مجلة حوليات التراث العدد 06 2006 مستغانم

Souad Hamerlain - 38 - Revue Annales du patrimoine despite the lack of the fortis affricate tCH in MTG. A pair of qualitatively mixed phonemes such as a fricative with an affricate (CH, dDJ) or vice versa (tCH, DJ) will be oddly perceived by any phonologist. Martinet (1936) (13) - who appeals for the notion of pattern congruity - points out to the fact that the tCH sound should be analyzed exactly with its corresponding voiced dDJ in a way that allows them to be balanced in their binary opposition. This is a necessary phonological criterion to take into account despite having divergent co ntrasts. For, on distributional grounds, it is rather the realiz ations CH, dDJ that we obtained from our informants. Therefore, it is more conventional to state that the phoneme tCH rewrites CH and tCH, while, the fortis fricative CH is highly opted for than the fortis affricate tCH. Additionally, while the phoneme dDJ encompasses DJ and dDJ as its allophones, the former is mainly adopted by Mostaganem speakers who hardly or occasionally use the variant DJ. From the previous discussion, one can draw the following illustrative table that covers the totality of MTG’s phonemes. 3 - Syllable Structure: If one wants to understand what may operate in MTG at a phonotactic level, the least one needs is a unit on the basis of which accounts will be rendered. In this respect, the syllable stands as the most appropriat e linguistic ground on which phonemes’ distribution can be handled and explained. Furthermore, inferences can be logically drawn about their whole organization around the nucleus. Below is an exhaustive list of various types of syllables shapes (canons) attributed to the dialect under study. Syllable Structure Examples Gloss 1 - c v f i " i n " 2 - ccv sma "sky" 3 - cccv stha "he got ashamed" 4 - cvc hak "here you are"

A linguistic analysis of MTG A spoken dialect of Arabic - 39 - N° 6, Juin 2006 5 - cvcc hall "he opened" 6 - cvccc ma sabtch "I did not find" 7 - ccvc 9raf "he knew" 8 - ccvcc sbaqt "I overtook" 9 - ccvccc ma rbahtch "I did not win" 10 - cccvc nsbagh "it was dyed" 11 - cccvcc nsra9t "I was hit" 12 - cccvccc ma nghbantch "I was not troubled" 13 - ccccvccc ma nddjrahtch "I was not injured" One can note that MTG hardly al lows for a VC build-up. This is exceptionally found in some interjections. However, and as advocated by A. Martinet (1965), interjections are ousted from any phonological consideration. What he calls double articulation is but a reference to the impossibility of such monemes as uf? huff! or aj? aw! to be segmented into phonemes irrespective of language’s duality. The CV structure is, too, distributionally limited if one considers the main stream occurrence of the voiced palato- affricate dDJ as opposed to the system of ORSA (here, Oran Spoken Arabic), for instance, which espouses the CV model. As an example, consider MTG’s verb dDJa "he came", and his equivalent ORSA DJa. Moreover, MTG replicates this last structure on account of its meager manifestation. What one should set out, also, is that neither of the foregoing sequential consonant/vo wel classifications allow for a vocalic repeated occurrence. Besides, this aspect is hinted at by Ph. Marçais (1952) in his study of an eastern Algerian dialect (Djidjelli) in particular, and of other Algerian dialects of Arabic as well stating that: "les syllabes y apparaissent le plus souvent réduits à leur plus simple expression : ils ne conservent que la charpente consonantique et un nombre restreint de voyelles, le strict minimum qu’exige l’articula tion aisé et la spécification morphologique" (14). In other words, they are taken as having a sequential

