Arabic Emphatics: Phonetic and Phonological Remarks

Abstract

Arabic has a set of complex coronals, /s/, /d/, and /t/, which are the emphatic sounds of their plain counterparts /s/, /d/, , and /t/. These emphatic sounds in Arabic are problematic both phonetically and phonologically. Phonetically, the secondary articulation of these sounds is disputed. Phonologically, they are grouped with the rest of Arabic guttural class in some studies while excluded by others. This paper touches on these arguments and argues that phonologically, these sounds are not part of the Arabic guttural class.