This English vowel is very close to AA /ii/, so it is realised as such in the overwhelming majority of cases as shown in (35).
(35) bikini bikkiini
camellia kamiilya
cheetah ʃiita
diesel diizil
heater hiitar
113
(36) a) chimpanzee ʃambɑɑzi
b) kiwi kiiwi
c) chenille ʃanil
d) jeans dʒinz
e) neon nijun
f) keyboard kiboord
Shortening in (36a-b) can be attributed to a tendency in AA that shortens unstressed open long syllables word-finally while shortening in (36c-d) could be accounted for in terms of foot-binarity (see §3.2.7.2.3 below). However, shortening in (36e-f) is a postlexical process whereby long vowels are shortened before stressed ones (cf. Watson 2002 for Cairene Arabic), which I will call pretonic long vowel shortening in §3.2.7.2.3. This is corroborated by the fact that ‗keyboard‘ is produced with a long vowel by some informants. Finally, it is realised as [a] in ‗between‘ to fit into the prosodic verb template in AA.
3.2.2.2 Adaptation of /u:/
AA has a very close counterpart to the English long high vowel /u:/. Of the 50 occurrences of this vowel in the corpus, unexpectedly only 19 cases are adapted into AA [uu]. In 13 cases, its length is maintained but lowered to [oo]. Illustrative examples are given in (37).
(37) a) /u:/ > uu cooler kuular roof ruuf shoot ʃuut tattoo tattuu b) /u:/ > oo boot boot cruiser kroozar nougat nooga routine rootiin
It is shortened either to [u] or to [o] in 13 other cases. On the face of it, this suggests that the process is not phonological. On closer inspection it is found that shortening,
114
as well as lengthening, as will be shown in §3.2.7.1 and §3.2.7.2, is invoked to satisfy prosodic constraints. This is consistent with Paradis & LaCharite‘s (1997) observation that faithfulness to higher phonological levels is more crucial than to lower levels. So shortening here results from pretonic long vowel shortening, as in kuboon ‗coupon‘ or from final long vowel shortening in open syllables, as in ‗shampoo‘. See §3.2.7.2 for more details.
3.2.2.3 Adaptation of /ɑ:/
This low back long vowel has an allophonic counterpart in AA, i.e. /ɑɑ/, which is found in emphatic contexts.39
31 out of 47 cases are adapted as either [aa] or [ɑɑ] or sometimes with both realisations for the same form by different informants. This is again related to the tendency of de-emphasis among AA speakers. Some examples are shown in (38).
(38) a) collage kullaadʒ
kata kaata
massage masaadʒ ~ massaadʒ
montage muntaadʒ
b) caviar kavjaar
plaster blaastar
x-large ʔiks laardʒ
starter staartar
c) bravo brɑɑvu
fibreglass fiibɑriglɑɑṣ
hard luck hɑɑrd lɑkk
pass bɑɑṣ
The examples in (a) are always realised with [aa] with no free variation with a front vowel among all informants. However, the examples in (b) are produced with a front vowel by some informants and with a back vowel by others. Backing could be an attempt by borrowers to map the vowel faithfully or a case of coarticulation from the
39
Note that in American English this phoneme is pronounced as a front /æ/ in many cases --a fact that might affect the adaptation process if the word enters the dialect through American English, which is probable due to American influence in Jordan especially through the cinema.
115
rhotic sound or the velar voiceless stop. Finally, the examples in (c) are always produced with a back vowel. This is very much related to emphasis in AA (see §3.1.2.1).
/ɑ:/ undergoes shortening in 15 cases, of which 14 cases show shortening to [a] so it keeps its height feature while sacrificing its backness. Again, the majority of these shortening cases are due to foot-binarity, as in ‗carbon‘, ‗carburettor‘ and casket‘. In
two cases, shortening is attributed to long vowel shortening word-finally in open syllables, as in kaata ‗kata‘ and nooga ‗nougat‘.
Finally, it is realised as [ee] in ‗derby‘ by all informants. This could be attributed to spelling or to American English pronunciation where it is pronounced with the central long vowel /ɜː/.
3.2.2.4 Adaptation of /ɔː/
This vowel is close to the mid long vowel that results from monophthongising the diphthong /aw/ in AA. It appears 21 times in the source words, of which 11 cases are mapped faithfully into [oo] as shown in (39).
(39) corner koornar
folklore fulukloor
mall mool
In the other cases it is shortened to [o]. Similarly, shortening is attributed to the same factors that apply to /u:/ and / ɑ:/ above. Some illustrative examples are given in (40).
