Uvularization Spread in Arabic

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Bushra Adnan Zawaydeh
Kenneth de Jong

Abstract

This paper examines the localization of contrasts in the uvularized quality in the speech of Ammani Jordanian Arabic. Phonological analyses have noted that certain coronal consonants, traditionally called 'emphatics', are accompanied by an uvularized quality to vowels located in various parts of the word in which they appear. This paper reports three experiments which examine the degree to which this uvularized quality is reflected in various vocalic positions with respect to the triggering consonant. These experiments find the greatest amount of uvularization on the vowel following the triggering con-sonants, somewhat less uvularization in vowels which precede the trigger by at least three syllables, and somewhat less uvularization in vowels which appear more than two vowels after the trigger. All of these vowels are significantly different from those in words without an emphatic trigger. In addi-tion, the effects of various high segments on the spreading of the uvularized quality were also exam-ined, finding that the presence of high segments does not affect the occurrence of uvularization distant from the emphatic trigger. Finally, uvular stops also trigger a weaker variety of uvularization more than one syllable away from the stop.

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