This paper investigates whether V + V combinations in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and English could be ... more This paper investigates whether V + V combinations in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and English could be classified as either serial verb constructions (SVCs) or V + V compounds. Through applying the cross-linguistic criteria of SVC, which have been established in the relevant literature, it seems that V + V combinations in JA and what have been considered as V + V compounds in English satisfy all the criteria of SVC. The analysis shows that the criteria found in the literature to identify compounds and SVCs show a great deal of overlap, especially with regard to the fact that both types of construction are inseparable. We argue that the criteria discussed in this paper and in much of the literature to identify SVCs are necessary, but insufficient, conditions for SVC-hood. Alternatively, we propose that as far as JA and English are concerned, SVC and V + V compounds may exist on a continuum.
This paper provides an analysis of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' phenomenon found in Modern St... more This paper provides an analysis of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' phenomenon found in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) derivational processes, particularly, in the pattern ftaʕal. Al-ibdaal 'substitution' is defined in many Arabic morphological books (Al-Raagihi, 1984; Al-Galaayiini, 1991) as removing a letter and replacing it by another. For example, the /t/ in ztaha: is replaced by /d/ resulting in zdaha: 'flourished'. The paper analyzed examples of words representing the pattern ftaʕal based on prosodic morphology; an approach used to describe non-concatenative morphological processes as those found in Arabic and other Semitic languages (McCarthy, 1981). The analysis of the words revealed that there is actually no substitution of sounds and the change that takes place in that pattern is phonologically motivated. The paper recommends the reconsideration of the concept of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' in the pattern ftaʕal in Arabic morphological books.
This research study investigates nunation (Arabic tanwi:n) in Haili Arabic (HA). Haili Arabic is ... more This research study investigates nunation (Arabic tanwi:n) in Haili Arabic (HA). Haili Arabic is a dialect spoken mainly in Hail, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It argues that the nunation suffix,-n, is used to fill the position of the head in a determiner phrase (i.e. the head Dº position) when the latter is not occupied by the definite article or a personal pronoun. The filling follows from a proposed condition that demands the head Dº position to be filled by an overt element in the Arabic dialect under investigation. This accounts for the lack of-n with definite entities (i.e. definite determiner phrases, DPs) headed by the definite article ʔal, on the one hand, and the presence of-n in indefinite entities and proper nouns, on the other. Additionally, to account for the use of-n with adverbs, the current study assumes that adverbs in HA are underlyingly DPs headed by Dº; hence, the demand to fill Dº due to the head Dº condition. With regard to the semantic function of-n, the study argues that the nunation suffix creates a predicational relation between the noun and the remnant of the DP through forcing the given noun to move to the Specifier position of the associating DP. What forces this movement is the [EDGE] feature, which is part of the featural bundle of the nunation suffix, requiring the edge of a phrase to be filled.
This study explores the ability of Jordanian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to p... more This study explores the ability of Jordanian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to produce English metaphorical and metonymical expressions, using a completion task. It also examines whether the use of conceptual and linguistic knowledge of the participants' first language, i.e. Jordanian Arabic (JA) would facilitate the production task. The study adopts a contrastive model to compare and contrast figurative devices in English and JA, consisting of six types that vary in relation to the conceptual bases and linguistic expressions involved. The results reveal that even though the participants' scores were poor, the participants exhibited a general capacity to produce metaphorical/metonymical expressions that are similar in meaning to the ones required on the test, utilizing their L1 conceptual and linguistic knowledge. It was suggested that three important factors need to be satisfied to enable EFL learners to produce English figurative devices correctly, i.e. knowledge of the conceptual bases involved, a good command of English collocational knowledge and familiarity with the concept of partial synonymy, and continuous exposure to the figurative expressions in real-life English. Based on these results, the study proposes some pedagogical implications that may assist EFL learners to familiarize themselves with metaphorical/metonymical expressions in English and it concludes with recommendations for further research.
