Summary

The present chapter aimed to describe the morpho-phonological and lexico-semantic aspects of four lexicalverbs of motion, viz. dašš ‘to enter’, xalla ‘to leave’, miša ‘to walk’, and i a ‘to run’ in the spoken Arabic of Kuwait City. From the morpho-phonological perspective, the vocabulary is built on the principle of root and pattern. We have observed that the four verbs under investigation are inflected for gender and number in the perfective and imperfective aspects and the imperative, and plural verb forms are of common gender. That is, KA has a twofold system for the inflection of finite verbs: a suffix-based conjugation (perfect) and a prefix-based conjugation (imperfect). We have also seen that all the four verbs are triliteral belonging to individual verb patterns stemmed from Classical Arabic.

Dictionary compilers clearly differ from each other in terms of the patterns of semantic coverage. We have noticed that semantically related words, namely, tarak vs. xalla, dašš vs. daxal, are used to define one another. By using the verb xalla to define tarak, and the verb tarak to define xalla, the definition becomes circular. One source of weakness in the reference works which could have affected the behaviour of the lexical items is that these dictionaries do not provide a rich store of real examples and information based on representative and contextual data; instead, they are all based on the introspective judgment (or competence) of a compiler rather than on corpus or fieldwork evidence. Additionally, the type of grammatical information that one would expect to find in these dictionaries is routinely missing, except for al-Sabʿān (1989), who indicates the parts of speech of the dictionary entries. In their survey of dialectal dictionaries, Behnstedt and Woidich (2013: 322) observe that ‘[f]or regions such as Tunisia, Libya, Oman, and the Arabian Peninsula in general, no substantial dictionaries are available’.97

Regarding the online questionnaire, one of its significant points is that it has given us really up-to-date responses so that we have a way to ascertain the value and validity of the results produced by local dictionaries.

The Classical Arabic senses and uses of the verbs in the Qurʾān provide the necessary background information about the development and endurance of a particular word throughout the history of Arabic dialectology. However, the following conclusions can be

97 _{Five decades ago, Haywood (1965: 110) observed that ‘[t]here is no modern Arabic equivalent to the}

Oxford English Dictionary’ and ‘the most fruitful modern Arabic lexicographical work has been done by European Orientalists’.

drawn. One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that the Qurʾānic senses and the Kuwaiti colloquial senses of the target verbs do not dramatically differ. Many of the meanings they had in the medieval stage of Classical Arabic are identical or very close to the meanings conveyed by the same form in the Kuwaiti dialect. The results of this particular investigation show that the most basic senses of the verbs remain durable. For example, both the Qurʾānic mašā and the Kuwaiti miša mean ‘to walk on foot’, and this particular sense of miša is given in most dialectal dictionaries and glossaries as the default, ‘original’ sense. What is especially striking is that the senses of the Qurʾānic daxala ‘to enter’ are equal or very close to the meanings conveyed by the same form in the Kuwaiti dašš, and they seem to be virtually interchangeable. According to Holes (2004a: 4), ‘the Classical Arabic of the Koran is viewed as an immutable linguistic phenomenon fixed for all time’. In contrast, Holes (2004a: 5) adds that the phraseology and vocabulary of Arabic ‘have undergone considerable changes in the fourteen centuries since the Revelation [of the Qurʾān]’.

The second major finding is that the roots of xalla, miša, and i a can be traced back to Classical Arabic while dašš may have been formed via contamination of dass ‘hide’ and xašš ‘hide, enter’. In other words, the verbs xalla, miša, and i a are pan-Arab words, i.e. they are high-frequency spoken Arabic words which are widely and clearly recognisable with maximum applicability throughout the Arab countries (cf. Arabian American Oil Company 1958: 224, 345, 436). However, dašš is a pan-Gulf word; a high-frequency spoken Gulf Arabic word used and heard exclusively in some parts of the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq (Behnstedt and Woidich 2014: 71-74).

