Determining the Intended Meaning of Words in a Religious Text: An Intertextuality-Oriented Approach

The aim of the present study was to show how intertextuality could be a viable approach to determine the intended meaning of words in religious texts such as the Holy Quran. In order to do just this, the researcher selected two Quranic words to be the data of the study. These were al-gibaal (Arabic: ) and al-rawasi (Arabic: يساورلا )1. As for the machinery, a three-level analysis was attempted. At the first level, the denotational and connotational meanings of the two lemmas (dictionary entries) as illustrated in some major Arabic dictionaries are provided. At the second, the meanings of these words were sought in the interpretations of some major Muslim expositors. Finally, some attempts were made to provide alternative explanations by bringing out the local and global intuitions that the words invoke in the Quranic text as a coherent whole. The analysis of data revealed that al-gibaal and al-rawaasi are both not part of the Earth; al-gibaal is different form al-rawaasi in that whereas al-rawaasi is the main part of a mountain digging deep in the earth, al-gibaal is the outside part; al-gibaal serve a different function as compared with that of al-rawaasi; and finally, unlike al-rawaasi, there are three kinds of al-gibaal.

Figurations of displacement in and beyond Jordan: empirical findings and reflections on protracted displacement and translocal connections of Syrian refugees

This working paper is based on the empirical research on translocal figurations of displacement of Syrians in Jordan. It contains methodological discussions, central findings and reflections on these findings. Drawing on the conceptual framework of the TRAFIG project, this paper explores the central research question of TRAFIG, namely "how are protractedness, dependency, and vulnerability related to the factors of local and translocal connectivity and mobility, and in turn, how can connectivity and mobility be utilized to enhance the self-reliance and strengthen the resilience of displaced people?" The paper presents findings from Jordan, where Syrian refugees have sought refuge in host communities. Syrian refugees' stay in Jordan has become increasingly protracted, with the durable solutions of return in safety and dignity, local integration and resettlement remaining out of reach for most. In this paper, we argue that Syrians are de facto integrated in Jordanian host communities due to shared language, religion and socio-cultural ties as a pragmatic strategy for dealing with uncertainty and protracted displacement. We found that family- and kin networks have proven vital in facilitating and protecting mobility out of Syria and within Jordan, even as these networks are strained due to physical and geographic distance, reliant upon aid and financial support and socio-economic stress in the local labour market. We see that Syrians experience uncertain futures in which their mobility aspirations are unrealised, economic prospects are reliant upon and highly competitive with others, and connectivity with the host community is strained and can be improved

Nothing is more permanent than the temporary: understanding protracted displacement and people's own responses

Across the world, 16 million refugees and an unknown number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) experience long-lasting conditions of economic precarity, marginalisation, rightlessness and future uncertainty. They live under conditions of protracted displacement. Policy solutions often fail to recognise displaced people’s needs and limit rather than widen the range of available solutions. This report brings together the central findings of the TRAFIG project’s empirical study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Tanzania, Jordan, Pakistan, Greece, Italy and Germany. We engaged with more than 3,120 people in our three-year project. Our analysis centres around five factors that shape conditions of protracted displacement: 1) governance regimes of aid and asylum, 2) social practices and livelihoods, 3) networks and movements, 4) intergroup relations between displaced people and hosts, and 5) development incentives and economic interactions. We present multiple findings on each of these themes. Moreover, this report addresses gender and classbased differences and mental health related challenges in constellations of protracted displacement as well as political dynamics that impact on people’s own responses to protracted displacement. Overall, our research shows that refugees, IDPs and other migrants by and large find protection, shelter, livelihood support, a sense of belonging and opportunities to migrate elsewhere through their personal networks. These networks often stretch across several places or even extend across multiple countries. While they are not a panacea for all challenges, people’s own connections are an essential resource for sustainable and long-term solutions to their precarious situation. They must not be ignored in policy responses to protracted displacement. Understanding the needs and the local, translocal and transnational ties of displaced people is the foundation for finding solutions that last

An optimality-theoretic analysis of stress in the English of native Arabic speakers

