This research paper investigates the word gid which is used in Najdi Arabic, a dialect spoken in Najd region in Arabic peninsula. This particle is analyzed syntactically using the recent assumptions of the minimalist program (Chomsky 1993, 1995, and subsequent work). As for the findings, it turns out that gid functions as a head that instantiates its maximal projection above TP and under CP. So, this word is not a property of TP domain nor a CP domain. Due to the fact that this word is only used when a speaker is certain of the propositional content of his/her utterance, we argue that gid is an evidential head that scopes over the tense layer. Furthermore, we argue that gid has an EPP feature, hence the specifier position of the functional phases headed by it must be filled by some element which is the subject. This accounts for the fact that subject must precede gid in declarative sentences. Additionally, gid has [PAST] feature which is uninterpretable and hence must be deleted before the derivation is handed over to the LF following the general lines of feature deletion of Chomsky (1995 and 2005). We argue that the deletion of [PAST] feature is conducted through an Agree operation that is established between gid and the verb. This is why gid comes exclusively with past tense. Otherwise [PAST] feature on gid remains active, leading to the ungrammaticality of the given sentence.

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This study investigates the phonological and morphological adaptation of Turkish loanwords of Arabic origin to reveal aspects of native speakers’ knowledge that are not necessarily obvious. It accounts for numerous modification processes that these loanwords undergo when borrowed into Turkish. To achieve this, a corpus of 250 Turkish loanwords was collected and analyzed whereby these loanwords were compared to their Arabic counterparts to reveal phonological processes that Turkish followed to adapt them. Also, it tackles the treatment of morphological markings and compound forms in Turkish loanwords. The results show that adaptation processes are mostly phonological, albeit informed by phonetics and other linguistic factors. It is shown that the adaptation processes are geared towards unmarkedness in that faithfulness to the source input—Arabic—is violated, taking the burden to satisfy Turkish phonological constraints. Turkish loanwords of Arabic origin undergo a number of phonological processes, e.g., substitution, deletion, degemination, vowel harmony, and epenthesis for the purpose of repairing the ill-formedness. The Arabic feminine singular and plural morphemes are treated as part of the root, with fossilized functions of such markers. Also, compound forms are fused and word class is changed to fit the syntactic structure of Turkish. Such loanwords help pave the way to invoke latent native Turkish linguistic constraints.

Summary The earliest stages of pidgin formation show a preference for analytic and morphologically reduced grammatical constructions relative to their lexifier or substrate languages, where the apparent morphological marking, if found, seems to be fossilized. Structural relations, therefore, are mostly expressed externally. Tense/aspect categories are marked through temporal adverbials or inferred from the context. Creole languages, however, are said to develop such categories through grammaticalization. This study examines tense/aspect marking in five Arabic-based pidgins: Juba Arabic, Turku Pidgin, Pidgin Madame, Romanian Pidgin Arabic, and Gulf Pidgin Arabic. Using Siegel’s (2008) scale of morphological simplicity, from lexicality to grammaticality, this study concludes that tense/aspect marking is expressed lexically through temporal adverbials or inferred from the context in the earliest stages of Arabic-based pidgins, which only later—in stabilized pidgins—develops into grammaticalized markers when certain criteria are met.

This study deals with the creation of cardinal numerals and accommodation in Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA) as it is spoken among foreign workers (FWs) and native Saudi Arabic speakers (Ss) in Saudi Arabia. Under the Feature Pool Hypothesis (Mufwene, 2001) and the Mutual Accommodation Theory (Thomason & Kaufman, 1988), this study looks at the features of gender and number agreement, and word order of the cardinal numeral and the noun. Data comes from interviews between Ss and FWs in GPA, and photo elicitation interviews used with Ss to identify how cardinals are used in Najdi Arabic. Through the lens of the Feature Pool Model, I offer a brief account of how cardinal numeral forms are selected in GPA. In particular, I examine how well cognitive factors account for the development and restructuring processes of the cardinal numeral system in GPA by taking into account factors such as frequency, perceptual salience (detectability), and pattern regularization, as well as the Foreigner-Talk register and accommodation. The results reveal strong tendencies of accommodation and conventionalization in numeral form selection.