The adaptation of Arabic loanwords in English: a phonological analysis

Abstract EN

Linguistic borrowing is one of the universal phenomena characterizing all world languages.

It is to this end that linguists from several speech communities were interested in such a process since early times.

In this vein, this paper is an attempt to set forth the characteristics of the borrowing process with focus on Arabic-English borrowing.

The main concern of this research is to determine how and why Arabic loanwords were integrated in the phonology and morphology of English.

Based on a repertoire of more than 200 words, we have found that Arabic loanwords were phonologically adapted in English due to the significant differences in the two phonological systems.

Also, the diverse climatic conditions between Arabic- and English-speaking areas played a great role in shaping the production of these words.