San'ani Arabic

Ían≠ànì Arabic

recent development of the dialect. Research on the phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics of the dialect has been carried out more recently by Naïm-Sanbar (e.g. 1994), Watson (1993, 1996, 2002), and Watson and Al-Amri (2000). No dictionary deals exclu-sively with Ían≠ànì Arabic, although Yemeni glossaries by Behnstedt (1992, 1993, 1996) and dictionaries by Piamenta (1990–1991) and al-±Iriyànì (1996) include some Ían≠ànì words. Texts in Ían≠ànì Arabic from Watson (1996), Watson and Al-Amri (2000), and Watson and Mutahhar (2002) can be heard on the Hei-delberg Semitic Spracharchiv (http://semarch.uni-hd.de/).Ían≠ànì has been used by a number of

public performers, particularly for humor-ous purposes, for instance by the comedians Mu™ammad al-Ma†arì and ≠Abdullàh Šàkir. The radio series Mus≠id wa-Mus≠idih, which attempts to improve social mores by satirizing undesirable aspects of Yemeni life, has been scripted and performed in Ían≠ànì Arabic by ≠Abd ar-Ra™màn Mu†ahhar since 1988. After Yemeni unification in 1990, the subsequently banned television series Da™bàš satirized the accent and manners of the North.

2. L i n g u i s t i c d e s c r i p t i o n

2.1 Phonology

2.1.1 ConsonantsÍan≠ànì has the consonant inventory in Table 1.

Ían≠ànì also has a pharyngealized lateral, attested solely in the word a££àh ‘God’ and derivatives. The Classical Arabic voiceless uvu-lar stop, *q, is not found in the dialect. Even religious and Standard Arabic words are pro-nounced with a voiced velar stop, /g/, as in: algur±àn ‘the Qur±àn’.

In intervocalic and word-initial position, /†/ and, to a lesser extent, /t/, are voiced. Empha-sis is realized as pharyngealization with con-comitant labialization. Labialization is one of a number of phonetic correlates of emphasis in several Arabic dialects. In Ían≠ànì, however,

1. G e n e r a l

Ían≠ànì Arabic is the dialect of the original inhabitants of the Old City of Ían≠à± and its traditional suburbs, al-Bawniyah and al-Qà≠ (Qà≠ al-Yahùd). Ían≠ànì belongs to the Eastern Muslim dialect type, and it is also spoken by Jews who emigrated from Ían≠à± to Israel after 1948. There are approximately one hundred thousand speakers in and around the Old City today, a figure which includes Ían≠ànìs who left the Old City following the post–1991 Gulf War expansion of Ían≠à±. The number of Ían≠ànìs who have emigrated to other Arab countries, Israel, mainland Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America and who still speak Ían≠ànì Arabic is unknown.Ían≠ànìs in the Old City lead a traditional,

sedentary lifestyle. Until the 1970s, life was par-ticularly hard for women, who were required to draw water from wells, chop wood in the woods surrounding the Old City, and wash clothes at springs beyond the city walls. Life has eased with the introduction of electricity, piped water and gas, and, more recently, the importation of an increasing variety of food-stuffs and consumer goods.Ían≠ànì is probably the best known Yemeni

dialect both within the country and without ( Yemen). It is not, however, normally adopted by speakers from outside Ían≠à±, with the excep-tion of women who marry into Ían≠ànì families. The Old City retains a self-imposed isolation, actively discouraging the integration of outsid-ers, particularly males.

In addition to published historical docu-ments such as £awliyyàt yamaniyya, there are a number of collections of colloquial poetry, proverbs, and sayings which go back to the 19th century and earlier. Documental evidence from other Yemeni dialects, such as Ràzi™ì (S. Weir p.c.), suggests that large bodies of handwritten documents relating to trade and legal disputes probably exist. Rossi’s (1939) description of the dialect, based on fieldwork in the early 1930s, and Goitein (1934) provide points of comparison for studies considering

sanani.indd 1sanani.indd 1 7/4/2008 1:48:32 PM7/4/2008 1:48:32 PM

2 Ían≠ânî arabic

Table 1. Consonant inventory

labial labiodental interdental dental-alveolar

palato-alveolar

velar pharyngeal laryngeal

plosiveemph.

b t, d †

j k, g ±

fricativeemph.

f μ, ≈ Ú

s, zß

š x, ÿ ™, ≠ h

nasal m nlateral ltap rglide y w

labialization plays a more central role in the phonology of emphatics, and spreads within the word across several segments to target short high /i/ with a resulting realization of [u]. Examples include: †awìl[u]h ‘long [sg. fem.]’, musta†ìl[u]h’ lengthened [sg. fem.]’. Before /i/ and following /u/, labial and velar stops are often realized with labialization, as in: ummwì ‘my mother’, Úubbwì ‘fly’, šuggwih ‘flat’ ( labiovelarization). In rabbì ‘my Lord’, /b/ is labialized, particularly in the vocative phrase yà rabbwì ‘oh my Lord!’, forming a minimal contrast with rabbì ‘bring [sg. masc.] up!’.

