Hadhrami Dialect: A Linguistic Study

Abstract

The research aims to explore linguistic phenomena in the Hadhrami dialect, identify the linguistic features that distinguish this dialect, and preserve as much of the dialect's vocabulary as possible from extinction. The research boundaries will rely on oral sources, followed by referencing Arabic dictionaries to determine the meanings and origins of words. The researcher adopted the inductive approach to gather vocabulary and the descriptive-analytical approach to study these phenomena. The researcher has reached a number of findings, the most important of which are: some archaic linguistic phenomena remain unchanged, such as "al-'aj'ajah" and "ashnashnah.". Additionally, some archaic linguistic phenomena have undergone changes and differ from standard Arabic, such as diminution, inversion, and substitution. Furthermore, certain loanwords from English and Hindi have entered the dialect, such as "kabat" (cabinet), "kandishin" (conditioner), and "banqalah" (bungalow). There are also differences in vocabulary between the Hadhrami dialect and standard Arabic, particularly in interrogative words. Some Hadhrami words have no roots in Arabic dictionaries, like "ghadhq," where the exact word was not found, but similar words with slight variations in some letters and the same meaning were found. Hadhramis tend to use abbreviations in their speech, possibly due to the speed of their speech, leading to the omission of certain letters in words, such as "lahad" for "la ahad" (nobody) and "layman" for "al-ayman" (the right). The research is divided into two sections preceded by an introduction and followed by a conclusion and suggestions. The first section explores the levels of the Hadhrami dialect, including phonetics, morphology, and syntax. The second section focuses on specific vocabulary in the Hadhrami dialect, including residential terms and rain-related terms.