Moufida AÏD

30- 12- 2015

Phonological Study of the Arabic Dialect of Honaine1

Abstract

This research paper is an attempt to give a comprehensive analysis of the most

salient phonological phenomena characterizing the Arabic dialect spoken in Honaine.

The phenomena are tackled from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives to shed

more light on their origins and the reasons behind them.

Keywords: Honaine Arabic – Sound Change – Dialectal Variations – Modern

Arabic Dialects – Ancient Arabic Dialects.

Field of Research: Arabic Dialects – Arabic Dialectology – Maghrebi Arabic

Dialects.

Review of the Fieldwork

- Geographical place

The first citation of the name Honaine was in the year 831 as a small city (Basset,

1901; Al-Wazzan, 1530/1983) giving the meaning of Šurfa (balcony) in Berber….

- Historical Glance

Consonantal System

HA has twenty six consonantal phonemes in nine places of articulation. The most

characteristic features are presented and discussed below….

. The Glottal Stop

The glottal stop or hamza took a remarkable place in the studies of the Arab

grammarians and modern linguists likewise…

1 The full length version of the paper is available on:

https://www.academia.edu/19949442/Phonological_Study_of_the_Arabic_Dialect_of_Honaine

Devoicing /ḍ/

One of the phenomena that attract the attention in the dialect of Honaine is the

further step that ḍ and ḏ ̣have taken to be pronounced as the voiceless emphatic plosive

/ṭ/…

. gaʕ ˃ qaʕ or simply qaʕ

At variance with the neighboring dialects spoken in the surrounding areas of

Honaine, speakers of HA are known for the pronunciation of the colloquial word gaʕ

as qaʕ/qaʕtijja ‘all, totally’….

. q ˃ x in Time Expressions

Beside the voiceless uvular stop [q] and the voiced velar stop [g] as reflexes of

Arabic qāf in HA, we find also the irregular reflex [x] in expressions denoting time

derived from the Arabic word waqt ‘time…

Labialization

Labialization can be defined as the secondary articulation characterized by lip

rounding. In Standard Arabic, labialization has no phonemic status and appears only as

a feature gained from contact with the following rounded vowel /u/…

Arabic Ǧīm

Today’s modern pronunciation of standard Arabic ğīm is said to be the voiced

alveo-palatal affricate [ʤ]…

Unconditioned Consonantal Alternations

The most noticeable unconditioned consonantal alternation in HA can be

summarized under three subheadings: (1) interchanges between the liquids and nasals;

(2) alternation between the labials and; (3) emphasis and de-emphasis. Alternations

under this type usually appear sporadically…

Vocalism

HA possesses a vocalic system of the three classical short vowels in Arabic /a, u, i/

and further their merged central short vowel /ə/…

Imāla

Imāla in general is the phenomenon described by the Arab scholars as the vowel

shift or approximation of the open vowel /a:/ ‘alif’ to the close front vowel /i:/ ‘yaʾ’…

Conditioned Sound Changes

The motley processes by which sound changes are conditioned by purely phonetic

factors are presented in five main subheadings: assimilation, dissimilation, elision,

metathesis, and paragoge…

- Bibliography

- Wordlists