2.1.2 VowelsÍan≠ànì has three short vowels, /a, i, u/, and three long vowels, /à, ì, ù/. The opposition between the short high vowels, /i/ and /u/, is maintained in most phonological contexts. Only in unstressed environments and in casual speech is the opposition not maintained. The long high vowels /ì/ and /ù/ have a closer articu-lation than that of their short counterparts, and /à/ has a front articulation in all but emphatic environments.

2.1.3 DiphthongsÍan≠ànì has two diphthongs, /ay/ and /aw/, which are maintained in all phonological con-texts. Phonetically, the /a/ is less open in /ay/ than in /aw/. The diphthongs are phonologi-cally as long as long vowels or vC sequences.

2.1.4 SyllablesThe syllable inventory includes one light, two heavy, and three superheavy syllable types (Table 2).

Table 2. Syllable inventory

light syllables heavy syllables superheavy syllables

Cv CvC CvCCCä CäC

CvCCC/CäCC

Light and heavy syllables can occur in any position; the superheavy syllable types CvCC and CäC are always stem final; the superheavy syllable type CäC may occur stem-finally when an h- or n-initial suffix is added (Watson 2002:69). The superheavy syllable type CvCC may occur stem-finally when the rightmost C is /t/ followed by an h-initial suffix.

kitàbhà ‘her book’baythum ‘their [masc.] house’bàbnà ‘our door’absarthà ‘I/you [sg. masc.] saw her/it [sg. fem.]’libisthà ‘I/you [sg. masc.] put it [sg. fem.] on’xabazthà ‘I/you [sg. masc.] baked it [sg. fem.]’

The superheavy syllable type, CvCCC/CäCC, is restricted to word-final position. This syllable type only ever surfaces in the specific derived environment of {2 sg. masc.}/{1 sg.} perfect verb + {negative}, essentially involving the concate-nation of /t/ and /š/.

mà gambartš ‘I/you [sg. masc.] did not sit/ stay’mà libistš ‘I/you [sg. masc.] did not put on’


Ían≠ânî arabic 3

mà girìtš ‘I/you [sg. masc.] did not read/ learn’

Where the morphology otherwise potentially concatenates three consonants or a long vowel and two consonants and the suffix is not /h/ (or, in the case of a long vowel + two conso-nants, /n/) initial (as above), the consonant cluster CCC (äCC) is either broken up to CCvC (äCvC) by an epenthetic vowel [a]:

absart[a]nà ‘you [sg. masc.] saw us’™ubb[a]nà ‘our love’bayt[a]kin ‘your [pl. fem.] house’

or a geminate consonant followed by the nega-tive suffix /š/ is degeminated:

mà yi™ibb + š mà yi™ibš ‘he does not like’mà jarr + š mà jarš ‘he did not take’

Or, where the diphthong of the plural feminine suffix -ayn is followed by the negative suffix /š/, the diphthong is reduced to [a]:

mà + antayn mantanš ‘not you+ š [pl. fem.]’mà + absar- ma bsartanš ‘you [pl. fem.] didtayn + š not see’mà + mà diriyanš ‘you [pl. fem.] diddiriyayn + š not know’

In Watson (2002:60), final /tš/ is analyzed as an affricate – the voiceless counterpart of /j/ – even though it is derived from two morphemes. Evidence for the analysis of /tš/ as a single consonant is adduced from the pronunciation of loanwords such as ‘jug’ as tšàg or jàg and ‘jelly’ as tšìlì or jìlì, and from the fact that pausal devoicing of /j/ results in [t∑]. The sound [t∑] is therefore not strange in Ían≠ànì, provid-ing a voiceless counterpart to the alveopalatal affricate /j/.

2.1.5 StressÍan≠ànì is marked both by contextually fluc-tuating stress (Rossi 1939; Goitein 1934; Naïm-Sanbar 1994), and by a tendency to stress nonfinal syllables which end either in a long vowel or in the first half of a geminate (CvG). Stress fluctuates for expressive accent or emphasis, in prepause and postpause position,

when the word is the second term in a genitive phrase, and after the definite article.

Where stress fluctuation fails to apply, or where words are pronounced in isolation, the following stress rules apply:

i. If the word contains Cä or CvG syllable(s), stress the rightmost nonfinal syllable of this type, e.g. ma’kàtib ‘offices’, a’sàmì ‘names’, ba’sàtìn ‘gardens’, ‘xàrijìn ‘going out [pl. masc.]’, mit’±axxiràt ‘late [pl. fem.]’, yi’™ibbù ‘they [masc.] love, like’, ‘hàka≈ahà ‘like this’, ‘sàfart ‘I/you [sg. masc.] traveled’.

ii. Otherwise, stress a final CäC/CvCC syl-lable, if there is one, e.g. da’rast ‘I/you [sg. masc.] learned’, gam’bart ‘I/you [sg. masc.] sat’, diš’màn ‘rebel; poor [sg. masc.]’, ba’nàt ‘girls’.

