Morphological Deviations in Arabic Loanwords in Turkish and Their Role in Semantic Ambiguity

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the phenomena of morphological deviations appear in a subset of Arabic loanwords in Turkish..
 Methods: Methods: The study utilized a comparative analysis approach, which focuses on studying the similarities and differences between two languages from different linguistic families.
 Results: The study found that certain Arabic loanwords in Turkish are not utilized in their original morphological form from Arabic. Turkish deviates from the original morphological structure, resulting in a different form. The study also discovered that these morphological deviations manifest in a few specific forms, and in most cases, they lead to semantic ambiguity. This ambiguity arises as the deviated forms become false cognates with their Arabic equivalents, presenting challenges in language learning and usage.
 Conclusions: The study identified two categories of morphological deviations based on the resulting semantic gap. The first category involves deviations that cause partial semantic confusion, where the deviated and original forms belong to the same semantic domain. The second category encompasses morphological deviations that lead to severe or complete semantic confusion, as the deviated form falls within a different semantic domain compared to the original form.