The overall purpose of this study is to analyze the acquisition of English word-stress by Arabic speakers in light of advancements in Optimality Theory. It has been reported that Arab second language learners of English have difficulty in acquiring the various patterns of English word stress. According to OT, the reason for this difficulty is that although these speakers, like native speakers, have full command of the universal and violable constraints that are operative in determining where stress falls in the word, they fail to capture or induce the exact ordering of these constraints. The basic premise of OT is that each grammar is a unique way of ordering the set of universal and violable constraints that determine the actual output form of a certain linguistic feature, say word-stress in this case. In other words, whereas Arabic word-stress and English word-stress are both subject to the same set of universal and violable constraints, they differ in one respect: the ordering of these constraints. The sole task of the learner then is to capture the correct ordering that determines which syllable in each word carries main stress.This study consists of four chapters. In chapter one, we introduce the problem of the study and the basic background information for an OT analysis, the task we undertake for word stress in subsequent chapters. Chapter two reviews word-stress placement in three competing models: linear approach (Chomsky and Halle 1968), nonlinear approach (Liberman and Prince 1977; McCarthy 1979; Hayes 1980, 1982, 1991), and finally Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993; McCarthy and Prince 1993a, b). In chapter three, we introduce the set of constraints that are relevant for predicting the place of stress, not just in English and Arabic, but in all languages. Hence, these constraints are literally present in all languages, though their ranking is language-specific. Then, we develop a ranking of the set of constraints particular to Arabic and another one particular to English. In chapter four, we set out to compare the two constraint rankings in order to (1) predict stress errors in the interlanguage of native speakers of Arabic when learning English, and (2) demonstrate how, by making use of the notion of constraint demotion, those learners can make their English more native-like with respect to stress placement.This study has diverted from a standard OT analysis in at least two ways. First, we allow for some alignment constraint (namely MAIN-RIGHT) to be interpreted as a nongradient constraint. Second, we allow for constraint parameterization. NONFINAL is parameterized to account for Arabic word stress; and WSP is parameterized to account for English word stress.This study has shown that there are significant differences between Arabic and English as far as the ranking of the universal and violable constraints is concerned. Among the major differences are the following. (1) WSP is irrelevant for stress placement in Arabic. (2) Arabic requires that FOOT-BINARITY be interpreted under a moraic analysis, but English requires it to be interpreted under a syllabic analysis. (3) Arabic requires constructing metrical feet from left to right (i.e. ALL-FEET-LEFT >> ALL-FEET RIGHT), English require that it be the other way around (i.e. ALL-FEETRIGHT >> ALL-FEET-LEFT). (4) In. ploysyllabic words, whereas a final syllable that weighs two or more moras is parsed in English, only a final syllable that weighs three moras is parsed in Arabic. (5) Arabic requires that PARSEσ dominates FOOTBINARITY, but English requires the opposite ranking.Thesis (Ph.D.

