Hejazi Arabic phonology

The phonological system of the Hejazi Arabic consists of approximately 26 to 28 native consonant phonemes, and 8 vowel phonemes /a, u, i, aː, uː, oː, iː, eː/, in addition to 2 diphthongs /aw, aj/.[1][2] Consonant length and Vowel length are both distinctive in Hejazi.

Strictly speaking, there are two main groups of dialects spoken in the Hejaz region,[3][4] one by the urban population حَضَرْ originally spoken in the cities of Jeddah, Medina and Mecca where they constitute the majority and partially in Ta'if, and another dialect by the bedouin or rural populations which is also currently spoken as well in the mentioned cities. However, the term most often applies to the urban variety which is discussed in this article.

  • phonemes will be (written inside slashes / /) and allophones (written inside brackets [ ]).

Consonants

Hejazi consonant inventory depends on the speaker, most speakers use 26 with no interdental phonemes /θ, ð/ or 28 phonemes with the phonemes /θ/ ⟨ث⟩ and /ð/ ⟨ذ⟩ being used partially due to the influence of Modern Standard Arabic and neighboring dialects, in addition to the marginal phoneme /ɫ/ and two foreign phonemes /p/ ⟨پ⟩ and /v/ ⟨ڤ⟩ used by a number of speakers. Being a Semitic language the four emphatic consonants /sˤ, dˤ, tˤ, zˤ/ are treated as separate phonemes from their plain counterparts.[5]

Consonant phonemes of Hejazi
Labial Dental Denti-alveolar Palatal Velar Pharyngeal Glottal
 plain  emphatic
Nasal m n
Occlusive voiceless (p) t tˤ k ʔ
voiced b d dˤ d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f θ* s sˤ ʃ x ħ h
voiced (v) ð* z zˤ ɣ ʕ
Trill r
Approximant l (ɫ) j w

Phonetic notes:

  • the marginal phoneme /ɫ/ (dark l) only occurs in the word الله /aɫːaːh/ ('god') and words derived from it,[6] it contrasts with /l/ in والله /waɫːa/ ('i swear') vs. ولَّا /walːa/ ('or').
  • the phonemes /d͡ʒ/ ⟨ج⟩ and the trill /r/ ⟨ر⟩ are realised as a [ʒ] and a tap [ɾ] respectively by a number of speakers or in a number of words.
  • the phonemes /ɣ/ ⟨غ⟩ and /x/ ⟨خ⟩ can be realised as uvular fricatives [ʁ] and [χ] in few instances.
  • the reintroduced phoneme /θ/ ⟨ث⟩ is partially used as an alternative phoneme, while most speakers merge it with /t/ or /s/ depending on the word.
  • the reintroduced phoneme /ð/ ⟨ذ⟩ is partially used as an alternative phoneme, while most speakers merge it with /d/ or /z/ depending on the word.
  • the classicized [ðˤ] is an optional allophone for ⟨ظ⟩. In general, Hejazi speakers (urban) pronounce it as /zˤ/ or merge it with /dˤ/ depending on the word.
  • /n/ ⟨ن⟩ has the velar allophone [ŋ], which occurs before velar consonants ⟨ق, ك⟩ /k, ɡ/ as in انكب [aŋkab] ('it spilled') and مِنقَل [mɪŋɡal] ('brazier').
  • the foreign phonemes /p/ ⟨پ⟩ and /v/ ⟨ڤ⟩ which exist only in loanwords, are used by a number of speakers and can be substituted by /b/ ⟨ب⟩ and /f/ ⟨ف⟩ respectively.
  • /tʃ/ occurs only in foreign words and it is not considered to be part of the phonemic inventory but as a sequence of /t/ ⟨ت⟩ and /ʃ/ ⟨ش⟩, as in تْشَاد /ˈtʃaːd/ ('Chad').