iii. Otherwise, stress the rightmost nonfinal CvC syllable, if there is one, up to the ante-penultimate, e.g. ‘laflaf ‘he collected’, ‘mak-laf ‘woman’, ‘madrasih ‘school’, ‘maklafih ‘his woman’.

iv. Otherwise, stress the leftmost Cv sylla-ble, e.g. ‘katab ‘he wrote’, ‘darasat ‘she learned’, ‘ragabatih ‘his neck’, mak’tabatì ‘my library’.

v. Stress final Cä in disyllabic adjectives or di- or trisyllabic verbs in the imperfect, e.g. yif≠a’lù ‘they [masc.] do’, †a’rì ‘fresh’.

2.2 Phonotactics

2.2.1 AssimilationÍan≠ànì is relatively conservative in terms of assimilation processes. Within a phonological word, a voiced plosive, affricate, or fricative is devoiced to the left of a voiceless consonant.

/wagt/ wa[k]t ‘time’/yudxul/ yu[t]xul ‘he enters’/nixbiz+hin/ nixbi[s]hin ‘we bake them [fem.]’/ta≈kirih/ ta[ô]kirih ‘ticket’

By contrast, a voiceless consonant only assimi-lates voice from a following voiced consonant under certain conditions. A voiceless stop is voiced before a voiced stop, but rarely before a voiced fricative; furthermore, voiceless coro-nal consonants are more likely to assimilate



voice than voiceless velars. A voiceless fricative becomes voiced before a following fricative.

/yitgar†a†/ yi[d]gar†a† ‘he gets annoyed’/xu†bih/ xu[í]buh ‘sermon’/akbar/ a[g]bar ~ a[k]bar ‘bigger; older’/lafÚ/ la[v]Ú ‘expression; pronunciation’

The voiceless gutturals, /h/, /±/, and /™/, are not voiced before a voiced obstruent; however, they totally assimilate to a following voiced pharyn-geal. Where a pharyngeal and a laryngeal are adjacent, total assimilation results in combin-ing the voicing value of the rightmost guttural with the pharyngeal articulation of the stronger (pharyngeal) consonant.

/ma≠had/ ma[óó]ad ‘institute’/šibi™ + hum/ šibi[óó]um ‘he pulled them [masc.]’

The -l of the definite article assimilates to a following coronal plosive, sonorant, or frica-tive, namely /t, d, μ , ≈, Ú, s, š, ß, n, r, l/. As in Classical Arabic, -l does not assimilate to a following /j/.

2.2.2 Pausal phenomenaÍan≠ànì exhibits ±imàla in pause, such that final /à/ is realized as [ô1]. Thus, /anà/ ‘I’ is realized prepausally as an[ô1] and /absarnà/ ‘we saw’ as absarn[ô1]. Where final /à/ occurs in a word with a coronal emphatic, labialization characteristic of emphasis targets the resulting raised vowel to give /ò/. Thus, /ßallaynà/ ‘we prayed; washed’ is realized as ßallayn[o1].

The singular feminine ending -ih, which is realized with a lax mid vowel in pause, may well have originated from raising of /a/. Today, the morpheme is lexicalized as -ih- when a prepositional phrase with a pronoun suffix is suffixed to a singular feminine participle, the vowel of the morpheme being realized as a tense, high front [i], as in: /làbisih + lih/ = làbisillih ‘dressing [sg. fem.] him’ and /fàhimih + lih/ = fàhimillih ‘understanding [sg. fem.] it [masc.]’.

A related phenomenon is diphthongiza-tion of long high vowels in pause, first noted by Jastrow (1984), and before a final conso-nant. Thus, /ßàbùn/ ‘soap’ is realized prepaus-

ally as ßàbawn, /migambirìn/ ‘staying, sitting [pl. masc.]’ as migambirayn, /gambarù/ ‘they [masc.] stayed, sat’ as gambaraw, /gambirì/ ‘sit [sg. fem.]!’ as gambirey. ±Imàla and prepausal diphthongization both involve a vowel shift from the periphery of the vocal tract to the central region, and can therefore be described as prepausal centralization.

A second pausal phenomenon discussed by Jastrow (1984) is glottalization of consonants. In the case of a sonorant (/n/, /l/, or /r/), glot-talization often results in nonarticulation of the sonorant, as in: /samn/ = sam± ‘ghee’, /fàr/ = fà± ‘mouse’. A final voiced pharyngeal is devoiced and postaspirated, rather than glot-talized. Examples of pausal glottalization and aspiration in Ían≠ànì can be found under ‘Paus-alglottalisierung’ at http://semarch.uni-hd.de/.