(40) cortisone k[o]rtizoon
exhaust ʔigz[o]st
seesaw siis[o]
short ʃ[o]rṭ
3.2.2.5 Adaptation of /ɜː/
This central vowel appears 10 times only. It is realised as [ee] in six words such as ‗earth‘, ‗nurse‘ and ‗thermos‘. It is shortened into [u] in two words, namely ‗hamburger‘ and ‗jersey‘ while it shortens to [a] in ‗service‘ and to [i] in ‗surf‘. The
116
the adaptation of ‗hamburger‘. For ‗jersey‘ it seems plausible that the affricate /dʒ/ induces rounding as this phoneme has a rounding enhancement feature in English (Hoole & Honda 2011). The same could be argued for AA as some native words in AA have a round vowel following /dʒ/. For example, the adjective dʒiʕaan ‗hungry m.s‘ appears as dʒuʕaan among many AA speakers.
3.2.3 Adaptation of diphthongs
It is expected that the least faithful mapping of vowels in the adaptation process will belong to diphthongs. British English has eight diphthongs in addition to triphthongs. In contrast, AA has only two diphthongs that undergo monophthongisation most of the time. I assume here that a diphthong is more marked than a monophthong and therefore if the adaptation process leads to monophthongisation then it is geared toward unmarkedness. The corpus shows that this is the case as only 24% of diphthongs are realised as diphthongs. All these cases relate to three diphthongs only, namely /aɪ/, /aʊ/ and /ɔɪ/.40 This is not surprising given that the first two diphthongs have AA counterparts. In addition, these three are heterogeneous diphthongs that have extreme aperture between the two vocalic elements, which makes them perceptually and phonetically less marked.
3.2.3.1 Adaptation of /ɪə/
The diphthong /ɪə/ appears 12 times, all of which are monophthongised. It is realised as [ii] retaining the quality of the first member in five words, namely ‗cafeteria‘,
‗cashier‘, ‗gear‘, ‗steering‘ and ‗stereo‘. Glide formation is attested in the other forms,
which is due to reanalysing the V-V formant transitions (Blevins 2004: 166). The glide is either followed by the short vowel [a] or [u] depending on spelling, or by the long vowel [aa] in two forms that receive stress on that long vowel. Some illustrative examples are given in (41).
(41) cafeteria kaftiirja mafia maafja pancreas bankirjaas valium vaaljum 40
Note that these are true diphthongs in American English, where some loanwords might have come from.
117 3.2.3.2Adaptation of /eə/41
It appears six times and it is always realised as a long monophthong followed by [r], i.e. [eer]. The monophthongisation process is faithful to length and retains the quality of the first high member. It also shows variation for two forms only where the vowel seems to be shorter in ‗airbus‘ and ‗airbag‘. The other four words are given in (42).
(42) billionaire biljuneer
millionaire maljuneer
spare sbeer
tupperware ṭɑbɑrweer
3.2.3.3 Adaptation of /ʊə/
This is one of the least common diphthongs in the corpus. It appears in four loanwords only and undergoes monophthongisation across the board. It also undergoes shortening in one form, namely ‗fluoride‘ yielding [u] while in the other forms it is realised as a long [ii] or [ee] followed by the rhotic consonant, as in manakiir ‗manicure‘ and kwaafeer ‗coiffure‘.
3.2.3.4 Adaptation of /əʊ/
In 63% of cases (31/49) it is shortened. It appears as [u] or its allophone [o] in 30 forms. All these shortening processes are attributed to the same factors that account for shortening above.
(43) a. shortening word-finally
bravo brɑɑv[o]
disco diisk[o]
lego liig[o]
b. shortening for foot-binarity
flow master fulumɑɑstɑr
manifold manavult
c. pretonic long vowel shortening
41
Although the Oxford dictionary differentiates between /ɛː/ in ‗billionaire‘ and the diphthong /eə/ in ‗airbag‘, I will follow the mainstream transcription and treat them as diphthongs as there are only a few cases of both.
118
mobile m[o]bajl
ozone ʔuzoon
sonar sunaar
Moreover, its length is maintained but its gliding movement is dispensed with in 17 cases where it is realised as [oo], as in ‗control‘ and ‗remote‘. In almost all these 17 forms stress falls on the long vowel which forms the rightmost foot in the word (see §5.1.4 for stress assignment). This indicates that a loanword that has a potential stress carrier in AA, i.e. it has a heavy syllable that occurs at the right edge of the word, its vowel would be more likely preserved. However, the three words that are not stressed, namely ‗mobile‘, ‗ozone‘ and ‗protein‘, are followed by a potential stress carrier in AA and hence unstressed. Also they undergo shortening by some informants.
It is also realised as [uu] in one word, i.e. ‗mauve‘ and it shortens to [a] in another word, i.e. ‗motor > matoor. The latter form is spelt in Arabic with a long /aa/ so it could be that it is adapted as [aa] in AA and shortening applies postlexically due to pretonic long vowel shortening.
