Wald's example: "My sister works in--you know that deer?" (1983: 1 1 3).
8The unstressed demonstrative pronoun /hal has been noted by Rosenhouse,
who claims it is used "more or less as a definite article" -an inexact description
( 1 984:25 1 ).
4.2 Unstressed Demonstrative Articles 1 17 proximal and distal forms (which also have anaphoric functions, as I will show), but it needs to be slightly modified to fit Arabic.
As Croft notes, in languages that have both anaphoric demonstratives and definite articles, the former "competes with" the latter ( 1 990:219). However, unlike English that, and like the Arabic definite article, Arabic /hal and /hadl may refer to uniquely identifiable objects not directly referred to in the discourse, but which exist in the permanent registry,9 or can be implied or "retrieved" from the context or the registry of topics already established in the current discourse . . These anaphoric demonstratives serve to "retrieve" or recall the noun from that permanent registry. Another distinction between the definite article and the anaphoric demonstratives lies in the specificity of the modified noun. The definite article in Arabic can modify generic and abstract nouns, whereas the anaphoric demonstratives always refer to specific entities, which also have a degree of textual prominence.
Like definite marking and number agreement, the use of the anaphoric demonstrative is subject to a degree of speaker control. The choice between the anaphoric demonstrative and the definite article depends on the speaker's choice of representation of the textual prominence of the noun. Nouns modified by the anaphoric demonstrative are more individuated, and play a more important role in the discourse, than nouns modified only by the definite article.
4.2.1 Syntactic Functions of Demonstrative Articles
Of all demonstrative forms, only the anaphoric demonstrative article has syntactic license to modify any definite noun regardless of number, gender, or genitive status.
The following two Moroccan sentences pair /hadl with a masculine singular, Il-insanl person, and a human plural, In-nasi people:
M9 dJ l:!.l
J � I � I ..:..W� I .lLA .l J I .l.l 1
d-dar d had l-'insan IIi z-zar dyalk
the-house gen this he-person reI the neighbor gen-yours the house of that person who is your neighbor
'1'he "permanent registry" refers to unique objects known to everyone, such
as
the sun(see Chafe
1976).M2
..:,L..jJ l ..I U" W I ..ILA
had n-nas d zman this the-people gen old those people of long ago
Next follow analogous examples from Syrian and Kuwaiti, in which /hal modifies masculine, feminine, and plural nouns:
• �J�
biriiQu b-ha l-(atme w b-ha I-H�l
indic-they-go in this the-darkness (0 and in-that-the-night (m) They go in that darkness and that night ...
K4 �JL.. ...,u l � LA
h a s-snin illi marasti
this the-years which practiced-you in all these years you've practiced ...
Harrell and Cowell note that the demonstrative article can precede genitive constructions (not pennitted in fonnal Arabic). The following Moroccan examples contain /hadl modifying possessed nouns:
M
�L... ..ILA
had �aQbi [this friend-my]
thisfriend of mine (Harrell 1962: 1 9 1) M9
�,!JI..I ..ILA
�fin had dari?
where this house-my?
Where is this house of mine?
Likewise, in Syrian and Kuwaiti, /hal may precede genitive constructions.
In this construction, /hal assimilates the defmite article
/I-I
into a combined article that modifies the entire construct, not just the first noun (Cowell1 964:459):
S '� I ..:,� LA
ha l-f�mzan �l-)ahwe [this the-cup of-the-coffee]
this cup of coffee
4.2 Unstressed Demonstrative Articles
My Kuwaiti data contains a parallel example:
K3 �, ,j"..;...LJLA r � JS 'i�
ti�tri kil yom ha l-fxug il-Ial}.am
she-buys every day this the-Iegs-of-meat She buys every day these legs of meat
1 19
The demonstrative article is thus syntactically distinguished from the deictic stressed demonstrative pronouns by virtue of the former's ability to modify masculine and feminine, singular and plural nouns, as . well as genitive and possessive constructions. These unique synfactic features parallel specific pragmatic roles this article plays in discourse.
4.2.2 Discourse Functions of the Demonstrative Article
The anaphoric demonstrative article in Syrian, Kuwaiti, and Moroccan modifies a unique referent that is already established in the conversational registry in one of the following ways: (a) it has been previously mentioned in the discourse, directly or indirectly; (b) it is in the permanent registry; or (c) it is present in the immediate environment.