2.2.3 Contextual phonological phenomenaPhonological phenomena within and across words which are not dependent on morpho-logical information include the devoicing of geminate stops, intervocalic voicing of obstru-ents, and palatalization of stops before a pala-tal glide. Geminate stops are realized without voice. Thus, /™aggak/ ‘yours [sg. masc.]’ is realized as ™aggak or ™akkak, /≈ubbì/ ‘fly’ as [ðub1i1] or [ôup1i1], and /™ajj/ ‘pilgrimage’ as [Óat1∑]. Where a geminate stop results from an assimilation process, the resulting geminate is devoiced, as in /al-daymih/ ‘the kitchen’ = addaymih = [at1ajmih].

All voiceless obstruents may be voiced inter-vocalically, particularly in casual speech; conso-nants most commonly affected by intervocalic voicing, however, are the alveolar stops /t, †/.

Finally, weak palatalization occurs in the dialect. In casual speech, a word-final stop may be palatalized before a word-initial palatal glide. Thus, /d/ in /walad/ ‘boy’ has a weak palatal off-glide before a word beginning in /y/. Strong palatalization (characteristic of some dialects spoken in the western mountain range of Yemen) and palatalization induced by a preceding high vowel /i/ do not occur in this dialect.



2.3 Morphology

2.3.1 Pronouns

2.3.1.1 Personal pronounsÍan≠ànì maintains the Classical Arabic gender distinction in the 3rd and 2nd person plu-ral pronouns (Tables 3 and 4). Unlike some Yemeni dialects spoken in the southwestern mountain range, Ían≠ànì makes no gender dis-tinction in the 1st person singular.

Table 3. Independent pronouns (Ían≠à±)

3rd pers. 2nd pers. 1st pers.

sg. masc. hù ant anàsg. fem. hì antìpl. masc. hum antì i™nàpl. fem. hin antayn

Table 4. Possessive pronouns


sg. masc. -ih/-h -ak/-k -ìsg. fem. -hà -iš/-špl. masc. -hum -kum -nàpl. fem. -hin -kin

Object pronouns differ from possessive pro-nouns only insofar as the 1st person singular takes an initial n-, viz. -nì. The n- form of the 1st person singular pronoun is also suffixed to the preposition fì ‘in’, viz.: fìnì ‘in me’. Suffixes with initial /k/ or /n/ always, and suffixes with initial /h/ in careful speech, induce epenthesis ([u] before /kum/, otherwise [a]) when suffixed to a noun or verb ending in two consonants, as in: /absart + kum/ = absartukum ‘I saw you [pl. masc.]’, /bint + nà/ = bintanà ‘our daughter’. Epenthesis occurs in careful speech on suffix-ation of a consonant-initial pronoun to a noun or verb ending in vCC or äC, as in: /bayt + nà/ = baytanà ‘our house’, /bayt + kum/ = baytukum ‘your [pl. masc.] house’, /dìn + kum/ = dìnukum ‘your [pl. masc.] religion’.

2.3.1.2 Demonstrative pronounsDemonstrative pronouns either occur indepen-dently or with a following or, less frequently,

preceding noun. There are two sets of demon-strative pronouns: one which takes initial hà- (Tables 5 and 6), and one which does not. The demonstrative pronouns have a two-way num-ber distinction, a two-way gender distinction in the singular, and a two-way distance distinction (near or far). Although there is no gender dis-tinction in the plural demonstrative pronouns, a number of plural alternatives exist.

Table 5. Near demonstratives I

singular plural

masc. hà≈à hà≈awlà ~ hawlà hà≈àlàfem. hà≈ì

In the hà-initial distal demonstratives, /≈/ may be emphasized in the singular masculine form.

Table 6. Distal demonstratives I

singular plural

masc. hà≈àk hà≈awlàk fem. hà≈ìk

The non-hà near and distal demonstratives are set out in Tables 7 and 8.

Table 7. Near demonstratives II

singular plural

masc. ≈ayyà hà≈awlàk fem. tayyih ≈awlayyà ~ ≈awlà±ì

Table 8. Distal demonstratives II

singular plural

masc. ≈ayyàk ≈awlayyak ~ ≈awlàkfem. tayyik awlàk ~ awlà±ik

2.3.1.3 PresentativesÍan≠ànì makes ample use of presentative particles. The presentative particles include inn, hà, and ≈à. The latter two can function sepa-rately or combine with independent pronouns; the former takes a following noun or suffixed pronoun. The particle inn is most commonly introduced by wa-, as in sà≠atayn μalàμ w-innak fì ti≠izz ‘two or three hours and you’re in Ta≠izz’. The particle hà(h) in isolation usu-ally has the imperative intention of ‘take!’.



