A Grammar of Negev Arabic

A grammar of Negev Arabic by Musa Shawarbah examines the major phonological and morphological features of the 'Azazmih Arabic, a Bedouin dialect, that is spoken by the 'Azazmih, the tribal confederation that inhabits the Negev Highlands stretching from Beersheba southwards. This variety has not been investigated to date. To place the dialect in context, historical, geographical and linguistic information on the Bedouin of the Negev and their dialects are provided in an introductory chapter. The description of the 'Azazmih dialect, which comprises the main part of the study, is based on rigorous analysis of a vast quantity of linguistic data collected in intensive fieldwork and includes the comparison with other Bedouin dialects in the Negev, Sinai Peninsula and southern Jordan. In this way the uniqueness of the 'Azazmih dialect as well as the linguistic features that it shares with other Bedouin dialects are revealed. Supplementing the work are two large-scale appendices with texts of the 'Azazmih accompanied by an English translation and a glossary of words and expressions characteristic of the dialect.