Linguistic Residuals from the Yemeni Dialect of Arabic in the Jordanian Dialect of Arabic

Abstract

This study investigates some words that linguistic resources have traced to the Yemeni dialects of Arabic, and that the researcher has found them used in Jordanian Arabic. The study reveals that some words that have been considered to be rooted in the Yemeni dialects of Arabic, have an extension in the Jordanian dialect of Arabic. The study shows that these words are used in Jordanian Arabic with the same interpretation that is documented in linguistic resources such as dictionaries. This extension of use might be due to the transmission of these words from one generation to the other. The study also shows that some Yemeni words existed in some old Semitic languages, and that some of these words might have their roots in the northern dialects that spread in Yemen after the domination of the northern dialects in Yemen. The study also shows that the words under investigation have developed both their semantic and morphological aspects; however, these developments have not affected the interpretation of these words.