Supra Segmental Phonology in Skaka Dialect and Its Relation to the Modern Standard Arabic

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying and documenting some linguistic phenomena in the temporary dialect of Skakans at Al-Jouf region in the northern part of Saudi Arabia. Two major linguistic phenomena: the Istintta and the Kaskasa have been investigated. The study has also interpreted and originated these phenomena taking into consideration their possible relationship with the Classical Standard Arabic (SA) and Semitic languages. A random sample of Skakan people (tribal) was interviewed through a semi-structured interview format based on a deep review of related literature. Data gathered were analyzed using a mixed methodology employing the descriptive approach to analyze and interpret these linguistic phenomena and the historical approach to trace their origins and find out their relationship with the SA and Semitic languages. Content analysis and comparative approaches were also used. Findings indicated that the relationship between the investigated phenomena and the SA was strong in certain cases and weak in others. It was concluded that this instable relationship was beyond avoiding documenting the dialects of people living around the Arabian Peninsula borders by old Arab Linguists.

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“…One is the MSA which possesses the official written and read languages, several dialects, and the spoken forms of the language. Moreover, the MSA has an official standard orthography and a relatively large number of resources, various Arabic dialects have no standards and only a handful of resources [20].…”

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“…Secondly, the orthographic ambiguity and inconsistency: Arabic orthography represents short vowels and consonant doubling by using optional diacritical marks, which most commonly are not included in the text [20], [21]. This yields a high rate of ambiguity.…”

“…This yields a high rate of ambiguity. Furthermore, Arabic writers make very common mistakes while spelling several problematic letters, such as "Alif-Hamza" and "Ta-Marbuta" forms [20], [21]. This issue of orthography is exacerbated in Arabic dialects where no standard orthographies exist [20], [21].…”

“…Furthermore, Arabic writers make very common mistakes while spelling several problematic letters, such as "Alif-Hamza" and "Ta-Marbuta" forms [20], [21]. This issue of orthography is exacerbated in Arabic dialects where no standard orthographies exist [20], [21]. Thirdly, the morphological richness of Arabic words is inflected for numerous features such as gender, number, person, voice, and aspect, as well as accepting several attached clitics [20], [21].…”