S. Maslukh's dissertation «Acoustic...» as evidence for the persistence of ideas about the harf structure of language in Arabic linguistics

Although modern science operates with terms accepted in general linguistics to describe the phonetics and phonology of Arabic, not all scholars agree with this approach. Saad Maslukh's dissertation «Acoustic Characterization of Arabic Consonantism and Vocalism and the Norms of Poetic Rhyming» can be considered a striking example of the fact that Arabic linguistics continues, albeit not always explicitly, to rely on harf as the basis of its prosodic structure, which is directly related to phonetics and phonology. This becomes evident when comparing the text of the thesis with treatises on grammar from the classical period, which are based on the harf structure of Arabic prosody, and with the works of modern scholars who have adopted the terminological basis of Western linguistics. Maslukh bases his conclusions on experimental data. He is convinced that the ratio of the long vowel to the short vowel in Arabic is 4:1, which differs considerably from the common opinion that the long element is obtained from the juxtaposition of two short ones. When the shortening is severe, speakers cease to recognize words they are familiar with. In some cases there was a qualitative change of sounds. On the basis of these data, the scholar argues that prosodic and phonemic length in Arabic are of a different nature, which never allowed long and short vowels to appear together within a single rhyme. This can also be considered as a confirmation of the theory that the short vowel is an integral part of the harf with a realized consonantal component, while the long vowel is an independent unit. It can be said that the study of prosodic phenomena of Arabic language with the help of experimental phonetics and based on the harf theory can give the most complete view of this level of the language.