A notable feature of Hejazi is the pronunciation of ⟨ض⟩ as in Modern Standard Arabic, a /dˤ/ that differentiates it from other dialects in the Arabian Peninsula that merge the phoneme into ⟨ظ⟩ /ðˤ/, another feature which is shared by many Arabic dialects is the pronunciation of ⟨ق⟩ as a voiced velar /ɡ/, which Ibn Khaldun described that it might have been the Old Arabic pronunciation of the letter, and he even described that Quraysh and the Islamic prophet Muhammad may have had the /g/ pronunciation instead of /q/,[7] but due to the influence of Modern Standard Arabic in the 20th century the [q] has been introduced as an allophone of /ɡ/ ⟨ق⟩ in few words borrowed from Modern Standard Arabic as in اقتصاد /igtiˈsˤaːd/ ('economy') which can be pronounced [e̞qtɪˈsˤaːd] or [e̞gtɪˈsˤaːd], or in religious terms as in قرآن /gurˈʔaːn/ ('Quran') which can be pronounced as [qʊrˈʔaːn] by younger speakers or [gʊrˈʔaːn] by older speakers.[8] The two allophones might contrast for a number of speakers, e.g. قرون [gʊˈruːn] ('horns') vs. قرون [qʊˈruːn] ('centuries') which might suggest [q] as a marginal phoneme.

Illustrative words
Example words for consonant phonemes in Hejazi
Phoneme Example Phoneme Example
/m/ /mahar/ مهر 'Mahr' /n/ /nahar/ نهر 'river'
/l/ /laħma/ لحمة 'meat' /r/ /raħma/ رحمة 'mercy'
/f/ /farg/ فرق 'difference' /b/ /barg/ برق 'lightning'
/t/ /tiːn/ تين 'fig' /d/ /diːn/ دين 'religion'
/s/ /sirː/ سر 'secret' /z/ /zirː/ زر 'button'
/tˤ/ /tˤaːr/ طار 'he flew' /dˤ/ /dˤaːr/ ضار 'harmful'
/sˤ/ /sˤarf/ صرف 'expenditure' /zˤ/ /zˤarf/1 ظرف 'envelope'
/ʃ/ /ʃarː/ شر 'evil' /d͡ʒ/ /d͡ʒarː/ جر 'he pulled'
/k/ /kaʃː/ كش 'he shrank' /ɡ/ /gaʃː/ قش 'hay'
/x/ /xeːma/ خيمة 'tent' /ɣ/ /ɣeːma/ غيمة 'cloud'
/ħ/ /ħama/ حمى 'he protected' /ʕ/ /ʕama/ عمى 'blindness'
/h/ /hams/ همس 'whisper' /ʔ/ /ʔams/ أمس 'yesterday'
/j/ /jaraga/2 يرقة 'caterpillar' /w/ /waraga/ ورقة 'paper'
/θ/3 /θarwa/4 ثروة 'wealth' /ð/3 /ðarwa/5 ذروة 'climax'
Marginal Phonemes
/p/6 /poːl/ بول / پول 'Paul' /v/6 /voːlvu/ فولفو / ڤولڤو 'Volvo'
/ɫ/ /jaɫːa/ يلا 'c'mon' only occurs in words derived from الله /aɫːaːh/
1 pronounced [zˤarf] or [ðˤarf].
2 pronounced [jaraga] or [jaraqa].
3 for most speakers /ð/ ⟨ذ⟩ and /θ/ ⟨ث⟩ are mainly used in classical words, or when trying to speak with a standardized tone and their usage depend on the speaker. /ð/ is mostly substituted by /d/ and /z/ depending on the word, and likewise /θ/ is also substituted by /t/ and /s/.
4 also pronounced /sarwa/ instead of /θarwa/
5 also pronounced /zarwa/ instead of /ðarwa/
6 /p/ and /v/ occur only in loanwords and can be substituted by /b/ and /f/ respectively depending on the speaker, but in general /v/ is more integrated and used by most speakers.

