Procedes D’adaptation Phonetique De L’emprunt : La Dynamique De Systeme Phonologique De L’arabe Jordanien En Contact Avec L’anglais Et Le Français

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed at analyzing a number of Jordanian Arabic lexical units borrowed from French and English Particularly, we attempt to answer the following questions: What are the mechanisms adopted by the target language in the process of integrating the phonic forms of borrowed units? What is the impact of these adaptation mechanisms on the dynamics of the phonological system of the target language? Methods: This study adopted the methodology of functional phonology to analyze an oral corpus made up of approximately 300 units. Results: The findings of the analysis show that language contact offers explanations for the observed phonetic variations. In essence, the consonant system of Jordanian Arabic is characterized by a rather weak correlation of voiced and voiceless consonants insofar as certain voiceless consonant phonemes do not have corresponding voiced counterparts, e.g., /k/ and /f/, which favored the integration of corresponding voiced phonemes like /g/ and /v/. The results of the study also show the emergence of new vowel sounds. Conclusions: This study found effects of phonetic adaptation strategies and their contribution to the evolution of the phonological system in the target language, revealing that borrowing in such manner introduces new phonetic variations which gradually get integrated within the system of the language in ways that would fit its phonetic rules.