This study explores the ability of Jordanian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to c... more This study explores the ability of Jordanian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to comprehend metaphorical expressions in English and investigates whether the use of their first language (L1) conceptual and linguistic knowledge may facilitate the comprehension of these expressions. For this purpose, the study adopts a contrastive model developed by Charteris-Black, which consists of six types of metaphor to compare and contrast in both English and Arabic. On the basis of this model, the researcher designed a multiple-choice test to assess the participants’ recognition of English metaphorical expressions. The results reveal that the participants’ receptive knowledge of metaphors varied on the basis of the six types of metaphor. The study provides evidence of the possibility that EFL learners display general conceptualizing capacity regardless of their language, which hints, possibly, at the potential universality of conceptual metaphor. It also proposes some pedagogical implications that may assist EFL learners in acquiring metaphorical expressions in English.
The main objective of the current study was to test whether Advanced Jordanian EFL learners have ... more The main objective of the current study was to test whether Advanced Jordanian EFL learners have acquired the English causative alternation. To this end, we used a Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT) to determine whether the participants would be able to distinguish between alternating and non-alternating causative/inchoative verbs. The verbs used in the GJT were chosen based on their frequency in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The sample of the study consisted of eighty advanced Jordanian EFL learners, studying English Language and Literature at the University of Jordan. The results revealed that the participants have not acquired the English causative alternation (total mean=61%). Specifically, the results showed that the participants encountered some difficulties with certain verbs that do not alternate and were used ungrammatically on the GJT. We proposed that these difficulties could be attributed to the differences between English and Jordanian Arabic (JA) in terms of the semantically-based constraints that govern the causative-inchoative alternation in English and JA. The participants transferred the argument structure of verbs in JA into English without realising that the two languages are different in terms of the verbs that are allowed to alternate and those that are not. The study concludes with recommendations for further research.
The current research argues that definiteness in Arabic can be used for formal purposes. The defi... more The current research argues that definiteness in Arabic can be used for formal purposes. The definite article and the nunnation suffix-n (NnnS) manage the information flow in the sentence through maintaining accepted informativity balance. Additionally, the study assumes that NnnS,-n, is not an indefinite article. Its main function is rather to stimulate the speaker to add information about indefinite nouns. The information triggered by the NnnS is labelled as 'balancing materials', whose aim is to restore sentence acceptability which degrades due to indefinite nouns. Balancing materials can be of two types: semantic and formal. When the speaker balks at adding either types of balancing materials, the definite article is used, instead. Here, the definite article resolves the tension of adding information about the indefinite nouns and refraining from doing so. These issues are supported by empirical evidence. With this new role of definiteness, new insights into some pertinent issues, including sentence building and translation are offered.
Societies are defined by their cultures which are deeply entrenched in their minds, and thus refl... more Societies are defined by their cultures which are deeply entrenched in their minds, and thus reflected in the way they perceive the world around them, and in their communication with others. Hence, this study investigates the extent to which Arab EFL students' understanding of culturally loaded words is similar to that of native speakers of English and whether their English proficiency level plays a role in their understanding of these words. The sample consists of three groups; 10 native speakers of English (NS), 10 advanced learners of English (ALS) and 10 intermediate learners of English (ILS) studying at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. The respondents were asked to rate the suitability of seven culturally loaded words in fully contextualized sentences. The study concluded that EFL learners both (ALS) and (ILS) have insufficient awareness and comprehension of culturally loaded words. Statistical analysis of the three groups’ ratings demonstrated that (ALS) understanding of culturally loaded words seemed to approximate to that of the (NS) but still their results differed statistically from those of the native speakers. Additionally, the English proficiency level of the (ALS) and the (ILS) did play a role in their perception of culturally loaded words.
