Prosodic words are the domain of emphasis spread: evidence from Northern Rural Jordanian Arabic

Abstract

Abstract This article, which reports on an experimental study based on data obtained from 86 native speakers of Northern Rural Jordanian Arabic (NRJA), offers empirical evidence that emphasis spread can apply bidirectionally across word edges when they are prosodically word internal. In other words, emphasis can spread from one word to a neighboring (plain) word when the two words form one prosodic word (ω). In order to support this hypothesis, we examine simple construct-state nominals (i.e., nominals consisting of two members), which are widely assumed to behave prosodically as one word in Arabic grammar (see, e.g., Borer, Hagit. 1999. Deconstructing the construct. In Kyle Johnson & Ian Roberts (eds.), Beyond principles and parameters, 3–89. Dordrecht: Kluwer). A simple construct state nominal is mapped onto one ω, as proposed in the current article. Additionally, this article examines instances of construct state nominals in which two words could be members of a ω by cliticization. In this case, a weak form (e.g., a reduced functional word such as an auxiliary verb) is attached to the ω of a lexical word, as an enclitic. The article shows that emphasis spreads across word edges within the ω mapped from a simple construct state nominal or a word along with its enclitics. In so doing, it provides evidence that the domain of emphasis spread is larger than the syllable, morpheme, or single-word form, as proposed by other studies for other Arabic varieties.