[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Alharthy, Fatema: Masdar Constructions in (Southern) Arabic

I discuss the masdar constructions in an Arabic dialect, which are somewhat akin to action nominal constructions in Hebrew, and have counterparts in many other languages such as gerundive constructions in English, event nominal constructions in French, or agentive nominalisation constructions in Gikuyu. In Arabic, however, the masdar form, which appears initially as the head of the whole construction, is nominal. I provide an analysis for the different forms of noun phrases in Arabic including the special and complex constructions headed by the nominal masdar. I draw exclusively on data from the Southern variety of Arabic in my discussion. The central facts concerning the masdar constructions in Southern Arabic are relatively similar to their counterparts in Modern Standard Arabic. However, I find that in Southern Arabic the term `mixed category' should be reserved for only masdar construction A, while masdar construction B does not, in fact, require a mixed category analysis within Lexical Functional Grammar.


December 22, 2022
[an error occurred while processing this directive]