This paper provided a linguistic analysis of five Arabic proverbs taken from the Palestinian cult... more This paper provided a linguistic analysis of five Arabic proverbs taken from the Palestinian culture. The five proverbs were analyzed in terms of sound features, cohesion and lexical expressions. The analysis showed how the uniqueness of the structure and content of proverbs make them informative and memorable. The proverbs were given to 10 native speakers of Palestinian Spoken Arabic (PSA), first out of context and then in 5 short dialogues to see whether they could be easily understood when they occur in their social contexts. The results showed that 80% of the subjects were able to provide the meanings of the proverbs in context, whereas only 48% were able to provide their meaning out of context. The results also revealed that the context that precedes the proverb gives more indication of its meaning compared to the context that follows it.
This paper provides an analysis of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' phenomenon found in Modern Standard A... more This paper provides an analysis of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' phenomenon found in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) derivational processes, particularly, in the pattern ftaʕal. Al-ibdaal 'substitution' is defined in many Arabic morphological books as removing a letter and replacing it by another. For example, the /t/ in ztaha: is replaced by /d/ resulting in zdaha: 'flourished'. The paper analyzed examples of words representing the pattern ftaʕal based on prosodic morphology; an approach used to describe non-concatenative morphological processes as those found in Arabic and other Semitic languages . The analysis of the words revealed that there is actually no substitution of sounds and the change that takes place in that pattern is phonologically motivated. The paper recommends the reconsideration of the concept of Alibdaal 'substitution' in the pattern ftaʕal in Arabic morphological books.
This paper investigates whether V + V combinations in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and English could be ... more This paper investigates whether V + V combinations in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and English could be classified as either serial verb constructions (SVCs) or V + V compounds. Through applying the cross-linguistic criteria of SVC, which have been established in the relevant literature, it seems that V + V combinations in JA and what have been considered as V + V compounds in English satisfy all the criteria of SVC. The analysis shows that the criteria found in the literature to identify compounds and SVCs show a great deal of overlap, especially with regard to the fact that both types of construction are inseparable. We argue that the criteria discussed in this paper and in much of the literature to identify SVCs are necessary, but insufficient, conditions for SVC-hood. Alternatively, we propose that as far as JA and English are concerned, SVC and V + V compounds may exist on a continuum.
This paper provides an analysis of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' phenomenon found in Modern St... more This paper provides an analysis of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' phenomenon found in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) derivational processes, particularly, in the pattern ftaʕal. Al-ibdaal 'substitution' is defined in many Arabic morphological books (Al-Raagihi, 1984; Al-Galaayiini, 1991) as removing a letter and replacing it by another. For example, the /t/ in ztaha: is replaced by /d/ resulting in zdaha: 'flourished'. The paper analyzed examples of words representing the pattern ftaʕal based on prosodic morphology; an approach used to describe non-concatenative morphological processes as those found in Arabic and other Semitic languages (McCarthy, 1981). The analysis of the words revealed that there is actually no substitution of sounds and the change that takes place in that pattern is phonologically motivated. The paper recommends the reconsideration of the concept of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' in the pattern ftaʕal in Arabic morphological books.
This research study investigates nunation (Arabic tanwi:n) in Haili Arabic (HA). Haili Arabic is ... more This research study investigates nunation (Arabic tanwi:n) in Haili Arabic (HA). Haili Arabic is a dialect spoken mainly in Hail, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It argues that the nunation suffix,-n, is used to fill the position of the head in a determiner phrase (i.e. the head Dº position) when the latter is not occupied by the definite article or a personal pronoun. The filling follows from a proposed condition that demands the head Dº position to be filled by an overt element in the Arabic dialect under investigation. This accounts for the lack of-n with definite entities (i.e. definite determiner phrases, DPs) headed by the definite article ʔal, on the one hand, and the presence of-n in indefinite entities and proper nouns, on the other. Additionally, to account for the use of-n with adverbs, the current study assumes that adverbs in HA are underlyingly DPs headed by Dº; hence, the demand to fill Dº due to the head Dº condition. With regard to the semantic function of-n, the study argues that the nunation suffix creates a predicational relation between the noun and the remnant of the DP through forcing the given noun to move to the Specifier position of the associating DP. What forces this movement is the [EDGE] feature, which is part of the featural bundle of the nunation suffix, requiring the edge of a phrase to be filled.
