Hostname: page-component-6898cfcb55-cbk24 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-11T05:21:48.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dual and Pseudo-Dual in the Arabic Dialects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

Haim Blanc
Haim Blanc*
Affiliation:
Hebrew University
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Almost all known varieties of vernacular Arabic are characterized by a functional and formal split of the old dual morpheme -ayn. It serves as a dual marker when appended to some nouns, as a plural marker with others; the two functions entail morphophonemic, sometimes also phonetic and syntactic, differences. Some of the features studied can be traced back to the ninth century; others are later developments.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , March 1970, pp. 42 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © 1970 by Linguistic Society of America

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abboud, P. F. 1964. The syntax of Najdi Arabic. Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Aquilina, J. 1965. Teach yourself Maltese. London.Google Scholar
‘Awaḍ, L. 1965. Muzakkarāt ṭālib bi’sa. Cairo.Google Scholar
Barthélémy, A. 1935-55. Dictionnaire arabe-français (dialectes de Syrie: Alep, Damas, Liban, Jérusalem). Paris.Google Scholar
Bauer, L. 1913. Das palāstinische Arabisch: die Dialekte des Stādters und des Fellachen. 3d ed. Leipzig.Google Scholar
Blau, J. 1960. Syntax des Palāstinensischen Bauerndialekts von Bīr Zēt, auf Grund der Volkserzāhlungen aus Palāstina von Hans Schmidt und Paul Kahle. (Beitrāge zur Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte des Orients, Heft 13.) Waldorf-Hessen.Google Scholar
Blau, J. 1961a. Ha-zugi ve-rik’o ha-lešoni ba-’aravit ha-yehudit (The dual and its linguistic background in Judeo-Arabic.) Tarbiz 30.130–8. Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Blau, J. 1961b. The importance of Middle Arabic dialects for the history of Arabic. Studies in Islamic history and civilization (= Scripta hierosolymitana, 9), 206–20. Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Blau, J. 1961c. Dikduk ha-’aravit ha-yehudit šel yemey ha-beynayim (A grammar of medieval Judaeo-Arabic). Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Blau, J. 1965. The emergence and linguistic background of Judaeo-Arabic: a study of the origins of Middle Arabic. (Scripta judaica, 5.) London.Google Scholar
Blau, J. 1966. A grammar of Christian Arabic, based mainly on South Palestinian texts from the 1st millenium. (Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium, 267.) Louvain.Google Scholar
Bloch, A., and Grotzfeld, H. 1964. Damaszenisch-arabische Texte, mit Übersetzung, Anmerkungen und Glossar. (Abhandlungen fūr die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 35:2.) Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
Brockelmann, C. 1908. Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen. Vol. I. Berlin.Google Scholar
Cantine au, J. 1934. Le dialecte arabe de Palmyre. 2 vols. Beirut.Google Scholar
Cantine au, J. 1936-37. Etudes sur quelques parlers des nomades arabes d’Orient. Anales de l’Institut d’Etudes Orientales, Alger, 2.1–118, 3.119–237.Google Scholar
Cantine au, J. 1946. Les parlers arabes du Hōrân. Paris.Google Scholar
Cereteli, G. V. 1956. Arabskie dialekty srednej Azii: tom I, buxarskij arabskij dialekt. Tbilisi.Google Scholar
Cesaro, A. 1939. L’arabo parlato a Tripoli. Milano.Google Scholar
Cohen, D. 1962. Koinè, langue commune et dialectes arabes. Arabica 9.119–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, D. 1963. Le dialecte arabe Hassānīya de Mauritanie. Paris.Google Scholar
