413: Linguistics 1 | Questions & Answers Unit 1: What is Contrastive Linguistics? Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.) *What is linguistics? Mention three branches of it. What do they study? Linguistics is the study of language as a system of human communication. → Formal linguistics: Phonetics: the study of the sound system. Morphology: the study of word parts. The lexicon: the study of word coinage and derivation. Syntax: the study of phrase structure and sentence structure. Semantics: the study of word and sentence meaning. Pragmatics: the study of language use in context. → Applied linguistics Comparative linguistics compares different historical phases of language. Contrastive linguistics compares specific linguistic characteristics of two or more languages to explore their similarities and differences. What is contrastive linguistics? Mention three of its uses. (April_2011) Who benefits from the study of contrastive linguistics? Why? (July_2013) Why contrastive linguistics useful to the translator? (July_2013_Gulf) Contrastive Linguistics compares specific linguistic characteristics of two or more languages to explore their similarities & differences. Studying contrastive linguistics has a number of benefits to students, teachers and translators … To explain problems in foreign language learning through the analysis of errors made by language learners and to identify their possible sources. To develop course materials for language teaching in the light of linguistic differences and cross-cultural misunderstanding. To help translators understand those areas where equivalents between different languages exist and those where they do not.
Transcript
413: Linguistics
1 | Questions & Answers
Unit 1: What is Contrastive Linguistics?
Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.)
*What is linguistics? Mention three branches of it. What do they study?
Linguistics is the study of language as a system of human communication.
→ Formal linguistics:
Phonetics: the study of the sound system.
Morphology: the study of word parts.
The lexicon: the study of word coinage and derivation.
Syntax: the study of phrase structure and sentence structure.
Semantics: the study of word and sentence meaning.
Pragmatics: the study of language use in context.
→ Applied linguistics
Comparative linguistics compares different historical phases of language.
Contrastive linguistics compares specific linguistic characteristics of two or more languages to explore their similarities and differences.
What is contrastive linguistics? Mention three of its uses. (April_2011)
Who benefits from the study of contrastive linguistics? Why? (July_2013)
Why contrastive linguistics useful to the translator? (July_2013_Gulf)
Contrastive Linguistics compares specific linguistic characteristics of two or more languages to explore their similarities & differences. Studying contrastive linguistics has a number of benefits to students, teachers and translators …
To explain problems in foreign language learning through the analysis of errors made by language learners and to identify their possible sources.
To develop course materials for language teaching in the light of linguistic differences and cross-cultural misunderstanding.
To help translators understand those areas where equivalents between different languages exist and those where they do not.
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What are the linguistics origins of Arabic and English? (July_2013)
Why do we say that Arabic and English come from different origins? (July_2013_Gulf)
Arabic and English are expected to have various differences due to belonging to different linguistic families.
English is a Germanic Indo-European language similar to Dutch and German.
Arabic is a Semitic language similar to Hebrew, Aramaic and Akkadian.
*What is Diglossia?
Diglossia is the situation where two languages or language varieties exist in a Society.
Arabic is a diglossic language. Explain. (Jan_2014 / April_2011)
Arabic is a diglossic language as it consists of at least two levels:
Modern Standard Arabic, learnt at school after formal teaching.
Colloquial Arabic, acquired as a first language by all children at home without formal instruction.
These two levels have different sounds, vocabulary items, and sentence structures.
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Unit (2): The Writing System
Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.)
*What is orthography? What is calligraphy?
Orthography refers to the system of handwriting, or script, used in a given language.
Calligraphy is the art of producing beautiful writing by using special pens, brushes, etc.
Which sounds are represented in Arabic orthography and which are not? Give
an example in each case. (April_2011)
Consonants and long vowels are represented in the Arabic alphabet while short vowels are not.
For example, the word /can be read as /kataba/ (he wrote), /kotob كتب (books), or /koteba/ (was written).
To compensate for unwritten short vowels, diacritical marks are often used in texts for beginners and in the Qur'an to assure accurate reading.
The 28 letters of Arabic are all representations of consonants. Each represents exactly one consonant sound.
Three letters of the twenty-eight can also represent long vowels: ى، و، ا .
The other three vowel sounds are represented by marks posited above or under the letters (diacritical marks: كتب).
*Which sounds are represented in Arabic orthography and which are not in
the following: ( قلت –الذي–هذا–الرحمن )
.isn't represented to keep the Qur'anic spelling "الرحمان" Long vowel : الرحمن
.isn't represented "هاذا" الف المد … Alph mad : هذا
.isn't represented "اللذي" الالم الشمسية … Second lam : الذى
.Short vowel isn't represented and diacritical marks used instead : قلت
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Write short notes on the writing system in Arabic and English, commenting on the alphabet, the letter forms and the spelling system of both languages. (July_2010)
Mention three differences between the writing system in English and Arabic. (April_2011)
Arabic uses Arabic alphabet while English uses Roman alphabet.
