LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 10 : 3 March 2010
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
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         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
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         K. Karunakaran, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.

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Case-Assignment under Government in Modern Literary Arabic

Islam Al-Momani, Ph. D.


Abstract

This paper aims at finding how "Case-Assignment" is tackled under the notion "Government" in Arabic from the traditional Arab grammarians' grammatical analyses. Its purpose, also, is to argue that case-assignment in Arabic can be assigned under government and thus, this paper adopts the Government and Binding (GB) theory developed in Chomsky (1981, 1982, 1986b) but not Chomsky's "Minimalist theory" (1993 and 1995) because case-assignment is not assigned anymore under the notion "government" but under "Checking theory" in terms of morphological features checking between case assigners and case assignees. Thus, the minimalist theory is excluded here.

The basic part of this article is to argue the views of the traditional Arab grammarians concerning case and government. The paper aims at finding out whether the views of the Arab grammarians are compatible with the recent thinking in linguistics i.e., GB theory or both of these approaches are inadequate for case assignment in Arabic. This paper argues through its data analysis that a number of rules to handle case-assignment are to be proposed.

1. Objectives

The main objective of this paper is to examine case-assignment in Arabic in the light of both: the generative syntactic theory developed by Chomsky -viz, Government and Binding theory and the traditional Arab grammarians. It also throws light on the nature of the word order in Arabic to see whether Arabic is a configurational language i.e. is it restricted to one basic word order i.e., (VSO) or it's a non-configurational language i.e. does it allow elements to move from one place into another? And if yes what is the nature of this movement.

2. Methodology

With a view to pursuing the objectives of this research to a logical end, the researcher has attempted several and complex systems of methodology. The following methods have been applied: historical, descriptive, empirical, comparative, and analytical Historical and descriptive methods have been applied to obtain a historical background and record a descriptive analysis of case- assignment in Arabic.

An empirical method has helped in data analysis and the inclusion of the data (sentences) obtained from personal discussions with a cross-section of native speakers, grammarians, and professors of Arabic language. A comparative method has been applied to analyze case assignment in Arabic and compare it to that found in English to present the similarities and differences between them when necessary. An analytical method has been followed to analyze all relevant data (sentences) from which we have defined the terms exercised the supervision of this research.

3. Hypothesis

The research is designed to analyze the notions: "Government" and "Case Assignment in Arabic" in the light of both: the traditional Arab grammarians and the generative syntactic theory developed by Chomsky, viz, Government and Binding theory. In order to evaluate the explanatory and adequacy of these two approaches, this research is based on whether case-assignment in Arabic is satisfying both views or not. If not, can we explain case-assignment in Arabic with the help of some modifications.


This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.


The Linguistics of Newspaper Advertising in Nigeria | Women in Advertisements | Case-Assignment Under Government in Modern Literary Arabic | Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Very Young Learners: A Case from Turkey | Association of Self Fashioning and Circumstances in Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin | A Moral Lesson, Amoral Lesion - Sharon Pollock's The Komagata Maru Incident | Pariksha: Test by Prem Chand | Treatment of City in Nayantara Sahgal's Storm in Chandigarh | Phrasal Stress in Telugu | Stress Among ELT Teachers: A Study of Performance Evaluation from a Private Secondary School in Haryana | Willa Cather’s Portrayal of the Pioneer Virtues in Alexandra Bergson with Reference to O Pioneers! | Man-Woman Relationship in Nayantara Sahgal's Mistaken Identity | Classroom Management and Quality Control - An Action Research | Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha - A Dualist Spiritual Journey | Impact of Dramatics on Composition Skills of Secondary School English Language Learners in Pakistan | Narrative Technique, Language and Style in R. K. Narayan's Works | Diasporic Crisis of Dual Identity in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake | To Teach or Not to Teach Grammar isn't the Question Any Longer - A Case for Consciousness-Raising Tasks | Cognitive Flexibility in Children with Learning Disability | Coda Deletion in Yemeni Tihami Dialect (YTD)- Autosegmental Analysis | The Enigmatic Maya in Anita Desai's
Cry, The Peacock
| Developing an English Curriculum for a Premedical Program | The Ties of Kinship in Rohinton Mistry's Novels | Indian English: A Linguistic Reality | The Unpredictability of the Sonority of English Words | Women's Representation in Polity: A Need to Enhance Their Participation | Nandhini Oza's Concern for the Tribal Welfare in "The Dam Shall Not Be Built" | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF MARCH 2010 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT | HOME PAGE of March 2010 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR


Islam Al-Momani, Ph. D.
Al-Hussein Bin Talal University
Jordan
almomani_islam@yahoo.com

 
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