Bilim Diigiinceve Sanatta

CTZRE
(UluslararasrBilim Dtigiince ve Sanatta Cizre SempozyumuBildirileri)

Editiir
M. NesimDoru

iilligg&-rrEEi
 CommonFeaturesof NorthMesopotamian
Arabic DialectsSpokenin Turkey($rrnak,
Mardin,Siirt)

Bi[uni-University
GeorgeGrigore-Gabriel - Romania
of Bucharest

Abstract
The Placeof SpokenArabic of Cizre amongMesopotamian Arabic Dialects.
In this paper, we shall presentour analysisof the Arabic spokenin Cizre,
specially, and the Sirnak province, generally, comparing it with the other
contemporary Mesopotamiandialects.We have in view, the Arabic dialects
spokenin Mardin area,Siirt area,Urfa area,and in Irak and EasternSyria.Our
analysisis basedon{ur own recordingsand alsoon the booksof Otto Jastrow,
Bo Isakson,ShaboTalay,etc.

Introduction
This paper is a part of an ampler project we initiated last year, with the purpose of giving shape
to a synthesisof the data regarding the North MesopotamianArabic dialects spoken in Turkey ($rrnak,
Mardin, Siirt), based on some monographs published in this field, especially, Sasse(1971), Jastrow
(1978), Wittrich (2001), Grigore (2007), Lahdo (2009), and also, on our recent recordings made on the
spot. For $rmak, we chose the Arabic variety spoken in Azex described by Wittrich (2001); for
Mardin, we chosethe Mardini Arabic (spoken in the town of Mardin) describedby Grigore (2007) and
Mhlallami Arabic (spoken in Estel, Midyat) described by Sasse(1971); for Siirt, we selectedthe
varietiesspokenin the town of Siirt, describedby Grigore (2011), and in the village of Tillo, described
by Lahdo (2009). On top of that, there is also the data belonging to our corpus, based on our
recordings.
The Arabic Mesopotamian dialects are divided into two main groups, according to Otto Jastrow:
qaltu andgalat.
The qaltu group is characterizedby the realization of the old consonant/q/ as such lql, and by
the presenceof the vowel-finally l-ul,like in the old Arabic, at the first singular person of the suffixal
conjugation.Also, the secondpersonpatterndoesnot have a final vowel (Blanc 1964: 5-ll;160-171;
Jastrow1978).
The other type, galat, is characterizedby the realization of the old consonantlql as lgl, and by
an epenthesisat the first singular person ofthe suffixal conjugation.
Remarks on the North Mesopotamian Phonetics
New phonemes
The emergence of new phonemes is, most of the times, due to the massive loans from the
Turkish and Kurdish languages;thus, having an easy explanation for the presenceof phonemeslike
lpl,ldl andlgl:

545
 lpl: pis - udirtyu, cf. Kurdish/Turkish pts - pis; pardaye - "curtain", cf, Turkish perda,
sporii "sportive", cf. Turkish sporgi (Grigore, 2007: 37); petrdl ,,petrol", cf. Turkish petrol;
poraiut,,parachute",cf. Turkishparasut;polTs,,police", cf. Turkishpolis (Bifund,2012).
lgl: goraye "sock", cf. Kurdish gore; darguSe"swing", cf. Kurdish dergfis (Grigore,
2007:47); gaz "gas"; cf, Turkish gaz; zang1n,,rich",cf. Turkish zengin (Bi!und, 2012).The /g/ is
attested,in only a few situations,as result of regressivepartial assimilation, M to /g/ (seesection
1.5.)
l(/: iangal "hook", cf. Turkish gengel,baqia "wisp", cf. Turkish bokla (Grigore, 2007:
47) ialvnaq "lighter", cf. Turkish gakrnak,etc.

