The Arabic Language
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| *ṭ
, *ṣ , *ḳ , *ṯ̣ and *ḏ̣ ; Arabic has four such consonants, /ṭ/, /ṣ/, /ḍ/, and /ḏ̣/. Second, the phoneme corresponding in Arabic to proto-Semitic *ṯ̣ is /ḏ̣/; in other Semitic languages (except Ugaritic and Old South Arabian), this phoneme does not have an interdental character, for instance, in Akkadian, Hebrew and Ethiopic /ṣ/ (cf. Hebrew ṣǝbī ‘gazelle’, Arabic ḏ̣ aby ). The current transcription with voiceless voiced nasal velarised lateral trill labial f b m interdental t d ḍ dental s z n ṣ l alveolar t d ṭ ḍ r pre-palatal š j post-palatal k q velar ḫ ġ pharyngal ḥ ʿ laryngal ʾ h Table 2.1 The Arabic consonantal system 24 The Arabic Language ẓ in Arabic is based on the modern pronunciation of this phoneme in loanwords from Classical Arabic in the dialects (e.g., Classical Arabic ʿaḏ̣īm , pronounced in Egyptian and Syrian Arabic as ʿaẓīm ). Third, the phoneme corresponding in Classical Arabic to proto-Semitic *ḏ̣ is /ḍ/. There is some evidence in Arabic, based on explanations by grammarians and Arabic loanwords in other languages, that /ḍ/ was realised as a lateral frica- tive [ɮ] or a lateralised [d̴ɫ]. In Akkadian, the name of the Arabic god Ruḍāʾ was transcribed as Ruldāʾu or Rulṭāʾ , and early loans from Arabic in Spanish (e.g., alcalde ‘mayor’ < al-qāḍī ) and in Malaysian languages (e.g., in Bahasa Indonesia, ridla as a spelling variant of ridha , ridza ‘God’s blessing’ < riḍā ) also exhibit traces of this lateral character of the ḍād . Since it exists as an independent phoneme only in the South Semitic languages, it is difficult to say anything about its original realisa- tion. In Akkadian and Hebrew, it has merged with /ṣ/ (cf. Hebrew ṣāḥaq ‘to laugh’, with Arabic ḍaḥika ). In the modern realisation of Classical Arabic, /ḍ/ has become the voiced counterpart of /ṭ/ and in the modern dialects it has merged with /ḏ̣/. Fourth, the phoneme corresponding in Classical Arabic to proto-Semitic *ḳ was probably a non-emphatic voiced counterpart to /k/, that is, /g/; this is the phoneme that is nowadays realised in Standard Arabic as a voiceless /q/, but that in earlier stages of Classical Arabic was probably a voiced /g/, as in the modern Bedouin dialects (cf. p. 187). At any rate, /q/ was not emphatic in Classical Arabic, since it did not lead to assimilation of adjacent consonants (compare iṣṭabara < *iṣtabara ‘to be patient’, where the infix -t- is assimilated to ṣ, with iqtaraḍa ‘to raise a loan’ without assimilation of the t ). Fifth, for proto-Semitic a series of three sibilants, *s , *š , and *s (probably a later - alised ś ), is usually posited; the Modern South Arabian languages have these three sibilants, but in Arabic *s corresponds to /š/, and *š and *s have merged to /s/. In all other Semitic languages, *s and * š have remained distinct (e.g., cf. Hebrew sāʿad ‘to support’/ ḥāmē š ‘five’, with Arabic sāʿada ‘to help’/ ḫamsa ‘five’). Sixth, in Arabic the phoneme corresponding to proto-Semitic *g is affricated /j/ (e.g., cf. Hebrew gāmāl , with Arabic jamal ‘camel’); this phoneme forms a pre-palatal series with the new /š/. The debate about the exact position of Arabic within the Semitic languages is still going on. The only conclusion we can draw from the data presented here is that the language exhibits common features with both the South (South Arabian, Ethiopic) and the North (Canaanite, Aramaic) Semitic languages, and that it also contains innovations not found anywhere else. Because of the uncertain - ties concerning the chronology of the common features, there is little basis for a genealogical classification of the kind current in Indo-European linguistics, and it may be preferable to stay within the bounds of a descriptive and typological analysis of the relationships between Arabic and its Semitic neighbours. |