The anaphoric demonstrative normally occurs with the first or second mention of a noun. Unlike the definite article, the anaphoric demonstrative only modifies individuated, textually prominent nouns.
Unlike the deictic demonstrative, the article may not be used in contrastive reference; that is, it can be used to establish coreference just when there is only one possible referent. By highlighting the anaphoric nature of the reference, /hal and /hadl add cohesion to the discourse in several ways. Examples from Moroccan, Syrian, and Kuwaiti demonstrate the discourse roles these demonstrative articles play.
In the following Kuwaiti passage, Ifxug il-Ial}.aml legs of meat is repeated, the second time with the anaphoric demonstrative, reiterating the specific identity of the meat and its importance to the story:
K3 J.S '!�
.� l..(,)MJ� � C.J>'.J F ,j� 'i� r..H JS
�, ,j"..;...LJ LA r �
kil yom ti�tiri fxug lal}.am wi triiQ. ta(�Iha li-l-l}.aris mala. ti§tiri kil yom ha l-fxug il-Ial}.am
every day she-buys legs of-meat and she-goes she-gives-them to-the-guard gen-it. she-buys every day this the-legs of-the meat
Every day she buys legs of meat and goes and gives them to the guard of [the lion). She buys every day these legs of meat The interview from which the following question is taken centers around the experience of a Kuwaiti professional matchmaker. After a discussion of the matchmaker's years of experience, the interviewer frames the following question with /ha s-sinin/ these years, referring to and summarizing this experience:
K4 <.!1 ..s... u� .� � <.!4 �JL.. � I � l..Ji �1
� ..:.� I
&-a ��'inti ha s-sinin illi marasti cigi sifti sinhu, ymiliin Qagg ay naw'iyya mn �I-banat?
you this the-years which practiced-you like-this saw-you what they-incline to which type of the-girls
In all these years you've practiced like this, you have noticed what? They are inclined toward which kind of girls?
The previous example contrasts with the following, in which the elderly Kuwaiti speaker tells her life story, including all of the places she has lived. Among them she mentions this house, using /haga I-bet/, because it is only one among a set of possible referents:
K3
u...��J
t...a...o.� � UJJ� � I IjLA �I
L:Jj.:a &-a min nizalna I-QIn haga I-bet tadriin cam? xamsa w 'isrIn sina from moved-in-we now this the-house you-know how-many? five and twenty yearDo you know how long now since we moved into this house ? 25 years
Similarly, in the next passage, the function of the deictic demonstrative /hagi! this in /hagi I-mara/ this woman contrasts with that of the anaphoric /hal in /ha s-say/ this thing . The fact that /I-mara/
is further modified with a relative clause tells us that she is not uniquely identifiable, whereas /ha s-say/ has only one referent, and it is the discourse topic here: the protocol of matchmaking.
K2 � I..:. IJ '� � � 1 1.r11 <.!jLA �J �JL..
&-a '� . 1..:. 1
..J�I � .� LA
4.2 Unstressed Demonstrative Articles 1 2 1 K2 'ana ya'ni min marast wiyya hagi I-mara illi tixa�ib ya'ni w ana
'ala ha �-�ay 'ala l-mak�iif
I that-is from practiced-I with this the-woman who she-arranges
marriages that-is and I on this the-thing on the-exposed
/, since / began practicing with this woman who arranges marriages, I've been [doing it] this way, out in the open.
In the lion-taming Kuwaiti parable from which the next example is taken, anaphoric /hal modifies the one and only lion, /ha s-sibi'l that lion. Moreover, the syntactic position of that lion indicates that it functions as the topic of the sentence, which in tum reflects its importance to the narrative:
K3 '1
iJ.,L!.
� �lA.b.,?.).lS
o.,L!. .�LA �
ya'ni ha sibi' �Ion g�dartey taxdin minoa �Ion?
that-is this the-lion how were-able-you you-take from-it how?
That lion, how did you take [a hair] from it, how?
