SOAS Research Online

Abstract

For all practical purposes, the intonation of Egyptian colloquial Arabic is still a virgin field. Nothing much has been done either to explore its nature or to place it in relation to the other linguistic devices of the language. The little done so far falls short of giving a clear picture of the range of patterns characterizing it or their sets of interior functional relations. Nor does it bring to light the main points of interaction between these patterns and the grammatical system with which they work in close association The present study does not claim to have filled the gap. No single study can. It does not seek to carry the description far enough to accomodate all the features which characterize the intonation in question. For instance, some of the features likely to crop up in the shortest stretch of any conversational exchange, such as interrupted sequences, unfinished patterns, and other excesses will be left out of account. Still less does it seek to probe beyond certain limits into the subtle grammatical or contextual implications of the total set of meaningful choices provided by intonation. The ultimate aim of this study is to describe the intonation patterns common among educated speakers of E.C. Arabic and used by them in their normal speech situations of every-day life. This presupposes selecting and grouping in attention complete utterance operating in contexts which are typical, recurrent, and repeatedly observable, and then placing the whole complex in its proper cultural setting.