A Preliminary Study on the Verbal System of the Syrian Dialect of Ṭarṭūs

Abstract

The present study focuses on the analysis of the verbal system of Arabic spoken in Ṭarṭūs, a city located on the west coast of Syria. The research analyses the verb above all from the aspectual and modal point of view, with hints to some traits of the rural dialect imported into the city from the Alawite community. The variety of Ṭarṭūs and the surrounding areas falls within the subgroup of coastal dialects of Syria (Behnstedt 1997) and since, as Procházka (2013) points out, they are among the least studied yet, this research may constitute a starting point for further studies and insights into the variety of Ṭarṭūs and the dialects of this area.

Keywords

• Arabic dialectology. Syrian varieties. Verbal system. Ṭarṭūs dialect