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Abstract
The R sound exhibits considerable variability both across and within Arabic dialects;
one that covers place and manner of articulation, as well as the notorious emphatic-plain
distinction. Some R phones are in contrastive distribution, while others are contextually
conditioned or free variants. This article aims to establish the underlying R phonemes
in the spoken varieties of Arabic, evidence of which is sought in R’s dialect-specific
phonological behavior: in minimal pair contrasts, distributional phenomena, loanword
phonology, and phonological processes that target or are triggered by R. Investigation
of such evidence reveals four major patterns based on the nature and number of R phonemes,
consequently classifying Arabic dialects into four types: the split-R dialects (primarily
Maghrebi and Egyptian dialect groups), the emphatic-R dialects (the Levantine group),
the plain-R dialects (the Gulf group together with most peripheral dialects), and
the uvular-R dialects (the qeltu -dialects of Mesopotamia). The analysis employs
a minimalist, contrast-based model of feature geometry to characterize aspects of
the attested R’s – such as emphatic-ness, coronality, dorsality, and sonority – and
shows that the typology is directly mirrored in the representation. This has theoretical
implications as well. Diverse rhotic representations within closely related language
varieties demonstrate that distinctive features should not be interpreted as rigidly
as is often assumed, and call attention to the semi-arbitrary relationship between
phonetics and phonology.
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