Linguistics and Literature Studies Vol. 7(1), pp. 31 - 38
DOI: 10.13189/lls.2019.070104
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The Role of the OCP and Syllable Structure in Makkan Arabic Hypocoristics

Mahasen Hasan Abu-Mansour ^*
Department of English, College of Social Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

This paper shows that the failure of names related to glide-medial and glide-final roots to form Pattern I C₁aC₂C₂uuC₃ hypocoristics is due to the effects of the OCP and syllable structure constraints, respectively. Names related to roots with medial [w] fail to form Pattern I hypocoristics since the sequence -wuu- violates the OCP. Names related to glide final roots [y] or [w] form C₁aC₂C₂u hypocoristics where the deletion of the final glide avoids violation of syllable structure constraints in the language. The Optimality-Theoretic account in this paper demonstrates that there is only one native pattern of hypocoristic formation in Makkan Arabic with two manifestations, C₁aC₂C₂uuC₃ and C₁aC₂C₂u. Syllable structure constraints and the OCP account for the apparent differences between these two forms. Data from Makkan Arabic hypocoristic formation show that native speakers can factor out the root consonants from the actual name and use them in hypocoristic formation.

KEYWORDS
Arabic, Hypocoristic Formation, Makkan Arabic, OCP, Syllable Structure, the Root

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Mahasen Hasan Abu-Mansour , "The Role of the OCP and Syllable Structure in Makkan Arabic Hypocoristics," Linguistics and Literature Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 31 - 38, 2019. DOI: 10.13189/lls.2019.070104.

(b). APA Format:
Mahasen Hasan Abu-Mansour (2019). The Role of the OCP and Syllable Structure in Makkan Arabic Hypocoristics. Linguistics and Literature Studies, 7(1), 31 - 38. DOI: 10.13189/lls.2019.070104.