Affrication in Ha’ili Arabic: A Rule-Based Approach

Abstract

The current work tackled two phonemes, /k/ and /g/, examining the phonological operations in charge of their allophonic variation in Ha’ili Arabic. The study found out that the phoneme /k/ has two allophones: [k] and the dental voiceless affricate [ts]. The latter occurs when preceded or followed by either [a] or [i], whilst the former shows up elsewhere. However, the latter generalisation falls out when the resulting allophone violates the Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP) which impinges on the occurrence of the allophone affricate [ts] when clustered with sounds with same place features. Similarly, the study argued that the phone /g/ has two surface forms whose occurrence is predictable: [g] and the voiced dental affricate [dz]. The latter shows up when preceded or followed by the front high vowel [i], whereas the former occurs elsewhere. Additionally, the study worked out how affrication feeds vowel lowering in HA.