Research Article

Gemination and Degemination before the Feminine Sound Plural Suffix in Native and Loanwords in Arabic

Authors

  • Reima Al-Jarf Full Professor of English and Translation Studies, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the gemination of consonants preceding the Feminine Plural suffix /-a:t/ in native and loanwords in Arabic, which consonants are geminated and when they are degeminated before /a:t/, to compare the conditions under which geminated and ungeminated consonants occur before /a:t/; and to define the relationship between the vowels preceding geminate and singleton consonants in syllables before /a:t/. A sample of 70 loanwords and 70 native Arabic nouns and/or adjectives having a Feminine Sound Plural (FSP) form with geminated and degeminated consonants before the suffix /a:t/ was collected from some websites. Data analysis showed that the FSP formation of both native and loanwords in Arabic follows the same Arabic pluralization rules. When a stem ends in a singleton consonant, the feminine plural suffix /a:t/ is directly added in لمسات /lamasa:t/ touches & درونات /dro:na:t/ drones. Almost all types of consonants can be geminated in word-final position in Arabic. In this case, the suffix /a:t/ is directly added to form FSP as in فلزّات /filizza:t/ metals & لمات /lamma:t/ gatherings. But when the stem ends with a vowel following the geminated consonant, the vowel is deleted as Arabic does not allow the sequence of two vowels (مودات /mawadda:t/ affections). The stops /p, b, k, g/, fricatives /f, ʃ, tʃ, dʒ/ and graphemes {ll}; {lla}, {ette} are geminated in some loan stems before the plural suffix /a:t/ as in كليبات /klippa:t/ clips; تريلات /trilla+a:t/ trailers; بروفات /proof+a:t/ professors; تاتشات /tatʃtʃ+a:t/ touches; مانشيتات /manʃitt+a:t/ manchettes (headlines). In 48% of the loanwords in the sample, the final consonant of the stem is not geminated before /a:t/ ماركت) /ma:rkita:t/ markets( due to the long vowel in a preceding syllable. In loanwords where the stem is feminine singular ending in /a/, this vowel is deleted before /a:t/ as in صالات /Sala:t/ salles; كاميرات /kamira:t/ cameras, as it is the case in native Arabic words with stems ending in /a/. No gemination takes place before /a:t/ as there is a long vowel in a preceding syllable. The study concludes with recommendation for language and translation pedagogy and for future research.

Article information

Journal

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Studies

Volume (Issue)

6 (1)

Pages

71-78

Published

31-01-2024

How to Cite

Al-Jarf, R. (2024). Gemination and Degemination before the Feminine Sound Plural Suffix in Native and Loanwords in Arabic. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Studies, 6(1), 71–78. https://doi.org/10.32996/jhsss.2024.6.1.8

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Keywords:

Pluralizing loanwords, borrowings in Arabic, Feminine Plural suffix /a:t/, morphological adaptations, gemination before suffix