Prosodic Aspects of the Speech of Marrakesh

The first person masculine singular finite form of simple Vs in Marrakesh (Morocco) Arabic is of the form [CCiC]. However, the existence of many nominal forms of the type [CiCC] suggests that the verbal forms are not regulated by a phonotactic constraint. The underlying representation of the verbal form has been variously proposed as /CVCVC/, /CCVC/, or /CCC/, whereas the nominal form is /CVCC/. Proposed explanations involving a rule of metathesis are incomplete. The alternation is examined within the framework of prosodic alternation in Marrakesh speech; the prosodic organization is found to conform to the model outlined in relational syllable theory as well as autosegmental theory. 29 References. B. Annesser Murray