The next speaker is a Moroccan woman recalling the harsh treatment she received at the hands of her mother-in-law. In mid
sentence, she extends her complaint to the entire older generation, already identified and known by extension from the mother-in-law, with /had n-nasl those people:
M2
d-I �,J 4-a'i
..::..tJ....ed-I
.... .,...!o,::,..ILA,J �I..I -=.J�
•..::..:,.:u .,?j� LA .... ,� �."..., l.,.:alS iJL..j ..l U"'L:JI ..ILA - �,J
..::...) 1..1d- I 'i,J "::"":':
ha 'giizti tnuwwat galt daba w hadi �iif a� '�at I-ummha wlla � maxxrat wlla a� dart wlla - had n-nas d zman kanu �u'iiba b�zzaf here mother-in-Iaw-my caught-on-she said-she now and this-one look what gave-she to-mother-her or what stole-she or what did-she or -- this the-people gen the-time were-they difficulty
Here my mother-in-law has caught on. She said, Now look what this one has given to her mother or what she has stolen or what she has done or -- Those people of those days, they were a great difficUlty
In the following two passages, elderly Moroccan and Syrian speakers compare the past and the present. When these speakers shift the topic to the present generation, they introduce the latter with the
anaphoric articles /hadl and /hal, respectively, which serve here to indicate both temporal "presence" of this generation and its role as a new topic of conversation.
M2 L..
e:J Lb � I
'i� i�I
JLA . L:J 4A � I""';u....:u tis ��"J IJ L.. -
L..
�I..:i..l:maya kunna tanxiitu m�n xyaina. had z-zil 'a sidi lli �al' rna xayif rna -- rna walu
we were-we indic-we-fear from shadow-our. this the-generation o sir which coming-up neg fearing neg -- neg nothing
We used to be afraid of our shadow. This generation, sir, that is emerging, is not afraid or anything
S4
tI...:J.lcJ"J� 1 I��
L.. I.,.:.� - l:.JJ�Jt..:..:i4-;aI - ��1 1
..:.. IJ��
�
J�.,..1LA �LA J.i... cJ"� 1
'adat il-awwaliyye, abbahiitna w ZdOdna, kiinu rna y�Ofu 1-'arOs la-Ielt l-'�rs. halla' ha j-jil ha l-mawjOd bux�bu ba'Qon hinnin customs of-the-first-ones, fathers-our and grandfathers-our, were
they neg they-see the-bride until-the-night of-the-wedding. now this the-generation this the-present indic-they-arrange-marriage each-other they
The customs of the old [generations], our fathers and grandfathers, they used to not see the bride until the wedding night. Now, this generation, they arrange their own marriages themselves
In the following Syrian passage, /ha Hal'al this going out and /ha l-fawtel this going in are both anaphoric references to the movements implied by the verbs /birOl:ml they go and /bizul they come.
S2
1 �
L..,�
L..J �4 �llJ I ,;.sl� I
� L.. I�J� L..t:;� LA
1J
WW LArn a birOQu rn a bizu ya'ni 'aktar 'awqaton bi-I-bet w rn a fi, rna fi la ha Hal'a wala ha l-fawte
neg indic-they-go neg indic-they-come that-is most times-their in-the-house and neg there-is neg there-is neg this the-going-out nor this the-entering
They don't go out or in, that is, most of their time is at home, and there isn't -- there is neither this going out nor that going in
4.2 Unstressed Demonstrative Articles 1 23 Another Syrian passage from the same text contains two anaphorically modified nouns whose previous mention is indirect. From the phrase Imin i�-��b�1;11 from the early morning, the listener can infer the state of darkness and night mentioned directly afterwards. In this case, the use of /hal to modify /I-(atmel the darkness and /I-Iell the night heightens the semantic impact of these nouns by bringing them into the immediate environment: because /hal carries the implication of physical presence, the speaker can use it to summon physical sensations associated with the nouns.
