Linguistic Phenomena in the Dialect of Mabyan District, Hajjah Governorate, Republic of Yemen: A Case Study

Abstract

This research investigates linguistic phenomena in the dialect of Mabyan District, Hajjah Governorate, Yemen. The study aims to extract the most important linguistic features of this dialect, understand the meanings and origins of its vocabulary, facilitate comprehension for interested individuals, and provide a linguistic study of Mabyan dialect for future researchers. The researcher's affiliation with Mabyan district and the lack of previous studies on its dialect were the main motivations for this research. In addition, the presence of unique linguistic phenomena in this dialect is worthy of study to uncover their meanings and secrets.

The research community was represented by listening to native speakers and relying on the researcher's own knowledge of the dialect, as well as consulting Arabic dictionaries for clarification. An inductive approach was adopted to collect the phenomena, while a descriptive-analytical approach was employed for analysis. The study was divided into two main sections: linguistic levels and vocabulary in Mabyan dialect. The linguistic levels section explored phonological, morphological, and syntactic features. The vocabulary section delved into terms related to agriculture, household, weather, and markets.

The research yielded several findings, including the significant role of phonological differences in dialect variation, the presence of Classical Arabic features in Mabyan dialect such as assimilation, metathesis, and vowel harmony, and the existence of unique features not found in Classical Arabic, such as words beginning and ending with consonants. The dialect also exhibits similarities with other Yemeni dialects and uses a single relative pronoun, "li".