Arabic Phonology: An Acoustical and Physiological Investigation

105 Pages·1970·4.81 MB·English

by  Salman H. Al-Ani

ARABIC PHONOLOGY
JANUA LINGUARUM
STUDIA MEMORIAE
NICOLAI VAN WIJK DEDICATA
edenda curat
C. H. VAN SCHOONEVELD
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
SERIES PRACTICA
61
1970
MOUTON
THE HAGUE · PARIS
ARABIC PHONOLOGY
An Acoustical and Physiological Investigation
by
SALMAN H. AL-ANI
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
1970
MOUTON
THE HAGUE . PARIS
© Copyright 1970 in The Netherlands.
Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague.
No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form by print, photoprint, microfilm,
or any other means, without written permission from the publishers.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 70-91210
Printed in The Netherlands by Mouton & Co., Printers, The Hague.
This book is dedicated to the late
Dr. Gordon E. Peterson whose untimely death
occurred before its publication.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am most grateful to Dr. Wadie Jwaideh of Indiana University who encouraged
me throughout my university years and to Dr. Fred W. Householder, also of
Indiana University, who was my thesis director.
To Dr. Charles J. Adams, Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill
University, I owe a great debt of thanks for his help in securing financial aid and
for his understanding and faith. Also at McGill, I wish to thank Dr. A. Rigault
and Mr. J. Frydman for their able assistance with the acoustical work done there.
I cannot too warmly express my appreciation to Dr. Gordon E. Peterson who
allowed me to work at the Communication Sciences Laboratory at the University
of Michigan and who helped me beyond measure. Also I am extremely grateful
to Dr. June E. Shoup, of the Communication Sciences Laboratory, who spent many
hours both in helping me prepare the data and in very carefully proofreading the
first six chapters.
Special acknowledgement goes to Mr. Ralph Fertig, also of the Communication
Sciences Laboratory, for his excellent work on the mounting and lettering of the
spectrograms and to Dr. Kenneth Moll of the University of Iowa both for assisting
me in making the X-ray films and for the tracings of these films.
I also extend my appreciation to all of the informants who assisted me —
especially to my brother, Mr. Salim H. T. al-Ani and to Mr. A. M. al-Mahmood.
My deepest gratitude goes to my wife for her valuable assistance in the prepa-
ration of this book.
Finally, thanks are due to the Canada Council under whose auspices it was
possible for me to complete the research work.
December, 1966 S.H.A.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF SYMBOLS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A. Figures
B. Tracings
C. Diagrams
D. Charts
INTRODUCTION
I. ACOUSTICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCEDURES INFORMANTS
A. Spectrographic Analysis of Data
1. Broad Band
2. Narrow Band
3. Continuous Amplitude Display
B. X-ray Sound Films
C. Equipment Used in making the Films
D. Informants
II. THE VOWELS
A. Allophones of Vowels
B. Vowel Plots
C. Film Tracings
III. THE CONSONANTS
A. Acoustic Characteristics
1. Nasals 30
2. Stops