Arabic is written from right to left while English goes leftward.
Arabic uses ligature "connected letters".
Arabic is written through the line with letters going above and below it, while English is written mainly on top of it.
Arabic alphabet represents both of consonants and long vowels, while short vowels aren't represented.
*Comment on the form of letters: She, she, assure, as, عند,معد,مع,واع
English letters usually have the same form whether they appear at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a word – with the exception of the capital letters.
Arabic letters differ contextually. For instance, the letter is represented as ع ـ ع
initially, ـعـ medially, finally, and ـع .when not connected to other letters ع
*What is the effect of orthographic differences on reading and writing?
Orthographic differences usually constitute a major distraction to both readers and writers. The learner's speed is impeded both in reading skills like skimming and scanning, and in writing tasks like dictation and note-taking.
What are homographs? Give two English examples. (July 12 – May 14 – Feb 13)
Give two examples of homographs in English. (July_2013)
Homographs are words that are written the same although they have different meanings and pronunciations …
“Bear” (n.) : An wild animal “Bear” (v.) : To give birth to young
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“Read” (n.) : The act of reading something “Read” (v.) : To understand words or symbols
“Object” (n.) : Something thing you can see or touch “Object” (v.) : To feel or express opposition
“Tear” (n.) : Drop of salty liquid which flows from the eye “Tear” (v.) : To pull pieces off
“Lead” (n.) : A dark-grey poisonous metal “Lead” (v.) : To control a group of people, a country, or a situation
“Bow” (n.) : A weapon for shooting arrows “Bow” (v.) : To bend your head or body forward
What are homophones? Give two English examples. (April_2012)
*Give a homophone for each of the following: (Bear – Meet – Tale – Mail)
Homophones are words which sound alike but are spelt differently and often have different meanings.
/aɪ/ “I” “Eye” /weɪt/ “Wait” “Weight
/raɪt/ “Write” “Right” /beə/ “Bear” “Bare”
/miːt/ “Meet” “Meat” /meɪl/ “Mail” “Male”
/teɪl/ “Tale” “Tail”
Comment on silent letters in Arabic and in English. (Jan_2014_G / Jan_2009)
Identify the silent letters in the following words: Know – Talk – Wednesday – Write (April_2011)
In English many words include "silent letters" which means that more letters are written than read "pronounced" …
Care Live Write Why Where Scissors
Hour Know Knob Knifw High Night
Taught Daughter Autumn Bomb Khaki Psychology
Bought Rough Listen Island Talk Wednesday
Psycho Fasten Dumb Fasten Climb
In Arabic short vowels are not presented in letters which means that more letters are read "pronounced" than written. Words with "silent letters" are quite rare in Arabic (عمرو – مائة).
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Comment on the double letters in the following words: Adding – Allow – مد
–دمحم (Jan_2014_Gulf / July 2012_Gulf / Feb_2013)
Comment on double letters in Arabic and English. (Jan_2009)
*How do you pronounce these words: (Add – Allow – Cutting – ?(نط – شد
Arabic doubled "مدد" or geminated " مد – شد –نط " letters are pronounced doubly, while in English double letters are not pronounced doubly in pronunciation "Allow – Cutting – Add".
*How are the following names spelt in English: ,زكيمريم,عمر,فرح ?
Mar-yam O-mar Fa-rah Za-ki
Why can English be described as non-phonetic? What about Arabic? (July_2013 / Feb_2013)
English spelling is non-phonetic; in other words، the sound and spelling do not correspond all the time.
Inconsistency in how weak vowels are spelt (e.g. “husband”).
Difference between spelling and pronunciation (e.g. “colonel” /kernel/).
Silent letters (e. g. "what", "why” and “where”).
Spelling inconsistencies in word derivations (e.g. “high” “height”).
Spelling inconsistencies in words with similar pronunciation (e.g. “language” “knowledge”).
Except for the absence of short vowels in spelling, which is often indicated in diacritical marks, Arabic spelling is extremely regular with only a few exceptions.
The /el can be geminated "doubled ال/ as in " مشددة pronounced as الطبل /eTTabl/ rather than /el-Tabl/.
