In:Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXIV: Papers from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Tucson, Arizona, 2020
Edited by Mahmoud Azaz
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 12] 2023
► pp. 57–78
Production and perception of consonant clusters in nonwords by Southern Iraqi and Najdi Speakers
Published online: 6 January 2023
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.12.03alb
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.12.03alb
Abstract
We investigate the production and perception of Arabic consonant clusters in word-initial and word-final positions, from two dialects, Southern Iraqi and Najdi, which differ in their phonological constraints in allowing consonant clusters. An AX discrimination task and a reading task were conducted using nonsense Arabic words to evaluate perception and production, respectively. The results indicate that Najdi speakers performed better than Southern Iraqi speakers in both production and perception tasks, only for the word-initial position. We also observed a close production-perception link existing at an individual level.
Keywords: Southern Iraqi, Najdi, consonant clusters, dialects, production, perception
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Current study
- 3.Methods
- 3.1Participants
- 3.2Stimuli
- 3.3Perception: AX discrimination task
- 3.4Production: Reading task
- 3.5Procedure
- 3.6Perception: AX discrimination task
- 3.7Production: Reading task
- 4.Results
- 4.1Perception: AX discrimination task
- 4.2Production: Reading task
- 4.3Production and perception relationship
- 5.Discussion and conclusion
Acknowledgements Notes References Appendix
References (35)
Abboud, P. (1979). The Verb in Northern Najdī Arabic. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 42(3), 467–499.
Alezetes, E. D. (2007). A markedness approach to Epenthesis in Arabic speakers’ L2 English. [MA Thesis, University of Montana]. Retrieved from [URL]
Alghmaiz, B. A. (2013). Word-initial consonant cluster patterns in the Arabic Najdi dialect. [MA Thesis, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale]. Retrieved from [URL]
Alhammad, R. (2018). The role of the syllable contact law-semisyllable (SCL-SEMI) in the coda clusters of Najdi Arabic and other languages. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee]. Retrieved from [URL]
Ali, A., Lahrouchi, M., & Ingleby, M. (2008). Vowel epenthesis, acoustics and phonology patterns in Moroccan Arabic. In Interspeech (1), 1178–1181.
Alkhonini, O. A. (2014). Coda consonant cluster patterns in the Arabic Najdi dialect. [MA Thesis, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale]. ProQuest Thesis Publishing.
Al Tamimi, Y. & Al Shboul, Y. (2013). Is the phonotactics of the Arabic complex coda sonority-based? Journal of King Saud University – Languages and Translation, 25(1), 21–33.
Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1–48.
Boersma, P. (2019). Praat, a system for doing phonetics by computer. Glot International 5(9), 341–345.
Broselow, E., Chen, S., & Wang, C. (1998). The emergence of the unmarked in second language phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20, 261–280.
Broselow, E. & Finer, D. (1991). Parameter setting in second language phonology and syntax. Second Language Research, 7(1), 35–59.
Carlisle, R. (1998). The acquisition of onsets in a markedness relationship: A longitudinal study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20, 245–260.
Cowan, J. M., & Wehr, H. (1979). A dictionary of modern written Arabic: Arabic-English. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz.
Davidson, L. (2007). The relationship between the perception of non-native phonotactics and loanword adaptation. Phonology, 24(2), 261–286.
(2011). Phonetic, phonemic, and phonological factors in cross-language discrimination of phonotactic contrasts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37(1), 270.
Davidson, L., Jusczyk, P., & Smolensky, P. (2004). The initial and final states: Theoretical implications and experimental explorations of richness of the base. Constraints in phonological acquisition, 321, 1–51.
Davidson, L. & Shaw, J. A. (2012). Sources of illusion in consonant cluster perception. Journal of Phonetics, 40(2), 234–248.
Davis, S. & Ragheb, M. (2014). Geminate representation in Arabic. In S. Farwaneh & H. Ouali. (Eds.), Perspectives on Arabic linguistics XXIV-XXV (pp. 3–20). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Dupoux, E., Kakehi, K., Hirose, Y., Pallier, C., & Mehler, J. (1999). Epenthetic vowels in Japanese: A perceptual illusion? Journal of experimental psychology: human perception and performance, 25(6), 1568–1578.
Dupoux, E., Pallier, C., Kakehi, K., & Mehler, J. (2001). New evidence for prelexical phonological processing in word recognition. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16(5/6), 491–505.
Eckman, F. & Iverson, G. (1993). Sonority and markedness among onset clusters in the interlanguage of ESL learners. Second Language Research, 9(3), 234–252.
Erwin, W. M. (1969). A basic course in Iraqi Arabic: with audio MP3 files (Vol. 1. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press.
Fischer, W. (1997). Classical Arabic. In: Hetzron, R. (Ed.), The Semitic Languages (pp. 187–219). London/New York: Routledge.
Fleischhacker, H. (2001). Cluster-dependent epenthesis asymmetries. UCLA working papers in linguistics, 7, 71–116.
Gafos, A. I., Hoole, P., Roon, K., Zeroual, C., Fougeron, C., Kühnert, B., & Vallée, N. (2010). Variation in overlap and phonological grammar in Moroccan Arabic clusters. Laboratory phonology, 10, 657–698.
Hansen, J. (2004). Developmental sequences in the acquisition of English L2 syllable codas. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 85–124.
Ibrahim, M. A. (2012). Phonotactic parameters of final consonant clusters in Iraqi Arabic and Kuwaiti Arabic: some contrastive points. Theory & Practice in Language Studies, 2(12), 2453–2459.
Ingham, B. (1994). Najdi Arabic: central Arabian. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
Macmillan, N. A. & Creelman, D. C. (2005). Detection Theory: A User’s Guide. 2nd edition. New York: Psychological Press.
Mustafawi, E. (2018). Arabic Phonology. In E. Benmamoun & R. Bassiouney. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics (pp. 11–31). London/New York: Routledge.
R Core Team. (2020). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from [URL]
Youssef, I. (2013). Place assimilation in Arabic: contrasts, features, and constraints. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Tromsø]. Retrieved from [URL]