The particle ≈à commonly combines with a preceding pronoun: hù≈à ‘there it [masc.]/he is!’, hì≈à ‘there it [fem.]/she is!’ A pronoun can additionally follow ≈à, as in hù≈àhù ‘there it [masc.]/he is!’. The pronoun hù can function as a presentative in combination with following ≈à (+ pronoun), as in hù≈anà šà-jì ‘here I am, I’m coming!’, hù≈a™nà ‘here we are!’, hù≈antù ‘there you [pl. masc.] are!’. In the case of a fol-lowing 3rd person plural pronoun, the pronoun is introduced with la-, as in hum≈àluhum ‘there they [masc.] are!’, hin≈àlahin ‘there they [fem.] are!’. ˛à with or without a following pronoun may also be suffixed to the particle gad, as in ga≈≈à jìt or ga≈≈anà jìt ‘there, I’ve arrived!’. Distal presentative particles are derived by suf-fixation of /k/, as in ≈akka or hù≈àk ‘there it [masc.]/he is [over there]!’ and ≈ikkì or hù≈ìk ‘there it [fem.]/she is [over there]!’. Hù≈àk is often realized with emphasis as hùÚàk.

2.3.1.4 Relative pronounThe relative pronoun is uninflected alla≈ì or allì. As a tendency, speakers originating from the Old City favor alla≈ì, while speakers from the suburbs of al-Bawniya and al-Qà≠ prefer allì. However, the same speaker may shift between the two forms within a single conver-sation. The relative pronoun usually relates to a definite noun, but for emphasis may relate to an indefinite noun, as in: gad ma≠ànà jàmi≠ fi l-≠amal; ÿurfi llì nßallì fìhà ‘we have a mosque at work, a room that we pray in’ (Watson and Al-≠Amri 2000).

2.3.1.5 Interrogative pronounsInterrogative pronouns occur clause-initially, although they may occur after the subject in topicalized questions. The majority of the inter-rogatives are reminiscent of those in Classical Arabic. They include ayn ‘where?’, minayn ‘from where?’, ilayn ‘where to?’ (aynù ‘where is he?’), man ‘who?’ (manù ‘who is it?’), ayy ‘which?’ (ayyinù ‘which is it [masc.]?’), kayf ‘how?’ (kayfù ‘how is he?’), kayfant or kay-fak ‘how are you [sg. masc.]?’), lilmà ‘why?’ (lilmih in pause), mà ‘what?’ (màhù ‘what is it [masc.]?’, mih in pause), kam ‘how many?; how much?’. The pausal form of mà ‘what?’ func-tions as a tag question, sometimes preceded by aw ‘or’, as in awmih ‘isn’t it?’.

2.4 Adverbs

2.4.1 Temporal adverbsThe majority of temporal adverbs are similar to those of Classical Arabic. These include alyawm ‘today’, ams ‘yesterday’, awwal ams ‘the day before yesterday’, al≠ašì ‘this evening’, ™ìn ‘early’, awwal/min awwal ‘earlier’, ÿudwuh ‘yesterday’. The word for now, ≈al™ìn(ih), orig-inates from ≈à + al™ìn. More innovative tempo-ral adverbs include ≈ìksà≠ ‘at that time’, from ≈ìk + assà≠ah, and ba™ìn ‘early’, from bi- + ™ìn. ‘Week’ is most commonly wa≠d, which is used adverbially in the expression alwa≠d allawwal ‘last week’. The term ≈irratayn ‘two specks’ is used metaphorically in both the measure and temporal sense of ‘a little’. More recently, šwayyih has come to function in the sense of ‘in a little while’.

Expressions for the days of the week resem-ble those of Classical Arabic, with the excep-tion of the terms for Tuesday and Wednesday: yawm ala™ad ‘Sunday’, yawm aliμnayn ‘Mon-day’, yawm aμμalùμ ‘Tuesday’, yawm arrabù≠ ‘Wednesday’, yawm alxamìs ‘Thursday’, yawm aljum≠ah ‘Friday’, yawm assabt ‘Saturday’.

Clock time is expressed adverbially as an annexion phrase by the older generation, e.g. sà≠at xams ‘5 o’clock’, but as a noun + predi-cate structure by the younger generation, e.g. assà≠ (ah) xams. In fast speech, the article may also be omitted.

2.4.2 Local adverbsThe main local adverbs are: hànà ‘here’, hànàk ‘there’, usually realized with emphasis, hinìyih ‘here’ and hinayyik ‘there’. According to Fischer (1969), the derivation of hànà is as follows: hàhunà > hàhnà > hànà ‘here’, and hinìyih ‘here’ was derived by suffixation of an emphatic element -(ì)yih. Other local adverbs include yimàn ‘right’, yisàr ‘left’, and several active participles, e.g. †àli≠ ‘up; upstairs’, nàzil ‘down; downstairs’, dàxil ‘inside’, xàrij ‘outside’.

2.4.3 Manner adverbsOne set of manner adverbs are realized with or without the pronominal element hà-. These may take a following suffixal -hà for emphasis. They include hàka≈à ‘like this’, hàkaÚàk ‘like that’, ka≈à ‘like this’, kaÚàk ‘like that’, ka≈ayyà ‘like this’, ka≈ayyik ‘like that’. Older speakers use ka≈ayyà, ka≈ayyahà and the more innovative



forms ka≈annanì, ka≈annahà in the sense of ‘a little’, as in iddàlì ÿarr ka≈ayyahà ‘he only gave me a little’. Other manner adverbs are derived from prepositional phrases and include fìsà≠ ‘quickly’ and bisà≠at + pronoun ‘immediately’.