Souad Hamerlain - 40 - Revue Annales du patrimoine constraint on the phonological plane. And even though monosyllabic and disyllabic words are the frequently distinguished types, MTG’s word s may start with a minimum of one syllable - as reported above - then stretch to a maximum of seven syllables. To bring evidence to this statement, instances containing from three syllables-word to seven-syllables-word are put forward. eg: ta - kul - ha: "you eat it/she eats it" 9a - wan - na – ha: "we helped her" ma - t9a - wad - dal - humch: "she will not repeat for them" ma - wad - dar - na - ha - lakch: "we did not lose it" ma - 9al - lam - na - hum - l - humch: "we did not teach these to them". It follows from the previous thirteen syllabic patterns that the canonical shape attested to the system of MTG is C 31 VC30. Finally, one should say that the present work is but a first tentative launched by us in the di alectological arena. One admits that the results of this undertaking - though limited in scope and confined to one area - constitute a very promising asset for further research. Notes: 1 - Regardless to its adjacent suburbs. 2 - G.-S. Colin : L’Arabe vulgaire à l’Ec ole Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes, 1948, p. 97. 3 - Stretching from Morocco to We stern Libya and neighboring African countries to the immediate South, as o pposed to Eastern (or oriental) Arabic sometimes referred to as Mesopotamian Arabic. See M. C. Bateson: Arabic Language Handbook, Washington, Center for Applied Linguistics, 1967. 4 - J. Cantineau : Les parlers arabes du département d’Alger, in Actes du 3 e Congrès de la Fédération des sociétés savantes (Constantine), Alger 1938, pp. 703-711. Les parlers arabes du département de Constantine, in Actes du 4 e Congrès (Rabat), Alger 1939, T.II, pp. 849-854. Les parlers arabes du département d’Oran, in Revue africaine, Alger 1940, pp. 220-231. Les parlers

A linguistic analysis of MTG A spoken dialect of Arabic - 41 - N° 6, Juin 2006 arabes des territoires du Sud, in Revue africaine, Alger 1941, pp. 71-77. 5 - S. de Sacy, is among the first scholars to use this word, 1810. 6 - The exceptions being Maltese and some dialects of North Afghanistan and Central Asia. Cf. J. Aquilina: The Structure of Maltese, Malta 1959, p. 30. 7 - Other areas of research include emphasis as a segmental characteristic of some vowels and consonants; as a feature of supra-segmental analysis; and as an aesthetic phenomenon. Cf. A. Khala fallah: A Descriptive Grammar of Saidi Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, 1969, pp. 27-31. 8 - Sibawayh: II, p. 285. 9 - F. A. Bouhadiba: Aspects of Al gerian Arabic Verb, Phonology And Morphology, University of Reading, Ph. D. thesis, 1988, pp. 55-56. 10 - N. S. Trubetzkoy: Grundzüge der Phonology TCLP 7. Eng. Version, trans. C. Baltaxe, 1969, Principles of Phonol ogy, University of California Press, Berkely 1939, p. 36. 11 - The other features are those of si milarity, non-intersection, contrastive and complementary distribution, completeness, and economy. Ch. Hockett: System of Descriptive Phonology, 1942, p. 100. 12 - H. A. Gleason: An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics. Holt, Rinechart and Winston, New York 1955, p. 261. 13 - A. Martinet : Neutralisation et archiphonème. TCLP, 1939, p. 73. 14 - Ph. Marçais : Etude d’un parl er arabe du nord Constantinois (Djidjelli), 1952, p. 42. References: 1 - Aquilina, J.: The Structure of Maltese, Malta 1959. 2 - Bateson, M. C.: Arabic Language Handbook, Washington, Center for Applied Linguistics, 1967. 3 - Bouhadiba, F. A.: Aspects of Al gerian Arabic Verb, Phonology And Morphology, University of Reading, Ph. D. thesis, 1988. 4 - Cantineau, J.: Les parlers arabes du département d’Alger, in Actes du 3 e Congrès de la Fédération des sociétés savantes (Constantine), Alger 1938. 5 - Colin, G.-S.: L’Arabe vulgaire à l’Ec ole Nationale des La ngues Orientales Vivantes, 1948. 6 - Gleason H. A.: An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics. Holt, Rinechart and Winston, New York 1955. 7 - Hockett, Ch.: System of Descriptive Phonology, 1942. 8 - Khalafallah, A.: A Descriptive Grammar of Saidi Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, 1969. 9 - Marçais, Ph.: Etude d’un parler arabe du nord Constantinois (Djidjelli), 1952.

Souad Hamerlain - 42 - Revue Annales du patrimoine 10 - Martinet, A.: Neutralisation et archiphonème. TCLP, 1939. 11 - Revue africaine, Alger 1941. 12 - Sibawayh: Al-Kitab. 13 - Trubetzkoy N. S.: Grundzüge der Phon ology TCLP 7. Eng. Version, trans. C. Baltaxe, 1969, Principles of Phonol ogy, University of California Press, Berkely 1939. o