SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The present study deals with the intonation of Kuwaiti Bedouin Arabic (KBA). This is the product of an earlier Central Arabian intonation type which is yielding to the speech patterns of the majority of the population. It does not contrast very extensively with standard Kuwaiti. The main intonation systems of the dialect are shown and illustrated. Some indication is given of what intonations are dying out and what usages have survived and reasons are suggested for why they have survived. Chapter One traces the background of the people, their origin and settlement patterns. Reading conventions and the method of indicating intonation are provided. Chapter Two reviews what has been said in the literature, and treats the most relevant work in English and Arabic. Chapter Three shows the intonation patterns of KBA, their contours and what they communicate. Some visible intonation contour traces from a speech meter are included. Chapter Four exhibits the sentence types distinguished by intonation, and shows what tones go with what kind of sentence. Since attitude is diffused in the system and no single utterance can be said to be without emotion, attitude becomes a very difficult factor to contrast in the analysis, because one cannot fix exact emotions that go with specific tones. However, the writer tries to deal with the situations in which the particular utterance is associated with specific tones. Chapter Five provides three main models that intonation can display according to Kalliday's well known contrastive categories, which are tonality, tonicity and tone, to show how speakers manipulate their intonation patterns to fit their communication needs. Chapter Six ends with a short summary to pinpoint the main findings in the thesis. The appendix consists of some texts of different topics and their translations.