The Historical Changes of /k/ and /q/ in Najdi Arabic: A Phonological Analysis

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the potential phonological reasons for the historical change of /k/ and /q/ in Najdi Arabic and the influence of these two consonants on the frequency and duration of vowels, such as /i/ sound through the prism of acoustic analysis. The /k/ phoneme transforms into [ts] and /q/ transforms into [ɡ] and [dz] in many Najdi Arabic words. This transformational process is called ‘palatalization’. Although it is a universal phenomenon, palatalization in Najdi Arabic has specific characteristic features. The main reason for this specificity is that the Najdi dialect had not been in contact with any other foreign languages in Najd region (the region of Najdi speakers) to create the affrication. This historical change is thus attributable to phonological reasons motivated by specific phonological features. Data were extracted from two recordings by two native speakers of the Najdi dialect who produced 217 words. They were phonologically transcribed and analyzed by the researcher to understand the motivation for the phonological change of these two consonants. Additionally, Pratt software was used to analyze the data to explore the influence of consonants on the /i/ sound frequency and duration. The results revealed that the palatalization of [ts] and [dz] does not occur in all the Najdi Arabic words, but only in some due to specific phonological features. The phonological patterns of /k/ and /q/ rely on the place of vocalic articulation preceding and following them.