The Preservation of The Feminine -T in Some Bedouin-Type Dialects of Arabia and Beyond

Abstract

Abstract In the overwhelming majority of Arabic dialects, and even in Modern Standard Arabic, the nominal feminine suffix /-at/ is pronounced without the final /-t/ unless it is in the construct state. This common development has apparently not—or at least only partially—occurred in some bedouin-type dialects of Arabia, particularly those of the Shammar confederation. This fact was discussed in a recent article by M. van Putten, who proposed the unusual sound shift *-t → -y to explain the Shammari pausal forms. This article challenges this view by discussing additional data from narratives and concludes that Shammari Arabic most likely took part in the usual development of Arabic. In the second part, dialects other than Shammari are analysed. These dialects either show a complete retention of /-t/ in feminine singular nouns in the absolute state except in pause, or a further development in which this phenomenon is restricted to noun-adjective phrases. In the conclusion it is argued that not all instances of the retention of /-t/ are archaic residues but in some cases are most prob-ably later innovations.