An Innovative Copula in Maghrebi Arabic and Its Dialectological Repercussions

The Case of Copular yabda

Bibliographic Data

ID5901031
AuthorsAdam Benkato (0000-0003-4299-5205, University of California, Berkeley, corresponding author), Christophe Pereira (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales)
Year2021
Volume6
Issue4
Pages178
Publication date2021-10-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguages (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/languages6040178
OpenAlexW3210952349
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited27

Research on copulas in Arabic dialects has hitherto largely focused on the pronominal copula, and has also mostly ignored Maghrebi dialects. Drawing on published literature as well as fieldwork-based corpora, this article identifies and analyzes a hitherto undescribed verbal copula in dialects of Tunisian and northwestern Libya deriving from the verb yabda ("to begin"). We show that copular yabda occurs mostly in predicational copular sentences, with time reference including the habitual present and generic future. It takes nominal, adjectival, and locational predicate types. We also argue for broader inclusion of syntactic isoglosses in Arabic dialectology, and show how copular yabda crosses the traditional isogloss lines established on the basis of phonology, morphology, or lexicon, and therefore contradicts established dialect classifications such as Bedouin/sedentary or Tunisian/Libyan

Arabic · Copula (linguistics · Dialectology · Lexicon · Linguistics · Phonology · Verb · History · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies

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