Phonological aspects of al-Issa Arabic, a Bedouin dialect in the north of Jordan

This study offers an account of selected key phonological aspects of al-Issa Arabic, spoken in three villages in al Mafraq: Ad-Dafyana, Mansiyat al-Gublan and Um As-srab. Forty suitable participants plus four language consultants were recruited. The dialect has a number of distinguishing features that make it stand out from the rest of Bedouin Jordanian Arabic dialects, e.g. the Bani Saxar dialect (Palva 1980), Bani.assan dialect (Irshied 1984), Abbadi dialect (Sakarna 1999), and Wadi Ramm Arabic (Mashaqba 2015). These features include the unlimited affrication of *k, the realization of the palato-alveolar/j/as [y] in all word positions (ya?ya?a phenomenon), and the unconditioned retention of Classical Arabic diphthongs *aw and *ay in all contexts. In terms of syllable structure, the core syllable types observed are: CV, CVC, CVV, CVVC, CCVVC, CVC1C1, and C1C2VVC. There is a strong ban against C1C2C3 and C1C2 coda clusters in the dialect. Following Kiparsky's (2003) typological classification, the dialect is a VC-dialect where a vowel is inserted between C-1 and C-2 in C1C2C3 clusters. To avoid gutturals in coda positions, the dialect exhibits of the gahawa syndrome where CVG.CV underlying forms are attested as CV.Ga.CV. Stress is predictable in the vast majority of forms and is controlled by a trochaic foot ('CV.CVC). Stress falls on the right-most heavy syllable in the last three syllables. Where a word lacks a heavy syllable, it falls on the antepenultimate, or a penultimate in two syllable words. However, stress assignment interacts with epenthesis and the gahawa syndrome: the inserted vowel attracts the main stress in the absence of an ultimate heavy syllable.

Automated summary

This study provides an account of key phonological aspects of al-Issa Arabic, spoken in three villages in al Mafraq, and highlights its distinguishing features from other Bedouin Jordanian Arabic dialects. The dialect exhibits unique characteristics such as unlimited affrication of *k, realization of palato-alveolar /j/ as [y], and retention of Classical Arabic diphthongs *aw and *ay across all contexts. Additionally, the study explores syllable structure, stress patterns, and interactions with epenthesis in the dialect.