Cohen, D. 1964. Le parler arabe des Juifs de Tunis: textes et documents linguistiques et ethnographiques. Paris and The Hague.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colin, G. S. 1960. Spanish Arabie. In art. al-Andalus, Encyclopedia of Islam, 2d ed., 1.501–3. Leiden and London.Google Scholar
Cowell, M. W. 1964. A reference grammar of Syrian Arabic, based on the dialect of Damascus. (Georgetown University, Institute of Languages and Linguistics, Arabic series, 7.) Washington.Google Scholar
Erwin, W. M. 1963. A short reference grammar of Iraqi Arabic. (Georgetown University, Institute of Languages and Linguistics, Arabic series, 4.) Washington.Google Scholar
Feghali, M. 1919. Le parler de Kfar’abīda. Paris.Google Scholar
Feghali, M. 1928. Syntaxe des parlers arabes actuels du Liban. Paris.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. A. 1959. The Arabic koiné. Lg. 35.610–30.Google Scholar
Fischer, W. 1961. Die Sprache der arabischen Sprachinsel in Uzbekistan. Der Islam 36.232–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grotzeeld, H. 1964. Laut- und Formenlehre des Damaszenisch-Arabischen. (Abhandlungen fūr die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 35:3.) Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
Harrell, R. S. 1962. A short reference grammar of Moroccan Arabic. (Georgetown University, Institute of Languages and Linguistics, Arabic series, 1.) Washington.Google Scholar
Hillelson, S. 1925. Sudan Arabic: English-Arabic vocabulary. London.Google Scholar
Jiha, M. 1964. Der arabische Dialekt von Bišmizzīn: volkstūmliche Texte aus einem libanesichen Dorf mit Grundzūge der Laut- und Formenlehre. (Beiruter Texte und Studien, 1.) Beirut.Google Scholar
Landberg, C. de. 1901. Etudes sur les dialectes de l’Arabie méridionale: I, ḥaḍramaoût. Leiden.Google Scholar
Marçais, Ph. 1956. Le parler arabe de Djidjelli (Nord Constantinois, Algérie). Paris.Google Scholar
Marçais, W. 1902. Le dialecte arabe parlé à Tlemcen. Paris.Google Scholar
Marçais, W. 1908. Le dialecte arabe des Ūlâd Bṛâhîm de Saīda (Dépt. d’Oran). Paris.Google Scholar
Mitchell, T. F. 1956. An introduction to Egyptian colloquial Arabie. London.Google Scholar
Mitchell, T. F. 1962. Teach yourself colloquial Arabic: the living language of Egypt. London.Google Scholar
Reckendorf, H. 1921. Arabische syntax. Heidelberg.Google Scholar
Reinhardt, C. 1894. Ein arabischer Dialekt gesprochen in Oman und Zanzibar. Stuttgart and Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossi, E. 1939. L’arabo parlato a Ṣan’ā. Rome.Google Scholar
Sa‘id, M., 1955. Spoken Moroccan Arabic: text and descriptive grammar. Washington.Google Scholar
Schiaparelli, C. 1871. Vocabulista in arabico, publicato per la prima volta sopre un codice della Biblioteca Ricardiana. Florence.Google Scholar
Spitta Bey, G. 1883. Contes arabes modernes. Leiden and Paris.Google Scholar
Stumme, H. 1893. Tunisiche Mārchen und Gedichte: eine Sammlung prosaischer und poetischer Stūcke im Arabischen Dialekt der Stadt Tunis, nebst Einleitung und Übersetzung. Transcribierte Texte nebst Einleitung. Leipzig.Google Scholar
Stumme, H. 1896. Grammatik des tunisischen Arabisch, nebst Glossar. Leipzig.Google Scholar
Stumme, H. 1898. Mārchen und Gedichte aus der Stadt Tripolis in Nordafrika: eine Sammlung prosaischer und poetischer Stūcke im Arabischen Dialekt der Stadt Tripolis. Leipzig.Google Scholar
Stumme, H. 1904. Maltesiche Studien: eine Sammlung prosaischer und poetischer Texte in Maltesischer Sprache, nebst Erlāuterungen. Leipzig.Google Scholar
Vella, F. 1831. Maltese grammar for the use of the English. Leghorn.Google Scholar
Vinnikov, I. N. 1962. Slovar’ dialekta buxarskix arabov. Palestinskij sbomik, 73 (n.s., 10). Moscow and Leningrad.Google Scholar
Willmore, G. S. 1905. The spoken Arabic of Egypt. 2d ed. London.Google Scholar