Abstract
The paper investigates the syllable structures of Qassimi Arabic (QA), which is a sub-dialect of Najdi Arabic (NA) and is spoken in the north-central region of Saudi Arabia, particularly in the Qassim Region. Within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT), we show how the well-formed syllable is derived from the interaction of constraints. We show how the OT captures some of the major processes for structuring the syllables of QA, such as syncope, epenthesis, and geminate. The analysis revealed that onsetless syllables are prohibited in QA. The dialect allows word-initial consonant clusters, which is a result of the syncope process. Coda clusters also occur in QA that must obey the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP); otherwise, epenthesis presents to repair the violation. As for the geminates, QA permits geminates medially and finally, but not initially. The data revealed that QA demonstrates seven fundamental syllable structures grouped into three categories: light syllables, as in CV; heavy syllables, as in CVV and CVC; and super heavy syllables, as in CVVC, CVCC, CCVVC and CVVCC.
Highlights
Syllable structure is a sequence of segments that function as a unit
We show how Optimality Theory (OT) captures some of the syllable structure processes in Qassimi Arabic (QA), such as syncope, epenthesis, and geminates
The data show that the vowel deletion targets unstressed high vowels in non-final syllables, which is preceded by the stressed syllable structure CVVC
Summary
Syllable structure is a sequence of segments that function as a unit. This sequence is often a collection of consonants and vowels. Reetz and Jongman (2009) ranked sonority from the most to least sonorous as follows: vowels (most sonorous) approximant nasal fricative stops (least sonorous). They state that a syllable is linked with a peak in sonority and that the sonority rises towards the syllable nucleus and descends towards syllable coda. This characteristic is called the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP)
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