Introduction to Arabic Linguistics

A comprehensive introduction to the linguistic fundamentals of modern Arabic, ideal for Arabic language learners as well as speakers interested in developing a richer understanding of language use and behavior Introduction to Arabic Linguistics presents a clear and engaging overview of the core linguistic aspects of modern Arabic, focusing on Modern Standard Arabic and Levantine Arabic. Designed to be welcoming for undergraduates without fluency in Arabic and for students with only limited familiarity with linguistics, this textbook covers all fundamental areas of Arabic linguistics. Detailed yet accessible chapters include comprehension and analysis questions, critical thinking exercises, application examples with authentic data, reading assignments, and classroom and homework projects. This valuable textbook is organized into three units which cover sounds and sound systems, word structure and meaning, and phrases and phrase structure. Author Youssef Haddad draws from both the Arabic grammatical tradition and recent linguistic research to provide students with a solid foundation in the linguistic features and structures of Arabic sounds, words, and phrases. Topics include phonological processes, derivational morphology, noun and verb phrases, sentence structure, structural ambiguity, and more. Discusses key topics in the formal study of Arabic linguistics, suitable for Arabic speakers and language learners Encourages students to investigate a dialect not covered in the book at different levels of linguistic analysis Answers many of the most common and relevant questions in the field of Arabic linguistics Includes a typological and historical overview of the Arabic language Offers an instructor’s website with additional exercises, practice questions, PowerPoint presentations, and answer keys Introduction to Arabic Linguistics is the perfect textbook for undergraduates in modern language and linguistic courses and a valuable resource for graduate students in Arabic studies or linguistics programs.