–ف –غ –ع –خ –ح –ج –ب –القمرية: أ
ي –و –ه –م –ك –ق
ش –س –ز –ر –ذ –د –ث -ت الشمسية:
ن -ل –ظ –ط –ض –ص –
The word-final ـى which has two possible pronunciations as in “على” /ala: ا/ & /ali: ي/ giving two different words meaning “on” and the proper name “Ali”.
The spelling of some words" الرحمن، لكن، هذه، طه" . These are a few cases and some of them keep the Qur'anic spelling.
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Show how English can represent phonemes in different spellings. Give three words for each of the following:
/f/ July_2010 / April_2011
Fly – Fan / Phone – Photo / Enough – Laugh / Off
/k/ Jan_2014 / July_2013_Gulf / April_2011_2012 / MA - Unknown
Cat – Car / Kill – Kite / Quick – Quiet / Except / Tobacco / School – Back / Unique
Equal – He – Be / Meet - See – Tree / Meat – Lead – Seat – Beach / People / Quay / Key / Believe / Machine
/I/ City / Except / It
/u:/ Jan_2014 / July 2012 / July_2013_Gulf / Unknown / July_2010 / MA / Feb_2013
Food – Fool – Room – Mood – Zoom / Move – To – Do / Soup – Wound / Fruit – Suit / Cute / Two
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/ʊ/ Book – Look – Hook – Cook / Would – Should / Bullet - Put
/ɜː/ April_2011
Bird – Girl – Dirty – Third / Purse – Church / Heard / Word / Term
/e/ Egg / Heard / Said
/a:/ Card / Heart / Guard
/aɪ/ I / Guide / Die
/eɪ/ Aim / Ate – Station / Eight / Day – Ray – Say – Pay
/əu/ Goal – Goat – Coat / So – No – Go / Arrow
*Why do certain aspects of English represent a problem for a beginner Arab
learner of English?
Arabic speakers, who have certain language habits that come from their native language, transfer such habits.
Misrepresentation of short vowels in writing as they do not usually do so in
Arabic.
Over-correctness in representing phonemes which do not exist in Arabic (e.g. /p/ misspelt in "*happy pirthday").
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Unit (3): Consonants
Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.)
*What are phonemes?
Phonemes are basic sounds that contrast and could lead to meaning difference.
Show how English consonant clusters represent a difficulty for the Arabic-speaking learner of English. (Jan_2013_Gulf / July_2013)
Arabic has no sequence of more than two consonants while English can have up to 4 consonants without an intervening vowel sound, and even up to 5 consonants across word boundary as in “banks closed” /bæŋkskləuzd/. Arabic learners habitually add an intrusive vowel to manage such difficult clusters.
Arabic does not allow for consonant clusters word initially, while English allows for clusters of two or three consonants in such a position as in “stay, bring, small, spray, strive, split”.
When such clusters do occur in Arabic words, initial clusters of two require ( همزة-entalaqa/; while non?/، انطلق /estantaga?/ (استنتج) e.g (hamzet wasl) (وصلclusters require e.g (hamzet qata) )همزةقطع( أخذ /aχaða/ أكل ،/?akala/. Therefore, Arabic users of English pronounce words like “standard” and “sprite” as /?es tan dard/ and /?es be rait/ by adding an initial glottal stop followed by a vowel to approximate the syllable structure of Arabic.
Give examples of emphatic consonants in Arabic using minimal pairs. (July 2012 – July 2013_Gulf)
Give minimal pairs of emphatic and non-emphatic consonants in Arabic. (July 2012_Gulf / April_2012)
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Arabic is unique in having some consonants velarized producing different phonemes. While Arabic makes a distinction between these sounds, English does not make the same distinction.
*How is the sound / ʃ / represented in the following examples?
Partial , sure , she , machine , mission مشىعاشالشمس
In the Arabic examples, there is one representation: the letter ش.
In the English examples, there are five: ti , su, sh, ch, and ssi. This shows that Arabic has one letter for each sound, in the examples given and generally, while English has a variety of representations for most sounds.
What is the difference between the pronunciation of the sound /r/ in English
and Arabic? (July_2013_Gulf)
Arabic /r/ is a trill; it is pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the alveolar ridge at least twice (two flaps
English /r/ his not a trill; It is pronounced by a single movement of the tongue. Moreover, British /r/ is not pronounced when not followed by a vowel.
*Are the following consonants phonemes in Arabic and English?
Similar consonants (Not identical): /t, d, s, z, k, ∫, r/ For example: /t, d, s, z/ Dental in Arabic & Alveolar in Eng.
/r/ Trill in Arabic & No trill in Eng.
Language Specific: English specific: /p, v, ŋ, t∫, dȜ, θ, ð, Ȝ/ Arabic specific: /ع، غ، ح، خ، ق/
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*Compare the role of consonants in Arabic and English. Give examples.
