The Acquisition of /r/ in Iraqi Arabic

Authors

  • Fuad Jassim Mohammed Department of English, College of Education for Humanities, University of Anbar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31973/aj.v1i143.3895

Keywords:

sound acquisition, Iraqi Arabic, cross dialectal variation

Abstract

There is very little research in the field of Arabic language acquisition This study explores the development in the acquisition of the trill /r/ in Iraqi Arabic (IA). It attempts to answer four main questions: (1) What percentage in the total sample produced /r/ correctly? (2) Is this the age of customary, acquisition, or mastery for IA children? (3) Does the production accuracy of /r/ vary by position in the syllable and child sex? (4) How is the acquisition of /r/ developed within this age group? Samples were collected from 20 normally developing children between the ages of 1:8 and 3:7. The results showed noticeable sex differences in the acquisition of /r/. Besides, /r/ was produced more accurately in syllable-initial than syllable-final position. Statistics reflected a cross-dialectal variation among Arabic dialects, where Iraqi children acquired /r/ at different age it is acquired in other Arabic dialects, such as Jordanian Arabic. However, results of this paper go in support of previously suggested universal sound acquisition as /r/ was acquired in IA at about the same age it is acquired in English. The acquisition of /r/ was accompanied by gliding and deletion.

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Published

2022-12-15

Issue

Section

English linguistics and literature

How to Cite

The Acquisition of /r/ in Iraqi Arabic. (2022). Al-Adab Journal, 1(143), 55-68. https://doi.org/10.31973/aj.v1i143.3895

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