On the nature of metrical phonology of Iraqi Arabic: A non-linear approach

Abstract

The paper is an in-depth study of how the principles and rules of the metrical theory of phonology have found their way to apply to Iraqi Arabic words and expressions. Iraqi lexical items have amassed evidence illustrating that both foot and stress are the hub of phonological designs of parametric prominence entailed in mapping and building up word syllables. Nevertheless, this is not a free-for-all which is far beyond restrictions or exceptions. Some constraints are not imposed to deviate from the metrical norms of Iraqi words nor some exceptions are made to distort their lexical frames, but rather they are adopted to emphasize that any theory's premises are generally the same but its applicable ends are definitely different in so far as the language or the dialect in question is concerned. The paper also digs deep certain metrical phenomena taking place in Iraqi word stress patterns like the extra metrical behavior of some word syllables and segments, and cyclic and non-cyclic parameters of some morphological operations of words.