| ROA: | 1379 |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Comprehensive Analysis of Coda Clusters in Hijazi Arabic: An Optimality-Theoretic Perspective |
| Authors: | Hassan Bokhari |
| Comment: | |
| Length: | 349 |
| Abstract: | In Hijazi Arabic, an urban dialect spoken in the western region of Saudi Arabia, sonority, which is defined as the loudness of a particular speech sound relative to others (Ladefoged & Johnson 2010), plays a particularly important role in constructing the coda consonant cluster, which occurs in word-final position. This means that there are restrictions on the relative sonority of consonants that can form part of a syllable coda cluster. The current study utilizes the Split-Margin Approach to the syllable (Baertsch, 2002; Baertsch & Davis, 2009) within the framework of Optimality Theory to analyze the sonority of coda clusters in the dialect. The goal of this study is to determine the segment sonority scale in Hijazi Arabic, which necessitates a comprehensive phonetic and phonological investigation of guttural sounds in Arabic. Furthermore, it examines other constraints that play a role in shaping the coda cluster in the dialect. One of the major findings of the study is that Hijazi Arabic does not allow rising-sonority coda clusters, but tolerates level-sonority coda clusters with restrictions. Moreover, there are high-ranked constraints in the dialect independent of the sonority hierarchy that prevent various other cluster types from comprising a coda. In addition, the study offers a new approach to the analysis of vowel-glide coalescence in triliteral roots which consist of a medial glide and word-final glide vocalization in triliteral roots ending with a glide. The study also analyzes the status of coda geminates in Hijazi Arabic. Finally, vowel quality in sonority-driven epenthesis is analyzed in depth. |
| Type: | Dissertation |
| Area/Keywords: | Coda clusters, Hijazi Arabic, Optimality Theory, Phonology, Sonority, Split-Margin approach |
| Article: | Version 1 |