1.2. The lateral consonant/l/

The lateral liquid ll/, in the inherited lexicon, is generally invariable at the purely
segmentallevel but it is subjectto grammaticallyconditionedalternationat the morphemiclevel,
e.g. as a definite article and as object marker.The definite article [-] assimilatesin the following
coronal segments(t, !, d, d, s, z, r, l, s, 5, g, 1, 0. Interestingly,the assimilationrule is
symmetricallyimplementedbefore the inheritedvoiced alveo-palatalaffricate lfl andthe loaned
voicelessalveo-palatal affuicate/ dl.
- gahi "little donkey (foal)" - a!-{afuS"the little donkey (the foal)";
- {arab "scabies"- a{-darab "the scabies";
- iakili "hammer" - ailiakui "the hammer";
- iaraq "peasantsandal"- ai-iaraq 'othepeasantsandals".
It is worth taking into considerationthat the non-assimilationof the lateral lllbefore lfl is
the norm in old Arabic and certainArabic dialects.
Like many mainstreamArabic dialects,the Mesopotamianvarieties display the optional
assimilationof lll to a following /n/ exclusively at the morphemeboundary betweena verb and
the pronominalsuffix f-na] qalna / qanna"we said".

1.3. The interdentales

The interdentales l!/, ldl, /{/ (with the mention that /!/covers two old consonantslQland
l! I in North Mesopotamiandialects) are realizedin various ways. Despite the opinion of Haim
Blanc (1964: 6) that the interdentalesare the distinguishedfeaturesof these dialects,they are
preservedonly in the Mardin group, while in the other areasthey have shifted into: labio-dental
fricatives in Siirt, and apico-alveolarfricatives in Azex. The preservationof the interdentalesin
Mardini Arabic may have been due to the existenceof a Syriac sublayer:iQo- "hand"; klowo -
"book"; otre- "to come" (Hoberman 1997 320).
In Mardini Arabic: trilm"garlic", Qahab"gold", gphr"aftemoon", darab"to hit" (Grigore,
2007:57).
In Azex Arabic: sum "garlic", zahab "gold", zahr "aftemoon", zarab *to hit" (Wittrich,
2001: l2\.

546
 In Siirti Arabic:Jilm "garlic", vehob "gold", yahor'oafternoon",yarab 'to hit" (Grigore,
20ll:256).

1.4. The voicelessuvular stop /qi

The uvular lql is preserved in all North Mesopotamian dialects, as a specific
Sometimes,in word-finally position,it shiftsto the voicelessvelar fricativelxl:
characteristic.
in Mardini Arabic: waraq + worax o'paper","Turkish lira";
in Azex Arabic: sdq --+sox "market" (Wittrich,200l: l2);
in Siirti Arabic:yapraq + yaprqx ,"leaf', cf.Turkyaprak.
In all of these varieties, there is an examplethat exists even in Turkish and Kurdish as
kaiaq - which shifts into kniax - "smuggling (contraband)".This shifting is very known in the
Turkish Anatolian dialects.for instance:.vok - vox oothere
is not".

1.5. Velar stops

Sometimes,the contrastbetweenlW andlgl is partially neutralized;the /k/ becomeslgl -
as a regressivepartial assimilqtion - in contact with the voiced bilabial stop /b/ or with the
voiced dentalsibilant lzl in all North Mesopotamiandialects:
- gbTr,gbar "big", (in old Arabic, kabTr,kibdr);
- gezbaya"coriander", (in old Arabic laubara).

1.6. The voicellesglottal stop /'/

Like many Arabic vernaculars,North Mesopotamianno longer retains the automatic
glottal catchprecedingword-initial vowels: isam"name", amm o'mother",arnab "hare" etc. Also,
in word-finally syllable,the glottal stop disappears; mara "woman" (old Arabic,-imre a). In the
middle of the word, it is very soft: sel?/ "question",it is pronouncedas su-dl, as a hiatus.In the
Arabic of Tillo (Siirt), the voicelessglottal stop /'/ has shifted, in initial position and when
followed by a back vowel lal or /ul,to a voiced laryngealfricative l'/: 'osal 'oorigin",cf. old
Arabic 'asl; 'aqdrab "relatives", cf. old Arabic 'aqaribu (Lahdo, 2009: 52) or, sometimes,has
shifted, in the Arabic spokenin the town of Siirt, to the uvular lql; qarnab "hare", cf. old Arabic
'arnab;qarf
"earth",cf. old Arabic 'arQ(Grigore,20ll: 258).

