Sonority Is Not Sufficient: Syllabification and Syllable Patterns in Jordanian Ammani Arabic

Authors

  • Mohammed Nour Abu Quba

    University of Sharjah, Sharjah University City, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates
  • Abdallah Abu Qub'a

    English Language Center, King Faisal University, Hofuf, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i3.6566
Received: 9 May 2024 | Revised: 25 May 2024 | Accepted: 10 June 2024 | Published Online: 15 July 2024

Abstract

This study presents a novel approach to syllabification and syllable structure in Jordanian Ammani Arabic (JAA), addressing challenges posed by complex syllable patterns and codas. We show that sonority principles alone, as suggested by earlier research, cannot account for syllable structure in JAA. We introduce a new constraint, the Coda Cluster Requirement (CodaReq), which governs the occurrence of coda clusters in JAA, considering factors such as sonority, markedness, and morphological ones. We propose an algorithm that is better able to syllabify JAA complex syllables, adopting mora sharing and semisyllables, which maintain bimoraicity while accounting for complex onsets and codas. We also show that JAA exhibits characteristics of both VC and C dialects, suggesting an intermediate classification. The proposed algorithm may be extended to account for other Arabic dialects.

Keywords:

Jordanian Ammani Arabic; Moraic theory; Semisyllables; Syllable structure; Syllabification algorithm

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How to Cite

Abu Quba, M. N., & Abu Qub’a, A. (2024). Sonority Is Not Sufficient: Syllabification and Syllable Patterns in Jordanian Ammani Arabic. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(3), 374–386. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i3.6566

Issue

Vol. 6 , Iss. 3 (September 2024)

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Article

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Copyright © 2024 Mohammed Nour Abu Quba, Abdallah Abu Qub'a

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.