S2
I�,,� .� 1
V--.)� I� I�,,�
u... .:u. � �I".:.ts:
� I t IA" Ik" �,, .)� I� 1�"� J.:J.l �,, � �
kanu kill sab�t li-middit sine yiIiil;1u y�a«lu baxxiir mn ��-��b�l;1, biIiil;1u b-ha I-(atme w b-ha I-leI yIiil;1u y�a«lu baxxiir w �am( w yibku w kaza (a I-mayyit
were-they every Saturday for-period of-year they-go they-light incense from the-morning, indic-they-go in this the-darkness and in-this the-night they-go they-light incense and candles and they
cry and so-forth over the-deceased
They would go every Saturday for a whole year to light incense in the early morning, they go in that darkness and in that night, they would go and light incense and candles and cry and so forth over the deceased
In the next Moroccan example, the identity of the house is not in question, since the character has only one house. Rather, the meaning of the anaphoric article here is subverted and sarcastic: the boy has taken the sheep to the wrong house, and the man who sent him uses /hadl to let him know that he has confused its unique identity with that of another house:
M9
! �,=-,.)I..I ..ILA �U �
JU . .:1 .) 1.1.1 �jl 4..J JU\".J�I �U
4..J JUqal-Iu tayn 1-l;1awli? qal-Iu dditu I-dark. qal-Iu tayn had dan?!
said-he-to-him where the-sheep? said-he-to-him took-I-it to
house-your. said-he-to-him where this house-my?!
He said to him, Where is the sheep ? He said, I took it to your house. He said, Where is this house of mine?!
Objects in the physical vicinity of the speaker are normally identified with the anaphoric demonstrative. The next speaker was pointing to a cemetery within sight of the house in which the audience was sitting while recounting this passage:
Mi l .:.l..:!J
� �b'r-AI� �� �
. .. )lJ'-:! .)lJ'-:! �Jl..c -:..�..)� I J4-I .::.J...-",
J� .::.J...-",.�.)..J I J4J
bqat gadya, yaHah yaHah ... l:tua qarrbat l:tdahum, tab'a gi[r] dik Hrlq, t-ta'lima dyal Hrlq. w;:)�lat bl:tal w;:)�lat l-had-I-qbur kept-she going-f come-on come-on ... until neared-she next-to
them following-f only that [the-road] the-marking gen the-road, arrived-she as-if arrived-she to-that-the-graves
She kept on going and going ... until she got close to where they were,following just the marking on the road, {until] she arrived, as if she had come up to where those graves are
Also within the realm of the immediate physical environment is the current time frame, regardless of whether the speaker specifies it as hour, day, week, month, or year. The demonstrative article is normally used in such cases, indicating the immediate temporal environment that is the only possible referent:
M l O �La:; � � I"W I JLA",
�� � �" I I"W I t..:. 1
'ana l-'am l-axur m�it §i x;:)msa w had l-'am m�It �i tmanya I the-year the-other went -I some 5 and this the-year went -I some 8 Last year I went about 5 {times] and this year I went about 8 In all of its functions, then, the demonstrative article serves to indicate the established identity of a noun, its presence in or importance to the speech context itself, whether physical, temporal, or topical.
One final observation may be made concerning unstressed /hal.
This pronoun also occurs in Moroccan and Kuwaiti speech as an adverbial demonstrative, as these two examples show:
M9 �L.i LA
"&..)4011J.:o. I.,J
.l.J....c",�L.i LA 4..J4J ..) I .u l �
x;:)lla d-dar dyalu ha rayn w '�ah l-wal:td z-zara ha rayn
left-he the-house of-his this where and gave-he-it to-one the
neighbor this where
He passed his house here and gave it to a neighbor here
4.3 Unstressed Distal Demonstratives
K4 �.,.J.. LA �."s
v-l l:"'" ...i� 1 � �.)
r�l:tt 'ind l-gaJJaf sawwa-li k�rsi ha �iilah
went-I to the-shipbuilder made-he-me chair this height-its I went to the shipbuilder and he made me a chair this high 4.3 Unstressed Distal Demonstratives
1 25
The unstressed anaphoric demonstrative articles are by virtue of their form and function proximal forms. However, one particular distal demonstrative pronoun, Moroccan /dik/, functions as an unstressed form in certain environments. In Moroccan, /dik/ functions as the short form of the feminine distal demonstrative, corresponding to masculine /dak/
and feminine /dUk/. The following sections propose a distinction between distal, gendered /dik/ and unstressed, ungendered /dik/.
4.3.1 Ungendered Moroccan /dikl and /dakl
Moroccan speakers from the area surrounding Tangiers use the distal form /dik/ in ways analogous to the (proximal) anaphoric /had/.
