The distribution of nafs in modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic: a corpus-based study
Purpose – This corpus-based study provides a descriptive account of the distribution of the polysemous noun nafs in two Arabic varieties, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Classical Arabic (CA). The research objective is to survey the use of nafs as a reflexive marker in local binding domains and as...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Emerald Publishing
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Saudi Journal of Language Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SJLS-03-2022-0038/full/pdf |
| _version_ | 1827819047728709632 |
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| author | Amani Mejri |
| author_facet | Amani Mejri |
| author_sort | Amani Mejri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose – This corpus-based study provides a descriptive account of the distribution of the polysemous noun nafs in two Arabic varieties, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Classical Arabic (CA). The research objective is to survey the use of nafs as a reflexive marker in local binding domains and as a self-intensifier in NP-adjoined positions. Design/methodology/approach – The consulted corpora are Timespamped JSI Web corpus for MSA and Quran corpus for CA. While attending to corpora size differences, MSA and CA exhibit a pattern of difference and similarity in nafs diffusion. Findings – In the modern variety, nafs is pervasively used as reflexive marker in canonical binding domains, along with a less frequent, yet notable, intensifier user, and these uses are partially and cautiously attributed to the specific genre in which they occur. In CA, nafs is mainly recurrent as a polysemous noun, along with extensive use as a reflexive marker in local binding settings. As an intensifier, nafs is totally non-existent in the CA corpus, in the same way as it is in absentia in VP-constituent extraction in MSA. Originality/value – Examining whether nafs, as a reflexive marker, deviates from canonical binding in Arabic the way English reflexive pronouns do. Building a general account of this distribution is relevant in understanding the explicit (syntactic) and implicit (discourse-based) dimensions of reflexive marker and self-intensifier processing and interpretation in Arabic as a first and second language. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:09:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-34032e6f5d8a4fe287cfca25ce6a7fbe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2634-243X 2634-2448 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:09:34Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Emerald Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Saudi Journal of Language Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-34032e6f5d8a4fe287cfca25ce6a7fbe2023-09-14T07:15:59ZengEmerald PublishingSaudi Journal of Language Studies2634-243X2634-24482022-06-01228410610.1108/SJLS-03-2022-0038The distribution of nafs in modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic: a corpus-based studyAmani Mejri0University of Debrecen, Doctoral School of Linguistics, Institute of English and American Studies, Debrecen, HungaryPurpose – This corpus-based study provides a descriptive account of the distribution of the polysemous noun nafs in two Arabic varieties, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Classical Arabic (CA). The research objective is to survey the use of nafs as a reflexive marker in local binding domains and as a self-intensifier in NP-adjoined positions. Design/methodology/approach – The consulted corpora are Timespamped JSI Web corpus for MSA and Quran corpus for CA. While attending to corpora size differences, MSA and CA exhibit a pattern of difference and similarity in nafs diffusion. Findings – In the modern variety, nafs is pervasively used as reflexive marker in canonical binding domains, along with a less frequent, yet notable, intensifier user, and these uses are partially and cautiously attributed to the specific genre in which they occur. In CA, nafs is mainly recurrent as a polysemous noun, along with extensive use as a reflexive marker in local binding settings. As an intensifier, nafs is totally non-existent in the CA corpus, in the same way as it is in absentia in VP-constituent extraction in MSA. Originality/value – Examining whether nafs, as a reflexive marker, deviates from canonical binding in Arabic the way English reflexive pronouns do. Building a general account of this distribution is relevant in understanding the explicit (syntactic) and implicit (discourse-based) dimensions of reflexive marker and self-intensifier processing and interpretation in Arabic as a first and second language.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SJLS-03-2022-0038/full/pdfLocal bindingReflexive markerIntensifierClassical ArabicModern standard Arabic |
| spellingShingle | Amani Mejri The distribution of nafs in modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic: a corpus-based study Saudi Journal of Language Studies Local binding Reflexive marker Intensifier Classical Arabic Modern standard Arabic |
| title | The distribution of nafs in modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic: a corpus-based study |
| title_full | The distribution of nafs in modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic: a corpus-based study |
| title_fullStr | The distribution of nafs in modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic: a corpus-based study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The distribution of nafs in modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic: a corpus-based study |
| title_short | The distribution of nafs in modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic: a corpus-based study |
| title_sort | distribution of nafs in modern standard arabic and classical arabic a corpus based study |
| topic | Local binding Reflexive marker Intensifier Classical Arabic Modern standard Arabic |
| url | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SJLS-03-2022-0038/full/pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT amanimejri thedistributionofnafsinmodernstandardarabicandclassicalarabicacorpusbasedstudy AT amanimejri distributionofnafsinmodernstandardarabicandclassicalarabicacorpusbasedstudy |