Arabic conceptualizes of consonants as the essential units of words and of vowels as mere “movements” on such consonants. To reach the root of a word, one must omit all vowels to reach the three-letter root. For example, the root of /sa?altomaaha/ is /s?l/ ( ل أ س ).
In contrast, in English, vowels are basic to the structure of a syllable while consonants are of less importance, which is evinced in the existence of some words that contain only vowels as in “air”, “ear”, “ah”, “oh”.
*Comment on the /p/ & /b/ sounds in Arabic.
In Arabic, these two sounds are allophones (i.e. variations) of the same phoneme as they do not lead to meaning difference as in the words “بواب/ ” bawwa:b/ which if mispronounced as /pawwa:p/ would sound funny but would not lead to a meaning difference، and the word eptesa:m/ which would sound? ” /ابتسام“ strange if pronounced /?ebtesa:m/ but would not lead to any confusion or meaning difference.
*What is Germination?
Germination refers to doubling sounds in Arabic as in ( شد – نط – خف – مد ). The concept does not exist in English.
*What is Syllabic Consonants?
Syllabic consonants are consonants lengthened to take the duration of a whole syllable.
In English, syllabic consonants are /l, m, n/ as in “bottle, mortal, button”.
In Arabic, there are no syllabic consonants. Arab learners routinely introduce an intrusive vowel to pronounce them */mo:rtal/, */botil/, */boton/.
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Unit (4): Vowels
Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.)
*What is a vowel sound? How is it produced by the organs of speech?
Vowel sounds give words their volume. Vowels are produced by voiced air passing through different mouth shapes.
Show how English diphthongs represent a difficulty for the Arabic-speaking
learner of English. (Jan_2012 / Unknown)
Arabic has fewer vowels, compared to English, which creates a challenge for the learners in distinguishing between the greater varieties of the English vowels.
Because English diphthongs are unfamiliar to speakers of Arabic, the beginner Arab learner of English habitually replace them by the closest long vowel.
Why does the schwa /ə/ represent a difficulty to a beginner Arab learner of
English? (Jan_2014)
In English, the schwa /ə/ is a common vowel sound substituting for weak forms of function words as well as unstressed vowels. This contrasts with Arabic where clear articulation of every letter is encouraged in both reading and public speaking. The schwa /ə/ has no phonemic equivalent in Arabic.
Show how these two letters / / can be used as long vowels or consonants.
Simply give examples. (May_2014)
*Give examples of Arabic words to show how the three letters ,ا ,و ى can represent consonants and vowels in different words (/?/, /w/, /j/) and (/a:/, /u:/, /i:/).
قال أقع : ا قول وقع : و قيل يقع : ي
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*Give examples of the following Arabic vowel sounds:
Long vowels ى ،و ،ا : or the equivalent of aa, oo, ee.
Short vowels: / / or the equivalent of a, o, e.
ا ،و ،ى sometimes represent (المدات الثالث).
No diphthongs. *Does English include any nasal vowel sounds? (Are all the vowel sounds of
English all oral?) What about the different English dialects? What about French? Arabic?
In English, vowels preceding nasal consonants are nasalized, but there is no phonemic distinction between nasal and oral vowels (and all vowels are considered phonemically oral).
In French, nasal vowels are phonemes distinct from oral vowels. For example, the French words beau /bo/ is oral, and bon /bõ/ is nasal.
Some Arabic Dialects "Saudi Arabian" has both kinds of vowels "oral and nasal". *How many vowel sounds are there in Arabic and in English (six versus
twenty)? Does this mean that Arabic is harsh to the ears?
While it is obvious that English has more vowels than Arabic, these additional vowels tend to be mainly allophones of these basic sounds in Arabic. Arabic has only six vowels: /a/, /o/, /i/, /a:/,/o:/,/i:/
English has twenty vowels: Short Vowels: /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ɒ/, /u/, /ə/ , /ʌ/
Because of this small number of vowels in Arabic, Arab learners usually face difficulties in the recognition and production of foreign vowel sound. As the English diphthongs are not familiar to speakers of Arabic, the beginner Arab learners usually replace them by the closest long vowel.
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Unit (5): Continuous Speech
Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.)
What is stress-timed rhythm?
Stress-timed rhythm refers to English speech rhythm where the stressed syllables tend to be produced at equal intervals, i.e. the time between one stressed syllable and the next is almost equal regardless of the number of unstressed syllables between them (which speakers tend to “eat”!).
