Vowel Harmony in Old and Central Asian Arabic Dialects

Résumé 0

Vowel harmony in the word-forms of old Arabic dialects is discussed in the works of medieval Arab grammarians. Valuable information regarding vowel harmony is provided by Sibawayhi, Ibn Jinni and others. In the medieval Arabic grammatical tradition the vowel harmony is denoted by the term al-ʼitbāʻ and is viewed as assimilation both at isolated and syntagmatic levels of the word-forms. For example, in the basic C1VC2VːC3, C1VC2C3>C1VC2VC3 and C1VC2VC3 structures: faʻi/īl>fiʻi/īl as well as in the derived forms with -C1C2VC3, -C1VːC3: mu-fՙi/īl>mifՙi/īl and C1VC2Y3 stems: for instance, ʻaṣīy>ʻiṣīy formant vowel change (a>i) in isolated and syntagmatic position. In addition to the above-mentioned cases vowel harmony is analyzed in: the stem words and affixes, prosthetic ʼalif of the imperative mood, doublets of one-syllable roots and pausal forms, -āt plural of fu/iʻl-at type names in which anaptyctic vowels are combined with root vowels, for instance, rukb-at (sing.) and rukub-āt (pl.), sidr-at (sing.) and sidir-āt, etc. In the Arabic dialects of central Asia the vocal structure of derived roots is relatively inconsistent. For example, C1VC2VC3 structure in the isolated position is subject to changes on the syntagmatic level due to vowel harmony (šuġul and šuġl-ak). C1VC2VC3 structure can be identified in verb stems + through vowel harmony (cf. tu-ktub in the imperfect). Some stem structures are characterized by synharmonism peculiar to old Arabic dialects; for instance, kivīr, gilīl. Anaptyctic vowels are combined with stem vowels in one-syllable forms: gidir