CENTRAL ASIAN ARABIC THROUGH COMPARATIVE SEMITIC LENSES: SOME FEATURES OF BUKHARAN ARABIC
CENTRAL ASIAN ARABIC THROUGH COMPARATIVE SEMITIC LENSES: SOME FEATURES OF BUKHARAN ARABIC
Author(s): Hongwei ZhangSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics, Descriptive linguistics
Published by: Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti
Keywords: Central Asian Arabic; comparative Semitics; historical linguistics; language contact; parallel development;
Summary/Abstract: On multiple occasions, Chikovani has advocated the key directions for research on Central Asian Arabic, the first and foremost being Central Asian Arabic‘s connection to other Semitic languages. This study investigates Bukharan Arabic in the comparative Semitic background and connects some of its features in phonology and morphosyntax, including the phonemes i and ō, the perfective participle, the V-final word order, the linker in and the ―Turkic genitive‖, to parallel phenomena in other Semitic languages. In contact situations like that of Central Asian Arabic, it is easy to attribute innovations to surrounding languages. But just as Cowan (1967) criticizes Fischer‘s (1961) phonological analysis, instead of simplistically resorting solely to contact factors, parallel developments could well reflect the Semitic potentials for historical developments which paved the way for those contact-induced changes.
Journal: Romano-Arabica
- Issue Year: XXI/2022
- Issue No: 21
- Page Range: 147-160
- Page Count: 14
- Language: English, Semitic (Other), Arabic