1.7, The new emphatic consonants

In all North Mesopotamiandialects,a consonant,in the vicinity of an emphaticconsonant
or of a back consonant,can be shiftedto an emphaticone: xdn "inn, hostel", mayaqatfaryryAry
"pomegranate juice"; qaba( "patience",etc. (Lahdo,2009:69). The most frequentis /r/:
;aryryoya
"cat";faya "mouse"; 'aQQAya "narrow street,path",ydoy"hereturns,'(Grigore,2007:68),

1.8. The word-finally position

Any vowel and any consonantmay occur in word-finally position, but there are some
generaltransformations:

547
 - the long vowels become short, in pausal form: sdni (cf. old Arabic: trdnl) "second",
'askari (cf. old Arabic: 'askarT)"soldier", danye (cf. old Arabic: dunyd)
"world" (Wittrich,
2001:93;120);
- the geminateconsonantsbecomesimple (or single), in pausal form: haq insteadof haqq
"right", hab insteadof habb "tablet or piece of something",dan insteadof dann 'Jar of water".
The voiced stops (b, d, E, g) are usually devoiced (p, t, d, k) when they occur in word-
finally position: ktep, insteadof hdb ('obook",in Mardini Arabic), ba'Tt, insteadof ba'id ("far",
in Azex Arabic); in Tillo Arabic: qlyap'onicer", cf. old Arabic 'a!yab; azyat "more", cf. old
Arabic 'azyad(seeLahdo,2009:106),etc.
The voicelessstops(p, t, d, k) are aspiratewhen they occur in word-finally position: byiit'
t'houses";tdp "' cannon",etc.

2. Nominal Morphology and Syntaxl

The grammaticalcategoriesknown in the nominal classof the Semitic languagesare: the
case, the number, the gender, the person and the definition, which are not pertinent in their
entirety in the North Mesopotamiansubclassof Arabic dialects.The case,just like in all the
other Arabic dialects,is no longer marked by specific morphemes,fact that constitutesthe most
obviousdifferencebetweendialectsand classicalArabic, from Blau's point of view (Blau 1969:
191).
2.1. The number t
The number category is pertinent for the nominal class, but not all namesknow all the
three forms of number that exist in the North Mesopotamiandialectal sub-class,that is the
singular,the dual and the plural. While the noun has all thesethree numbers,the adjectiveand
the pronounonly know two of them, the singularand the plural.

2.1.1. The singular

The singular,like in all varietiesof Arabic, is not marked (the lack of any mark is the
mark of the singularitself'!):
in Siirti Arabic: rawi , "a shovel" ; zan{1r, o'chain", "a chain" ; madba$a, 'otanner
workshop", "atanner workshop" ;
in Azex Arabic: xdrt "yowg men"; {E{e "hen"; sqwf "bull" (Wittrich, 2001: 95)
in Mardini Arabic: zag"little chicken","a little chicken";tamm,'omouth".

2.1.2. The dual

The dual, which represents exactly two units, only manifests itself in the North
Mesopotamianat the level of the noun. The morphemethat marks the dual is -ayn (with various
allomorphs):
in AzexArabic: gamie "a handfull" - gamiatayn "two handfulls"; sawr, "bull" - sqwfayn
"two bulls" (wittrich, 2001:114).
in Siirti Arabic: bayt, "a house" - baytayn, "two houses"; uay'a"a village" -
vay'atayn"two villages".
In Mardini Arabic: adar o'a leg" afrayn, "two legs"; zabase"a mellon"
zabaitavn'two mellons".

