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Article published In:
Studies in Language
Vol. 46:4 (2022) ► pp.793–846

Nominal determination in Moroccan Arabic

| University of Graz
ORCID logo | University of Vienna

Many studies on Moroccan Arabic presuppose the existence of a determination system organized along the lines of definiteness and indefiniteness. Hence, they postulate a ‘definite article’ with the form /l-/ and an ‘indefinite article’ as its counterpart in the form /waħd.l-/.

This study shows that the so-called ‘definite article’ /l-/ is actually a general referential marker that mainly marks a noun as [−predicative]. The marker /l-/ and its augmented forms are specific and allow different readings ranging from anaphoric definiteness to specific indefiniteness. The marker /waħd.l-/ is less an ‘indefinite article’ but marks ‘mirativity’, i.e. pragmatic salience. Thus it often has a cataphoric function. Demonstratives are used in deictic function but also to evoke an already existing knowledge in the hearer. The system is extended by the referential marker /ʃi-/ restricted to mark non-specific items. The complexity of nominal determination is partly the result of the juxtaposition of typically Moroccan linguistic innovations and retentions of “common Arabic” structures.

Keywords: nominal determination, referentiality, articles, spoken Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Conceptual preliminaries and the socio-linguistic setting
    • 2.1Semantic concepts and theoretical background
    • 2.2The socio-linguistic background
  • 3.The morphological devices of nominal determination in Moroccan Arabic
  • 4.The default settings of determination
    • 4.1Non-referential zero-marking (bare nouns)
      • 4.1.1Nominal predicates
      • 4.1.2Depictive secondary predicates
      • 4.1.3Adverbials
      • 4.1.4Non-referential nouns as members of incorporated verbs
    • 4.2The non-specific referential marker /ʃi-/
    • 4.3The general referential marker /l-/
      • 4.3.1The “bare” referential marker /Ø.l-/
      • 4.3.2The mirative marker /waħd.l-/
      • 4.3.3The deictic markers had.l-, dik.l- etc
    • 4.4Holistic articulation
  • 5.Contrast and ambiguity in determination
    • 5.1Double determination: Adjectival and clausal attributes
    • 5.2Quantifying: Cardinality |1| (sg) and indefinite number (pl)
    • 5.3“Collective nouns”
    • 5.4Different types of semantic specificity on the reference hierarchy
      • Possession
    • 5.5Existentials
    • 5.6Intensional verbs, negation etc
    • 5.7Referential predicates
  • 6.Semantic, lexical, and syntactic constraints that do not allow contrasts of determination markings
    • 6.1Lexicalizations
    • 6.2Proprialization
    • 6.3Loanwords
    • 6.4Idiomatic usage
    • 6.5Heads of nominal annexations (Arabic iaːfa)
    • 6.6Numeral phrases
    • 6.7Interrogatives
  • 7.Comparative outlook and conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 31 January 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.20040.maa
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