This study explores the ability of Jordanian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to p... more This study explores the ability of Jordanian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to produce English metaphorical and metonymical expressions, using a completion task. It also examines whether the use of conceptual and linguistic knowledge of the participants' first language, i.e. Jordanian Arabic (JA) would facilitate the production task. The study adopts a contrastive model to compare and contrast figurative devices in English and JA, consisting of six types that vary in relation to the conceptual bases and linguistic expressions involved. The results reveal that even though the participants' scores were poor, the participants exhibited a general capacity to produce metaphorical/metonymical expressions that are similar in meaning to the ones required on the test, utilizing their L1 conceptual and linguistic knowledge. It was suggested that three important factors need to be satisfied to enable EFL learners to produce English figurative devices correctly, i.e. knowledge of the conceptual bases involved, a good command of English collocational knowledge and familiarity with the concept of partial synonymy, and continuous exposure to the figurative expressions in real-life English. Based on these results, the study proposes some pedagogical implications that may assist EFL learners to familiarize themselves with metaphorical/metonymical expressions in English and it concludes with recommendations for further research.
This study explores the ability of Jordanian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to c... more This study explores the ability of Jordanian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to comprehend metaphorical expressions in English and investigates whether the use of their first language (L1) conceptual and linguistic knowledge may facilitate the comprehension of these expressions. For this purpose, the study adopts a contrastive model developed by Charteris-Black, which consists of six types of metaphor to compare and contrast in both English and Arabic. On the basis of this model, the researcher designed a multiple-choice test to assess the participants’ recognition of English metaphorical expressions. The results reveal that the participants’ receptive knowledge of metaphors varied on the basis of the six types of metaphor. The study provides evidence of the possibility that EFL learners display general conceptualizing capacity regardless of their language, which hints, possibly, at the potential universality of conceptual metaphor. It also proposes some pedagogical implications that may assist EFL learners in acquiring metaphorical expressions in English.
The main objective of the current study was to test whether Advanced Jordanian EFL learners have ... more The main objective of the current study was to test whether Advanced Jordanian EFL learners have acquired the English causative alternation. To this end, we used a Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT) to determine whether the participants would be able to distinguish between alternating and non-alternating causative/inchoative verbs. The verbs used in the GJT were chosen based on their frequency in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The sample of the study consisted of eighty advanced Jordanian EFL learners, studying English Language and Literature at the University of Jordan. The results revealed that the participants have not acquired the English causative alternation (total mean=61%). Specifically, the results showed that the participants encountered some difficulties with certain verbs that do not alternate and were used ungrammatically on the GJT. We proposed that these difficulties could be attributed to the differences between English and Jordanian Arabic (JA) in terms of the semantically-based constraints that govern the causative-inchoative alternation in English and JA. The participants transferred the argument structure of verbs in JA into English without realising that the two languages are different in terms of the verbs that are allowed to alternate and those that are not. The study concludes with recommendations for further research.
The current research argues that definiteness in Arabic can be used for formal purposes. The defi... more The current research argues that definiteness in Arabic can be used for formal purposes. The definite article and the nunnation suffix-n (NnnS) manage the information flow in the sentence through maintaining accepted informativity balance. Additionally, the study assumes that NnnS,-n, is not an indefinite article. Its main function is rather to stimulate the speaker to add information about indefinite nouns. The information triggered by the NnnS is labelled as 'balancing materials', whose aim is to restore sentence acceptability which degrades due to indefinite nouns. Balancing materials can be of two types: semantic and formal. When the speaker balks at adding either types of balancing materials, the definite article is used, instead. Here, the definite article resolves the tension of adding information about the indefinite nouns and refraining from doing so. These issues are supported by empirical evidence. With this new role of definiteness, new insights into some pertinent issues, including sentence building and translation are offered.