Glottal Stop

Glottal stop /ʔ/ ⟨ء⟩ was lost early in Old Hejazi Arabic period which is clear in Modern Hejazi as in يقروا /jigru/ "they read" and مايل /maːjil/ "diagonal" vs. Classical Arabic يقرؤوا /jaqraʔuː/ and مائل /maːʔil/. In Initial position, the glottal stop's phonemic value is debatable and most words that begin with a glottal stop according to Classical Arabic orthography can be analyzed as beginning with a vowel rather than a glottal stop e.g. إسورة "bracelet" can be analyzed as /iswara/ or /ʔiswara/ and آكل "I eat" analyzed as /aːkul/ or /ʔaːkul/, but it is still phonemic and distinguished in medial and final positions and distinguished as such in words, as in يسأل /jisʔal/ "he asks" or words under the influence of Modern Standard Arabic such as بيئة /biːʔa/ "environment" and مسؤول /masʔuːl/ "administrator, responsible".

Gemination

Long (geminate or double) consonants are pronounced exactly like short consonants, they occur between vowels and they are marked with a shaddah if needed, e.g. كَتَّب /katːab/ or /kattab/ kattab "he made (someone) write" vs. كَتَب /katab/ katab "he wrote". They can occur phonemically at the end of the words as well but they are pronounced as a single consonant not geminated, e.g. فَمّ /famː/ ('mouth') which is pronounced with a single final consonant [fam].

Assimilation

Consonant assimilation is a phonological process which can occur between two consecutive consonants as in /n/ before /b/ as in جَنْب /d͡ʒanb/ 'next to' → [d͡ʒamb] or [ʒamb] , or between dental consonants; /d/ before /t/ as in أخذت /axadt/ 'next to' → [axat], or /t/ before /dˤ/ as in أَتْضَيَّف /atdˤajːaf/ 'next to' → [adˤːajːaf], /tˤ/ before /t/ as in أَنْبَسَطْت /anbaˈsatˤt/ 'I enjoyed it' → [ambaˈsatˤ] which is differentiated from أَنْبَسَطْ /anˈbasatˤ/ "he was flattened / he enjoyed" by the stress, in the former the stress falls on the last syllable while on the latter it falls on the first.

Dental Assimilation
Grapheme with Standard Arabic phoneme ث /θ/ ذ /ð/ ظ /ðˤ/
Merged Consonant ت /t/ س /s/ د /d/ ز /z/ ض /dˤ/ /zˤ/1
Example ثلاثة ثورة ذيل ذنب ظل ظلم
Common Pronunciation in urban Hejazi /talaːta/ /sawra/ /deːl/ /zanb/ /dˤilː/ /zˤulm/
Spelling Pronunciation3 (based on Modern Standard Arabic) /θalaːθa/ /θawra/ /ðeːl/ /ðanb/ [ðˤe̞l]2 [ðˤʊlm]2

Notes:

  1. /zˤ/ is a distinct phoneme not a merger, e.g. ظَنّ /zˤanː/ ('he thought') vs. زَنّ /zanː/ ('he nagged').
  2. [ðˤ] is an allophone for ⟨ظ⟩ based on spelling pronunciation, not a distinct phoneme.
  3. Both common and spelling pronunciations are used in Hejazi, sometimes even by the same speaker.
  4. The assimilation can also be reflected in the orthography, so ثلاثة /talaːta/ 'three' becomes تلاتة with a /t/ ⟨ت⟩, but most writers keep the Modern Standard Arabic spelling of the words.

The Classical Arabic phoneme /ð/ ⟨ذ⟩ came to be pronounced /d/ as in ذَهَب /dahab/ 'gold' or /z/ as in ذاكر /zaːkar/ 'he studied', on the other hand /θ/ ⟨ث⟩ is mostly pronounced /t/ as in ثور /toːr/ 'bull' or rarely /s/ as in ثابت /saːbit/ 'stable'. ⟨ظ⟩ is pronounced distinctly as /zˤ/ in ظاهرة /zˤaːh(i)ra/ 'phenomenon' or merges with /dˤ/ ⟨ض⟩ in other words like ظلام /dˤalaːm/ 'dark' and ظفر /dˤifir/ 'nail'. In contrast ⟨ض⟩ is always pronounced as a /dˤ/ except in words derived from the two trilateral roots ⟨ض ب ط⟩ and ⟨ض ر ط⟩ in which it is pronounced /zˤ/.

