Clitics in Arabic Language - Association for Computational Linguistics
College Arabic Linguistics/Spring 2012 Take home Midterm ...€¦ · 1 Middlebury College...
Transcript of College Arabic Linguistics/Spring 2012 Take home Midterm ...€¦ · 1 Middlebury College...
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Middlebury College
ARBC0225A/LNGT0225A: Arabic Linguistics/Spring 2012
Take‐home Midterm Exam
Name: _______________________
Due on Thursday April 5th by e‐mail no later than 2pm. If you are submitting a handwritten
copy, please leave the hard copy in my mailbox in Farrell House, also by 2pm on Thursday April
5th. Delay policy applies. I will not give any extension on this midterm, except for academically
legitimate reasons supported by your Commons’ Dean. So, start working early!
If you have questions, please come to my office hours on Monday April 2nd and Wednesday
April 4th, between 10:30am and 12noon, or by appointment. You can also send questions by e‐
mail.
This exam is worth 200 points (and 20% of your overall grade in this course, so please turn in
“neat” work). The number of points each exercise is worth is explicitly indicated. Also, make sure
you answer EVERY question. There are no second chances if you forget to answer any question(s).
This is an open book exam. So, feel free to refer to the textbook, the lecture slides, and your
notes, while answering the questions. There’s no time limit, either, but I expect it to take you no
more than four hours to answer the exam (assuming of course you know the materials well).
Unlike with other homework assignments, however, you are NOT allowed to discuss questions on
this exam with your classmates or anyone else. You have to work individually on the exam. Also,
you can NOT rely on internet resources other than the materials on the class website to answer
any of the questions.
Any failure to observe the instructions given here constitutes a violation of the College’s Honor
Code system and will be treated accordingly. Finally, please make sure you write and sign the
Honor Code pledge “I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment,” in
the box below:
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Instructions: Please read thoroughly and carefully!
- This take-home midterm exam consists of a total of 10 exercises. Most exercises have sub-
questions (typically, though not always, named A, B, C, etc.). Read each exercise carefully and
make sure to answer ALL the sub-questions.
Important: Unlike with homework assignments, you have to answer the questions in the
provided empty table cells on this exam sheet. Answers given in any other form will NOT be
accepted. Please do not edit the exam .doc file or delete the questions. Simply type your answers
in the empty cells.
- You may also handwrite your answers to the exercises, but in that case please make sure you
submit legible handwritten answers, using a pen (not a pencil). Handwritten exams that are
illegible or do not follow the above instructions closely will be returned to you without being
graded, will have to be resubmitted, and will be subject to the delay penalty upon resubmission.
- Finally, if you plan to submit your exam via e-mail, please make sure to name the file
‘midterm_your_last_name’.
‐ Important Note regarding phonetic transcription: Since this exam contains phonetic symbols
and diacritics, you will need to use the .pdf file for printing purposes. You cannot use the .doc file
to print out the exam, since most of these phonetic symbols and diacritics are likely to appear as
distorted characters on your computer (unless you have the Doulos SIL font installed; see below).
You may handwrite your transcriptions if you want. However, if you want to type the
transcriptions, you can do one of two things:
(a) Either go to this website (http://weston.ruter.net/projects/ipa-chart/view/keyboard/) and type
your phonetic transcriptions by clicking on the relevant symbols and diacritics, then copy and
paste the transcriptions into your .doc file; or, alternatively,
(b) Download and install the Doulos SIL font on your computer from this website:
http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=DoulosSIL_download
Once installed, you can then insert IPA symbols and diacritics within the text of your Microsoft
Word document, by going to the INSERT menu, clicking SYMBOL, then finding the Doulos SIL
font from the pull-down menu, and choosing the symbol or diacritic you want. Click OK, and the
symbol or diacritic will be inserted in the document. Should you face problems using either
method, feel free to contact me.
Good luck, everyone!
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Exercise 1: Arabic in the IPA!
