Adjective inflection in Zahrani spoken Arabic

Abstract EN

This paper deals with the morphology of adjectives and illustrates the inflectional processes in Zahrani Spoken Arabic (ZSA).

Adjectives in ZSA vary according to their derivation: they are derived from lexical roots and other parts of speech such as verbs, including present and past participles.

Some adjectives are formed from adjectives derived from nouns that have nisbah suffixes.

Another set of adjectives are formed by using root/pattern rules.

Adjectives usually come after the noun in ZSA.

Adjectives in postnominal position agree with the noun in gender, number and definiteness.

Adjectives also occur in prenominal position in ZSA where they do not agree fully with the noun