An Analysis of Phonological Processes of some English Lexemes produced by Egyptian Arabic Speakers: A Constraint-based Analysis

Document Type : Research in linguistic and literary studies

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Faculty of Alsun, Bani suef University , English Department

Abstract

The current study is an analysis of some phonological processes of twenty-two English lexemes settling into Egyptian Arabic (EA). This linguistic analysis is built upon the notion that each language has its distinctive constraints with reference to its segmental organizations and syllabic structures. The mechanisms, utilized by EA phonotactic constraints, are configured within Prince and Smolensky’s (1993) optimality Theory (OT) which is a linguistic approach composed of markedness and faithfulness constraints. Data are comprised of 22 English lexemes; the participants are Egyptian speakers. The study reveals that these English lexemes undergo certain phonological processes: gemination, epenthesis, and substitution. Gemination occurs in word mid position to compensate for the absence of CV; in other words, it adapts to CVC/CVC syllabic structures. Epenthesis is apparently explicit in the glottal /Ɂ/ to repair the violated syllabic structure of VC. Substitution is existent in /p/, /v/, and /ʤ/. The study concludes that EA’s phonological processes dominate the twenty-two English lexemes in geminating, substituting, and adding EA’s native segments. 

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