Follow this link to listen to TEN MSA words, then provide the phonetic transcription of each
word you hear using the IPA symbols. Do NOT write the words in Arabic script here. (20 points)
Link: http://blogs.middlebury.edu/arabiclinguistics/files/2012/03/transcription_arabic.mp3
1. 2.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7. 8.
9. 10.
Exercise 2: Syllabify and Typify!
The following are phonetic transcriptions of words as pronounced in an Arabic dialect which we
will call dialect G. Study the examples, then answer the following two questions.
A. Syllabify each word, marking syllable boundaries with a dot, as we did in class and on an
earlier homework exercise. For each syllable you identify, indicate what type of syllable it is.
An illustrating example is done for you. (15 points)
Syllabify and write the syllable types here. Translation Transcription
[ba.laːk]
CV.CVVC ‘attention’ [bala:k] 1.
‘a room’ [bi:t] 2.
‘little’ [ʃwijja] 3.
‘now’ [lʔa:n] 4.
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Syllabify and write the syllable types here. Translation Transcription
‘the heat’ [ssxa:na] 5.
‘soldiers’ [dʒunu:d] 6.
‘above’ [lfo:q] 7.
‘the whole’ [lkul] 8.
‘they say’ [iqu:lo] 9.
‘the joy’ [lfrħa] 10.
‘knee’ [rukba] 11.
‘he stands up’ [ino:ð] 12.
‘and’ [u] 13.
‘blind’ [aʕma:] 14.
B. Given the syllable types that you identified in dialect G in Part A of this exercise, discuss briefly how
this dialect is different from Classical Arabic/MSA with regard to syllable structure. (10 points)
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Exercise 3: Processes!
Name the phonological processes responsible for deriving the pronunciations in Column B from
the forms in Column A. If the process is assimilation, indicate further what type of assimilation it
is: assimilation in voicing, in place of articulation, or in emphaticness. (20 points)
Column A Column B Name of the process
a) /dafaʔt + lak/ ‘I paid you’ (San’ani) [dafaʔtalak]
b) /wagt/ ‘time’ (San’ani) [wakt]
c) /niktbu/ ‘they wrote’ (Maltese) [nigdbu]
d) /nizilt/ ‘I descended’ (several dialects) [nzilt]
e) /ʕanbar/ ‘storehouse’ (Syrian) [ʕambar]
f) /sˁe:d/ ‘hunting’ (Syrian) [sˁe:dˁ]
g) /latˁi:f/ ‘nice’ (Iraqi) […atˁi:f]
h) /maDku:r/ ‘mentioned’ (Iraqi) [maθku:r]
i) /xa:l + na:/ ‘our uncle’ (Egyptian) [xalna:]
j) /katab + tum + ha:/ ‘you wrote it’(MSA) [katabtumu:ha:]
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Exercise 4: Such a diverse Arabic!
A. For each squared Arabic letter in each word in the table below, indicate with the appropriate
IPA symbol how this letter is likely to be pronounced by the given Arabic speakers, based on
your understanding of Holes’ discussion in Chapter 2. Make sure to use the IPA symbols, not
Holes’ symbols. (20 points)
Word A Classical
Arabic/MSA
speaker
A speaker
from
Cairo
A
Palestinian
Villager
A Muslim
speaker in
Baghdad
A speaker
from the
Gulf
A speaker from
Central Saudi
Arabia
ديمق‘old’
قسرومَ ‘stolen’
كمع‘with you’
كأبو‘your
father’
معةج‘Friday’
B. Based on Holes’ discussion in Chapter 2, How and why do a Jordanian man and a Jordanian
woman differ in their pronunciation of the ق in the following word: قبل? Briefly explain your
answer. (5 points)
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C. Based on Holes’ discussion in Chapter 2, in a neutral context, what is the likely
pronunciation of the ق in the word اقتصاد (‘economy’) by an Egyptian Arabic speaker? In the
same neutral context, what is the likely pronunciation of the ق in the word َرقوقب (‘plums’) by
that same Egyptian speaker? Briefly explain your answer. (5 points)
D. The MSA word آثار [ʔa:θa:r] (‘monuments’) can be pronounced by an Egyptian speaker as
either [ʔa:θa:r] or [ʔa:sa:r], but never as [ʔa:ta:r]. By contrast, the MSA word ثور [θawr]
(‘bull’) can only be pronounced as [to:r], but never as [θo:r] or [so:r]. Meanwhile, the MSA
word ثالثين is typically pronounced as [tala:ti:n], but may also be pronounced in certain
contexts as [sala:si:n] or [θala:θi:n]. Based on your understanding of how the interdentals
have come to be pronounced in the modern Arabic dialects, explain the behavior of [θ] in
Egyptian Arabic with reference to these three words. (10 points)
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Exercise 5: Sometimes it’s [i]; sometimes it’s [a]!
