Phonological Adaptation of Arabic Loan Words in Persian: Consonants

Abstract The purpose of the research is to study the phonological adaptation of Arabic loanwords in Persian, on the focus of consonants which their articulators are inactive in Persian. Authors gathered 700 Arabic loan words from Persian Dictionary of Moienand then they extracted phonemic form of loan words from two Arabic dictionaries, Contemporary Arabic -Persian Dictionary and Assimil Franais-Arabe Dictionary. The framework of the study is OT (Optimality Theory). The findings of the study is that interdental, pharyngeal, and bilabial glide places of articulation are inactive articulators in Persian and Persian language speakers replace loan words containing these consonants with the closest consonants in terms of place of articulation