In almost all cases, the quality of the monophthong is governed by the round member of the source diphthong, unlike the previous cases where the first member determines the quality of the resulting diphthong. This suggests that the quality of the adapted monophthong is determined by robustness, where the schwa is weaker than other vowels.
3.2.3.5 Adaptation of /aʊ/
It appears 10 times in the corpus.42 It is adapted as [aw] in seven loanwords such as ‗counter‘ and ‗foul‘. In two words it undergoes shortening. In ‗cowboy‘ it shortens to [a] due to pretonic long vowel shortening and in ‗roundel‘ it shortens to [u] due to foot-binarity. It is monophthongised into [oo] only in ʔoonṣɑ ‗ounce‘.
3.2.3.6 Adaptation of /eɪ/
It appears 47 times in the corpus and it is always monophthongised where the first vocalic element usually determines the quality of the coalesced vowel. Interestingly, no glide formation is attested in the adaptation of this diphthong at all. It is realised as
42
119
a long vowel in 23 loanwords where the closest AA vowel, [ee], appears. A few examples are shown in (44).
(44) cake keek
laser leezar
trailer treella
wafer weevar
In five loanwords, e.g. ‗prostate‘ and ‗stainless‘, it is realised as [aa] and it receives stress. Its length is maintained in three more cases where it is realised as [ii], as in kukaʔiin ‗cocaine‘. For the remaining 17 loanwords it is shortened into [i], [a], [u] or [e] as shown in (45).
(45) a. /eɪ/ > [i]
cornflakes kurnifliks ~ koornifliks
cakes kiks
range rindʒ
b. /eɪ/ > [a]
grapefruit karafoot
patron batroon[e]
baking powder bakimbawdar
c. /eɪ/ > [u] baby bubu radiator rudeetar regime rudʒiim d. /eɪ/ > [e] fabricate fabrak[e]
Its shortening can be ascribed to the reasons that apply to shortening in general (see §3.2.7.2). However, the choice between short vowels requires some comment. It is noticed that the diphthong shortens to [i] if it appears in a closed syllable while to [a] in an open syllable. This might relate to two phonological reasons. The first relates to the syncope rule that affects high vowels in open syllables in AA and the second relates to sonority and weight. As [a] is more sonorous than [i], it seems that AA tends
120
to use a strengthening process as an open syllable with /a/ in the nucleus is stronger than that with /i/ (cf. Farwaneh 2009: 104; Gordon 2011a: 929).
For [u], it is a result of labial harmony in ‗baby‘ and the effect of /r/ and probably /dʒ/ in the other examples. The last example in (d) shows a morphological effect where the consonants of the English verb are extrapolated to make a noun according to AA morphological templates. The extra fifth consonant /t/ is deleted and the feminine suffix marker appears as [e].
3.2.3.7 Adaptation of /aɪ/
This diphthong appears 29 times. Faithfulness to its length is extraordinarily maintained as it undergoes shortening in two forms only, namely ‗biology‘, and ‗niagara‘. Also, its gliding quality is preserved in 21 cases. This could be attributed to three factors. First, it has an AA counterpart. Second, its vocalic elements have a very wide aperture that makes it less marked. Finally, the majority of words containing this diphthong are less familiar words to lay people (most of them have an Arabic equivalent). In fact, many of which are recent borrowings, e.g. ‗antivirus‘, ‗bye‘, ‗mobile‘ and ‗off side‘. More examples are given in (46).
(46) carbohydrate karbuhajdraat
microscope majkruskoob
minus majnus
topsider tubsajdar
It is realised as a long monophthong in five words, namely ‗archive‘, ‗cyanide‘, ‗fibreglass‘, ‗primus‘ and ‗siphon‘. Finally, it shortens to either [i] or [u] in ‗biology‘ and to [i] or [a] followed by a glide in ‗niagara‘ > n(a/i)yaagra.
It is deleted in only one word, namely bulistriin ‗polystyrene‘. Apparently, it is
syncopated by borrowers assuming that it is a short high vowel due to spelling.
3.2.3.8 Adaptation of /ɔɪ/
This vowel is also rare in the corpus and appears six times. Again, all these cases are realised as [oj], as in ‗coil‘, ‗cowboy‘ and ‗boiler‘. The same factors that apply to
121
retaining the diphthong /ai/ above could account for preserving this diphthong as well.43
To summarize, English diphthongs are monophthongised in the majority of cases while faithfulness to length is mostly respected unless overridden by metrical constraints. As has been shown, coalescence tends to be determined by two factors: robustness where the quality of the schwa is lost and position where the first vocalic member determines the quality. This is not surprising given that the first vocalic part in the source diphthong is longer and stronger than the second part (Roach 2000: 20).