I The
verbal morphology and syntax will be approachedin a separatepaper.
548
 At the younger speakers,the most frequentnounsthat can appearat the dual number are
thosereferring to the measureunits or the double parts of the body. At the older speakers,there
is still a chanceto hear any given noun at the dual number.
When a personalsuffix is attachedto a dual noun, the specific morphemefor the dual is
then reducedto only -ay,through the fall of the consonant/n/:
'aynay-ki,'oyour(f.) two eyes".
in Mardini Arabic: katfay-u,o'histwo shoulders";
in Azex Arabic: 'qynay-k "your (m.) [two] eyes"; iday-a "her [two] hands" (Wittrich,
2001:14).
Both adjectivesand verbs fall into agreementwith a dual noun and they are always set in
the plural form:
in Siirti Arabic: lalabtayn mlEh "two good sorts" (Lahdo, 2009:159), bardaqayn anyaf
"two clean mugs"; awle l-quiayr "those two birds" ; tday-u nkasaru "his two hands were
broken".
in Azex Arabic: ra{fialayn"zxdm"two strongmen" (Wittrich, 2001: I 14)

2.1.3. The plural

The plural knows a very large paletteof forms that hold a broad diversity, being obtained
through:
2.1.3.1.The suffixes (external plurals):
a) -Ail-et: .
The suffix -atl-et is usedfor the feminine nouns:
- 'araba, "a car" - 'araQdtrt'carst';
- 'aSlre,ttatribe" - 'aiTrEt,"tribes".
in Azex Arabic: utfrrg" "gun" - "tfangat "guns"; maqbaya o'cemetery- maqbayat
"cemeteries"(Wittrich, 2001:l T4).
in Siirti Arabic: kana "time" - karuat o'times"; harake "movement" * fuarakdt
"movements"(Lahdo,2009:94).
Nowadays,this suffix is used for the overwhelmingmajority of the loans,no matterwhat
their gender is:
- bardaq "a mug" - bardaqat "mugs";
- renk "color" * renket"colors".
in Azex Arabic: raxt "cartridge belt" - raxtdt "cartridge belts" (Kurdish: rext); asbTndar
"poplar"* sbinddrat "poplars" (Kurdish: spindar) (Wittrich, 2001: 115).
Sometimes,eventhe masculinenouns,par excellence,havea plural in -at:
- insdn,"man",and by extensionohumanbeing" - insdndt,"men", "humanbeings".
b) -tn:
The -tn suffix is usedonly for nounsthat designatehumanbeingsof male sex:
in Sirti Arabic: maflas "broke"- maflasTn'broke ones"; mlahrTngi "circumciser" -
mtahrlnEln"circumcisers" (Lahdo, 2009: 93); SabbA!, "thief' -SaQSaPn,"thieves"(Grigore,
2011:260);
in Azex Arabic: gldm "boy" - gl€mtn "boys"; sal.tl4dro'magician"- nf;lErTn oomagicians"
(wittrich,2001:114)
in Mardini Arabic: ballan "tired" - baflantn "tired"; qaium "talkative" - qaium1n
oofriends".
"talkative"; arqadai "friend" - arqaddi1n

s49
 2.1.3.2.The simulfixes (internal plurals)
The North Mesopotamian Arabic dialects preserve a great number of internal plural
pafierns:
-bayt, "house"-byut, "houses";
-'affir, "bird" - 'a;afir, "birds".
Following our observations, this type of plural tendsto be replacedby the externalplural.
For example, in our corpus, for the spokenArabic of Siirt, as well as the one in Mardin, the
plural of qafrq, "friend" is sadtqTn,"friends", and it is not a;diqa as it appearsin the majority of
Arabic varieties.
Under the influenceof the Kurdish language,the patternfor the internalpluralfa'lan-
lessproductivethan in otherMesopotamianArabic dialects(Blanc, 1964:86) - becamefrequent
in the North Mesopotamian.That is due to the factthat the ending an,belonging to this pattem,
overlapswith the unique plural morphemepresentin Kurdish: mal, "house" - moln4 "houses".
In all North Mesopotamiandialects:
-yarTq,"road" -larqanr "roads";
- qamT;,"shirt" - qamsdn,"shirts" ;
TheNorth Mesopotamian dialectstendto generalbethispattemfollowingthe examplebelow:
- larTq,"road" * larqdn, "roads".