Consider the following verbs from an Arabic dialect, which we will call Dialect X. All the
examples are Form I past tense verbs with 3rd person singular agreement. The first vowel in the
verbs in Column A is [i], while the first vowel in the verbs in Column B is [a]. Study the
examples, then answer the three questions that follow.
Column A Column B
[kitab] ‘he wrote’ [ʕarif] ‘he knew’
[sikan] ‘he resided’ [asab] ‘he counted’
[ʃirib] ‘he drank’ [ʕabad] ‘he worshiped’
[nifax] ‘he blew’ [haʒar] ‘he abandoned’
[ɡitaʕ] ‘he cut’ [ʔamar] ‘he ordered’
A. First, state a generalization to explain the occurrence of the first [a] vowel in the verbs in
Column B, as opposed to its absence in the verbs in Column A. Important Note: Your
generalization has to make reference to ‘general’ features and typical phonological processes,
not to specific sounds. No credit is given to answers that merely list the sounds in each word.
(5 points)
Write your generalization here:
B. Based on the data above as well as the generalization you formulated in Part A of this
exercise, indicate which verb forms in the following table are possible verbs in dialect X, and
which ones are impossible, then briefly explain your answer in the box below. (5 points)
[nasˁa] ‘he advised’ (a) Possible (b) Impossible
[harab] ‘he escaped’ (a) Possible (b) Impossible
[ibas] ‘he detained’ (a) Possible (b) Impossible
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Explain your answer to Part B here:
C. What phonological fact from Classical Arabic/MSA that we talked about in class is similar to
the pattern seen in dialect X here? (5 points)
Exercise 6: A stress-ful dialect!
In the table below, there is a list of 10 words from an Arabic dialect, which we will call dialect Q.
The words are given in phonetic transcription where stress placement is explicitly indicated.
Study the examples, then answer the two questions that follow.
Translation Phonetic transcription
‘a letter’ [mak.ˈtu:b] 1.
‘she travelled’ [ˈsa:.fa.rat] 2.
‘school’ [ˈmad.ra.sih] 3.
‘offices’ [ma.ˈka:.tib] 4.
‘I studied’ [da.ˈrast] 5.
‘we wrote’ [ka.ˈtab.na:] 6.
‘she put on (clothes)’ [ˈli.bi.sat] 7.
‘my library’ [mak.ˈta.ba.ti] 8.
‘he wrote’ [ˈka.tab] 9.
‘I sat’ [gam.ˈbart] 10.
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A. First, propose a stress placement algorithm for dialect Q based on these data in the same way
we did in class for Egyptian Arabic, and for Classical Arabic on Homework #2. (10 points)
Now, consider stress placement in these further words from dialect Q.
Translation Phonetic transcription
‘letters’ [ma.ˈka:.ti:b] 1.
‘soap’ [ˈsa:.bu:n] 2.
‘I travelled’ [ˈsa:.fart] 3.
‘going out (plural masculine)’ [ˈxa:.ri.ʒi:n] 4.
‘like this’ [ˈha:.ka.da.ha:] 5.
B. Does your algorithm from Part A explain stress placement in these words? If yes, explain
how. If not, modify your algorithm to take these new facts into account. (10 points)
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Exercise 7: Suns, moons, and stars!
