Parallelisms in Arabic: Morphological and Lexical, Syntactic, and Textual

Abstract

Parallelism in Arabic is investigated through data from three Arabic varieties: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Classical Arabic (CA), and (Yemeni) Adeni Arabic (AA). Parallelism in Arabic is examined at different linguistic levels: morphological and lexical, syntactic, and textual. Parallelism seems to be inherent and is more likely in writings that aim to convince or restate theses and topics. However, the occurrence of parallelisms is genre- specific, purpose-oriented, and situation/context-dependent. It is predictable in sermons, public speeches/addresses, and opinion writing. Apparently, parallelism, particularly beyond reduplication and lexical level, triggers resonance in the mind of the listener/reader, retaining the respective information in short term memory and thus marking it for emphasis.

Keywords: (Modern Standard) Arabic, Classic Arabic, Adeni Arabic, parallelism, repetition, cohesion, coherence, resonance, assonance, oral tradition, and emphasis.

File
Author
Hisham Monassar.