41 I hope to set out the results of these inquiries more fully at a later date.

42 cf. H. Blanc, op. cit., 40. The occurrence of a in open syllable after hamza is probably old.

43 cf. Erwin, , A short reference grammar of Iraqi Arabic, Washington, D.C., 1963, 150 ff.Google Scholar

44 Neuarabische Geschichten aus dem Iraq, Leipzig, 1903.Google Scholar

45 art. cit.

46 art. cit., 379.