Copyright

Wiktor Gębski

Published On

2024-04-15

Page Range

pp. 25–88

Language

  • English

Print Length

64 pages

2. Phonology

Chapter of: A Grammar of the Jewish Arabic Dialect of Gabes(pp. 25–88)
This chapter provides an in-depth examination of the phonology of Jewish Gabes and its position within the spectrum of Tunisian Arabic dialects, with a particular focus on the Jewish ones. Notably, the study reveals substantial distinctions between the Muslim and Jewish dialects of Gabes, especially concerning the realisation of specific consonants and phonemic vowels. The Muslim variant aligns phonologically with Bedouin-type dialects, while the Jewish dialect displays characteristics typical of sedentary varieties, like the plosive realisation of interdentals and uvular realisation of /q/. The analysis includes a study the evolution of diphthongs in Jewish Gabes, illustrating the shifts from /ay/ to /ī/ and /aw/ to /ū/. A comparison is made with other Jewish dialects like Wad-Souf and Jewish Tunis. The discussion then turns to the development of sibilants and the retention of /h/ in Jewish Gabes, features that diverge from other regional dialects. Emphasis spread in Jewish Gabes is explored, revealing variations in the pharyngealised nature of /q/ and the spreadability of emphatic consonants. Finally, scrutiny of the vowel inventory shows that it contains three long phonemic vowels (/ī/, /ā/, /ū/) and three short phonemic vowels (/a/, /ə/, /o/), with nuances in the quality of /ə/ based on consonantal context.

Contributors

Wiktor Gębski

(author)
Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Cambridge
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2577-6553

Dr Wiktor Gębski is a linguist specialising in Arabic dialectology and Hebrew. Hailing from Poland, he completed his BA and MA in Hebrew and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Warsaw. Between 2014 and 2016 he pursued Hebrew and Arabic studies at the University of Tel Aviv as a scholar of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2022 he gained his PhD from the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge. His doctoral dissertation The Jewish Dialect of Gabes (Southern Tunisia): Phonology, Morphology, Syntax was written under the supervision of Professor Geoffrey Khan. It entailed documentation of this endangered North-African Arabic dialect. The project was based on extensive fieldwork in Israel and France, during which Dr Gebski recorded the last native speakers of Jewish Gabes. For his work towards the preservation of Jewish linguistic heritage, in 2022 he was awarded the Oliver Cromwell Prize in Jewish Studies. Currently, Dr Gebski is a Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellow at FAMES, Cambridge, where he teaches Modern Hebrew and conducts research on Jewish and Muslim varieties of spoken Maghrebi Arabic. His academic interests involve language endangerment, the syntax of spoken Arabic, and language contact between Jewish dialects of Arabic and Israeli Hebrew.