The Phonological Alternations in the Noun of Instrument (fɪʕɑ:l)

Abstract

<p class="zhengwen"><span lang="EN-US">The present paper aims at examining Arabic phonological alternations that occur when deriving the <em>noun of instrument </em>with the pattern <em>fɪʕɑ:l</em> from strong and weak trilateral verbs. </span><span lang="DE">To this end,</span><span lang="DE"> the researcher chose 32 <em>nouns of instrument</em> from </span><em><span lang="DE">Al-muʕjam al-wasi:T</span></em><span lang="DE"> (2001) that represent the </span><span lang="DE">strong and weak trilateral verbs evenly. The findings of the present study show that the <em>nouns of instrument</em> which are derived from strong trilateral verbs undergo systematic alternations since the non-high vowel /ɑ/ after the first radical alternates to the high vowel /ɪ/ and the short vowel after the second radical /ɑ/ corresponds to the long vowel /ɑ:/. <em>Nouns of instruments</em> which are derived from weak trilateral verbs can be classified into three classes: class one undergoes a systematic alternation where the non-high vowel /ɑ/ becomes a high vowel /ɪ/ and the short vowel /ɑ/ corresponds to the long vowel /ɑ:/. As for weak verbs, the following phonological processes are motivated: change of the non-high vowel /ɑ/ to a high vowel /ɪ/, ɑ</span><span lang="DE">-Assimilation Rule,</span><span lang="DE"> Lengthening, and Insertion of the glottal stop /Ɂ/ at the end of the <em>noun of instrument</em> preceded by a long vowel </span><span lang="DE">/ɑ:/. Finally, the third class has two phonological changes: the high back rounded sonorant /w/ alternates to the high front unrounded sonorant /j/. After that, the short vowel /ɑ/ is lengthened.</span></p>