To manage such a system, only content words are stressed (i.e. nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs) while function words tend to be unstressed and reduced.
EX: “We have SEEN a PICture of the LOVEly HOUSE that he BUILT”
*What are function words? What are content words?
Function words have little meaning when used alone. They have grammatical meaning, i.e., they show grammatical relationships in and between sentences. Function words are preposition (in, on, at, for), pronouns (you, I, we, they), articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and، but, or) and auxiliary verbs (am, as, was, can, must).
Content words refer to a thing, quality, state or action. Such words have meaning when used alone. Such words are classified into nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
* Which words in an English sentence are stressed?
In pronouncing two-syllable words, the first syllable is usually stressed if the word is a noun while the second is stressed when it is a verb. (e.g. `sub-ject (n.), sub-`ject (v.), `ob-ject (n.), ob-`ject (v.), `pro-duce (n.), pro-`duce (v.)).
In words of three or more syllables, there could be two stresses, one primary and the other secondary e.g. `discon`nect, `insin`cere, `civiliz`ation. As for compound words, they usually receive primary stress on the first word as in `breakfast, `bluebird, `babysit, `ice cream.
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*What is syllable-timed rhythm?
In contrast to the stress system in English, Arabic has a syllable-timed rhythm. In other words, all syllables in an utterance tend to come at equivalent intervals so that all vowels are clearly articulated as speakers pronounce each syllable.
Arabic word stress is much more predictable than the relatively complicated English stress system. Generally speaking, stress falls on long vowels.
*Place a ` to mark stressed syllable in the following words:
`television `magnet a`ssume di`shonest
*Place a ` to mark stressed syllable in the following words:
‘Aswan is a ‘lovely ‘city in the ‘south of ‘Egypt.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
*Which of the following short sentences takes more time to pronounce?
“She’s in the garden.” “Kate’s nice.”
The second one is longer because it contains two stressed syllables, the name “Kate” which is noun, and the adjective “Nice”.
*Compare the following lines of poetry:
يا صاحبي تقصيا نظريكما ... تريا وجوه األرض كيف تصور
ل ن ت ف اع ل ن م ت ف اع ل ن م ت ف اع ل ن ... م ت ف اع ل ن م ت ف اع ل ن م ت ف اع م Syllable-timed rhythm
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Shall I compare "major stress" thee to a summer’s day?
Stress-timed rhythm
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Unit (6): The Lexicon
Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.)
What are cognates? Do Arabic and English share them? Why? (Jan_2012)
What are cognates? Compare Arabic and English. (July_2010)
Word meaning in English can be guessed through knowledge of the context, knowledge of word roots and dictionary use. It can also be guessed through “cognates”, i.e. English words similar to words in other languages such as “civilization” like the French “civilization” & “master” like the Italian “maestro”.
Because Arabic and English belong to different language families, they share few cognates.
*Which of the following languages share cognates and why?
What are synonyms? Give two examples of English and two more of Arabic.
(Jan_2014_Gulf)
Explain the meaning of synonymy and give examples of English and Arabic. (Unknown)
A synonym is a word which has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word. Words said to be synonymous may differ in their degree of formality, in their dialect, or their evaluative meaning.
Dialect : “lift” is British “elevator” is American
Style : “decease” is formal “die” is neutral “kick the bucket“ very informal
“conceal“ is more formal than “hide“ is less formal
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Evaluative value : “thrifty … حريص”, “economical … مقتصد” are approving “mean … بخيل” is disapproving “stingy … جلدة” is very disapproving.
*In what way do the following pairs of “synonyms” differ from each other:
*Find synonyms words of English and Arabic and explain their slight differences of meaning.
Dialect : “Pavement” is British
“Sidewalk” is American
Style : “Vomit” is formal “throw up” is informal
" األعلى / جوار ربه الرفيق الى انتقل " is formal & respectful is neutral & less polite "مات" is informal & impolite "غار"
is neutral & general "مريض" is disapproving & negative meaning "سقيم"
"is very sick "paralyzed "قعيد"
"is formal "little sick "عليل"
"is formal "much little sick "متوعك"
"is informal "much little sick "عيان"
"is more informal "little sick "تعبان" Evaluative value : “Hardworking” is approving
“Workaholic … حمار شغل” is disapproving
Give examples of English and Arabic onomatopoeia. (July 2012_Gulf / MA)
Give two examples of onomatopoeia in English and two more in Arabic. (July 2013_Gulf)
*What’s onomatopoeia? Give examples in the two languages.
*What onomatopoeic words in English and Arabic represent the sounds of the wind, cat, cow, dog, lion, horse, and donkey?
