Article published in:
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXVI: Papers from the annual symposium on Arabic Linguistics. New York, 2012
Edited by Reem Khamis-Dakwar and Karen Froud
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 2] 2014
► pp. 29–44

Yod-dropping in b-imperfect verb forms 
in Amman

This article presents analysis of data from the emerging dialect of Amman within the framework of ‘dialect contact’ and ‘new dialect formation’ (Trudgill, 1986, 2004). In particular, it focuses on the conjugation of 3rd person singular and plural verb forms with or without /j/. The dialect of Amman can be described as the output of contact between speakers of two major dialect groups: Jordanian and Palestinian. In both groups of dialects, the imperfective takes the form b + Imperfect form, but whereas in Jordanian dialects Yod is dropped from the stem in the b-imperfect form in all environments, in Palestinian dialects it is dropped in open syllables only. The analysis reveals two important innovative patterns of conjugation: (i) Yod is dropped everywhere except where it carries ‘person’ information, and (ii) in hamza-initial verbs (‘glottal-initial verbs’ such as /ʔakal/ ‘to eat’) speakers with Jordanian heritage introduce a new form for 1st person singular and reallocate an existing form to the 3rd person singular masculine.

Published online: 30 October 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.2.03wer
References
Al-Essa, A
(2008) Najdi speakers in Hijaz: A sociolinguistic investigation of dialect contact in Jeddah. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Essex.
Al-Qouz, M
(2009) Dialect contact, acquisition and change among Manama youth, Bahrain. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Essex.
Al-Wer, E
(1999) Language and identity: The Chechens and the Circassians in Jordan. Proceedings of the first international conference on Arabic-English contrastive and comparative studies, Dirasat (special issue) . Deanship of Academic Research, (University of Jordan), pp. 253–268.
Al-Wer E
(2002) Jordanian and Palestinian dialects in contact: Vowel raising in Amman. In M. Jones, & E. Esch (Eds.), Language Change: The interplay of internal, external and extra-linguistic factors (pp. 63–79). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
(2003) New dialect formation: the focusing of -kum in Amman. In D. Britain, & J. Cheshire (Eds.), Social dialectology: In honour of Peter Trudgill (pp. 59–67). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) The formation of the dialect of Amman: from chaos to order. In C. Miller, E. Al-Wer, D. Caubet, & J.C.E. Watson (Eds.), Arabic in the city: Issues in dialect contact and language variation (pp. 55–76). New York/London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Al-Wer, E., & Herin, B
(2011) The lifecycle of Qaf in Jordan. Langage & Société, 138, 59:76. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bauer, L
(2008) A question of identity: A response to Trudgill. Language in Society 37(2), 270–3. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Britain, D
(1991) Dialect and space: A geolinguistic study of speech variables in the Fens. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Essex.
(2001) Where did it all start?: Dialect contact, the ‘Founder Principle’ and the so-called (-own) split in New Zealand English. Transactions of the Philological Society, 99, 1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002) Diffusion, levelling, simplification and reallocation in past tense BE in the English Fens. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 6(1), 16–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cheshire, J., Kerswill, P., Fox, S., & Torgersen, E
(2011) Contact, the feature pool and the speech community: The emergence of Multicultural London English. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 15(2), 151–196. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cleveland, R
(1963) A classification of the Arabic dialects of Jordan. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 171, 56–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coupland, N
(2008) The delicate constitution of identity in face-to-face accommodation: A response to Trudgill. Language in Society 37(2), 267–270. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Garbell, I
(1958) Remarks on the historical phonology of an eastern Mediterranean Arabic dialect. Word, 14, 303–337.Google Scholar
Giles, H., Taylor, D.M., & Bourhis, R.Y
(1973) Toward a theory of interpersonal accommodation through speech: Some Canadian data. Language in Society, 2, 177–192. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gordon, E., Campbell, L., Hay, J., Maclagan, M., Sudbury, A., & Trudgill, P
(2004) New Zealand English: Its origins and evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hachimi, A
(2005) Dialect leveling, maintenance and urban identity in Morocco. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Hawaii.Google Scholar
Herin, B
(2010) Le parler arabe de Salt: Phonologie, morphologie et éléments de syntaxe. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Hernandez-Campoy, J.M
(2003) Exposure to contact and the geographical adoption of standard features: Two complementary approaches. Language in Society, 32(2), 227–255. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holmes, J. & Kerswill, P
(2008) Contact is not enough: A response to Trudgill. Language in Society, 37(2), 273–277. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kerswill, P
(1993) Rural dialect speakers in an urban speech community: the role of dialect contact in defining a sociolinguistic concept. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3, 33–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kerswill, P., & Williams, A
(2000) Creating a new town koine: children and language change in Milton Keynes. Language in Society, 29, 65–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mufwene, S.S
(2008) Colonization, population contacts, and the emergence of new language varieties: A response to Peter Trudgill. Language in Society 37(2), 254–258. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Palva, H
(1994) Bedouin and sedentary elements in the dialect of Es-Salt: diachronic notes on the sociolinguistic development. In D. Caubet, & M. Vanhove (Eds.), Actes des premières journées internationales de dialectologie Arabe de Paris (pp. 459–469). Paris: Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales.Google Scholar
Salibi, K
(1993) The modern history of Jordan. London: I.B. Tauris & Co.Google Scholar
Schneider, E.W
(2008) Accommodation versus identity? A response to Trudgill. Language in Society 37(2), 262–267.Google Scholar
Siegel, J
(1985) Koines and koineization. Language in Society, 14(3), 357–378. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thelander, M
(1979) Språkliga variations modeller tillämpade på nutida Burträsktal. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.Google Scholar
Trudgill, P
(1983) On dialect. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
(1986) Dialects in Contact. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Trudgill P
(2004) New-dialect formation: The inevitability of colonial Englishes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Trudgill, P
(2008a) Colonial dialect contact in the history of European languages: On the irrelevance of identity to new-dialect formation. Language in Society 37(2), 241–254.Google Scholar
(2008b) On the role of children, and the mechanical view: A rejoinder. Language in Society, 37(2), 277–280.Google Scholar
Tuten, D.N
(2008) Identity formation and accommodation: Sequential and simultaneous relations. Language in Society, 37(2), 259–262. DOI logoGoogle Scholar