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Middlebury College 

ARBC0225A/LNGT0225A: Arabic Linguistics/Spring 2012 

Take‐home Midterm Exam 

Name: _______________________ 

 

Due on Thursday April 5th   by e‐mail no  later  than 2pm.  If you are submitting a handwritten 

copy, please leave the hard copy in my mailbox in Farrell House, also by 2pm on Thursday April 

5th. Delay policy applies.  I will not give any extension on this midterm, except  for academically 

legitimate reasons supported by your Commons’ Dean. So, start working early! 

If you have questions, please come  to my office hours on Monday April 2nd and Wednesday 

April 4th, between 10:30am and 12noon, or by appointment. You can also send questions by e‐

mail.  

This exam  is worth 200 points  (and 20% of your overall grade  in  this course, so please  turn  in 

“neat” work). The number of points each exercise is worth is explicitly indicated. Also, make sure 

you answer EVERY question. There are no second chances if you forget to answer any question(s).  

This  is an open book exam. So,  feel  free  to  refer  to  the  textbook,  the  lecture  slides, and your 

notes, while answering the questions. There’s no time limit, either, but I expect it to take you no 

more  than  four hours  to answer  the exam  (assuming of  course you know  the materials well). 

Unlike with other homework assignments, however, you are NOT allowed to discuss questions on 

this exam with your classmates or anyone else. You have to work individually on the exam. Also, 

you can NOT rely on internet resources other than the materials on the class website to answer 

any of the questions.  

Any failure to observe the  instructions given here constitutes a violation of the College’s Honor 

Code system and will be  treated accordingly. Finally, please make sure you write and sign  the 

Honor Code pledge “I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment,”  in 

the box below: 

 

 

 

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Instructions: Please read thoroughly and carefully!

- This take-home midterm exam consists of a total of 10 exercises. Most exercises have sub-

questions (typically, though not always, named A, B, C, etc.). Read each exercise carefully and

make sure to answer ALL the sub-questions.

Important: Unlike with homework assignments, you have to answer the questions in the

provided empty table cells on this exam sheet. Answers given in any other form will NOT be

accepted. Please do not edit the exam .doc file or delete the questions. Simply type your answers

in the empty cells.

- You may also handwrite your answers to the exercises, but in that case please make sure you

submit legible handwritten answers, using a pen (not a pencil). Handwritten exams that are

illegible or do not follow the above instructions closely will be returned to you without being

graded, will have to be resubmitted, and will be subject to the delay penalty upon resubmission.

- Finally, if you plan to submit your exam via e-mail, please make sure to name the file

‘midterm_your_last_name’.

‐  Important Note  regarding  phonetic  transcription:  Since this exam contains phonetic symbols

and diacritics, you will need to use the .pdf file for printing purposes. You cannot use the .doc file

to print out the exam, since most of these phonetic symbols and diacritics are likely to appear as

distorted characters on your computer (unless you have the Doulos SIL font installed; see below).

You may handwrite your transcriptions if you want. However, if you want to type the

transcriptions, you can do one of two things:

(a) Either go to this website (http://weston.ruter.net/projects/ipa-chart/view/keyboard/) and type

your phonetic transcriptions by clicking on the relevant symbols and diacritics, then copy and

paste the transcriptions into your .doc file; or, alternatively,

(b) Download and install the Doulos SIL font on your computer from this website:

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=DoulosSIL_download

Once installed, you can then insert IPA symbols and diacritics within the text of your Microsoft

Word document, by going to the INSERT menu, clicking SYMBOL, then finding the Doulos SIL

font from the pull-down menu, and choosing the symbol or diacritic you want. Click OK, and the

symbol or diacritic will be inserted in the document. Should you face problems using either

method, feel free to contact me.

Good luck, everyone!

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Exercise 1: Arabic in the IPA!

