The rise and fall of Arabic phonemes in Urdu Abstract (Standard ...
The rise and fall of Arabic phonemes in Urdu Abstract (Standard ...
The rise and fall of Arabic phonemes in Urdu Abstract (Standard ...
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>rise</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>fall</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Arabic</strong> <strong>phonemes</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Urdu</strong><strong>Abstract</strong>(St<strong>and</strong>ard) <strong>Arabic</strong> has diachronically had strong l<strong>in</strong>guistic <strong>in</strong>fluence on <strong>Urdu</strong>-(H<strong>in</strong>di), even atthe phonemic level, s<strong>in</strong>ce 13 th c with the early development <strong>of</strong> the latter. Most borrowed<strong>phonemes</strong> are neutralised (lose phonetic value), but some still function <strong>in</strong> <strong>Urdu</strong>. Thosefunction<strong>in</strong>g are nativised both by substitut<strong>in</strong>g for native <strong>phonemes</strong> <strong>in</strong> native words („native‟ =<strong>of</strong> Sanskrit, Prakrit or H<strong>in</strong>di orig<strong>in</strong>) <strong>and</strong> by creat<strong>in</strong>g new words; substitution is more frequent.<strong>Arabic</strong> voiceless velar fricative /x/ substitutes for various native <strong>phonemes</strong> i.e. /k/, / kʰ/ <strong>and</strong> /ʃ/e.g. ʃakʰ „branch‟ becomes ʃax 1 , thus /kʰ/ → /x/. Shapiro (2003) claims that the substitution isassociated with hypercorrect pronunciation, though his observation is restricted to H<strong>in</strong>di. In<strong>Urdu</strong>, it is not merely hypercorrection. Some <strong>Arabic</strong> <strong>phonemes</strong> i.e. the velar fricatives /x/, /γ/<strong>and</strong> the voiceless uvular stop /q/, tak<strong>in</strong>g the status <strong>of</strong> native <strong>phonemes</strong>, create new words e.g.pəʈaxa „firecracker‟. <strong>The</strong>ir role is dist<strong>in</strong>ctive <strong>and</strong> goes beyond a simple change <strong>of</strong> sounds.In a further development, some <strong>of</strong> the loan <strong>phonemes</strong> now show a reversal e.g. /x/ → / kʰ/.<strong>The</strong> loan fricatives /x/, /γ/ <strong>and</strong> the uvular stop /q/ are replaced with the native velar stops /kʰ/,/g/ <strong>and</strong> /k/. 1) Although they <strong>in</strong>itially substituted for the velar stops <strong>in</strong> the native words, ʃakʰis aga<strong>in</strong> becom<strong>in</strong>g frequent; 2) <strong>The</strong> <strong>Arabic</strong> loanwords the <strong>phonemes</strong> orig<strong>in</strong>ally belong to arealso replaced e.g. xali „empty‟ becomes kʰali. Wohl<strong>in</strong> (2010) notes similar reversal <strong>in</strong> theIndo-European <strong>and</strong> Germanic languages e.g. from plosives to fricatives to plosives aga<strong>in</strong>; it iscaused by the geographical spread <strong>of</strong> humans <strong>and</strong> then turn<strong>in</strong>g back to the orig<strong>in</strong>al areas.Although the reversal <strong>of</strong> <strong>Arabic</strong> sounds shows some differences, its data generally supportWohl<strong>in</strong>‟s claim. A shift<strong>in</strong>g back to native velar stops from fricatives occurs, but it also showsaspiration <strong>in</strong> the voiceless stop i.e. x → kʰ.1 . Data taken from general public talks <strong>and</strong> TV shows.
***************************************************************************ReferencesShapiro, Michael C. (2003), „H<strong>in</strong>di <strong>in</strong> Cardona‟. George <strong>and</strong> Dhanesh Ja<strong>in</strong> (eds.), <strong>The</strong>Indo- Aryan Languages, Routledge, 250-285Wohl<strong>in</strong>, Asa. (2010) “A 5-Dimensional Analysis <strong>of</strong> L<strong>in</strong>guistic Data” In Language. From:www.u5d.net/Language Retrieved on (22/02/2011)
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