PALESTINIAN ARABIC
(Palestinian West Bank and Gaza; Afro-Asiatic, Semitic)		 For more information about metathesis in this language, click on the following links:
Summary:
The root shape CCVC is metathesized to CVCC when a vowel-initial suffix is attached and when the root vowel is high.
Examples
Conditions
Motivation
Related processes
Comments
References
Examples:
(See Comments for key to special characters used.)
a. Verbs
 
unsuffixed  suffixed
(CCVC)  (CVCC)
2 sg. m. subj.  2 sg. f. subj. 3 pl.
tu'-drus  tu'-durs-i  yu'-durs-u ‘study’
ti'-lbis ti'-libs  yi'-libs-u ‘ wear’ 

b. Nouns
 
fi'lfil ‘pepper’ fi'lifl-i  ‘my pepper’
mi'SmiS ‘apricots’ mi'SimS-u  ‘his apricots’

Conditions:
a. Metathesis applies when the root vowel metathesizing with a consonant is high. When the root vowel is the low vowel /a/, metathesis fails to apply.
 
ti'-fham-i *ti'-fahm-i
ti'-fham-u *ti'-fahm-u
yi'-fham-u *yi'-fahm-u
Motivation:
No information currently available.
Related processes:
See comments for an alternative analysis not involving metathesis.
Comments:
According to Kenstowicz (1981), there are data which require positing a rule whereby unstressed high vowels are deleted in addition to a rule of vowel epenthesis to break up triconsonantal and pre-pausal biconsonantal clusters.  Kenstowicz claims that these two rules are independently motivated and will derive the correct forms without a rule of metathesis:
     “However, a grammar appealing to a rule of metathesis can hardly be considered an improvement... For it is clear that the metathesis rule merely duplicates the work of syncope and epenthesis.”

Special Symbols:
V' = stressed vowel
S   = voiceless alveo-palatal fricative

Last updated: 10/4/2000
References:
  • Kenstowicz, Michael.  1981.  Vowel harmony in Palestinian Arabic: a suprasegmental analysis.  Linguistics 19 (1981).  449-465.
  • Yoshida, Shohei. 1993 Licensing of empty nuclei: The case of Palestinian vowel harmony. The Linguistic Review 10. 127-159.
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