Follow this link to listen to TEN MSA words, then provide the phonetic transcription of each

word you hear using the IPA symbols. Do NOT write the words in Arabic script here. (20 points)

Link: http://blogs.middlebury.edu/arabiclinguistics/files/2012/03/transcription_arabic.mp3

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

Exercise 2: Syllabify and Typify!

The following are phonetic transcriptions of words as pronounced in an Arabic dialect which we

will call dialect G. Study the examples, then answer the following two questions.

A. Syllabify each word, marking syllable boundaries with a dot, as we did in class and on an

earlier homework exercise. For each syllable you identify, indicate what type of syllable it is.

An illustrating example is done for you. (15 points)

Syllabify and write the syllable types here. Translation Transcription

[ba.laːk]

CV.CVVC ‘attention’ [bala:k] 1.

‘a room’ [bi:t] 2.

‘little’ [ʃwijja] 3.

‘now’ [lʔa:n] 4.

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Syllabify and write the syllable types here. Translation Transcription

‘the heat’ [ssxa:na] 5.

‘soldiers’ [dʒunu:d] 6.

‘above’ [lfo:q] 7.

‘the whole’ [lkul] 8.

‘they say’ [iqu:lo] 9.

‘the joy’ [lfrħa] 10.

‘knee’ [rukba] 11.

‘he stands up’ [ino:ð] 12.

‘and’ [u] 13.

‘blind’ [aʕma:] 14.

B. Given the syllable types that you identified in dialect G in Part A of this exercise, discuss briefly how

this dialect is different from Classical Arabic/MSA with regard to syllable structure. (10 points)

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Exercise 3: Processes!

Name the phonological processes responsible for deriving the pronunciations in Column B from

the forms in Column A. If the process is assimilation, indicate further what type of assimilation it

is: assimilation in voicing, in place of articulation, or in emphaticness. (20 points)

Column A Column B Name of the process

a) /dafaʔt + lak/ ‘I paid you’ (San’ani) [dafaʔtalak]

b) /wagt/ ‘time’ (San’ani) [wakt]

c) /niktbu/ ‘they wrote’ (Maltese) [nigdbu]

d) /nizilt/ ‘I descended’ (several dialects) [nzilt]

e) /ʕanbar/ ‘storehouse’ (Syrian) [ʕambar]

f) /sˁe:d/ ‘hunting’ (Syrian) [sˁe:dˁ]

g) /latˁi:f/ ‘nice’ (Iraqi) […atˁi:f]

h) /maDku:r/ ‘mentioned’ (Iraqi) [maθku:r]

i) /xa:l + na:/ ‘our uncle’ (Egyptian) [xalna:]

j) /katab + tum + ha:/ ‘you wrote it’(MSA) [katabtumu:ha:]

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Exercise 4: Such a diverse Arabic!

A. For each squared Arabic letter in each word in the table below, indicate with the appropriate

IPA symbol how this letter is likely to be pronounced by the given Arabic speakers, based on

your understanding of Holes’ discussion in Chapter 2. Make sure to use the IPA symbols, not

Holes’ symbols. (20 points)

Word A Classical

Arabic/MSA

speaker

A speaker

from

Cairo

A

Palestinian

Villager

A Muslim

speaker in

Baghdad

A speaker

from the

Gulf

A speaker from

Central Saudi

Arabia

ديمق‘old’

قسرومَ ‘stolen’

كمع‘with you’

كأبو‘your

father’

معةج‘Friday’

B. Based on Holes’ discussion in Chapter 2, How and why do a Jordanian man and a Jordanian

woman differ in their pronunciation of the ق in the following word: قبل? Briefly explain your

answer. (5 points)

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C. Based on Holes’ discussion in Chapter 2, in a neutral context, what is the likely

pronunciation of the ق in the word اقتصاد (‘economy’) by an Egyptian Arabic speaker? In the

same neutral context, what is the likely pronunciation of the ق in the word َرقوقب (‘plums’) by

that same Egyptian speaker? Briefly explain your answer. (5 points)

