The Phonology Of The Djelfa Dialect Of Algerian Arabic

The present study is intended to investigate selected aspects of the phonology of the Djelfa dialect(DJ)of Algerian Arabic(AA)that has never been investigated before.Since AA in general is an understudied variety in terms of its prosodic system,this research fills such a gap and contributes in a way or another to the current comparative research on Arabic dialectology.This work aims at exploring the phonology of DJ both at the lexical and post-lexical levels in the light of parallel OT and Stratal OT.The dissertation is based on data collected by the speakers of DJ using a variety of research techniques.It scrutinizes the syllable structure and the related phonological processes of DJ.The specific topics to be covered in this work include: assimilation,emphasis spread,epenthesis,devocalization,vowel syncope,vowel shortening,stress assignment,and interaction of these processes.Parallel OT is deemed efficient to account for transparent stress but it cannot account for all stress patterns in DJ in that there are some problematic data where stress is opaquely assigned.The main aim of this dissertation is to show the superiority of stratal OT,as an analytical framework,to account for some opaque processes that cannot be handled under the parallel evaluation of classic OT.Throughout this thesis,DJ is compared to other Arabic dialects to highlight the symmetric and asymmetric aspects underlying their phonologies.This present study offers a comprehensive analysis of the syllable structure and the weight of syllables in DJ and utilizes parallel OT to account for some regressive assimilatory processes in DJ,viz.nasal assimilation,lateral assimilation,/t/ assimilation,devoicing assimilation and guttural assimilation by means of accounting for the trigger that prompts these assimilatory processes,which is reflected through the relevant constraints at play and their way of interaction.The thesis concludes that regressive assimilation is very pervasive in the dialect as the latter endeavors to abide by IDENTSTEM-ONS(F)and IDENT-ONS(F)as much as possible unless a higher ranked constraint is endangered.Moreover,it addresses emphasis spread in DJ,focusing on ES directionality,its domain and the opaque segment deemed to block ES.This dissertation tries to establish the stress system of the dialect in addition to scrutinizing vowel syncope and vowel shortening.It also utilizes stratal OT to account for word-internal vowel shortening and some epenthetic processes in DJ and takes as its focus stress-epenthesis interaction.Vowels that are inserted word-initially as in the imperative form are assigned transparent stress while those inserted to break initial CCC clusters,medial CCC clusters that follow a long vowel and medial CCCC clusters are invisible to stress giving rise to opacity.We will show that the stressed epenthetic vowels are inserted lexically while those invisible to stress are inserted postlexically.