Analyzing the Morphophonological Structure of Broken Plurals in Najdi Arabic: A Descriptive and Analytical Approach

This study explores the patterns of broken plurals in Najdi Arabic (NA) and analyzes their morphophonological characteristics. Data were collected from native NA speakers, and the accuracy of broken plural forms was judged by three additional native speakers. The analysis is framed through the theory of prosodic morphology, which posits that morphological templates are shaped by prosodic structures such as the syllable and foot. The study identifies three primary broken plural patterns in NA: trisyllabic, disyllabic, and monosyllabic. The trisyllabic pattern is formed through melodic overwriting, a process in which vowels in the first two syllables are replaced, and the third syllable adds the high front vowel /i:/. The disyllabic patterns are formed via techniques such as vowel substitution, infixing, consonant deletion, and melodic overwriting; four main forms of this pattern have been identified (CVV.CVVC, CV.CVC, CVC.CVVC, and CV.CCV). In monosyllabic patterns, consonants remain unchanged. This study provides insights into the structural patterns and morphophonological processes of the broken plural formation in NA. Although the study is limited by its exclusive focus on broken plurals and its small sample of native NA speakers, it nonetheless offers practical implications in fields such as computational linguistics, in which natural language processing tools can benefit from this enhanced understanding of broken plural formation. Future research is recommended to extend the study of broken and sound plural patterns across Arabic dialects and consider how to integrate this knowledge into computational representations of Arabic dialectal morphology and our understanding of developmental language acquisition.