ERIC Number: EJ1325467
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1305-578X
EISSN: N/A
Prosodic Correlates and Pragmatic Functions of the Particle [pharyngealized t]ayb in Spoken Saudi Arabic
Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, v17 n4 p1932-1955 2021
This study describes the prosodic and functional patterns of the particle "t?ayb[superscript 2]" in Spoken Saudi Arabic (SSA; the variety of Arabic spoken in Saudi Arabia) through phonetic and conversational analysis. This particle, literally meaning "good/well/okay," is one of the most common spoken particles used in SSA. Data were collected by recording four hours of oral spontaneous speech produced by five Saudi speakers. The findings reveal that, structurally, the particle "t?ayb" can occur independently before questions and before negative and affirmative statements. Moreover, its meaning depends on its context and, sometimes, prosody. The particle is identified 109 times in the corpus, and consistently occupies an initial (i.e., turn-initial) but not a medial or final position. The results provide the pragmatic functions and the prosody of the particle "t?ayb" as well as the participants' use frequency of such functions. "T?ayb" conveys nine pragmatic functions in the data, which are listed in order from the most frequent (i.e., turn-taking marker) to the least frequent use (i.e., request for patience). From a phonetic perspective, the results show different patterns in the production of the particle "t?ayb"; it may show an almost flat contour with medium length, as in the functions representing (turn-taking, change and close topic); a sharp rising/falling contour with medium length, particularly with the functions conveying (reproach and refusal); or a high contour that decreases gradually with long duration, as found in the particle marking "be patient or showing little/no importance."
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Suprasegmentals, Semitic Languages, Dialects, Language Usage, Oral Language, Pragmatics, Semantics, Intonation, Form Classes (Languages)
Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies. Hacettepe Universitesi, Egitim Fakultesi B Blok, Yabanci Diller Egitimi Bolumu, Ingiliz Dili Egitimi Anabilim Dali, Ankara 06800, Turkey. e-mail: jllsturkey@gmail.com; Web site: http://www.jlls.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Saudi Arabia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A