Resumen de Form-function mismatches: the semantics of the definite article in Jordanian Arabic
Aziz Jaber, Reem Al-Momani, Osama Omari
This study focuses on the semantic status of the definite article al ‘the’ in Jordanian Arabic. It shows that the traditional viewpoint of classifying DPs as semantically definite or indefinite based solely on the presence or absence of al, respectively, is problematic. Due to the asymmetrical distribution of al-N and bare N in the dialect, it is argued that the presence of al, although often a necessary condition for marking definiteness, no longer functions as a pure marker of semantic definiteness. The definite article in Jordanian Arabic has developed other grammatical functions unrelated to its canonical use. It is optionally attached to nouns with semantically indefinite referents, it is obligatorily prefixed to nouns in indefinite environments, and it is used in other constructions irrelevant to in/definiteness. According to the life cycle of a definite article proposed by Greenberg (1978), the definite article al in Jordanian Arabic could be on the second stage, where it ceases to function as an exclusive definite marker but rather might be found in definite and indefinite environments, with few uses slightly irrelevant to in/definiteness.
