Structure and function in Arabic

Abstract

This thesis discusses the structure and function of the clause in Modern Written Arabic (MWA).

Description of Arabic syntax ranges from the traditional' Arabic accounts through the descriptive accounts of 19th century European Arabists (Brocklemann, Wright) to transformational accounts (Snow, Killean, Lewkowicz). This study adopts a 'lexicalist' approach, thus, while taking the facts of, traditional grammar as 'given' and transformations as one component of the grammar, the former are reconsidered in the light of recent theory and the latter is simplified. For instance, the traditional treatment of 'particles' like ?inna is re-considered; the alleged structural ambiguity resulting from left dislocating or focusing the subject is examined; and some other areas of controversy between the two traditional schools of Arabic grammar are discussed.

Within the lexicalist approach, with restrictions on permissible transformational operations and morphology being handled in the lexicon, there is a discussion of two processes of dislocation: left-dislocation which preposes elements to the left of the verb, and verb-attraction whereby constituents move from their places in a leftward direction to reach a position immediately to the right of the verb, always preserving the VSO order. Other structures like Topic-Comment and relative clauses are also discussed. It is hoped that this work will contribute towards narrowing, if not bridging, the gap between the traditional treatment of Arabic grammar and the recent developments in linguistic theory.