ARBC0225A/LNGT0225A: Arabic Linguistics/Spring 2012
Assignment #1: Due on Tuesday Feb 28th no later than 2pm. You may either e-mail the homework to
usoltan@middlebury.edu, or you can leave the hard copy in my mailbox in Farrell House. Delay policy
applies.
Instructions: Please read thoroughly and carefully!
- This homework assignment consists of FOUR exercises. Read each exercise carefully and make
sure you answer all the questions.
- The assignment is worth 50 points (and 5% of your overall grade in this course, so please turn
in “neat” work). The number of points each question is worth is given next to the question.
- You may either type your answers in the assignment’s .doc file, and then send it to me by email, or you can turn in a hard copy of your answers. However, if you decide to turn in a hard
copy, please make sure you submit legible handwritten answers, use a pen (not a pencil), and
leave wide margins for me to write comments in.
- If you plan to e-mail me the homework, please make sure to name the file
‘assignment1_your_last_name’.
- Finally, please make sure you write and sign (either by hand or electronically) the Honor Code
Pledge on the homework here before turning it in.
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Exercise 1: ‫ تنوين‬،‫ كسرة‬،‫ فتحة‬،‫ضمة‬
As a student of Arabic, you have already learned some expressions with ‫ تنوين الفتح‬that Arabic
speakers from all dialects use on a regular basis until this day. Here are some examples:
ً‫جدا‬
ً‫طبعا‬
ً‫عفوا‬
‫شك اًر‬
ً‫مرحبا‬
ً‫أهالً وسهال‬
You have also learned the following expressions, where Classical Arabic case-markers and mood
markers are typically vocalized on non-final nouns and verbs by speakers of Arabic dialects
today.
English translation and context of usage
Arabic expression
‫الحمد هلل‬
“God bless you!”; said to somehow who has just sneezed.
“In the name of Allah;” said before one eats, and generally before one
‫يرحمكم هللا‬
‫بسم هللا‬
starts to do something.
“There is no power or strength except from God”; said upon hearing bad
news, among other contexts.
“There is no God but Allah”; said upon hearing bad news, among other
contexts.
Now, answer the following question:
‫حول وال قوةَ إال باهلل‬
َ ‫ال‬
‫إله إال هللا‬
َ ‫ال‬
(10 points)
Do you think the presence of Arabic expressions that have ‫ تنوين الفتح‬and expressions that include
words with case and mood markers on them like the ones listed above in today’s Arabic dialects
can be used as evidence that Classical Arabic was indeed a spoken language that showed full
case and mood marking on words? If yes, explain why. If not, explain why not.
Exercise 2: ‫ نقوش عربية قديمة‬Inscriptions
Follow the following two links to see some ancient inscriptions that have been argued to involve
‘Arabic’ writing.
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Inscriptions/jramm.html
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Inscriptions/harran.html
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Now answer the following two questions:
(10 points)
A. Using the English translation given for the content of the inscriptions, indicate for each
inscription any features that you can identify as ‘Arabic.’ The features could be letters, words,
or any basic grammatical features that you typically learn about in an Arabic 101 class.
B. Do you think these inscriptions have a great linguistic value in the study of the history of
Arabic? Why? Why not?
Exercise 3: Koine
We have mentioned the term ‘koine’ in class in reference to the proposal claiming that Classical
Arabic was an ‘elevated diction’ language primarily used in literary contexts. The term was also
invoked by Charles Ferguson to explain the development of Arabic dialects (or Middle Arabic)
in the Islamic conquests era. Follow the link below to read Catherine Miller’s article “Dialect
Koine” from the Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics discussing Ferguson’s theory,
then answer the questions below. (Note: You have to be connected to the campus network to be
able to access the article.)
http://referenceworks.brillonline.com.ezproxy.middlebury.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-arabiclanguage-and-linguistics/dialect-koine-COM_0085?s.num=8&s.q=koine
Now answer the following two questions:
A. Write a short summary of how Ferguson’s theory accounts for the development of modern
Arabic dialects. What are the strengths of his proposal? What are the weaknesses? In your
opinion, how does his theory compare to the two theories discussed in the textbook and in
class? Please restrict your answer to no more than 250 words.
(15 points)
B. In addition to a koine theory for pre-Islamic Arabic and a koine theory for Middle Arabic, the
term koine has also been used to refer to certain patterns characteristic of dialects in
contemporary Arabic-speaking countries. Based on your understanding of the article, explain
briefly the relevance of the notion ‘koine’ to Modern Arabic.
Exercise 4: ‫( كيف تقول بالعامية؟‬Some basic fieldwork with Arabic informants)
(5 points)
(10 points)
We have discussed briefly a list of differences between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and
Egyptian Arabic in class. To get a basic idea of differences between MSA and other dialects of
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Arabic, in this exercise you’ll be doing some basic fieldwork using Arabic ‘informants’ in the
linguistic sense. You may do this exercise in groups of two if you want.
Interview a native speaker of an Arabic dialect other than Egyptian Arabic (there’s a few on
campus, but you can also interview anyone that you know off campus on the phone), and find
out how they say each of the MSA expressions below in his/her dialect. Even though Arabic
dialects do not have a standard spelling system, you may write your informant’s answers using
MSA spelling. After you collect the ‘data’ from the informant, write a descriptive commentary
on the differences you have found out between MSA and the Arabic dialect of that speaker.
Note 1: Your informant has to be a native speaker of an Arabic dialect who learned that dialect
as a child in an Arabic-speaking environment. This means that speakers who learned Arabic at
their family home here in the US (so-called heritage speakers) do not qualify as informants for
the purpose of this exercise.
Note 2: Your commentary should not be technical in any way; simply state the differences in
plain English, using some of the basic terms we have used so far in this class, and which are
familiar from your Arabic language classes.
Elicitation data
1. Check how your informant pronounces each of these words in his/her dialect.
‫ق أر‬
‫جميل‬
‫ضابط‬
‫ثالثة‬
2. Check how your informant says the following phrases and sentences in his/her dialect.
Always ask if there are multiple ways of saying any of them, and if so, write them all.
‫ هذا الكتاب‬.1
‫ سيارة خالد‬.2
‫ الولدان يلعبان كرة القدم‬.3
‫ ماذا تدرس في الجامعة؟‬.4
.‫ ما كان عندي امتحان اليوم‬.5
.‫ ال أحب الواجبات الكثيرة‬.6
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