The Evolution of the B-Future Marker in Syrian Arabic

Abstract

The formation of future markers from distinct lexical sources or from similar sources under specific circumstances follows universal pathways. It is standardly agreed that grammaticalization is a process which encompasses a range of changes which involve desemanticization (loss of meaning), decategorialization (loss of categorical features), generalization (use extended to new contexts), and phonetic reduction. The paper assumes that the b-prefix derives from two distinct lexical sources: volitional (encoding future) and prepositional (encoding indicative mood, progressive, and habitual aspect), and that the morphological overlap of these two prefixes is a mere coincidence. The paper will concentrate on the development of the future marker (b-prefix) from a verbal noun of volition in Syrian Arabic. The main goal is to explicate the nature of the grammaticalization paths of the b-future in Syrian Arabic based on synchronic data. The paper posits that the verbal noun of volition has undergone semantic, structural, and phonological changes.

Grammaticalization of discourse markers: views from Jordanian Arabic

“…To mention some, Alshboul et al (2010) investigate the development of the lexical verbs ra:ħ ‘went’ and baddi ‘I want’ to future markers in JA. Similarly, Jarad (2013) explores the grammaticalization of the motion verb ra:ħ as a future marker in Syrian Arabic. They report that this grammaticalization is paired with semantic, morphological, phonetic and morpho-phonological shift.…”

Grammaticalization Cases Through the Four Linguistic shifts

“…That is to say, all the developments of each form show constituents existing in HA and thus the order of these constituents is presented according to their morphophonological features at best. This method is not so unusual; as a matter of fact, investigating the variations and changes of the language through time without its diachronic data or any written documents is impossible (see, for example, Jarad's (2013, 2017) and Fleischman's (1982 studeis, to mention a few). This being said, unless otherwise stated, the examples come from the author's intuition and/or introspection.…”