2.1.3.3.The suppletism{the completetransformationof a word). It hasbeeninheritedas

suchfrom the old Arabic lexicon for a few nouns,like the following:
ttwoman" - ttwoment' qnar"I"r- ttwe"
mara, naswenr ; nallner ;
In Siirti Arabic, the suppletiveplural is also attestedin: aban"son" - awlad/awldd"sons,
children"(Lahdo,2009:95).
Easily remarkable is the fact that some plural patterns are not pointed out through a
single method, but through two of them in the sametime: ahmar o'red"- hamrlnwhere the
simulfix coexistswith the suffix (-Tn),or bant,"girl" - banEt,"girls", wherethe simulfix coexists
with the suffix (-er).
Another worthy mention would be the emergenceof new plural patterns,some of which
correspondto the onesof the old Arabic singularfemininepatterns:maslhi,"Christian",sg. ffi.-
masThlye, "Christians",sg. f. and pl.

2.1.4. The Singulativeand the Collective

The singulative(nomenunitatis) is a unit extractedfrom an ensemblecomposedof many
units (the collective).We could define it as being atype of markedsingular,while the collective
is not. North Mesopotamiandialectshavethreemorphemesfor the markingof the singulative:
ale:
in Mardini Arabic: taftdh"ensembleof apples"-taffiha,"an apple" ; EeE,o'ensemble of
hens"-!d{e,"ahen".
in Siirti Arabic: ganam"herd, ensembleof sheeps"- ganame'oasheep";basal "ensemble
ofonions"- ba;ale"an onion" (Lahdo,2009:90).
ayelEye:
in Siirti Arabic: yqpraq "ensemble of leaves"-yapraqaye"a leaf'; fiim,"garric" -
f[m6ye, "a clove of garlic";faft, "snow" -fa$eye, "a snow flake" (Grigore, 20ll:262);
in Azex Arabic: hasa "ensembleof stones"- fia;aye o'astone"; taxt "ensembleof beds"-
taxtaye"a bed" ; qasal "ensembleof stalks- qaslaye"a stalk" (wittrich, 2001: I I 3);
550
 in Mhallami Arabic: baqq "ensembleof mosquitoes"- baqqaye"a mosquito"; 'anab
"grape"-'anbeye "abunch ofgrapes"(Sasse,I97I: 100).
i:
in all North Mesopotamiandialects:
kard "the entiretyof Kurdish people"- kardi "a Kurdish (person)".

2.2. The gender

TheNorth Mesopotamian, like all varietiesofArabic, hastwo genders,masculineandfeminine.
The masculinehasno specialmark:
inAzexArabic:n€iir"hunt',lapal "floor",ga{tr"cief' (Wittrich,2001:101);
in Siifti Arabic:ahmar"donkey'';bardnuranr";xatan"brother-in-law"(Lahdo,2009: 87);
inMardiniArabic:harun'lomcat';d=ik"rcosftet'',neri'billy goaf'(Grigore,2007: lS0-1Sl).
The feminine is marked with the suffix a/e: m4t4 "woman" ; mawo,"fruit";
sane,"year";qahwe,"coffee". A specificsuffix, developedin thesedialects,is -oye:
in Mardini Arabic: gaSbOye"lie"; hakkiye "story"; mattoye "sling"; maxtaboyeoohide-
and-seek"(Grigore,2007: 181);
in Azex Arabic: hakkoye "story"; gannoye "song"; gazboye "lie"; massiye "sieve"
(wittrich,2001:108).
The distinctionbetweenmasculineand feminineoccursexclusivelyat the singular,becausethis
positionis neutralizedat theplural. The consequences ofthe neutralizatronarethe following:
- the existenceof a singlepatternfor adjectivesandparticiplesat the plural:
The adjectivesand the participles have, in their majority, two patterns for singular, one
for masculineand one for feminine,but at the plural, the old femininepatternis neutralizedin
favor of the masculinepatternthat becomesuniqueat the plural:
in Siirti Arabic: vaS4rcq"narrow", sg.m.- uayqa"narrotv", sg.f. - vay@n"narrow" pl. c.;
in Azex Arabic: 'a;i"ftxed, glued",sg.m. -'6sys"f\xed, 'as.yTn
glued",sg.f.- "fixed,
glued",pl. c.; gdwar "incredulous",sg. m. - gdwre ooincredulouS", sg. f. * gnvrTn "incredulous",
pl. c. (wittrich, 2001:98).
in Mhallami Arabic: raxlq "cheap",Sg.ffi,- yaxT;a"cheap", sg. f.- yxds "cheap",pl. c.
( S a s s eI 9, 7 I : I 0 8 ) .
- the existenceof the unique pronounsfor the 2"d and3'dpersons in oppositionwith the
,
old Arabic,which hasdifferentpronounsfor the two genders.

