Non-Linearity and Feature-Based Phonotactics of Khasibi Arabic Syllable Templates: A Phonological Survey

Abstract

This paper is intended to explore the study of permissible orders of Khasibi segments in formatting syllable templates (phonotactics). The treatment of phonotactic rules and representations of Khasibi syllables is touched on by means of two influential factors. One of them is the non-linear perspective that is used to cover the hierarchal mapping of the syllables. The other is greater exploitation of the theory of distinctive features to elucidate the phonetic properties of the sound segments of which the syllables are made up. The overall phonontactic scene of Khasibi Arabic is thus integrated by double phonological instruments to attain some sort of comprehensiveness and universality and simultaneously to manifest a degree of idiosyncrasy. Different results are objectively reached, and the most noteworthy one is that two X-position consonants (consonantal clusters) are formed uniquely whereby certain phonological phenomena like geminates and ambi-syllabicity are directly responsible for such a formation.