Onomatopoeia are words whose pronunciation imitates their meaning so that their meaning can be clear from the sound of the word.
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Wind : Whistle وأ هزيز صفير Water : Splash خرير الماء
Give examples of twin words in English and in Arabic. (April_2012)
*Give examples of twin words in English and Arabic.
Twin words are derived through duplication or repetition of the first part with or without variation. In English, these can be of three types:
Base form is repeated without change "clop-clop" & "tick-tick".
Base morpheme is repeated with changing initial consonant "nitty- gritty".
Base morpheme is repeated with changing vowel "zig-zag" & "ping-pong".
Twin words in Arabic: ( هاصت ولصت – حادي بادي –حالا بالا –أهالا وسھالا –لت وعجن )
*What’s overlexicalization? Give examples in the two languages.
Explain the meaning of over-lexicalization, giving two Arabic examples and with their explanation. (Jan_2012 / Jan_2013_Gulf)
Comment on the Arabic lexicon based on the given example: بتار,حسام,سيف,
الخمه ند, . (July 2012)
Overlexicalization refers to the fact that languages usually have many vocabulary items of higher interest and others of less interest.
Frozen Water is an area of high interest in English because of low and
freezing tepreature.
“ice”, “snow”, “iceberg”, “snowman” → جليد ثلج ،
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Kinship is an area of high interest in Arabic. Arab have a culture-specific area of rich distinction between maternal & paternal relatives.
“uncle” → الخال ،العمة، زوج الخالة ،زوج العمة “aunt” → ،الخال زوجة العم، زوجة الخالة، العمة “nephew” → األخت ابن األخ، ابن “niece” → بنت األخ، بنت األخت
Sword is an area of high interest in Arabic because swords played an important role in the past.
“sword” → ،ند بتار، حسام، سيف ھ م
Lion & األسد is an area of high interest in both Arabic and English as it is the animal which represent courage and pride.
Give two examples of compounds in English and two more in Arabic. (Unknown/MA)
A compound word is a combination of two or more words which functions as a single word.
Greenhouse Babysitter Hot-headed Mix-and-match Cut and paste Father-in-law Baseball Ice-cream Mineral water Earthquake Underestimate Girlfriend Afternoon Hotdog Black market Breakfast High school French fries
Compound nouns in Arabic have a less significant role than in English.
ربة منزل ضرس العقل عابر سبيل قوس قزح سفك الدماء ح الدينصال البحر األحمر بيت لحم عبد هللا عبد السالم ذو الفقار منة هللا
*Give three examples of blends in English and Arabic.
A blend is the fusion of two words into one by taking the first part of the first word and the last part in the second word:
Smog = smoke + fog Transistor = transfer + resistor Autobus = automobile + omnibus Escalator = escalate + elevator Stagflation = stagnant + inflation
Examples of blends in Arabic: (أفروأسيوي – كھرومغناطيسية –)كھرومائية … But these are mainly literal translations and are very few in Arabic.
*What is an acronym? Give three examples of acronyms in English. (Jan_2009)
An acronym is a word formed from the initials or beginning segments of a succession of words. The use of acronyms is not common in Arabic.
NATO : North Atlantic Treaty Organization Radar : radio detecting and ranging UNESCO : UNs Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization OPEC : Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries NASA : National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jeep : GP= General Purpose Scuba : Self- contained underwater breathing apparatus
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AIDS : Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome UK : United Kingdom UN : United Nations BBC : British Broadcasting Corporation AP : Associated Press IBM : International Business Machines PLO : Palestine Liberation Organization
Give examples of English and Arabic loan words that the two languages borrowed from each other. (Jan_2009)
Loan words refer to the words taken from one language and used into another.
Many words of Arabic origin have been introduced into English.
In contrast, loanwords from English origin are used in Arabic.
democracy ديمقراطية radio راديو computer كمبيوتر diplomacy دبلوماسية mobile موبايل telephone تليفون sandwich سندوتش biscuit بسكويت workshop ورشة
*In what ways can we guess the meanings of unfamiliar words such as: disciplinarian, cow, mooing, cumin, telephone, spokesman, anticipation?
Word meaning in English can be guessed through knowledge of the context, knowledge of word roots, dictionary use and cognates.
Disciplinarian: Word roots "Discipline" or The Context.
Cow: Dictionary Use or The Context.
Cumin: Cognates "Borrowed into English".
Telephone: Cognates "Borrowed into Arabic".
Spokesman: Word roots "Speak + Man".
Mooing: The Context "From the sounds it is imitates".
Anticipation: Dictionary Use or The Context.
