Do you want to stay informed about this journal? Click the buttons to subscribe to our alerts.
Rethinking Agreement in Spoken Arabic: The Question of Gender
In: Annali Sezione OrientaleAbstract
This paper proposes a re-discussion of the question of the number of genders in Arabic. Only varieties of Arabic that display gender distinction in the plural are considered here. In these varieties, it is argued, all nouns fall into one of three distinct agreement classes (or genders), and this in spite of the fact that only two separate genders surface at the morphological level. In other words, a discrepancy exists between the number of target genders and that of controller genders. This situation is not unique to Arabic, and finds parallels in other languages of the world. In addition, the article discusses the role of feminine singular agreement with plural controllers. This type of agreement is not restricted to any particular controller type and always exists in variation with plural agreement. Therefore, it is not to be regarded as a separate agreement category, but rather as an indicator of the referent’s level of individuation. Finally, the last section of the article concentrates on the possible diachronic implications of the analysis proposed above
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Aikhenvald, A. (2016) How Gender Shapes the World. Oxford.
-
Belnap, K.R. (1991) Grammatical Agreement Variation in Cairene Arabic (Unpublished PhD dissertation, Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania).
-
Belnap, K.R., O. Shabaneh (1992) Variable Agreement and Nonhuman Plurals in Classical and Modern Standard Arabic, in E. Broselow, M. Eid, J. McCarthy (eds.), Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics IV, 245–262. Amsterdam – Philadelphia.
-
Bettega, S. (2018) Agreement Patterns in Omani Arabic: Sociolinguistic Conditioning and Diachronic Development, in J. De Ruiter, K. Ziamari, Arabic Between Tradition, Globalization and Superdiversity. Sheffield.
-
Blanc, H. (1970) Dual and Pseudo-Dual in the Arabic Dialects. Language 46/1, 42–57.
-
Brustad, K.E. (2000) The Syntax of Spoken Arabic. A Comparative Study of Moroccan, Egyptian, Syrian and Kuwaiti Dialects. Washington, D.C.
-
Caubet, D., M. Simeone-Senelle, D. Vanhove (1989) Genre et accord dans quelques dialectes arabes, in Linx 21, Genre et langage. Actes du colloque tenu à Paris X-Nanterre les 14–15–16 décembre 1988, Paris, Université Paris X Nanterre, 39–66.
-
Comrie, B. (1989) Language Universals and Linguistic Typology. Chicago IL.
-
Corbett, G. (1991) Gender. Cambridge.
-
Corbett, G. (2006) Agreement. Cambridge.
-
D’Anna, L. (2017) Agreement with Plural Controllers in Fezzānī Arabic. Folia Orientalia 54, 101–123.
-
D’Anna, L. (forth.) Agreement Patterns with Plural Controllers in the Pre-Islamic muʕallaqāt, in M. Avino, A. Barbaro, M. Ruocco (eds.), Qamariyyāt: oltre ogni frontiera tra letteratura e traduzione. Studi in onore di Isabella Camera d’Afflitto. Roma.
-
De Jong, R.E. (2011) A Grammar of the Bedouin Dialects of Central and Southern Sinai. Leiden – Boston.
-
Enger, H.O., T. Nesset (2011) Constraints on Diachronic Development: The Animacy Hierarchy and the Relevance Constraint. Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung 64/3, 193–212.
-
Ferguson, C.A. (1989) Grammatical Agreement in Classical Arabic and the Modern Dialects. A Response to Versteegh’s Pidginization Hypothesis. Al-ʕArabiyya 22, 5–17.
-
Ferguson, C.A. et al. (1961) Damascus Arabic. Washington, D.C.
-
Herin, B. (2010) Le parler arabe de Salt (Jordaine). Phonologie, Morphologie et éléments de syntaxe (Unpublished PhD dissertation, Bruxelles, Université Libre de Bruxelles).
-
Herin, B., E. Al-Wer (2013) From Phonological Variation to Grammatical Change: Depalatalisation of /č/ in Salti, in C. Holes, R. De Jong, Ingham of Arabia. A Collection of Articles Presented as a Tribute to the Career of Bruce Ingham, 55–73. Leiden – Boston.
