Social Denotations of Some Mosuli Expressions A Field Study in Mosul City

H. Rajab, Eyman

doi:10.33899/moss.2011.6262

	Social Denotations of Some Mosuli Expressions A Field Study in Mosul City
مجلة دراسات موصلیة
Article 4, Volume 7, Issue 34, 2011, Pages 61-94 PDF (0 K)
DOI: 10.33899/moss.2011.6262
Author
Eyman H. Rajab
Abstract
The current vernacular dialect of Mosul is the only dialect in which the letter "ق" is pronounced 'qaaf' with no alteration, as in "قال", 'qala'. The dialect uses standard Arabic words which are mainly used by the linguist in their writings, such as the word "غدا", 'ghadan'. The Mosuli terms are characterized by the heavy use of substitution (using a letter instead of another), they usually substitute the heavily pronounced letters with easily ones and more lighter and flawless ones. This substitution however doesn't change the meaning of the word. Terms and expressions of any dialect are more like the man himself, they give and take, grow, live, develop, expand and die. These terms come into being as an important component of a particular section of people in which specific phonetic restrictions are considered when pronounced. These restrictions include increasing or decreasing the intensity of the pronounced letter, or following a certain intonation when pronounced. This was shown through the data collected from the questionnaire given to the test-subjects, from Mosul community, which was comprised of 60 selected terms. We investigated the way those terms are pronounced in different ancient and modern areas of the city. A 100 randomly chosen test-subjects have participated. The analysis of data revealed the following: 1. There was a difference in the way each word is pronounced by the subjects according to the social and regional background. 2. Some words are pronounced in the same way regardless of the region. 3. Pronouncing the letter "ق", 'qaaf' is a unique characteristic of the community of Mosul. 4. It has been found that there are old terms which are rarely used currently. These terms are mainly used by old people (45-65), which means that there is a difference between the terms used by the old and new generations. The former were influenced by the Ottoman reign and with Turkish civilization. 5. Some young male prefer to avoid certain Mousili terms, particularly the one that involve changing the letter "ر", 'ra' into "غ", 'gha' outdoor or with their friends for fear being mocked by their friends

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