Mergers depend on each word, while most words have only one pronunciation, few words have two optional mergers e.g. كذب /kiðib/ might be pronounced as /kidib/ by some speakers or /kizib/ by others. The partial merger between the phonemes has lead to some homophones that did not exist in Modern Standard Arabic e.g. تظليل 'dimming' and تضليل 'mislead' both pronounced /tadˤliːl/, while the assimilation of the word ثَانِيَة /θaːnija/ (second; number-two or unit of time) has made a split into two pronunciations (words) /taːnja/ (second; number-two) and /saːnja/ (second; unit of time).

The usage of spelling pronunciation depends on the speakers, for example many might refrain from the usage of /s/ as a pronunciation for ⟨ث⟩ and only merge /θ/ with /t/ in most words while keeping it /θ/ in others, this phenomenon might be due to the influence of Modern Standard Arabic and neighboring dialects. When speaking or reading Modern Standard Arabic, Hejazi speakers pronounce each consonant distinctly according to its modern standard phonemic value, and any mergers such as the merge between /dˤ/ ⟨ض⟩ and /ðˤ/ ⟨ظ⟩ can be stigmatized.

Vowels

Hejazi has eight vowel phonemes:[9][10] three short /a/, /u/, /i/ and five long /aː/, /uː/, /oː/, /iː/ and /eː/, with length as a distinctive feature, and two diphthongs /aw/ and /aj/. Unlike other Arabic dialects, it did not develop allophones for the vowels /a/ and /aː/ in the vicinity of emphatic consonants, and they are always pronounced as an open front [a] or open central [ä] depending on the speaker, and retains most of the long and short vowels of Classical Arabic with no vowel reduction, although in few words /a/ and /aː/ are pronounced with an open back [ɑ].

The main phonological feature that differentiates urban Hejazi from the neighboring dialects of the Arabian peninsula and the Levant, is the constant use of full vowels and the absence of vowel reduction (use of the Schwa [ə]). For example قلت لك 'I told you' (to a female), is pronounced [gʊltalːɪk] or [gʊltalɪk] in Hejazi with full vowels but pronounced with the reduced vowel [ə] as [gəltələk] in most of the Gulf region or [ʔəltəlːek] in Lebanese and urban Syrian. It also retains the Classical mid breaking vowels as in بَناتَكُم ("your dauɡhters") [banaːtakʊm] in Hejazi as opposed to [bænætkʊm] or [bænætku] in Egyptian and [banaːtkʊm] Najdi and rural Hejazi.

Most inherited words with the two diphthongs /aj/ and /aw/ from the Old Arabic period underwent monophthongization in Hejazi, and are realized as the long vowels /eː/ and /oː/ respectively, but they are still preserved in many words as in حيوان /ħajwaːn/ 'animal', and have resurfaced in a number of words borrowed later from Modern Standard Arabic which created a contrast with the inherited monophthongized words as in inherited صوتي /sˤoːti/ 'my voice' vs. borrowed صَوْتي /sˤawti/ 'acoustic', and inherited عيني /ʕeːni/ 'my eye' vs. borrowed عَيْني /ʕajni/ 'ophthalmic'. But not all instances of mid vowels are a result of monophthongization, some are from grammatical processes قالوا /gaːlu/ 'they said' → قالوا لها /gaːˈloːlaha/ 'they said to her' (opposed to Classical Arabic قالوا لها /qaːluː lahaː/), and some occur in Portmanteau words e.g. ليش /leːʃ/ 'why?' (from Classical Arabic لأي /liʔaj/ 'for what' and شيء /ʃajʔ/ 'thing').

Example of borrowed vs. inherited terms
Example (without diacritics) Meaning Hejazi Arabic Modern Standard Arabic
عيني ophthalmic /ʕajni/ (borrowed term) /ʕajni/
my eye /ʕeːni/ (inherited form)
aid! (command) /ʕiːni/ /ʕiːni/
appoint! (command) /ʕajːini/ /ʕajːini/

The pronunciation of word initial and medial /u/ and /i/ depends on the nature of the surrounding consonants, whether the syllable is stressed or unstressed, and on the accent of the speaker, and speech rate. As a general rule, word initial or medial /u/ is pronounced [ʊ] or [o̞], but strictly as an [u] at the end of the word or before /w/ (as in هُوَّ [huwːa]), while word initial or medial /i/ is pronounced [ɪ] or [e̞], and strictly as an [i] at the end of the word or before /j/ (as in هِيَّ [hijːa]), though this complementary distribution in allophones is not found among all speakers of Hejazi and some use [u] and [i] in all positions.

