A Fresh Analysis of the Origin and Diachronic Development of "Dialectal Tanwīn" in Arabic
Scholars of Arabic dialects have long noted the occurrence of a morpheme in a widespread number of dialects, realized -ən or -an, frequently suffixed to morphologically indefinite nouns, especially when followed by an adjective. Separately, another morpheme, realized -un or -u, is attested with a sl...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Published: |
American Oriental Society
[2020]
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In: |
JAOS
Year: 2020, Volume: 140, Issue: 3, Pages: 637-664 |
Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | Scholars of Arabic dialects have long noted the occurrence of a morpheme in a widespread number of dialects, realized -ən or -an, frequently suffixed to morphologically indefinite nouns, especially when followed by an adjective. Separately, another morpheme, realized -un or -u, is attested with a slightly different distribution in the dialects of western Yemen. Traditionally, scholars have interpreted both morphemes as reflexes of an etymological case vowel + tanwīn (Blau 1981), traditionally labeled "dialectal tanwīn." In this paper, I offer a new reconstruction of the origin and diachronic development of this morpheme. Throughout I integrate data and insights from comparative Semitics, as well as recently studied pre-Islamic epigraphic and textual materials, in order to break the familiar Classical Arabic / dialectal Arabic dichotomy and reframe the way in which historiography of features in the dialects is conducted. |
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ISSN: | 2169-2289 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: American Oriental Society, JAOS
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.7817/jameroriesoci.140.3.0637 |