Friday, January 24, 2020

Al-Ahsa Dialect :: Hasawi Dialect

1. INTRODUCTION. Hasawi is a variety of Arabic whose roots refer to the family of Central Semitic Languages such as Hebrew and Aramaic. The Hasawi dialect is spoken in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, exactly in Al-Ahsa (Al-Hasaa) province. Therefore, the dialect of Al-Ahsa, or Hasawi (HD), is also known as the Eastern Arabian dialect. In fact, it is considered the dominant dialect in the area although there are other local dialects found in the same area, such as Badawi which is spoken by some Bedouins tribes. In 2009, the number of Hasawi speakers was estimated as 200,000 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ('Arabic, Gulf Spoken, Ethnologu', 2009). There are three reasons for selecting Hasawi for this study. First, there is little previous work related to Hasawi even though it is considered an enormous dialect because it is expanded to other Gulf countries, such as Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. Thus, HD is also spoken as a minor dialect in the previous mentioned countries so that Hasawi is sometimes called Gulf Arabic 'Khaliji'. Secondly, the emergence of a new dialect a few years ago which is Modern Hasawi, a blend of old Hasawi and Najdi, threatens the existence of the original Hasawi in Saudi Arabia in spite of the massive expansion of the dialect to the neighboring countries. Finally, the dialect of Al-Ahsa is seen as a humorous matter among other Saudi dialects because it is hard to understand (Bassiouney, 2010). Probably the cause of such difficulty refers to the sociolinguistic impact of non-Arabian languages, such as Farsi 'Persian' and Turkish. However, it would be proven at the end of t his paper that this unattractive dialect has unique acoustic features. Hence, the overall goal of this study is to investigate the Hasawi plosive phonemes and how they shape different allophones. This paper is divided into five main sections: the first section is an introduction of the topic including an overview of the dialect; the second section is a review of the literature which includes brief previous related studies; the methodology used for this study is described in the third section; the fourth section demonstrates the findings of this study; and finally the conclusion. 1.1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS. †¢ Does Hasawi dialect have various allophones of its plosive sounds? If so, what phonemes are pronounced differently? †¢ What are the phonetic facts of Hasawi allophones? 1.2. PHONOLOGICAL BACKGROUND. This part of the first section presents the inventory of Hasawi phonemes as a good reference for Results section. Al-Ahsa Dialect :: Hasawi Dialect 1. INTRODUCTION. Hasawi is a variety of Arabic whose roots refer to the family of Central Semitic Languages such as Hebrew and Aramaic. The Hasawi dialect is spoken in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, exactly in Al-Ahsa (Al-Hasaa) province. Therefore, the dialect of Al-Ahsa, or Hasawi (HD), is also known as the Eastern Arabian dialect. In fact, it is considered the dominant dialect in the area although there are other local dialects found in the same area, such as Badawi which is spoken by some Bedouins tribes. In 2009, the number of Hasawi speakers was estimated as 200,000 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ('Arabic, Gulf Spoken, Ethnologu', 2009). There are three reasons for selecting Hasawi for this study. First, there is little previous work related to Hasawi even though it is considered an enormous dialect because it is expanded to other Gulf countries, such as Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. Thus, HD is also spoken as a minor dialect in the previous mentioned countries so that Hasawi is sometimes called Gulf Arabic 'Khaliji'. Secondly, the emergence of a new dialect a few years ago which is Modern Hasawi, a blend of old Hasawi and Najdi, threatens the existence of the original Hasawi in Saudi Arabia in spite of the massive expansion of the dialect to the neighboring countries. Finally, the dialect of Al-Ahsa is seen as a humorous matter among other Saudi dialects because it is hard to understand (Bassiouney, 2010). Probably the cause of such difficulty refers to the sociolinguistic impact of non-Arabian languages, such as Farsi 'Persian' and Turkish. However, it would be proven at the end of t his paper that this unattractive dialect has unique acoustic features. Hence, the overall goal of this study is to investigate the Hasawi plosive phonemes and how they shape different allophones. This paper is divided into five main sections: the first section is an introduction of the topic including an overview of the dialect; the second section is a review of the literature which includes brief previous related studies; the methodology used for this study is described in the third section; the fourth section demonstrates the findings of this study; and finally the conclusion. 1.1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS. †¢ Does Hasawi dialect have various allophones of its plosive sounds? If so, what phonemes are pronounced differently? †¢ What are the phonetic facts of Hasawi allophones? 1.2. PHONOLOGICAL BACKGROUND. This part of the first section presents the inventory of Hasawi phonemes as a good reference for Results section.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Ancient India Technology Essay

In ancient Indian mathematics was known by the general name of Ganita, which included arithmetic, geometry, algebra, astronomy and astrology. It was Aryabhatta, who gave a new direction to trigonometry. The decimal system too was an innovation of India. By the third century B. C. mathematics, astronomy and medicine began to develop separately. In the field of mathematics ancient Indians made three distinct contributions, the notation system, the decimal system and the use of zero. The earliest epigraphic evidence of the use of decimal system belongs to the fifth century A. D. Before these numerals appeared in the West they had been used in India for centuries. They are found in the inscriptions of Ashoka in the third century B. C. Indians were the first to use the decimal system. The famous mathematician Aryabhata (A. D. 476-500) was acquainted with it. The Chinese learnt this system from the Buddhist missionaries, and the western world borrowed it from the Arab as when they came in contact with India. Zero was discovered by Indians in about the second century B. C. From the very beginning Indian mathematicians considered zero as a separate numeral, and it was used in this sense in arithmetic. In Arabia the earliest use of zero appears in A. D. 873. The Arabs learnt and adopted it from India and spread it in Europe. In the second century B. C. Apastemba contributed to practical geometry for the construction of altars on which the kings could offer sacrifices. It describes acute angle, obtuse angle, right angle, etc. Aryabhata formulated the rule for finding the area of a triangle, which led to the origin of trigonometry. The most famous work of his time is the Suryasiddanta the like of which was not found in Contemporary ancient east. During the Gupta period mathematics was developed to such an extent and more advanced than any other nation of antiquity. Quite early India devised a rudimentary algebra which led to more calculations than were possible for the Greeks and led to the study of number for its own sake. The earliest inscription regarding the data by a system of nine digits and a zero is dated as 595 A. D. evidently the system was known to mathematicians some centuries before it was employed in inscriptions. Indian mathematicians such as Brahmagupta (7th century), Mahavira (9th century) and Bhaskara (12th century) made several discoveries which were known to Europe only after Renaissance. They understood the importance of positive and negative quantities, evolved sound system of extracting squares and cube roots and could solve quadratic and certain types of indeterminate equations. Aryabhata gave approximate value of pie. It was more accurate than that of the Greeks. Also some strides were made in trigonometry, empirical geometry and calculus. Chiefly in astronomy the mathematical implications of zero and infinity were fully realized unlike anywhere in the world. The most renowned scholars of astronomy were Aryabhata and Varhamihira. Aryabhata calculated the position of the planets according to the Babylonian method. He pointed out that the sun is stationary and the earth rotates around it. The book of Aryabhata is the Aryabhatiya. Varhimihira’s well-known work is called Brihat Samhita which belongs to the sixth century A. D. Varhaihira stated that the moon rotates around the earth and the earth rotates around the sun. Brahamagupta of the seventh century A. D. appreciated the value of observation and astronomy and his book was translated into Arabic. One last great scientist was Bhaskara II. One of the chapters in the book Sidhanta Shiromani, dealing with mathematics, is the well-known work of Lilavait.