That is, when it functions as an anaphoric demonstrative, /dik/ is numberless and genderless. The following sentences, taken from recorded interviews in the coastal town of Larache, contain nominal phrases in which /dik/ modifies masculine nouns. In all of these contexts, /dik/ functions anaphorically, modifying a previously mentioned or known entity (analogous to unstressed English that). It should also be noted that the referent nouns in these contexts are of low individuation, such as /�i/ thing, and /l:tawli/ sheep:
M I O J.. IS
� I
d..:!.l 1-,,:!.>4 kay�riw dik �-�i kam�lindic-they-buy that the-stuff all They buy all this stuff
M9 .�
� I � I
d..:!.l illI
JJah dik �-�i lli '�h
God that the-thing which gave-he-him That's what God gave him
M9 "'.,...!.
� I � I J ...,J".,.J I .:.4J
J"...mUl dik l-l)awli daba iii �ra
owner of-that the-sheep now which bought-he The owner of that sheep that he bought, now
MlO � L..
.J.."I� I � w# �I [..:..".,.JI1 .:.4J
dlk [l-l)Ot] lli kaykun fih �-�raw�� rna kan� kay�(�ih qlma
that [fish] which in-it-m rag-things neg was indic-he-gives-it value That [fish] that has rag-like[ fins], [no one] valued it
Moroccan speakers commonly use Idikl as an unstressed demonstrative. In the following sentence, the use of Ifinl to relativize Idik l-bla�al shows that the demonstrative phrase is non-specific:
M l l �
�Y...;J I d..:!JJ
�JL..� I d..:!J
�� <:,Jl�
I� <:,JU
giidi tt�b(i gi[r] dik �r-rmad w n-n'1txwala l)Ua l-dik l-bla�a fin giidi nl)�nu
fut you-follow only that the-ashes and the-chaff until to-that the
place where fut we-alight
You will just follow those ashes and chaff until [you get to] the place where we will alight
The absence of examples in which Idik/ modifies masculine human nouns supports the interpretation of its function as modifying nouns of low individuation.
Caubet's data from Fez and the surrounding region contain several examples in which masculine Idak/ modifies feminine and plural nouns.
In the following sentence, Idak/ modifies feminine I�l-bhzal the dialect (Caubet 1993ii:6):
M . . . 4+U 1 o!l lJ '''J� ...
IJU . �"t...:..,>l.J I
�l-fransawiyyin, hada ... kayh�dru dak �l-l�hza ...
the-French-p, this .. indic-they-speak that the-dialect The French, that [is] .. they speak that dialect ...
In the next example, masculine Idak/ modifies plural /l-iyyam/ the days (Caubet 1983:309, translation mine):
4.3 Unstressed Distal Demonstratives
M
�,.,... ..::..:.s, I�l..i � I r�'i l .:JIJ
dak �I-iyyam iii ratu, kunt mric;la
that-m the-days rei passed-they, was-I ill Those past days, J was ill
1 27
Both masculine Idak/ and feminine Idik/ are thus attested as non
gendered forms, perhaps regional variants of non-stressed, non
specifying demonstrative forms.
4.3.2 Non-specific Temporal Demonstrative Idikl
Moroccan Idlk/ commonly occurs with non-specific temporal nouns, such as Isa(al time and Inharl day. to These two Moroccan passages both contain Idlk/ modifying a temporal noun, the first masculine, loharl day, and the second feminine, Isa(a/ hour.
M9
MI l
'.)4-=J1 �J
'" "':i.:b� I ..::.'.:b I I �J J..&A.1 1.!�i
'a sIdi l)mad, dlk I-bas�iyyat iii (�itIni dIk n-ohar!
o Mr. Ahmed those the-pills which you-gave-me that the-day!
Mr. Ahmed, those pills that you gave me the other day!
"::'Jlj �I �WI �J
dIk s-sa(a iii zad�t
that the-hour which was-born-she That time that she was born
The fact that these nouns lack specific reference suggests that Idlk/ is non-specifying. Rather, Idlk/ here indicates temporal distance.
The fact that these nouns lack specific reference suggests that Idlk/ is non-specifying. Rather, Idlk/ here indicates temporal distance.