2.4.4 Degree adverbsThe degree adverbs are gawì ‘very’, xayràt ‘a lot’, less commonly marrih ‘very’. The adverb gawì can be repeated for emphasis. Other degree adverbs include šwayyih and šwannanì ‘a little’, ÿarr and bass ‘only’, and words used in a metaphorical sense, such as nàr ‘fire’, as in ÿàlì nàr ‘really expensive’.

2.5 Particles

2.5.1 Genitive markerThe genitive marker ™agg inflects for neither number nor gender, as in arrajjàl ™aggì ‘my man/husband’, albint ™aggì ‘my daughter’, alkutub ™aggì ‘my books’. For emphasis, the genitive marker can be used to express famil-ial relations. To emphasize possession, it may precede rather than follow the possessed noun. Whether the genitive marker is used or whether a possessed object forms the first part of an annexion phrase is often determined on stylistic or even rhythmic grounds. A phrase involv-ing the genitive marker may be apposed to an annexion phrase, as in alka≠k ™agg al≠ìd . . . ka≠k al≠ìd ‘cake for the Eid . . . Eid cake’, and yif ≠alùlih samn fì gà≠atih . . . fi lgà≠ah ™akk aßßa™n ‘they put ghee on its base . . . in the base of the plate’ (Watson and Al-≠Amri 2000).

2.5.2 Negative particlesThe negative particles are màšì ‘no’, miš ‘not’, which usually negates the predicate; mà or là, which are used in absolute negation; and the discontinuous mà . . . -š, which may also occur without final -š and negates verbs and preposi-tional phrases with pronominal suffixes, as in mà ma≠akš ‘you [sg. masc.] do not have’ and mà yi≠jibnì hà≈à ‘I don’t like that’. The particle màšì functions additionally in the sense of ‘oth-erwise’, as in màšì mà ≠àd tilsàš alxubzih ‘oth-erwise, the bread won’t stick’. The compound particle wa-là expresses emphatic negation, as in wa-là šì ‘nothing at all!’; là/mà . . . wa-là has the sense of ‘neither . . . nor’; and mà . . . illà wa- either conveys the sense of ‘by the time’, as in mà yijì fawg almàyidih illa w-gadù šàbi≠ ‘by the

time it reaches the table, he’s full’, or ‘only’, as in mà yixazzin illà w-bih gàt sawà ‘he’ll only chew if there is good qat’.

2.5.3 ExistentialsThe main existential particle is bih ‘there is’, negated as mà bišš/biš. In conditionals and questions, šì is more common, as in là šì xubz ‘if there is any bread’, šì gàt ‘is there any qat?’ In questions, šì may be combined with bih and/or another prepositional phrase, as in šì bih (ma≠àkum) gàt ‘do you [pl. masc.] have any qat?’

2.5.4 PrepositionsThe main prepositions in Ían≠ànì are min ‘from’, là ‘to’, fì ‘in’, bi ‘in; with’, ma≠ ‘with’, ≠ind ‘with; at the house of’, fawg ‘over’, ta™t ‘under’, gafà ‘behind’, ßalà ‘toward’, tijàh ‘before; in front of’, šigg ‘next to’, sà≠ ‘like’, gabl ‘before’, and ba≠d ‘after’. In contrast to many other dia-lects, possession is indicated through ma≠ ‘with’ rather than ≠ind, as in ma≠ì sayyàrih ‘I have a car’, kam ma≠iš banàt ‘how many daughters do you [sg. fem.] have?’.

2.5.5 Conjunctions, conjuncts, and subordinatorsThe main conjunctions are wa- ‘and’, aw/awlà/wallà ‘or’, and fa- ‘then; so’. The latter is common in narratives, particularly when the narrator is deliberating. The conjunct làkin ‘but; however’ is pronounced as laykin by Old City speakers. Ían≠ànì has a rich set of subor-dinators, of which probably the most common is law-mà ‘when; until’. Other subordinators include là ‘if’, ™ìn ‘since’, ≠alà sibb ‘because’, tijàh-mà ‘before’, sà≠-mà ‘like’. Subordinators and subordination are presented and discussed in detail in Watson (1993).

2.6 Nouns and adjectives

Nouns are either feminine or masculine. Femi-nine nouns without the feminine ending -ih include parts of the body which come in pairs; inherently female objects, as in umm ‘mother’, bint ‘girl; daughter’; and other terms, including ™arb ‘war’, šams ‘sun’. Nouns and adjectives take the sound masculine or feminine plural, -ìn and -àt, or one of a large number of broken plural patterns (Watson 2002:164ff.). The dual suffix, -ayn, is usually attested only for weight,



measurement, or time, as in yawmayn/yawma-tayn ‘two days’, giršayn ‘two riyals’, sà≠atayn ‘two hours’, and in the frozen phrase wàliday + pronoun ‘his, etc. parents’. In other cases, the appropriate form for ‘two’ precedes the noun in the plural, as in μintayn banàt ‘two girls’, iμnayn ≠iyyàl ‘two boys’. Even paired parts of the body are referred to through the plural, with iμnayn/μintayn added optionally for emphasis, as in arjulì ‘my legs’ and arjulì aμμintayn ‘both my legs’.

