The syntax-phonology mapping of reduplicative forms in the Jordanian Arabic dialect of Irbid

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the interface between syntax and phonology considering reduplication constraints in the Jordanian Arabic Dialect of Irbid (henceforth JADI) grammar. Drawing on a corpus of examples collected from naturally occurring speech by JADI speakers, I provide evidence that reduplication of free forms (i.e., words) is ruled by an interface condition (φ-WRAP) that demands every phonological phrase to be mapped onto an XP. Phonological phrases do not undergo reduplication when only affiliated to the syntactic structure. This allows us to account for the observation that elements with an XP status in JADI cannot be reduplicated in order to deliver emphatic readings which are assumed to operate in the phonological form (PF). On the other hand, elements with an X status are free to reduplicate, as they do not give rise to a new phonological phrase. This implies that reduplication of heads can extend the existing phonological phrase without requiring a new phonological phrase that would be, as a result, not mapped onto an independent syntactic XP.

Keywords

• Headedness
• Jordanian Arabic
• Phonological phrase
• Reduplication
• Syntax