Table of Contents:
Preface xi Acknowledgments xiv Abbreviations xv Glossary xvi About the Companion Website xxvii 1 Arabic: An Insider’s Perspective 1 1.1 My Experience with Arabic 4 1.2 My Experience with Other Languages 10 1.3 About this Book 12 Further Reading 13 PART I Arabic Sounds and Sound Systems 15 2 Speech Sounds: An Overview 17                                                                        2.1 Production of Speech Sounds 18 2.2 The International Phonetic Alphabet 21 2.3 The Arabic Writing System 23 2.4 Conclusion 27 Further Reading 27 3 Arabic Consonants and Vowels 28 3.1 Modern Standard Arabic Consonants 28 3.1.1 Place of Articulation 29 3.1.1.1 Bilabial Consonants 29 3.1.1.2 Labiodental Consonants 32 3.1.1.3 Interdental Consonants 33 3.1.1.4 Alveolar Consonants 34 3.1.1.5 Palatal Consonants 36 3.1.1.6 Velar Consonants 37 3.1.1.7 Uvular Consonants 38 3.1.1.8 Pharyngeal Consonants 39 3.1.1.9 Glottal Consonants 40 3.1.2 Voicing 41 3.1.3 Manner of Articulation 42 3.1.3.1 Oral Stops 42 3.1.3.2 Nasal Stops 45 3.1.3.3 Fricatives 45 3.1.3.4 Liquids 49 3.1.3.5 Glides 50 3.2 Modern Standard Arabic Vowels 52 3.3 Modern Standard Arabic Sounds: Putting it all Together 56 3.4 Levantine Arabic Sounds 59 3.4.1 Levantine Arabic Consonants 60 3.4.2 Levantine Arabic Vowels 62 3.4.3 Levantine Arabic Sounds: Putting it all Together 62 3.5 Conclusion 67 Further Reading 67 4 Arabic Syllable Structure and Stress 69 4.1 Syllable Structure in Modern Standard Arabic 70 4.2 Stress in Modern Standard Arabic 80 4.3 Syllable Structure and Stress in Levantine Arabic 84 4.4 Conclusion 90 Further Reading 90 5 Arabic Sound System 91 5.1 Minimal Pairs and Phonemes vs. Allophones 93 5.2 Phonological Derivation 97 5.2.1 Assimilation 97 5.2.2 Epenthesis 108 5.2.3 Syncope and Vowel Shortening 114 5.2.4 Ordering of Rules 116 5.3 Conclusion 117 Further Reading 118 PART II Arabic Words: Their Structure and Meaning 119 6 Arabic Morphology: An Overview 121 6.1 Agglutination 122 6.2 Interdigitation: Root-and-Pattern Morphology 128 6.3 Conclusion 133 Further Reading 133 7 Arabic Verbs: Form and Meaning 134 7.1 Modern Standard Arabic Verbs 134 7.2 Pattern I: C1VC2VC3 or faʕal-a/faʕil-a/faʕul-a 141 7.3 Augmented Patterns II through X 146 7.3.1 Patterns II and V: faʕʕal-a and tafaʕʕal-a 147 7.3.2 Patterns III and VI: faːʕal-a – tafaːʕal-a 150 7.3.3 Patterns IV and X: ʔafʕal-a – stafʕal-a 154 7.3.4 Patterns VII and VIII: nfaʕal-a – ftaʕal-a 158 7.3.5 Patterns I–VIII, X: Looking at Them Together! 160 7.3.6 Patterns IX: fʕall-a 163 7.3.7 Verb Patterns: A Word of Caution 164 7.4 Levantine Arabic Verbs 165 7.4.1 Verb Conjugation in Levantine Arabic 166 7.4.2 LA Pattern I Verbs 169 7.4.3 LA Pattern II 170 7.4.4 LA Pattern III 173 7.4.5 LA Pattern IV 174 7.4.6 LA Pattern V 177 7.4.7 LA Pattern VI 178 7.4.8 LA Pattern VII 180 7.4.9 LA Pattern VIII 181 7.4.10 LA Pattern X 182 7.4.11 LA Pattern IX 184 7.5 Conclusion 184 Further Reading 185 8 Arabic Nouns: Form and Meaning 186 8.1 The Modern Standard Arabic masˤdar 187 8.1.1 Pattern I Verbal Nouns 188 8.1.2 Patterns II–X Verbal Nouns 190 8.2 Modern Standard Arabic Participles 194 8.2.1 Participles Derived from Pattern I Verbs 194 8.2.2 Participles Derived from Patterns II–X Verbs 196 8.3 Other Types of Modern Standard Arabic Nouns 204 8.3.1 Nouns of Instance 204 8.3.2 Nouns of Profession 206 8.3.3 Nouns of Instrument 207 8.3.4 Nouns of Place 208 8.4 Modern Standard Arabic Adjectives 210 8.4.1 Adjective Derivation from Pattern I Verbs 210 8.4.2 Adjectives Denoting Color and Physical Traits 211 8.4.3 Relative Adjectives 212 8.4.4 Comparative and Superlative Adjectives 214 8.5 Modern Standard Arabic Nouns and Adjectives: Inflectional Categories 216 8.5.1 Modern Standard Arabic Gender 216 8.5.2 Modern Standard Arabic Number 217 8.5.2.1 Modern Standard Arabic Dual 218 8.5.2.2 Modern Standard Arabic Sound Feminine Plural 218 8.5.2.3 Modern Standard Arabic Sound Masculine Plural 221 8.5.2.4 Modern Standard Arabic Broken Plural 222 8.5.3 Modern Standard Arabic Case 226 8.5.4 Modern Standard Arabic Definiteness 228 8.6 Levantine Arabic Noun Morphology 229 8.6.1 Levantine Arabic Definiteness 230 8.6.2 Levantine Arabic Gender 230 8.6.3 Levantine Arabic Number 232 8.6.4 Levantine Arabic Case 232 8.7 Conclusion 235 Further Reading 236 9 Arabic Morphophonology 237 9.1 The Arabic Verb Root 238 9.2 Verb Roots and Morphophonology 240 9.2.1 The Morphophonology of Assimilated Roots 240 9.2.2 The Morphophonology of Hollow Roots 242 9.2.3 The Morphophonology of Defective Roots 246 9.2.4 The Morphophonology of Verbs Derived from Geminated Roots 250 9.3 Other Morphophonological Phenomena 254 9.3.1 The Morphophonology of Imperatives 255 9.3.2 Syncope and Epenthesis in Lebanese Arabic Verb Paradigms 256 9.4 Conclusion 258 Further Reading 258 PART III Arabic Phrases and Phrase Structure 259 10 Phrase Structure: An Overview 261 10.1 Categories and Phrases 262 10.2 Constituency 269 10.3 Conclusion 273 Further Reading 273 11 The Simple Sentence in Arabic 275 11.1 Verbal Sentences 275 11.2 Nominal Sentences 287 11.2.1 Verbless Nominal Sentences 287 11.2.2 Nominal Sentences with Linking Verbs 290 11.2.3 Nominal Sentences with Lexical Verbs 295 11.3 Conclusion 301 Further Reading 302 12 Arabic Noun Phrases 303 12.1 The Minimal Noun Phrase 303 12.2 Noun Phrases with Specifiers 308 12.2.1 Indefiniteness 308 12.2.2 Definiteness via l- Suffixation 310 12.2.3 Demonstratives 314 12.3 Noun Phrases with Modifiers 316 12.3.1 Noun Phrases with Adjectives 316 12.3.2 Noun Phrases with Prepositional Phrases 321 12.4 Construct Noun Phrases 323 12.4.1 The Structure of Construct Noun Phrases 324 12.4.2 Construct Noun Phrases as Single Prosodic Units 329 12.4.3 Construct Noun Phrases: Meaning Contributions 337 12.4.4 Other Uses of Construct Noun Phrases 347 12.5 Conclusion 349 Further Reading 349 13 Arabic Verb Phrases 351 13.1 Verb Phrases: Selectional Requirements 351 13.2 Tense, Aspect, and Mood 358 13.2.1 The Perfective 359 13.2.2 The Imperfective 362 13.2.2.1 The Imperfective in Modern Standard Arabic 362 13.2.2.2 The Imperfective in Levantine Arabic 371 13.3 Verb Phrases with Compounds Verbs 377 13.4 Conclusion 386 Further Reading 386 14 Before You Go 388 14.1 What Have We Accomplished? 388 14.2 Where Do We Go Now? 390 Bibliography 391 Index 397

About the Author :
YOUSSEF A. HADDAD is a Professor of Arabic Language and Linguistics at the University of Florida. His research covers topics in syntax, pragmatics, phonology, and prosodic morphology. He is the author of two books, Control into Conjunctive Participle Clauses: The Case of Assamese and The Sociopragmatics of Attitude Datives in Levantine Arabic, and the co-editor of volumes XXVIII and XXXI of Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics.

Review :
“Introduction to Arabic Linguistics by Youssef Haddad is the finest such discussion I have seen of how educated speakers of Arabic experience the linguistics situation of the Arab world, characterized by Arabic diglossia and multilingualism. This book is far richer and more detailed in its treatment of the topics considered in many regards than earlier similar publications. Given its depth and theoretically framed discussion, it is also more useful in many regards than standard reference grammars—a different genre of work, of course—that may ultimately contain more detail but do not seek to demonstrate the underlying systematicity of the language.” --Keith Walters, Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics, Portland State University