Hejazi Arabic vowel chart, from Abdoh (2010:84)
Vowel phonemes of Hejazi Arabic
Short Long
Front Back Front Back
Close i u iː uː
Mid eː oː
Open a aː

Phonetic notes:

  • /a/ and /aː/ are pronounced either as an open front vowel [a] or an open central vowel [ä] depending on the speaker, even when adjacent to emphatic consonants.
    • [ɑ] is an allophone for /aː/ and /a/ in some words such as ألمانيا [almɑːnja] ('Germany'), يابان [jaːbɑːn] ('Japan') and بابا [bɑːbɑ] ('dad').
  • long /oː/ and /eː/ are pronounced as true-mid vowels [o̞ː] and [e̞ː] respectively.
  • long /uː/ and /iː/ are pronounced as [uː] and [iː] respectively.
  • short /u/ (also analyzed as /ʊ/) has two main pronunciations:
    • lax [ʊ] or less likely [o̞] in word initial or medial syllables, e.g. فُك /fukː/ ('unseal!') pronounced [fʊk] or [fo̞k] and أُخْته /uxtu/ ('his sister') pronounced [ʊxtu] or [o̞xtu].
    • tense [u] at the end of words or before [w] or when isolate, although short [o̞] can occur at the end of a foreign word but that depends on the speaker's knowledge of the foreign language.
  • short /i/ (also analyzed as /ɪ/) has two main pronunciations:
    • lax [ɪ] or less likely [e̞] in word initial or medial syllables, e.g. قِرْفَة /girfa/ ('cinnamon') pronounced [gɪrfa] or [ge̞rfa] and إنْتِ /inti/ ('you') pronounced [ɪnti] or [e̞nti].
    • tense [i] at the end of words or before [j] or when isolate, although short [e̞] can occur at the end of a foreign word but that depends on the speaker's knowledge of the foreign language.

The close vowels can be distinguished by tenseness with long /uː/ and /iː/ being more tense in articulation than their short counterparts [ʊ ~ o̞] and [ɪ ~ e̞] in medial position, except at the end of words where they are all tense, e.g. short في [fi] ('in') and long فيه [fiː] ('in him', 'there is').

Example words for vowel phonemes
Phoneme Allophones Position in the word Example Phonemic Phonetic Meaning
/a/ [a] or [ä] all فَم famm /ˈfamː/ [ˈfam] or [ˈfäm] 'mouth'
/u/ [u] final or before [w] or isolate ربو rabu /ˈrabu/ [ˈrabu] 'asthma'
[ʊ] or less likely [o̞] initial or medial جُغْمَة juḡma /ˈd͡ʒuɣma/ [ˈd͡ʒʊɣma] or [ˈd͡ʒo̞ɣma] 'sip'
/i/ [i] final or before [j] or isolate لوني lōni /ˈloːni/ [ˈlo̞ːni] 'my color'
[ɪ] or less likely [e̞] initial or medial طِب ṭibb /ˈtˤibː/ [ˈtˤɪb] or [ˈtˤe̞b] 'medicine'
/aː/ [aː] or [äː] all فاز fāz /ˈfaːz/ [ˈfaːz] or [ˈfäːz] 'he won'
/uː/ [uː] فوز fūz /ˈfuːz/ [ˈfuːz] 'win!' (Imperative)
/oː/ [o̞ː] فوز fōz /ˈfoːz/ [ˈfo̞ːz] 'victory'
/iː/ [iː] دين dīn /ˈdiːn/ [ˈd̪iːn] 'religion'
/eː/ [e̞ː] دين dēn /ˈdeːn/ [ˈd̪e̞ːn] 'debt'

Phonological processes

The linking conjunction و ('and') pronounced [u] is often linked with the consonant (before it) or the vowel (before or after it) or for emphasis only left as it is :-

