EMPHASIS SPREAD IN ARABIC AND GROUNDED PHONOLOGY

Most Arabic dialects possess pharyngealized coronal consonants traditi onally called emphatics. When an underlying emphatic occurs in a word, emphasis (i.e., pharyngealization) typically spreads to neighboring s ounds. This article offers an analysis of emphasis spread in two Pales tinian Arabic dialects and discusses implications for phonological the ory. By incorporating aspects of Grounded Phonology, the analysis acco unts for the different sets of opaque phonemes found in these dialects and for the differences between rightward and leftward emphasis sprea d. Moreover, the Grounded Phonology approach predicts possible sets of phonemes that can be opaque to emphasis spread. The article concludes with a discussion regarding issues raised for Optimality Theory.