A Choice between Faithfulness and Stress: A Metathesis Process in Qassimi Arabic

Authors

  • Ahmed Alnuqaydan

    Department of English Language and Literature, College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i7.9718
Received: 27 April 2025 | Revised: 24 June 2025 | Accepted: 30 June 2025 | Published Online: 15 July 2025

Abstract

This paper deals with an instance of phonological optionality that arises in the speech of older Qassimi Arabic (QA) speakers where a vowel can optionally surface in two positions: underlying position (e.g. [(ˈjat).bə.ʕuh] ‘he follows him’) and unfaithful metathesized position (e.g. [ja.(ˈtəb).ʕuh] ‘he follows him’). It primarily aims to answer the following questions: 1- How is this phonological optionality accounted for? 2- Which phonological models of variation can capture and correctly produce all and only the attested forms? Basing the analysis on a metrical account of the QA stress system, the paper shows that the unfaithful vowel site is motivated by assigning primary stress closer to the right edge of the word, which is a tendency in QA. This is empowered by the markedness constraint Align (ˈσμμ R, wd, R) which aligns heavy stressed syllables with the right edge of the word. The other vowel site is motivated by the faithful anti-metathesis constraint linearity, which requires outputs to have the same segment order as the input. The paper shows that only Partial Order Grammar and Noisy Harmonic Grammar can accurately produce the QA optionality. The present paper connects phonological optionality to larger grammatical parameters and tendencies. It also tests the cross-linguistic viability and applicability of widely used variation models by running data from an understudied/underdocumented variety of Arabic against them.

Keywords:

Metathesis; Optional; Stress; Phonological Variation

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How to Cite

Alnuqaydan, A. (2025). A Choice between Faithfulness and Stress: A Metathesis Process in Qassimi Arabic. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(7), 642–655. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i7.9718

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 7 (July 2025): In progress

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Copyright © 2025 Ahmed Alnuqaydan

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