Libyan Arabic Phonology.

Abstract

The central topic of this dissertation is Libyan Arabic (L.A.) phonology. The data are taken from the dialect spoken in Zl(')iten, one of the small towns in the middle of Libya on the Mediterranean coast. There are six chapters. The first chapter is an introduction containing the chief purpose of the research, a review of the literature, and a discussion of the methodology and procedure. The second chapter gives phonetic descriptions of L.A. sounds (consonants and vowels). An important component of my study found in Chapter Two is a comparison of the points of difference between modern and ancient grammarians in their descriptions of the phonetic features of consonants such as t, j, etc. It also includes a discussion of the distribution of Arabic phonemes such as d, t, q, etc., among various varieties of L.A. among different groups of speakers: Bedouin, rural, educated, uneducated, eastern and western. Included in this discussion are speculations as to why certain phonemes are used or why they have replaced other phonemes in certain varieties of Libyan speech. Chapter Three presents the phonotactics of L.A., i.e., clusterabilities, gemination, syllable structure and stress placement. These points and others are illustrated with charts and ordered phonological rules. Chapter Four provides a description and analysis of the phonological changes in L.A. consonants, such as assimilation, and metathesis. Special emphasis is placed on glides and glottal stop because they are very active in terms of phonological change and considerable attention is given to assimilation. Chapter Five is devoted to vowels, the most susceptible of L.A. sounds to deletion and phonological change. As with consonants, ordered sets of rules have been devised for vowel change. Chapter Six is the Conclusion which contains common features for both L.A. and S.A., some general notes concerning L.A. as well as several linguistic features peculiar to L.A. In addition, there are the following Appendices: Appendix I presents 15 spectrograms, with comments, illustrating a number of sounds referred to in the body of the dissertation. Appendix II contains the phonological rules devised for this study. Appendix III lists abbreviations and symbols.