Plain-emphatic R phonemes in Arabic

Abstract

Rhotics exhibit considerable variability across Arabic dialects, pertaining mainly to the notorious emphatic-plain distinction. This chapter aims to establish the underlying R phonemes (and their contextually conditioned allophones) in three different varieties of spoken Arabic, evidence of which is sought in phonological distribution and processes that target or are triggered by R. Examination of such evidence reveals three patternings of R phonemes: split-R, emphatic-R, and plain-R. The analysis, which employs a minimalist model of feature geometry, shows that different phonological representations can be ascertained through the patterning of the R phoneme(s) in the particular variety. It also confirms that phonetic criteria are not sufficient to determine the representation of a sound, and in so doing provides evidence for phonetics-phonology mismatches.