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How do languages expand their vocabularies? Give examples from Arabic and English. (Jan_2003)
One of the properties of all human languages is their ability to expand their vocabulary in order to cope with new inventions, concepts, institutions and areas of interest.
To cope with such changes, people manipulate language through the use of compounds, blends, acronyms, onomatopoeia, twin words, over-lexicalizaion, loan words, and derivations.
The use of such diverse methods (compounds, blends, twin words, loans, etc.) enriches the vocabulary of the language.
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Unit (7): Morphology
Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.)
*What is Morphology? What is Derivational / Inflectional Morphology?
Mention 2 processes of word formation, define each process, comparing Arabic and English and giving examples from both languages. (July_2010)
*Comment on the morphologies (Play-Payer / Kill-Killer) & ( يلعب-يقتل العب-قاتل/ ).
Morphology studies morphemes, their different forms and how they combine in word structure. Words in all languages habitually add affixes to change word meanings (derivation) and word forms (inflection).
Derivational affixes add affixes to the word root to construct new words. Arabic: From the root كتابة we derive abstract nouns كتب concrete nouns and مكتوب passive participles كاتب active participles مكتب place nouns كتاب
exaggeration forms كتاب. Most derivations are regular & follow fixed patterns.
English: From the root “critic” we drive “criticize, critic, criticism, critical”. These affixes are prefixes “used at the beginning of words (infra + structure)”, suffixes “added to the end of words (Play + er)”, and infixes “inside a word (woman / women)”. Derivational affixes are so numerous & puzzling.
Inflectional affixes add affixes to the word to produce different word forms.
English: The inflectional system is much simpler than Arabic. Nouns only inflect for the plural (e.g. boys) and the possessive (boy’s), verbs for the third person singular present tense (walks), the past tense (walked), the past participle (walked), and the present participle (walking), and adjectives for the comparative (farther) and the superlative (farthest).
Arabic: It is a highly inflectional language so that word order is often insignificant. Both nouns and adjectives in Arabic receive a high number of inflections. They inflect for case " جر –نصب –رفع ", gender " مؤنث –مذكر ", number " جمع –مثنى –مفرد ", and definiteness " نكرة -معرف ".
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Arabic depends mainly on the pattern system الوزن. All words have roots of mostly 3 or 4 consonants. The vowels are then added according to a certain pattern which changes the word derivationally or inflectionally.
Derivational Morphology
→ Active Participle
To derive the “Active Participle … اسم الفاعل” denoting agent in English …
In contrast to the very regular Arabic derivation root-pattern system, English employs a number of suffixes to derive nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
In Arabic, there are two genders: masculine and feminine but no neuter. Nouns denoting animate and inanimate referents equally show gender marking. Arabic has grammatical gender ( المدرسة مغلقة –الباب مغلق –القمر جميل –الشمس ساطعة ) which does not necessarily correspond to biological sex.
Arabic has some word pairs with separate forms for the masc. and the fem. …
ولد / بنت رجل / امرأة ابن / ابنة أب / أم حمار / أتان حصان / فرس أسد / لبؤة ثور / بقرة
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As for English, there are three grammatical genders: masculine and feminine for animate entities, and neuter for non-animate entities. English has no grammatical gender; only pronouns show inflection to gender when referring to natural persons.
English has a small number of nouns with feminine derivational suffixes …
The diminutive suffix “-ie” or “y” can also indicate endearment as when attached to proper names, kinship terms and some other words as in “Willy, Betty, Tommy, Johnny, Bobby, Puppy, Kitty, lordy, Annie, doggie, birdie, sweetie, auntie, babie”.
Divide into morphological component, explain the meaning of each morpheme: (V. IMP)
The English pronoun system consists of different pronouns differing in …
Subject Object Possessive adj. Possessive adv.
1st per. Sing. I me my mine
2nd per. Sing./Pl. you you your yours
3rd per. Sing./Masc. he him his his
3rd per. Sing./Fem. she her her hers
3rd per. Sing./ Neuter it it its its
1st per. Pl. we us our ours
3rd per. Pl. they them their theirs
Similarly, the Arabic pronoun system has different pronouns for different cases, person, number and gender with some differences.
Moreover, in Arabic there are free and bound forms. The free forms, which usually come in Subject Position, are:
Sing./Masc. Sing./Fem. Pl.
3rd per. ا/هم هى هو هم
2nd per. انتو/انتم أنت أنت
1st per. أنا إحنا/نحن
In addition to these free forms, there are bound forms. The Object NP is usually a suffix attached to the verb, and more or less the same suffix attaches to a noun for allocation اإلضافة i.e. to inflect for the possessive as in the following table.