2.3.The independentpronouns:
in Azex Arabic(Wittrich.200
Number/sender 2"" person 3toperson
sg. m. ant "yorJ" hilwe "he"
ss.f. anti "yot' h|ye "she"
((Ygg)t
pl.c. 7tltan hanne "they"

in Slrrtl
ln Arabic (Grisore.
Siirti Arablc n 0ll:264
20ll:2
t

Number/sender 2noperson 3ruperson

((VOU,))
sg. m. ant flwe "he"
ss.f. anti "yolJ" 7ye "S'hett
Pl.c. antan "youtt anne "they"

551
 rn MardiniArabic (fu re,2007:227-
Number/sender 2"" person 3'operson
sg. m. ant'oyou" ilwe "hg"
ss.f. anti "you" 7ve"she"
pl.c. antan "yor)" anne o'thev"
At the 1" person,the genderopposition doesnot exist, like in the majority of the Arabic
variations:
ana (ana) "I" nahne"we".

2.4.The suffixedpronouns:
m Arabic (Wittrich
in Azex A Wrttnch,2001:30):
Number/sender 2noperson 3to person
sg. m. -ak/ -k "vour" -u "his"
sg.f. -ki "yotrr" -a'oher"
pl.c. -kan "your" -an "their"

in SiirtiArabic(Grisore.20l| : 264
Number/sender 2"uperson 3toperson
sg. m. -ok"yout" -u "his"
ss.f. -ki "your" -q "her"
pl.c. -kan'oyour" -an"their"

in Mardini Arabic (Gri 2007:227-

Number/sender 2noperson 3'operson
sg. m. -ak / -k "your" -uo'his"
ss.f. -ki o'your" -o "hgf"
pl.c. -ldan"yovr" -an ootheif'

At the l" person,the opposition of gendersdoesnot exist. At the singular,there are two
patterns,one for nouns-i andthe other one for verbs-ni.
Highly mentionableis the fact that the unique pattemsof the 2"d and3'dpersonpronouns
are derivedfrom the old Arabic feminine patternsof:
- antan"you" <- antunna ttyou", f.
- -l<an"your" - -kunna ttyour", f.
-anne "they" ,- hunna"they", f.
- -an "their" * -Itttnnq "their". f.

The innovationshere are the following:

- The elimination of dual patterns
- The neutralizationof the masculineplural, that is being replacedby the feminine
one,which alsobecomesthe uniquepatternfor plural.

552
 - The existenceof a unique patternfor the plural demonstrativepronoun,just like is
the casein old Arabic. For example,the demonstrativepronounsfor near deixis are:
inMardini Arabic: sg. m.: hdQa"this",sg. f.: ha/i'bhis ",pl. c.: hawQe"these"(Grigore,
2007:235)
in Siirti Arabic: sg. m.: dvo "this", sg.f .: avi "this ", pl. c.: awle "these"(Lahdo,2009:)
in Azex Arabic: sg. m.: hdza'\his"; sg. f.: haye, hazyehazya,zya"this"; pl. c.: hawze,
hawzye,hawzya,hawye,hawwyd,hawyane"these" (Wittrich, 2001,:37).