-
Holes, C. (2016) Dialect, Culture and Society in Eastern Arabia. Volume III: Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Style. Leiden – Boston.
-
Ingham, B. (1980) Najdi Arabic Text, in W. Fischer, O. Jastrow, Handbuch der Arabischen Dialekte, 130–139. Wiesbaden.
-
Ingham, B. (1982 a) North East Arabian Dialects. London – New York.
-
Ingham, B. (1982 b) Notes on the Dialect of the Ḍhafīr of North-Eastern Arabia. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 45/2, 245–259.
-
Ingham, B. (1986) Bedouin of Northern Arabia. Traditions of the Āl-Ḍhafīr. London – New York – Sydney.
-
Ingham, B. (1994) Najdi Arabic. Central Arabian. Amsterdam – Philadelphia.
-
Jakobson, R. (1971) On the Rumanian Neuter, in Selected Writings II: World and Language. The Hague.
-
Kurpershoek, P.M. (1993) Between Ad-Dakhūl and ‘Afif: Oral Traditions of the ‘Utaybah Tribe in Central Najd. Zeitschrift für arabische Linguistik 26, 28–65.
-
Kurpershoek, P.M. (1994–2005) Oral Poetry and Narratives from Central Arabia, vols. I–V. Leiden.
-
Manfredi, S. (2010) A Grammatical Description of Kordofanian Baggara Arabic (Unpublished PhD Thesis, Naples, Università di Napoli “L’Orientale”).
-
Owens, J. (1993) A Grammar of Nigerian Arabic. Wiesbaden.
-
Owens, J., R. Bani-Yasin (1987) The Lexical Basis of Variation in Jordanian Arabic. Linguistics 25, 705–738.
-
Procházka, S. (2004) Unmarked Feminine Nouns in Modern Arabic Dialects, in T. Muraoka, C.H.M. Versteegh, Approaches to Arabic Dialects. A Collection of Articles Presented to Manfred Woidich on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday, 237–262. Leiden.
-
Procházka, S., I. Gabsi (2016) Agreement with Plural Heads in Tunisian Arabic. The Urban North, in V. Ritt-Benmimoun (ed.), Tunisian and Libyan Arabic Dialects. Common Trends, Recent Developments, Diachronic Aspects, 239–260. Zaragoza.
-
Ritt-Benmimoun, V. (2016) Agreement with Plural Heads in Tunisian Arabic. The Bedouin South, in V. Ritt-Benmimoun (ed.), Tunisian and Libyan Arabic Dialects. Common Trends, Recent Developments, Diachronic Aspects, 261–287. Zaragoza.
-
Sowayan, S.A. (1992) The Arabian Oral Historical Narrative. An Ethnographic and Linguistic Analysis. Wiesbaden.
-
Versteegh, K. (1984) Pidginization and Creolization: The Case of Arabic. Amsterdam – Philadelphia.
-
Watson, J.C.E. (1993) A Syntax of Ṣanʕānī Arabic. Wiesbaden.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 379 | 59 | 11 |
| Full Text Views | 22 | 2 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 21 | 6 | 0 |
Rethinking Agreement in Spoken Arabic: The Question of Gender
In: Annali Sezione OrientaleAbstract
This paper proposes a re-discussion of the question of the number of genders in Arabic. Only varieties of Arabic that display gender distinction in the plural are considered here. In these varieties, it is argued, all nouns fall into one of three distinct agreement classes (or genders), and this in spite of the fact that only two separate genders surface at the morphological level. In other words, a discrepancy exists between the number of target genders and that of controller genders. This situation is not unique to Arabic, and finds parallels in other languages of the world. In addition, the article discusses the role of feminine singular agreement with plural controllers. This type of agreement is not restricted to any particular controller type and always exists in variation with plural agreement. Therefore, it is not to be regarded as a separate agreement category, but rather as an indicator of the referent’s level of individuation. Finally, the last section of the article concentrates on the possible diachronic implications of the analysis proposed above
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 379 | 59 | 11 |
| Full Text Views | 22 | 2 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 21 | 6 | 0 |