Loan Words Stress System in Bedouin Jordanian Arabic: An Optimality Theoretic Account

Abstract

This study investigates the stress system of loan words in Bedouin Jordanian Arabic from an optimality theoretic perspective. The data is obtained from Huneety and Mashaqba's (2016) recent study. The corpus of the study consists of thirty-four words: nine monosyllabic words, nine disyllabic words, and sixteen words that are of at least three syllables. The data analysis is conduct in two interrelated stages: the data in light of metrical parameters following Hayes (1995). The aim of this stage is to evaluate the conclusion that Huneety and Mashaqba (2016) have reached through their analysis. The second stage of data analysis will analyze loan words under the Optimality Theoretic approach following (Prince & Smolensky, 1993). The findings of the study confirm Huneety's and Mashaqba's (2016) conclusion in that stress in BJA follows the following parameters: trochaic footing from left to right and that the language is quantity sensitive. The final mora is extrametrical and degenerate feet are not allowed. Moreover, the study shows that the dialect abides a universal set of OT constraints. The study shows that BJA stress system abides the following constraint ranking: LXWD=PRWD, RHTYPE TROCHEE, MAIN RIGHT, *SECONDARY, FTBINμ>> NonFinal μ >> PARSE SYL >> NONFINALITY >> ALLFTRIGHT >> ALLFTLEFT.