Lexical Phonology and Morphology of Modern Standard Arabic

This book is a comprehensive description of the phonology and morphology of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The description is done within the framework of the Lexical Phonology (LP) theory and aims at accounting for, in detail, the nature of the relationship between the phonology and morphology of the MSA with a view to determine the role morphological and phonological rules play in the word formation processes and organization of the MSA lexicon. Arabic, variously known as the language of the Quran and the 'daad' language, has several dialects which are spoken as mother tongue in all the Arabic speaking countries. However, MSA is the standard variety, understood and spoken by people who have studied it in formal settings and is therefore regarded as the lingua franca used by educated native and non-native speakers of Arabic throughout the world. The book introduces aspects of the sound system of MSA and goes on to discuss the level-ordered morphological system of MSA words. In addition, it provides a well researched account of the various consonantal and vowel phonological processes at both the lexical and post-lexical levels putting them into the Lexical Phonology perspective.