Sing./Masc. Sing./Fem. Pl.
3rd per. ـهم ها ـه
2nd per. ـكم ـك ـك
1st per. ـنا ـني/ـي
→ Demonstrative Pronouns
English demonstratives vary along number (Singular – Plural) as well as and distance (Far – Near).
Near Far
Singular this that
Plural these those
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Standard Arabic demonstratives vary along gender (Masculine – Feminine) as well as number (Singular – Dual – Plural) and distance (Far – Near).
Near Far
Singular Masc. / Fem. تلك ذلك / هذه هذا /
Dual Masc. / Fem. تلكما ذلكما /هاتان هذان /
Plural أولئك هؤلء
In Spoken Egyptian Arabic, the system is much simpler as there are no separate forms for the dual:
Near Far
Singular Masc. / Fem. دكھا / دي ده
Plural دكھم دول
Identify the pronouns in the following sentences, determining their number,
gender, case and person: (V. IMP)
We helped him (Jan_2013_Gulf)
We (Plural – Masc. / Fem. – Subject – 1st) Him (Singular – Masc. – Object – 3rd)
Words like "cutting", "allow", "arrive", "connect", "connection", "Nelly" and "add" are difficult for a beginner Arabic-speaking learner of English because of double letters.
In English, double letters are pronounced as one, while in Arabic they are pronounced doubly. A beginner Arab learner of English will pronounce these words with double letters doubly /Nel-ly/, /Al-low/ and /Ar-rive/.
Initial Consonant Cluster Strife (Jan_2014) Standard (July_2010)
Splash (April_2012) Strategy (April_2011) Spray (Model Answer) Spring (Unknown)
Words like "strife", "splash", "spray", "standard", "spring", "straight", "strategy", "stay" and "split" are difficult for a beginner Arabic-speaking learner of English because of initial consonant clusters.
Since Arabic does not allow initial consonant clusters, while English can have up to 3 consonants without an intervening vowel in initial position. A beginner Arab learner of English will add an initial glottal stop /?/ followed by a vowel to approximate the syllable structure of Arabic /?estay/, /?estrategy/ and /?esplit/.
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Consonant Clusters Months (Unknown)
Words like "clothes", "world", and "months" are difficult for a beginner Arabic-speaking learner of English because of consonant clusters. A beginner Arab learner of English will add a vowel to approximate the syllable structure of Arabic /klo:ðez/, /worled/ , /mʌnθes/
Diphthongs
Diphthongs in English are unfamiliar to speakers of Arabic. Therefore, a beginner Arab learner of English will substitute the diphthongs with the closest long vowel in order to manage producing such difficult vowels
Why do some Arab learners pronounce words like “habit” with a medial /p/ although this phoneme is not found in Arabic? They are trying to be over-correct representing sounds that do not exist in Arabic such as /p/, thus producing such misspellings as ''hapit''.
Initial Vowels & Schwa /ə/ Sounds Actor (Jan_2013_Gulf)
Allow /əˈlaʊ/ & /ˈæktər/ → Arab learner could prefix it with an intrusive glottal stop, i.e in order to overcome the beginning of the initial vowel / schwa and ء manage to produce it.
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*Comment on Grammatical Number in Arabic and English.
English has only two number forms: singular (i.e. one) and plural (i.e. more than one). On the other hand, Standard Arabic has three number forms: singular, dual, plural, and plural of plural as in "بيوتات، أبابيل، رجالت".
*Comment on Definiteness in Arabic and English.
In Arabic, definiteness can mean generality as in "العلم نور". In English, however, general nouns are usually indefinite as in “Knowledge is power” while definite nouns are usually specific as in “the knowledge he acquired was dangerous”.
Abstract nouns take no definite article in English while they do in Arabic. Contrast the English "love, courage" with the Arabic "الشجاعة ،الحب."
*Comment on Possessive / Allocation in Arabic and English.
Allocation is shown in both Arabic and English both morphologically and lexically. In English, there are two possibilities: X of Y “the book of the student”, or Y’s X “the student’s book”. The same two options apply to spoken Arabic as in "كتاب الطالب" or ".بتاع الطالب الكتاب"
Comment on the morphological differences:
He was killed (July 2012_Gulf)
الجندي.قتل (July 2012_Gulf)
The money was stolen.
.سرقتاألمول
*Comment on the syntax:
He threw a bone to the dog.
ةألقىللكلبعظم
Arabic has a free word order ( محمد ضرب زيداا – زيداا محمد ضرب – زيداا ضرب محمد ) since it is a case language. In the other hand, English has a fixed word order (SVO).