Furthermore, the evidence from the Kuwaiti proverbs suggests that the verbs may be used literally or figuratively, and can be attached to animate or inanimate entities. Also, it has been stated by Sharbatov (1988: 109) that Arabic proverbs are ‘a significant aid in studying the ethnography and popular philosophy of the Arab peoples and play a great educational, social and cultural role in their life’. However, is there a point that is relevant to theories of semantic change and persistent polysemy that I can draw from all the proverbial examples? For each of these verbs, proverbial uses are interesting because they show sources of conventional wisdoms and meanings. They have specific senses attached to particular phrases and they are really good indicators of polysemy and show how these forms are fixed in contexts. It is unfortunate that the lexicographic works did not include colloquial poetry and

odes – being the oldest form of wordsmithery – to illustrate a particular meaning of the verb in a wider context; this is because the writers did not include them as citations.98 With respect to the Eastern Arabian dialects in which KA belongs, we have seen, for example, that KA shares more lexical features with Gulf Arabic dialects than any other dialect group.

Returning to the hypothesis posed at the beginning of this chapter, it is now possible to state that the verb i a ‘to run’ is not at all dynamic. This is especially true given the fact that I have only found one sense listed in colloquial dictionaries and one proverb containing this verb. Furthermore, we have seen that ‘metaphor is one of the commonest means by which new meanings develop from existing senses’ (Cowie 2009). In order to arrive at a solid explanation of what triggers the change, interdisciplinary efforts are necessitated by the very nature of the object of study. Hence, my aim in the subsequent chapters is to study the social, economic, historical, and linguistic change as research tools to help us account for the conditions in which innovative meanings arise.

98 _{Holes (2007b: 543) argues that popular poetry ‘remains a relatively unexplored reservoir of creative}

activity. There has been a tendency for native and western critics alike to ignore it, or at best pigeonhole it as ‘folklore,’ devoid of literary value, and written in a ‘debased’ form of language’.

Chapter 5

Kuwait: Dialect, Culture, and Society

5. Introduction

Studies such as Ismael (1982) showed that there are two different eras that mark the modern history of Kuwait: the pre-oil era and the post-oil era. The history of pre-oil Kuwait begins in the 18th century when a Bedouin group of the ʿUtūb tribe migrated from Central Arabia as a result of drought to the site of present-day Kuwait City, where they found good grazing land and water. In the post-oil era, as one of the world’s largest oil producers, Kuwait has undergone a radical change in all aspects of life. The first impression visitors to Kuwait must have is of the outcome of the oil boom, which stamped its mark on buildings and people alike. As has been described by an outsider, ‘Kuwait, the former sleepy village, has awakened with the coming of oil and is stretching its strong new limbs’ (Case 1952: 802). Nonetheless, Kuwaitis are fully aware of their heritage, and retain their traditions, values, individuality and identity. Another feature of Kuwait’s progress is urbanisation. Young Kuwaiti nationals are now employed in white-collar office jobs, whether in the public or the private sector. To this internationally recognised portrait, Kuwaitis add the characteristic Kuwaiti dialect which is really a mixture of Standard Arabic and Gulf Arabic with Persian, Indian, Turkish, and more recently, English loanwords.

The aim of this chapter is to explain how changes in the social structure of Kuwait are reflected in the patterns of dialect use. Since this study primarily focuses on the socio- historical characteristics of polysemy and lexical semantics, it is important to understand the concept of “change”: change in culture, change in society, and change in demography, which all contribute to change in dialect patterns.

The organisation of Chapter 5 is as follows. The geography of Kuwait is described first in section 5.1. Second, the early history of pre-oil Kuwait is discussed in section 5.2. Then, section 5.3 explores post-oil Kuwait in terms of urbanisation and city growth with the aim of identifying the social classes of Kuwait. Section 5.4 aims at locating the Kuwaiti dialect among the peninsular Arabian dialects. Finally, section 5.5 summarises the key events which have helped shape the direction of change throughout the modern history of Kuwait. Thus, it must be emphasised that the principal focus of this chapter is on the social history of modern Kuwait.