Diminutive patterns occur in place-names and personal tribal names throughout Yemen, such as alzubayrì, al™ubayšì, aljunayd, but the diminutive is not productive. The only adjec-tive with a diminutive morphological pattern is zuÿayrì/zuÿayyirì ‘small’. In order to express smallness and affection, -ì can be suffixed to personal names, as in ixlàßì ‘little Ikhlas’, šahàbì ‘little Shahab’. Another function of -ì is to derive singulatives from collectives, as in mawzì ‘banana’ from mawz, dùdì ‘worm’ from dùd.

2.7 Numerals 1–20

The cardinal numerals for one and two are: wà™id, iμnayn, and from three to ten: μalàμih, arba≠ah, xamsih, sittih, sab≠ah, μamàniyih, tis≠ah, ≠ašarih. In numeral phrases, these forms combine with the plural of a masculine noun, and shortened forms with the plural of a feminine noun. The numerals from eleven to nineteen have two allomorphs, depending on whether they take a following noun or occur in isolation. Thus, xamst≠ašar bint ‘fifteen girls’ compares with xamst≠àš ‘fifteen’, in which final -ar is not pronounced.

2.8 Verbs

2.8.1 Verbal FormsThe Form I verb takes one of three possible vocalisms, fa≠al, fi≠il, fu≠ul. The majority of fi≠il verbs are intransitive or grammatically transi-tive, denoting actions whose consequences are experienced by the agent, ‘agent moyen’. Excep-tions include šibi™ ‘to pull’, libis ‘to wear’. The fu≠ul verbs have either a root emphatic or velar consonant, as in kubur ‘to grow up’, gurub ‘to approach’, ruÚì ‘to want’. The derived Forms of the triliteral verb in the dialect are II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, and X. The function of original Form IX is taken over by Form II, as

in ™ammar ‘to be/become red’, sawwad ‘to be/become black’. Form II is the most produc-tive verb form alongside the quadriliteral verb. Form IV is comparatively common in Ían≠ànì; examples include absar ‘to see’, ixlaß ‘to take off’. Forms V and VI take initial t-, ti-, or ta-, as in tilaμμam ‘to wear a face veil’, ta™àkà ‘to talk’. In the imperative, however, Forms V and VI take it-, as in it™àkà ‘talk [sg. masc.]!’ Form VII is relatively rare; examples include inga∂à ‘to pass [of time]’. Form VIII is common.

Quadriliteral verbs are both common and productive in Ían≠ànì. They are derived either from biliteral or triliteral verbs through redupli-cation, as in dagdag ‘to knock [continuously]’, šamšam ‘to sniff’, or infixation of a sonorant, as in ∂al™ak ‘to laugh [a lot]’ (cf. ∂a™ak ‘to laugh’), tinagwal ‘to move [from place to place]’ (cf. nagal ‘to move’); from nouns, as in saynam ‘to go to the cinema’ (cf. sìnamà ‘cinema’); or from adjectives, as in timajnan ‘to become mad’ (cf. majnùn ‘mad’), tibayxal ‘to be mean’ (cf. baxìl ‘mean’).

The internal passive, u-i, exists for a few verbs, including kumil ‘to be finished’, wulid ‘to be born’, surig ‘to be stolen (from)’, summì ‘to be called’, wujid ‘to be found’. The passive voice may also be expressed by a Form VIII verb, as in i™tabas ‘to be imprisoned’, but there is no evidence that this form is morphologically productive in Ían≠ànì.

2.8.2 Inflection of perfectIn the perfect, sound verbs take the suffixes in Table 9.

Table 9. Perfect verb suffixes


sg. masc. - -t -tsg. fem. -at -tì -tpl. masc. -ù -tù -nàpl. fem -ayn -tayn -nà

Doubled verbs take an infix -ay- before a consonant-initial suffix, as in šall-ay-t ‘I/you [sg. masc.] took’. Final weak verbs ending in -ì take the suffixes given above, e.g. nisiy-at ‘she forgot’, ruÚiy-ayn ‘they [fem.] wanted’. In final weak verbs ending in -à, however, vowel-initial suffixes take other forms which attach directly to the stem: the 3rd person singular



feminine suffix is realized as -it, as in awf-it ‘she finished’, mall-it ‘she filled’; the 3rd person plural masculine suffix is realized as -aw, as in mall-aw ‘they [masc.] filled’; and the 3rd person plural feminine suffix is realized as -ayn, as in mall-ayn ‘they [fem.] filled’.