Societies are defined by their cultures which are deeply entrenched in their minds, and thus refl... more Societies are defined by their cultures which are deeply entrenched in their minds, and thus reflected in the way they perceive the world around them, and in their communication with others. Hence, this study investigates the extent to which Arab EFL students' understanding of culturally loaded words is similar to that of native speakers of English and whether their English proficiency level plays a role in their understanding of these words. The sample consists of three groups; 10 native speakers of English (NS), 10 advanced learners of English (ALS) and 10 intermediate learners of English (ILS) studying at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. The respondents were asked to rate the suitability of seven culturally loaded words in fully contextualized sentences. The study concluded that EFL learners both (ALS) and (ILS) have insufficient awareness and comprehension of culturally loaded words. Statistical analysis of the three groups’ ratings demonstrated that (ALS) understanding of culturally loaded words seemed to approximate to that of the (NS) but still their results differed statistically from those of the native speakers. Additionally, the English proficiency level of the (ALS) and the (ILS) did play a role in their perception of culturally loaded words.
This paper provided a linguistic analysis of five Arabic proverbs taken from the Palestinian cult... more This paper provided a linguistic analysis of five Arabic proverbs taken from the Palestinian culture. The five proverbs were analyzed in terms of sound features, cohesion and lexical expressions. The analysis showed how the uniqueness of the structure and content of proverbs make them informative and memorable. The proverbs were given to 10 native speakers of Palestinian Spoken Arabic (PSA), first out of context and then in 5 short dialogues to see whether they could be easily understood when they occur in their social contexts. The results showed that 80% of the subjects were able to provide the meanings of the proverbs in context, whereas only 48% were able to provide their meaning out of context. The results also revealed that the context that precedes the proverb gives more indication of its meaning compared to the context that follows it.
This paper provides an analysis of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' phenomenon found in Modern Standard A... more This paper provides an analysis of Al-ibdaal 'substitution' phenomenon found in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) derivational processes, particularly, in the pattern ftaʕal. Al-ibdaal 'substitution' is defined in many Arabic morphological books as removing a letter and replacing it by another. For example, the /t/ in ztaha: is replaced by /d/ resulting in zdaha: 'flourished'. The paper analyzed examples of words representing the pattern ftaʕal based on prosodic morphology; an approach used to describe non-concatenative morphological processes as those found in Arabic and other Semitic languages . The analysis of the words revealed that there is actually no substitution of sounds and the change that takes place in that pattern is phonologically motivated. The paper recommends the reconsideration of the concept of Alibdaal 'substitution' in the pattern ftaʕal in Arabic morphological books.
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Papers by Aseel Zibin
facilitate the comprehension of these expressions. For this purpose, the study adopts a contrastive model developed by Charteris-Black, which consists of six types of metaphor to compare and contrast in both English and Arabic. On the basis
of this model, the researcher designed a multiple-choice test to assess the participants’ recognition of English metaphorical expressions. The results reveal that the participants’ receptive knowledge of metaphors varied on the basis of the six types of metaphor. The study provides evidence of the possibility that EFL learners display general conceptualizing capacity regardless of their language, which hints, possibly, at the potential universality of conceptual metaphor. It also proposes some pedagogical implications that may assist EFL learners in acquiring metaphorical expressions in English.
Books by Aseel Zibin
facilitate the comprehension of these expressions. For this purpose, the study adopts a contrastive model developed by Charteris-Black, which consists of six types of metaphor to compare and contrast in both English and Arabic. On the basis
of this model, the researcher designed a multiple-choice test to assess the participants’ recognition of English metaphorical expressions. The results reveal that the participants’ receptive knowledge of metaphors varied on the basis of the six types of metaphor. The study provides evidence of the possibility that EFL learners display general conceptualizing capacity regardless of their language, which hints, possibly, at the potential universality of conceptual metaphor. It also proposes some pedagogical implications that may assist EFL learners in acquiring metaphorical expressions in English.