SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This study is concerned with Arabic phonology. In particular it deals with morphophonemic alternations in standard Arabic and Kuwait dialect. The research is carried out within the framework of generative phonology. The work is arranged in four parts. Part one is a theoretical introduction which includes an outline of the different views on the phoneme since early in the century, phonemic analyses, taxonomic and systematic, the different variants of the phoneme, and the different thoughts on treating alternations are all reviewed. Similarly, an outline is provided on the theory of generative phonology. The first impression of it - the transformational view - and its strong abstraction is discussed. The other version of generative phonology - the natural view - which came as a reaction to the transformational abstractness is also outlined. Part two is devoted to standard Arabic. It is divided into two sections. The first of which deals with the phonological system. This includes a discussion on the vocalic system, the consonantal system, the syllable structure, assimilation and stress. Section two deals with the morphophonemic alternations in the language, both masculine and feminine. Part three is concerned with Kuwait dialect. It is also divided into two sections, the first of which discusses the phonological system of the dialect in the same way that the first section of part two discusses the phonological system of standard Arabic. Section two of part three deals with the morphophonemic alternations in the dialect in the same way that section two of part two deals with the morphophonemic alternations in standard Arabic. Part four attempts to account for the phonological dissimilarities between standard Arabic and Kuwait dialect. Such dissimilarities are grouped under: emphatic influence, phonemic merger, phonemic split, vowel insertion and deletion, vowel raising, syllable structure, and neutralization .