D. The MSA word آثار [ʔa:θa:r] (‘monuments’) can be pronounced by an Egyptian speaker as

either [ʔa:θa:r] or [ʔa:sa:r], but never as [ʔa:ta:r]. By contrast, the MSA word ثور [θawr]

(‘bull’) can only be pronounced as [to:r], but never as [θo:r] or [so:r]. Meanwhile, the MSA

word ثالثين is typically pronounced as [tala:ti:n], but may also be pronounced in certain

contexts as [sala:si:n] or [θala:θi:n]. Based on your understanding of how the interdentals

have come to be pronounced in the modern Arabic dialects, explain the behavior of [θ] in

Egyptian Arabic with reference to these three words. (10 points)

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Exercise 5: Sometimes it’s [i]; sometimes it’s [a]!

Consider the following verbs from an Arabic dialect, which we will call Dialect X. All the

examples are Form I past tense verbs with 3rd person singular agreement. The first vowel in the

verbs in Column A is [i], while the first vowel in the verbs in Column B is [a]. Study the

examples, then answer the three questions that follow.

Column A Column B

[kitab] ‘he wrote’ [ʕarif] ‘he knew’

[sikan] ‘he resided’ [asab] ‘he counted’

[ʃirib] ‘he drank’ [ʕabad] ‘he worshiped’

[nifax] ‘he blew’ [haʒar] ‘he abandoned’

[ɡitaʕ] ‘he cut’ [ʔamar] ‘he ordered’

A. First, state a generalization to explain the occurrence of the first [a] vowel in the verbs in

Column B, as opposed to its absence in the verbs in Column A. Important Note: Your

generalization has to make reference to ‘general’ features and typical phonological processes,

not to specific sounds. No credit is given to answers that merely list the sounds in each word.

(5 points)

Write your generalization here:

B. Based on the data above as well as the generalization you formulated in Part A of this

exercise, indicate which verb forms in the following table are possible verbs in dialect X, and

which ones are impossible, then briefly explain your answer in the box below. (5 points)

[nasˁa] ‘he advised’ (a) Possible (b) Impossible

[harab] ‘he escaped’ (a) Possible (b) Impossible

[ibas] ‘he detained’ (a) Possible (b) Impossible

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Explain your answer to Part B here:

C. What phonological fact from Classical Arabic/MSA that we talked about in class is similar to

the pattern seen in dialect X here? (5 points)

Exercise 6: A stress-ful dialect!

In the table below, there is a list of 10 words from an Arabic dialect, which we will call dialect Q.

The words are given in phonetic transcription where stress placement is explicitly indicated.

Study the examples, then answer the two questions that follow.

Translation Phonetic transcription

‘a letter’ [mak.ˈtu:b] 1.

‘she travelled’ [ˈsa:.fa.rat] 2.

‘school’ [ˈmad.ra.sih] 3.

‘offices’ [ma.ˈka:.tib] 4.

‘I studied’ [da.ˈrast] 5.

‘we wrote’ [ka.ˈtab.na:] 6.

‘she put on (clothes)’ [ˈli.bi.sat] 7.

‘my library’ [mak.ˈta.ba.ti] 8.

‘he wrote’ [ˈka.tab] 9.

‘I sat’ [gam.ˈbart] 10.

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A. First, propose a stress placement algorithm for dialect Q based on these data in the same way

we did in class for Egyptian Arabic, and for Classical Arabic on Homework #2. (10 points)

Now, consider stress placement in these further words from dialect Q.

Translation Phonetic transcription

‘letters’ [ma.ˈka:.ti:b] 1.

‘soap’ [ˈsa:.bu:n] 2.

‘I travelled’ [ˈsa:.fart] 3.

‘going out (plural masculine)’ [ˈxa:.ri.ʒi:n] 4.

‘like this’ [ˈha:.ka.da.ha:] 5.

B. Does your algorithm from Part A explain stress placement in these words? If yes, explain

how. If not, modify your algorithm to take these new facts into account. (10 points)

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Exercise 7: Suns, moons, and stars!

