Phonetic and phonological adaptations of English loanwords into Iraqi Arabic : a generative study

Abstract EN

This paper explores the underlying adaptation transformations that apply to English loanwords into Iraqi Arabic.

Iraqi Arabic dealt with in this study refers to the variety of Arabic spoken in the city centre of Basra and nearby districts (henceforth IA).

It is the mother tongue of the researcher.

The building block of this work is (150) English loanwords representing both integrated and on-line loans.

These transformations are subjected to phonological rules to allocate the context and patterns of adaptation and the resultant output.

The rating of the adaptation strategies shows that multi-adaptation scores the highest rating (56.66 %), while consonant substitution and pronouncing silent /r/ occupies the lowest rank (3.33 % each).

It is concluded that the main motive behind adaptation is a psycholinguistic motive where all the adapted forms are in full agreement with IA phonology.

No default patterns result from these transformations.

This evidence falls within the framework of constraint-based phonology (output- oriented framework), in which the transformations in loanwords are driven by constraints that are already part of the grammar of the borrowing language.

Almost both integrated and on-line loans reveal the same patterns of adaptation.

The prominent phonological rules that operate in these transformations are: vocalic lengthening, vocalic quality alteration, consonant substitution, vowel insertion, modification of syllabic phonotactics, and a combination of these rules.