Sub-dialectal Coronal and Non-coronal Assimilation in Yemeni Arabic

This is an investigation of the assimilation process across word boundaries of the four main dialects of Yemeni Arabic. Twenty native speakers of these dialects have been asked to read the collected data, five from each dialect. The reading of the phrases has been transcribed for the analysis. The data under investigation uncovers the fact that assimilation in the four Yemeni dialects can be classified into symmetrical and asymmetrical categories. Symmetrical assimilation does not lead to irregularity. However, asymmetrical assimilation can cause irregularity among the four Yemeni dialects. The asymmetrical category of assimilation is investigated in terms of place, voicing, and emphasis. These irregularities are analogous to earlier typological work undertaken by Lehn (1963), Mohanon (1993), Watson (2002), Zuraiq and Zhang (2006), and Zuraiq and Abu Joudeh (2013). The study provides informative phonetic data useful for the foundation of a cross-dialectal study of assimilation in YA consonants.