Syntax of possession in Sudanese Arabic

Abstract The construct state is widely regarded as a key feature of possessive constructions in Semitic languages, including Classical Arabic and modern Arabic dialects. However, the theoretical debate on the nature of the construct state in modern Arabic dialects is still ongoing. Sudanese Arabic is one of the less explored languages in this regard. This paper examines the syntax of possessive constructions in Sudanese Arabic and argues that, unlike Classical Arabic and some other Semitic languages, Sudanese Arabic does not exhibit a default state (either absolute or free) versus construct state distinction. While the possessor noun might be described as being in the default/absolute state, this default/absolute state does not contrast morphologically with a construct state. The study thus argues that Sudanese Arabic lacks a construct state. This paper shows that the alternations associated with tā’ marbūṭa and certain dual forms do not provide sufficient evidence for an independent construct state morpheme, and are instead better analysed in terms of allomorphic variation. This study further argues that possession may involve both overt and covert possessive markers represented by the functional head Poss, which establishes the possessive relation between the possessor and the possessed noun. The analysis proposes that possessive constructions in Sudanese Arabic are structurally similar to transitive vP structures containing the functional head Poss, which assigns thematic roles to its arguments. Adopting the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995. The minimalist program . Massachusetts: MIT Press) and the DP Hypothesis (Abney 1987. The English noun phrase in its sentential aspect. PhD: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Massachusetts), this study argues that the overall possessive structure is a DP dominating PossP, in which the possessed noun occupies the specifier position of PossP, while the possessor occupies the complement position of Poss. More broadly, the proposed analysis contributes to the understanding of possession and genitive constructions in Arabic dialects and Semitic syntax.