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Morphology of United Arab Emirates Arabic, Dubai dialect.

This study is a synchronic descriptive analysis of the morphology of the Arabic dialect spoken by natives of the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Hereafter, the dialect will be abbreviated 'DD' and also referred to as 'the dialect' or 'this dialect'. The central focus of this study is the morphological component of DD as it interplays with phonological processes. Definitions of words are provided in the form of English glosses and translations, and are elaborated upon when the need calls for it. Layout of Chapters. This dissertation is presented in the following order. Chapter one is introductory. The historical background of the Arabic language and Arabic diglossia are discussed in this chapter. In the same vein, four descriptive models that treat the development of the Arabic dialects are discussed. The present linguistic situation in the U. A. E. is also touched upon. The aim of this research process and the methodology followed in it are also explained in it. Additionally, chapter one contains a review of the literature on Gulf Arabic, of which DD is a dialect, or subdialect, and a review of related literature. Chapter two deals with the phonological system of DD. It covers consonants and vowels and their distribution, in addition to anaptyxis, assimilation, elision, emphasis, etc. Morphology is treated in chapters three through six. The morphology of DD verbs, including inflection for tense, number and gender, is dealt with in the third chapter. Because DD morphology is root-based, the triliteral root system, which is extremely productive, is explained in some detail. Chapter four deals with the morphology of DD nouns, including verbal nouns, occupational nouns, nouns of location, etc. Noun inflection for number and gender is also discussed in this chapter. The morphology of noun modifiers is treated in chapter five. This includes participles, relative adjectives, positive adjectives and the construct phrase. Pronoun morphology, and the processes associated with it, are covered in chapter six. The seventh chapter is the conclusion. It delineates the limitations of this study and contains specific comments on observations made in the process of this research. The contributions of this dissertation and suggestions for further investigation and research are also discussed in chapter seven.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/187179
Date January 1995
CreatorsHoffiz, Benjamin Theodore, III.
ContributorsQafisheh, Hamdi, Harrama, Abdulgialil, Wilson, William, Karimi, Simin, Demers, Richard
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic)
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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