LiBRI Journal - Extrametricality Revisited

<i>Abstract</i><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>This research paper advances the claim that extrametricality (Liberman & Prince 1977, McCarthy 1979b, Hayes 1982, 1995, Hammond 1999, Kiparsky 2003, Watson 2007, among others) can be constrained to syllable extrametricality, eliminating consonant, mora, and (presumably) foot extrametricality. This paper presents a basic analysis of parse (LICENSE-SEG) and antiparse (NONFINAL-SEG) constraints for dealing with stress placement (or lack thereof) on final syllables. The main thrust of the argument is twofold: (1) both parse and antiparse constraints are parameterized relative to the weight of the constituent to which they apply, and (2) the constraints that require syllables to be incorporated into higher level prosodic structure (LICENSE-SEG) conflict with constraints that require final syllable to remain stray (NONFINAL-SEG). The antiparse constraint NONFINAL-SEG is factored out into NONFINAL(C), NONFINAL(V), NONFINAL(s), NONFINAL(F), and NONFINAL(PR). And, in order for extrametricality to be constrained just to syllable extrametricality, we advance the claim that NONFINAL(s), in particular, is mora-sensitive, and can be further parameterized into a family of subconstraints (NONFINAL-μ, NONFINAL-μμ, NONFINAL-μμμ) differing in the weight of the syllable to which they apply. Similarly, by adopting the Strict Layering requirement (for details see Nespor and Vogel 1986: 7), the parse constraint LICENSE-SEG is decomposed into LICENSE(C), LICENSE(V), LICENSE(s), LICENSE(F), and LICENSE(PR); in the meantime, LICENSE(s) is decomposed into LICENSE-μ, LICENSE-μμ, and LICENSE-μμμ. In principle, the interaction of the parameterized set of the parse constraint LICENSE-SEG with the parameterized set of the antiparse constraint NONFINAL(s), we argue, yields the correct stress patterns for all final syllables. A typological prediction of breaking NONFINALITY into a family of mora sensitive constraints avoids the need for parameterized extrametricality below the level of the foot. An explicit prediction is that mora extrametricality should not occur, i.e. no language should treat, for example, CVCC and CVV as heavy but treat CVC and CV as light, as we believe there are no compelling cases of mora extrametricality (for illuminating discussions, see Hayes 1995, Rosenthall & van der Hulst 1999).<br></div><div><br></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>Learn more here:</b></div><div><b>https://www.edusoft.ro/brain/index.php/libri/article/view/203</b><br></div

Emphasis spread: The domain and trigger

This paper investigates the domain and directionality of emphasis spread in Urban Jordanian Arabic. The acoustic coarticulatory effects of emphasis are also probed. Nine native speakers of the dialect were recorded reading tri-syllabic monomorphemic and bimorphemic minimal pairs. The minimal pairs contained the voiceless emphatic fricative/sˁ/and its plain counterpart/s/in word initial and word final contexts. The acoustic correlates of emphasis measured were F1, F2, and F3 in the vowels following (i.e., word-initial) and preceding the emphatic sound (i.e., word-final). The results have roughly corroborated our findings in previous research where we claimed that the morpheme is, though disproportionately, still a confounding factor of emphasis spread. The most interesting contribution of this research is the perplexing behavior of emphasis spreading when crossing over the morpheme boundaries. Whereas the influence of the emphatic sound is evident on the morpheme falling to its left (e.g. prefixes) is evident, its influence on the morpheme falling to its right (i.e. suffixes) is less clear. In other words, one could argue that the boundary between the stem and the suffix is more robust compared to the boundary between the stem and the prefix. Therefore, a line of demarcation, we hypothesize, should be drawn between suffix boundary and prefix boundary

Stuttering and pragmatics in ‘once upon a time in hollywood’ movie

The present study aims to explore the experiences of an adult person who stutters with the unpredictable and variable nature of stuttering across various contexts. Through analyzing some utterances chosen from ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ movie uttered by ‘Rick Dalton’, the main character in the movie, who stutters in his daily life and speaks fluently in specific situations,&nbsp; this investigation facilitate a qualitative exploration of the contextual variability of stuttering to gain a comprehensive understanding of this phenomena.&nbsp; This study is conducted by means of Searl’s Speech Acts Theory, and Demands and Capacities Theory to analyze the data. The results produced proved the correlation between stuttering and pragmatics which sheds light on the significance of focusing on context in the programs of stuttering treatment

Stuttering and Pragmatics in ‘Once Upon A TIME in Hollywood' Movie

The present study aims to explore the experiences of an adult person who stutters with the unpredictable and variable nature of stuttering across various contexts. Through analyzing some utterances chosen from ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' movie uttered by ‘Rick Dalton', the main character in the movie, who stutters in his daily life and speaks fluently in specific situations,&nbsp; this investigation facilitate a qualitative exploration of the contextual variability of stuttering to gain a comprehensive understanding of this phenomena.&nbsp; This study is conducted by means of Searl's Speech Acts Theory, and Demands and Capacities Theory to analyze the data. The results produced proved the correlation between stuttering and pragmatics which sheds light on the significance of focusing on context in the programs of stuttering treatment