2.8.3 Inflection of imperfectIn the imperfect, the sound verbs take the affixes in Table 10.

Table 10. Imperfect verb affixes


sg. masc. yi- ti- a-sg. fem. ti- ti- . . . ìpl. masc. yi . . . ù ti . . . ù ni-pl. fem. yi . . . ayn ti . . . ayn

The long-vowel imperfect suffixes -ì, -ù are real-ized in final-weak verbs as diphthongs -ay, -aw, as in tišt-ay ‘you [sg. fem.] want’, tit™àk-aw ‘you [pl. masc.] speak’, yirÚ-aw ‘they [masc.] want’. In most quadriliteral verbs and the trilit-eral derived verbs of Forms II, III, IV, VII, VIII, and X, the final imperfect stem vowel is -i-, as in yixazzin ‘he chews [qat]’, yijàbir ‘he chats’, yibsir ‘he sees’, yinšaÿil ‘he is occupied’, yištaÿil ‘he works’, yista≠mil ‘he uses’.

On suffixation of object pronouns or the neg-ative suffix to feminine plural verbs, the end-ing -ayn is reduced to -an with gemination of -n- before an object pronoun, as in /absartayn + ih/ = absartannih ‘you [pl. fem.] saw him’, /yištayn + iš/ = yištanniš ‘they [fem.] want you [sg. fem.]’, /mà yibsirayn + š/ = mà yibsiranš ‘they [fem.] don’t see’.

2.8.3.1 Imperfect tense/aspect markersÍan≠ànì has two tense/aspect markers: one denoting continuous/habitual aspect and one future tense (Table 11). In both cases, the 1st person singular prefix differs from that for other persons, and has two allomorphs for the future prefix.

Table 11. Imperfect tense/aspect markers

person/gender continuous/habitual future

1st sg. bayn- šà-/ ≠ad-other persons bi- ≠à-

On prefixation of šà-, a- of the 1st person sin-gular imperfect prefix is not pronounced, e.g. šà-sìr ‘I will go’, šà-bsir ‘I will see’. The prefix ≠ad- differs from šà- by conveying that the speaker will do something at some time, while šà- indicates that the speaker will do something at a definite time.

B i b l i o g r a p h i c a l r e f e r e n c e sBehnstedt, Peter. 1985. Die nordjemenitischen

Dialekte. I. Atlas. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert.——. 1992. Die nordjemenitischen Dialekte. II/1.

Glossar Alif – Dàl. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert.——. 1993. Glossar der jemenitischen Dialektwörter

in Eduard Glasers Tagebücher (II, III, VI, VII, VIII, X). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

——. 1996. Die nordjemenitischen Dialekte. II/2. Glossar ˛àl – ≠Ayn. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert.

——. 2006. Die nordjemenitischen Dialekte. II/3. Glossar Fà± – Yà±. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert.

Fischer, Wolfdietrich. 1969. Die demonstrativen Bil-dungen der neuarabischen Dialekte. The Hague: Mouton.

Goitein, Shlomo Dov. 1934. Jemenica: Sprichwörter und Redensarten aus Zentral-Jemen. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

——. 1970. Jemenica: Sprichwörter und Redensarten aus Zentral-Jemen mit zahlreichen Sach- und Worterläutungen. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

£ibšì, ≠Abdallàh Mu™ammad al- (ed.). 1991. £awliyyyàt yamaniyya: al-Yaman fì l-qarn at-tàsi≠ ≠ašar al-mìlàdì. Ían≠à±: Dàr al-£ikma.

±Iriyànì, Mu†ahhar ≠Alì al-. 1996. al-Mu≠jam al-yamanì fì l-luÿa wa-t-turàμ. Damascus.

Jastrow, Otto. 1984. “Zur Phonologie und Phone-tik des Ían≠ànischen”. Entwicklungsprozesse in der Arabischen Republik Jemen, ed. Horst Kopp and Günther Schweizer, 289–304. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert.

Naïm-Sanbar, Samia. 1994. “Contribution à l’étude de l’accent yéménite: Le parler des femmes de l’ancienne génération”. Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik 27.67–89.

Piamenta, Moshe. 1990–1991. Dictionary of post-Classical Yemeni Arabic. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

Rossi, Ettore. 1939. L’arabo parlato a Ían≠à±. Rome: Istituto per l’Oriente.

Watson, Janet C.E. 1993. A syntax of Ían≠ànì Ara-bic. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz.

——. 1996. Šba™tù! A course in Ían≠ànì Arabic. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz.

——. 2002. The phonology and morphology of Ara-bic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.



——. and ≠Abd al-Salàm Al-≠Amri. 2000. Waßf Ían≠à±: Texts in Ían≠ànì Arabic. Wiesbaden: O. Harras-sowitz.

Watson, Janet C.E. and Abd al-Rahman Mutahhar. 2002. Social issues in popular Yemeni culture. Ían≠à±: al-Sabahi Press.

Janet Watson (Salford University)


Documents

San'ani Arabic