Prosodic Hierarchies in Arabic

Although prosodic processes in Arabic appear diverse on the surface, it is argued that they are determined by a very limited & constrained number of choices. Prosodic structure is based on three components: the syllable, the foot, & the word, & consists of three hierarchical structures: a segmental hierarchy represented in the form of a sonority "ladder," a hierarchy at the syllabic level, & a hierarchy at the level of the foot. This structure can be represented in the form of a prosodic grid. The interaction of the different hierarchies in the production of surface prosodic patterns is illustrated for different Arabic dialects. It is shown that a unified treatment of accent, segment elimination, & vocalic reduction for various Arabic dialects is possible given a hierarchical approach. A set of general phonological principles are seen to operate, independent of the individual grammars of the dialects. Modified HA