Article published in:
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics: Papers from the annual symposia on Arabic Linguistics. Volume XXII–XXIII: College Park, Maryland, 2008 and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2009
Edited by Ellen Broselow and Hamid Ouali
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 317] 2011
► pp. 21–34

Regressive voicing assimilation in Cairene Arabic

| Umm Al-Qura University
Cairene Arabic licenses voicing contrast in obstruents in most positions. However, within sequences all obstruents must agree in voicing. In clusters of obstruents, the voicing of the first obstruent assimilates to that of the second. This paper presents an account of regressive voicing assimilation, as well as the arguments that the feature [voice] must be binary in this language. This paper considers the role of guttural consonants in voicing assimilation. The major finding is that guttural sounds fall into two classes: some gutturals pattern with sonorant consonants, while other gutturals participate in voicing assimilation.
Published online: 21 December 2011
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.317.02kab