An Optimality Theoretic account for pharyngealization spread in Rural Jordanian Arabic

• Mujdey Abudalbuh ^[1] ; Aziz Jaber ^[1] ; Osama Omari ^[1]
  1. [1] Yarmouk University

     Yarmouk University

     Jordania

     
• Localización: Italian journal of linguistics, ISSN 1120-2726, Vol. 34, Nº. 1, 2022, págs. 3-30
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Previous research has provided evidence for an asymmetrical directionality in the spread of emphasis as well as blocking effects that are process-specific in some dialects of Arabic. However, the interaction between morphology and phonology in terms of the spread of emphasis has been somewhat neglected in the literature. Instead, previous studies have claimed that [RTR] harmony spreads to the whole phonological word. Besides, the phonological repercussion of pharyngealization has not been well investigated. More importantly, the phonological learnability and awareness of pharyngealization have not been touched upon. In this study, we show – with data from Northern Rural Jordanian Arabic – that the spread of emphasis is sensitive to morphemic boundaries, and that the spread of emphasis to affixal segments poses problems for previous analyses. To this end, further treatment is proposed within a theory of constraint ranking. Adopting OT, we try to unravel what is going on in native speakers’ minds pertaining to choosing the optimal candidate. This adds to the general goal of linguistics in figuring out the kind of tacit knowledge speakers have that would enable them to speak the way they do.