For the relative pronoun, that is of a vast diversity in old Arabic, dependingon the gender
and number,in North Mesopotamianonly a singlepatternhas survived: lalla/lay.
For instance,in Siirti Arabic: kaT\alalltu ak al-... ras ad-{amfial1qlay ft ak al-Skafte"l
climbedup to the peak of the rock which is in that cave" (Lahdo, 2009: 85). In Mardini Arabic:
mayawatla habbaytufa-hayatt kall-an man mansilrtyeanne."the women that I loved in my life
are,all of them, from Mansuriye"(Grigore,2007: 312); bant lalaq'ad fa'otelna... "the girl that
is sittingin our hotel..."(Sasse, 1971:131).

2.5. Determination
The definite article used in the North Mesopotamiandialects is al/t. Nevertheless,there are
wherethe definitearticleis omitted:lqhemnaxsalu'\ve washthe meaf' (Lahdo,2009: 158).
attestations

2.6. The statusconstructus.

In North Mesopotamianthe synthetic constructionor the construct state is used in order
to mark the possessionrelation. In a construct state,the first term does not have an article,
becauseit is definedby the secondterm, which, in its tum, can be definedor non-defined.In
thesedialects,there is an innovation emerging,where the secondterm can be not only a noun,
but alsoan adjective(examplestakenfrom Siirti Arabic).
a) The statusconstructuswith a non-definedsecondterm:
Nl N2: 'arqbatarqadaS,"acarof a friend";
N A: 'araQatlauayse,"a good car".
b) The statusconstructuswith a defined secondterm:
- N1 el-N2: arv al-vay'a,"the earthof the village";
-N el-A: artl al-ba'lde,o'thefar earth".
In Azex Arabic:bantal-malTfua"the goodgirl" (Wittrich,2001:148).
This kind of statusconstructusexists in all varietiesof North MesopotamianArabic and it
is, in our opinion, the result of the contact between the spoken languagesin the entire area
(Grigore2003:I I9-134).
In Kurdish - Kurmangi variety - the following pattern applies for these two situations:
the first noun followed by the vowel a or A (dependingon the gender of the noun) and the
determinant,whether it is a noun or an adjective. The second noun ends in a short i (often
neglected)while the adjectiveis nevermarked:
-Nr a/€N1. beranAxort',''the lamb of the youngman";
-Nl a/eA: beranAreS,"theblacklamb".
Following the samemethod, the persianizdfet was functional in the ottoman Turkish just
like the kurdish structurethat we havejust described:
- Nr i/r Nz: der-i sd'adet,"The HappinessGate"( Istanbul
);
- Nr i/r A: bahr-t sefid,"The White Sea"( MediterraneanSea
).
553
 Starting with these two patterns,the North Mesopotamiangeneralizesa unique pattern:
-
Nr al Nz/A for both the situations.Paradoxally,the adjectivewill come into agreementwith the
noun in genderandnumber,following the known Arabic rule:
- xaruf al-abyay"the white lamb";
- ganamatal-bayya,"the white sheep".

Conclusions
According to our analysis, the grammatical features of the noun in the North
Mesopotamian dialects are: the number, the gender, the person and the definition. On
approaching each of these features in North Mesopotamian Arabic, there is room for discussion
regarding the three numbers (singular, dual, plural) and the two genders (masculine and
feminine). With regard to the number, a remarkable fact is that the dual is applied now only to
certain nouns, while the plural is formed by several means, among which the suffixation (the
external plural) prevails. Concerning the gender, the masculine-feminine dichotomy is to be
found only in singular, while in plural, the dichotomy is cancelled. Consequently, adjectives and
pronouns are reduced to a single form of plural. As for determination, our study points out to the
innovation of treating a determinant adjective as the second term of a status constructus.

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