The Arabic /dˤ/ Revisited: A Critical Review

Abstract

The aims of this article are to revisit the controversy surrounding the Arabic emphatic consonant daad (/dˤ/) and to examine which Arabic speakers are more likely to pronounce /dˤ/ correctly when reading from a Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) text.These objectives are fulfilled by: (1) examining /dˤ/ from a historical perspective by addressing ideas which previous scholars such as Sībawayhi and Ibn Ya'ish proposed, as well as examining various suggestions put forward by modern linguists and (2) analysing recordings of news bulletins delivered in MSA by newsreaders who are native speakers of different Arabic dialects.The article concludes that to make broad generalisations relating to /dˤ/ and apply them to all Arabic speaking communities is a far-fetched attempt to say the least, if not strongly based on solid empirical evidence.Further, the fact that even numerous native Arabic speaking adult professionals make errors when reading daad from a formal text heightens the controversy.It also has pedagogical implications for the way children and adults are taught MSA across the Arab world.The story goes beyond pedagogy to include the persistent fossilisation of the vernacular pronunciations of daad.

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