Consider the following data from an Arabic dialect, which we will call Dialect Z. In this dialect,
the definite article is the morpheme /l/. This morpheme, however, has three different allomorphs,
as shown by the examples below. Study the examples, then answer the questions that follow.
(Note: Remember that [e:] and [o:] are mid vowels that occur in modern Arabic dialects, but they
should have no bearing on your answer to this exercise.)
i. /l + be:t/ [lbe:t] ‘the house’
ii. /l + fu:l/ [lfu:l] ‘the fava beans’
iii. /l + ku:sa/ [lku:sa] ‘the zucchini’
iv. /l + to:r/ [tto:r] ‘the ox’
v. /l + ʒabal/ [ʒʒabal] ‘the mountain’
vi. /l + ʃe:m/ [ʃʃe:m] ‘Damascus’
vii. /l + ri:/ [rri:] ‘the wind’
viii. /l + ble:d/ [lible:d] ‘the nations’
ix. /l + flu:s/ [liflu:s] ‘the money’
x. /l + kte:b/ [likte:b] ‘the book’
xi. /l + tle:l/ [litle:l] ‘the hills’
xii. /l + ʒnu:n/ [liʒnu:n] ‘the insanity’
xiii. /l + ʃme:l/ [liʃme:l] ‘the north’
xiv. /l + rʒe:l/ [lirʒe:l] ‘the men’
A. First, state the three allomorphs of the definite article morpheme in dialect Z. (3 points)
a.
b.
c.
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B. Second, state the phonological context in which each allomorph occurs. (3 points)
a.
b.
c.
C. Third, how is this dialect different from Classical Arabic/MSA with regard to the
phonological behavior of the definite article? (4 points)
D. Fourth, given your answers in Parts A and B of this exercise about the phonological contexts
for the definite article pronunciation in Dialect Z, predict the pronunciation of each definite
noun in Column A, and write that pronunciation in phonetic transcription in Column B.
(10 points)
Column A Column B
a. /l + rbi:ʕ/ ‘the spring’
b. /l + ʒa:mʕa/ ‘the university’
c. /l + fanu:s/ ‘the lantern’
d. /l + ʃahir/ ‘the month’
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Column A Column B
e. /l+ bri:d/ ‘the mail’
f. /l + su:r/ ‘the fence’
g. /l + xri:f/ ‘the autumn’
h. /l + sˁe:f/ ‘the summer’
i. /l + da:r/ ‘the house’
j. /l + mo:t/ ‘the death’
Exercise 8: Rooting the impossible!
The following is a list of some examples of roots that are claimed to be impossible or at least
very rare in Arabic.
k m b k b m r f b r b f r l l r
n θ D n D θ t ʕ t ʕ b ɣ x b x ɣ
Suggest a general phonotactic constraint to explain the impossibility/rarity of these verb roots.
Again, your constraint has to be as general as possible and should explain all the given examples.
(10 points)
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Exercise 9: Putting the root into the pattern!
For the root ل-ل-ح , provide the ten possible verb patterns, as well as one quadrilateral pattern.
Write the verb forms in Arabic script. Remember that verb patterns are given in the perfect form.
Note that you are deriving the ‘theoretically possible’ verb forms, some of which may not be
actual Arabic verbs, but we will ignore that for the purposes of this exercise. (10 points)
Root: ل- ل-ح Write the verb form in Arabic here.
Form I
Form II
Form III
Form IV
Form V
Form VI
Form VII
Form VIII
Form IX
Form X
Quadriliteral pattern
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Exercise 10: Putting the root into the type!
Assign each of the following roots to its verb root type in the table below. (20 points)
ʔ s r y b s tˁ y r w dʒ d sˁ r x b ʔ s r k dˁ z l l sˁ w w f y
dʒ l b d w m dˁ r r m ʃ y s y r tˁ r ʔ s w ʔ l f f s ʔ m w dˁ
Regular
sound
Geminate Hamzated Assimilated Hollow Defective Doubly weak
or mixed