Re: questions about Arabic

In a message dated 3/14/01 2:53:02 PM, MGreenlee@AOL.COM writes:

<< I am working on a conlang which is based on Anglo-Saxon adapted to Arabic
phonology, and I have a few questions for anyone who knows about Arabic
linguistics.

Firstly, what form was Arabic in when English was in the early Old English
stage? Was it essentially the same as Modern Standard Arabic in phonology?

Arabic has always been said to be derived from the Koran, so it's never
undergone any structural change since the Koran was written.  As for the way
it was actually spoken, all the consonants and vowels were supposed to sound
a certain way (like Arabia alfooshaa), and those who spoke have just
pronounced it differently.

<<Also, what sort of sound changes usually occur from Classical Arabic to the
dialects? I'm planning to use those sound changes for my conlang, but I can't
find much information on Arabic sound change.

In Classical Arabic, the character "jiim" is supposed to be pronounced like
the "s" in "measure".  However, in Egypt, it is pronounced as the "g" in
"go", and in many other places it's pronounced as the "j" in "Jackson".
Also, while in Classical Arabic I'm fairly certain alif is supposed to be
pronounced as the "a" in "mad", it is pronounced like the "a" in "father" in
some places.  Similarly, the dipthongs have two types of sounds.  The
dipthong fatha followed by a long yaa is pronounced either as the "i" in
"fine", or as the "ai" in "bait".  The dipthong fatha followed by waw is
pronounced either as the "ow" in "now", or as the "o" in "no".  The
phyringialized interdental fricative (I think it's Dhaad) is pronounced "z"
in most places and not as a phyringialized, interdental fricative.  Also,
ghayn is pronounced many ways.  It's supposed to be either a voiced velar
fricative or a voiced uvular fricative or a uvular trill (they all sound the
same to me), but it can be pronounced as a short [w], or I've even heard [x].
 Sometimes it even sounds like ayn, though there's no reason why it should.
Anyway, those are all the sound variants I've heard in Arabic.  I hope I can
be of help.

-David

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