Sentence Structure



I. Write an essay on ONE of the following:

1. Compare and contrast the vowel sounds of English and Arabic.

2. Show how Arabic and English differ greatly in their writing systems.

II. Answer the following questions: (Write very short notes.)

1. Divide into morphological components, explaining the meaning of each morpheme:

looked, actress, civilization, sandy

2. Show how English can represent phonemes in different spellings. Give three words for each of the following:

/ ( / / d( / / i: / / f /

3. Identify the pronouns in the following sentences, determining their number, gender, case and person:

a) We helped him.

b) عرفتُهم جيدا.

4. How would a beginner Arab learner of English pronounce “split”, “world”, “goes” and, “arrive” and why?

Contrastive Linguistics

Possible Model Answer

Please Note:

This model answer does not mean that it is the only or the best way to answer the given questions. There are many possible variations. The answers suggested are simply guidelines.

I.

2. English and Arabic Writing Systems

English and Arabic differ greatly in the area of the writing system. They use two different alphabets. Arabic uses the Arabic alphabet; it uses letters such as the following: أ، ب، ت، ث، ج etc. On the other hand, English uses the Latin alphabet: a, b, c, etc.

The Arabic writing system goes from right to left in contrast to the Latin which reverses the direction: left to right. Arabic letters differ contextually. Thus, they may have up to four different forms. For instance, the letter ع is represented asعـ initially, ـعـ medially, ـع finally, and ع when not connected with other letters.

The 28 letters of Arabic are all representations of consonants. Each represents exactly one consonant sound. However, three of the twenty-eight can also represent long vowels: ا، و، ى. The other three vowel sounds are represented by marks above or under the letters (diacritical marks: ُ َ ِ ).

The spelling of Arabic is almost a true representation of the sounds used in a word. Arabic is a phonetic language, i.e., the sounds are equal to the letters written. In contrast English is highly non-phonetic. English has many differences between sounds and letters. Nevertheless, Arabic still has some inconsistencies as in the spelling of the words: طه، الرحمن، لكن. These are very few. Arabic doubled letters are pronounced doubly, not like in English where they are considered as one.

The wide differences between the two writing systems of English and Arabic present quite a challenge to learners of either language. The Arabic script may be more complicated than that of English, but this is made up for by the magnificent beauty of the Arabic calligraphy.

II.

1. “looked” = look (v.) & -ed (past and past participle marker)

“actress” = act (v) & -ress (doer & feminine)

“civilization” = civil (adj.), -ize (verb), & -ation (n.)

“sandy” = sand (n.) & -y (adj.)

2.

/ ( / as in she, social, education

/ d( / as in jam, gem, soldier

/ i: / as in seat, believe, deep

/ f / as in fan, phone, laugh

3.

|Pronoun |number |gender |case |person |

|We |plural |masc. & fem. |subject |1st |

|him |singular |masc. |object |3rd |

|ضمير مستتر تقديره أنا |singular |masc. & fem. |subject |1st |

|هم (ضمير متصل) |plural |masc. |object |3rd |

4. A beginner Arab learner of English would pronounce “split” as “esblit” with a vowel at the beginning of the word since Arabic does not allow initial consonant clusters, “world” as worled, to avoid the consonant cluster, “goes” with the long vowel –oo- to avoid the diphthong, and “arrive” with double “r” as Arabic pronounces double letters doubly.

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