The Acquisition of Egyptian Arabic as a Native Language
 232 pp., 7 x 10 Paperback ISBN: 9781589011687 (1589011686) July 2007 LC: 2007927039 Georgetown Classics in Arabic Languages and Linguistics series EXPLORE THIS TITLE DescriptionTable of Contents |
The Acquisition of Egyptian Arabic as a Native Language
In 1968 Margaret K. Omar (Nydell) spent four months in a small Egyptian village called Sheikh Mubarak. Located in Middle Egypt near Al-Minya, residents of Sheik Mubarak speak in a dialect closer to Sa'eedi, not the dialect spoken in Cairo. Omar spent time there conducting interviews, examinations, and taping sessions with children and families to study primary language acquisition in non-Western languages. Margaret K. Omar (Nydell) is the director of the Flagship Arabic Program (study abroad) at the Center for Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language at the University of Alexandria in Egypt. She is a specialist in Arabic dialectology and the author of many publications, including Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Westerners and the ten-video teaching module Syrian Arabic Through Video. Karin C. Ryding and Margarett Nydell Table of Contents Foreword Preface Acknowledgements List of Symbols 1. INTRODUCTION Scope of the Study Goals of the Study Need for the Study Duration and Location of the Study Duration Location Methodology Followed Recordings and Transcriptions Types of Speech Observed Children in the Study Families in the Village and in the Study Approach Used with Village Residents Assistance Received in Conducting the Study Structural Sketch of the Language The Root and Pattern System Phonology Morphology Syntax 2. BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHYSICAL AND FAMILY ENVIRONMENT The Physical Environment The Village Surroundings Family Homes The Government Cooperative Unit Physical Characteristics of the Children in the Study The Social Structure The Extended Family Roles of Family Members Training of Children Children's Daily Routines, Work and Games Formal Education Effects of the Social Structure on Children Special Uses of Language 3. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHONOLOGY The Phonological System in Adult Language Consonants Vowels Functional Load of Phonemes Syllable Types The Babbling Stage Theoretical Considerations Data Obtained in This Study Early Imitation Classification of Data Stages of Acquisition of the Phonological System Theoretical Considerations Stage I Stage II Two Intermediate Case Studies Stage III Order of Acquisition of Phonemes Individual Phonemes Phoneme Combinations Summary Comparison with Phonemic Development in Other Languages Imitation Theoretical Considerations Data Obtained in This Study The Imitation Tests Final Observations 4. EARLY COMMUNICATION AND INITIAL VOCABULARY Comprehension Theoretical Considerations The Comprehension Test Conclusions Effects of Other Factors on Performance Early Speech and Vocabulary Theoretical Considerations Data Obtained in This Study Baby Talk Theoretical Considerations Data Obtained in This Study Linguistic Features Social Context Belief System 5. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SYNTAX Early Stages of Syntactic Development Theoretical Considerations The One-Word Stage The Multi-Word Stages The Acquisition of the Negative Rules for Negation in Adult Language The Negation Test Child Syntactical Rules and Stages for Negation The Acquisition of the Interrogative Rules for Interrogation in Adult Language The Interrogation Test Child Syntactical Rules and Stages for Interrogation Summary 6. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORPHOLOGY Early Stages of Morphological Development Theoretical Considerations Some Characteristics of Early Morphological Development The Acquisition of Inflectional Affixes for Noun Plurals Rules for Pluralizing Nouns in Adult Language The Noun Plural Test Child Rules and Stages for Noun Pluralizations The Acquisition of the Inflectional Affixes and Agreement for Adjectives Rules for Adjective Inflection and Agreement in Adult Language The Adjective Test Child Rules and Stages for Adjective Inflection and Agreement Summary 7. CONCLUSION Review of Findings in This Study Implications for Theories Regarding Language and Primary Language Acquisition Suggestions for Further Research Bibliography |