  • ِانا و إنتِ /ana u inti/ ('me and you') is either pronounced as [anaw e̞nti] where the [u] connected to the vowel before it or pronounced as [ana wɪnti] where the [u] connected to the vowel after it or left as it is for emphasis [ana u e̞nti].
  • واحد و خمسين /waːħid u xamsiːn/ ('fifty one') is either pronounced [waːħe̞du xamsiːn] or for emphasis [waːħe̞d u xamsiːn].
  • خمسة و سبعين /xamsa u sabʕiːn/ ('seventy five') is either pronounced [xamsaw sabʕiːn] or for emphasis [xamsa u sabʕiːn].
Operation Original After operation (phonemic) Pronunciation (phonetic)
Vowel shortening (word final) قول /guːl/ 'tell' + لهم /lahum/ them' قل لهم /gullahum/ [ˈgʊlːahʊm] 'tell them'
Vowel lengthening (word final) قريوا /girju/ 'they read' + ـها /-ha/ 'it (fem.)' قِرْيوها /girˈjoːha/ [ˈgɪrjo̞ːha] 'they read it'
Vowel deletion (syncope) لا /laː/ 'don't' + تقول /tiguːl/ 'say' لا تقول /laː.tiguːl/ [laː.tguːl] 'don't say'

Vowel Shortening

Medial vowel shortening occurs before indirect object pronouns (e.g., لي ,له ,لها), where medial word long vowel (⟨ي⟩ ,⟨ا⟩ and ⟨و⟩) in verbs is shortened as in عاد /ʕaːd/ "he repeated" becomes عاد لهم /ʕadlahum/ "he repeated to them" or as in رايحين له "going to him" which is pronounced /raːjħinlu/ with a shortened /i/ and rarely /raːjħiːnlu/, this can also effect the spelling of the words depending on the writer, e.g. نروح becomes نرح لهم without the long vowel or it can be written نروح لهم but it does not effect 3rd person masculine past verbs as in the example below.[11]

Vowel shortening also occurs only in few words as in جاي "I'm coming" pronounced /d͡ʒaj/ or /d͡ʒaːj/.

Tense/Mood Past "went" Present (Indicative) "write" Imperative "write!"
Person Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st رحت له ruḥt-allu رحنا له ruḥnā-lu أرح له or أروح له ʼaruḥ-lu نرح له or نروح له niruḥ-lu
2nd masculine رحت له ruḥt-allu رحتوا له ruḥtū-lu ترح له or تروح له tiruḥ-lu تروحوا له tirūḥū-lu رح له or روح له ruḥ-lu روحوا له rūḥū-lu
feminine رحتي له ruḥtī-lu تروحي له tirūḥī-lu روحي له rūḥī-lu
3rd masculine راح له raḥ-lu راحوا له rāḥō-lu يرح له or يروح له yiruḥ-lu يروحوا له yirūḥū-lu
feminine راحت له rāḥat-lu ترح له or تروح له tiruḥ-lu

Vowel lengthening

Most word-final long vowels from the Classical period have been shortened in Hejazi but they are lengthened when suffixed, as in يزهموا /jizhamu/ "they call" → يزهموها /jizhamuːha/ "they call her".

    References
    1. Abdoh (2010:84)
    2. Omar (1975:xv)
    3. Alzaidi (2014:73) Information Structure and Intonation in Hijazi Arabic.
    4. Alhazmi, Laila (24 Jun 2019). "Perceptions of Hijazi Arabic Dialects: An Attitudinal Approach". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
    5. Omar (1975:xiv)
    6. Watson (2002:16)
    7. Heinrichs, Wolfhart. "Ibn Khaldūn as a Historical Linguist with an Excursus on the Question of Ancient gāf". Harvard University.
    8. Abdoh (2010:83)
    9. Abdoh (2010:84)
    10. Omar (1975:xv)
    11. Al-Mohanna Abaalkhail, Faisal (1998). "Syllabification and metrification in Urban Hijazi Arabic: between rules and constraints" (PDF). Syllabification and metrification in Urban Hijazi Arabic: between rules and constraints. Chapter 3: 119.

    Bibliography
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