Author: Antje Ida Hofstede
Date: 1998
Institution: University of Manchester
Subject:
Linguistics
Supervisor: G. Rex Smith
Abstract:In this Ph.D. thesis, a synchronic study of the syntax of Jibbali is presented. Jibbali is a Modern South Arabian language which is spoken in Dhofar (in the south of the Sultanate of Oman) by about 50,000 persons. The study is mainly based on unpublished texts collected by the late Professor T.M. Johnstone around 1970. Where appropriate, examples from T.M. Johnstone's Jibbali Lexicon (Oxford 1981) and additional fieldwork have been added. Besides the syntax, some aspects concerning the morphology are also treated. The presentation of the data is of a descriptive nature with sometimes a functional approach. Chapter 1 contains information related to the language: its geographical location and the speakers, its classification, the various names, and previous research. Finally, some remarks regarding the corpus and the transcription are made. The description of the syntax and some morphological aspects are presented in Chapters 2-11. In Chapters 2-4 the various parts of the clause are discussed: the noun phrase (Chapter 2), the relative clause (Chapter 3), the prepositional and adverbial phrase (Chapter 4). In Chapters 5-9 the whole clause is treated. Firstly, simple clauses are discussed: the non-verbal clause (Chapter 5), the simple verbal clause (Chapter 6), and two aspects related to the simple clause: the comparative and interrogative, which can both be expressed by either a non-verbal or a verbal clause (Chapters 7 and 8). Then the complex clause is discussed (Chapter 9). Chapters 10 and 11 treat aspects related to both simple and complex clauses: the tense, aspect and modality in clauses (Chapter 10), and the negative (Chapter 11). The final chapter (Chapter 12) gives some concluding remarks. In the appendices, a map shows the approximate area where Jibbali and the other Modern South Arabian languages are spoken. Three Jibbali texts are added as examples, which are glossed and furnished with a translation into English. Finally, the thesis contains references to the articles and books used in compiling the thesis, together with a selected bibliography on Jibbali, and the curriculum vitae of the author.