Consider the following data from an Arabic dialect, which we will call Dialect Z. In this dialect,

the definite article is the morpheme /l/. This morpheme, however, has three different allomorphs,

as shown by the examples below. Study the examples, then answer the questions that follow.

(Note: Remember that [e:] and [o:] are mid vowels that occur in modern Arabic dialects, but they

should have no bearing on your answer to this exercise.)

i. /l + be:t/ [lbe:t] ‘the house’

ii. /l + fu:l/ [lfu:l] ‘the fava beans’

iii. /l + ku:sa/ [lku:sa] ‘the zucchini’

iv. /l + to:r/ [tto:r] ‘the ox’

v. /l + ʒabal/ [ʒʒabal] ‘the mountain’

vi. /l + ʃe:m/ [ʃʃe:m] ‘Damascus’

vii. /l + ri:/ [rri:] ‘the wind’

viii. /l + ble:d/ [lible:d] ‘the nations’

ix. /l + flu:s/ [liflu:s] ‘the money’

x. /l + kte:b/ [likte:b] ‘the book’

xi. /l + tle:l/ [litle:l] ‘the hills’

xii. /l + ʒnu:n/ [liʒnu:n] ‘the insanity’

xiii. /l + ʃme:l/ [liʃme:l] ‘the north’

xiv. /l + rʒe:l/ [lirʒe:l] ‘the men’

A. First, state the three allomorphs of the definite article morpheme in dialect Z. (3 points)

a.

b.

c.

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B. Second, state the phonological context in which each allomorph occurs. (3 points)

a.

b.

c.

C. Third, how is this dialect different from Classical Arabic/MSA with regard to the

phonological behavior of the definite article? (4 points)

D. Fourth, given your answers in Parts A and B of this exercise about the phonological contexts

for the definite article pronunciation in Dialect Z, predict the pronunciation of each definite

noun in Column A, and write that pronunciation in phonetic transcription in Column B.

(10 points)

Column A Column B

a. /l + rbi:ʕ/ ‘the spring’

b. /l + ʒa:mʕa/ ‘the university’

c. /l + fanu:s/ ‘the lantern’

d. /l + ʃahir/ ‘the month’

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Column A Column B

e. /l+ bri:d/ ‘the mail’

f. /l + su:r/ ‘the fence’

g. /l + xri:f/ ‘the autumn’

h. /l + sˁe:f/ ‘the summer’

i. /l + da:r/ ‘the house’

j. /l + mo:t/ ‘the death’

Exercise 8: Rooting the impossible!

The following is a list of some examples of roots that are claimed to be impossible or at least

very rare in Arabic.

k m b k b m r f b r b f r l l r

n θ D n D θ t ʕ t ʕ b ɣ x b x ɣ

Suggest a general phonotactic constraint to explain the impossibility/rarity of these verb roots.

Again, your constraint has to be as general as possible and should explain all the given examples.

(10 points)

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Exercise 9: Putting the root into the pattern!

For the root ل-ل-ح , provide the ten possible verb patterns, as well as one quadrilateral pattern.

Write the verb forms in Arabic script. Remember that verb patterns are given in the perfect form.

Note that you are deriving the ‘theoretically possible’ verb forms, some of which may not be

actual Arabic verbs, but we will ignore that for the purposes of this exercise. (10 points)

Root: ل- ل-ح Write the verb form in Arabic here.

Form I

Form II 

Form III 

Form IV 

Form V 

Form VI 

Form VII 

Form VIII

Form IX 

Form X 

Quadriliteral pattern

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Exercise 10: Putting the root into the type!

Assign each of the following roots to its verb root type in the table below. (20 points)

ʔ s r y b s tˁ y r w dʒ d sˁ r x b ʔ s r k dˁ z l l sˁ w w f y

dʒ l b d w m dˁ r r m ʃ y s y r tˁ r ʔ s w ʔ l f f s ʔ m w dˁ

Regular

sound

Geminate Hamzated Assimilated Hollow Defective Doubly weak

or mixed