The syntax of the particle qad in standard Arabic and Asiri Arabic

Abstract

Purpose

This article studies the particle qad in standard Arabic (SA) and Asiri Arabic (AA). In SA, qad is pronounced as [qæd], whereas in AA it is pronounced as [q?d] and written as qid. Qad in SA is different from qid in AA regarding its functional use and syntactic distribution. Accordingly, the study discusses the semantics and selection properties of qad/qid.

Design/methodology/approach

Contrasting analyses are presented to verify which syntactic analysis better suits extended projection principle (EPP) extension, and tree structures are provided to elucidate ongoing problematic configurations and to provide solutions.

Findings

The SA particle qad has three functions: (1) a probability modal, as in may or might; (2) a perfective auxiliary, as in have, has and had; and (3) indicating emphatic purpose, as in do, does and did. Contrariwise, qid in AA has two meanings: (1) have, has and had (perfective auxiliary); and (2) the past tense of the English copula was/became (a linking verb). Given this background, there has been a debate in the syntax literature about whether qid/qad is an adverb. The current article provides evidence indicating that qid and qad are not adverbs.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to the analysis of qid in Asiri dialect. Further research needs to be done on the different branches of the Asiri dialects according to the tribe. Sometimes, tribes have different sound for some words. There is not any literature review found on the Asiri dialects in the designated area of study; the particle qid.

Practical implications

The study can be counted towards the Asiri linguistic heritage in documenting the syntactic and semantic properties of qid particle. The study contributes to the linguistic field of the Arabic language and its varieties.

Social implications

The study offers a general review of the linguistic background of Asir region. The study introduces the reader to qad particle in SA and holds a comparison between the two researched versions of qad in SA and qid in AA.

Originality/value

The paradoxical analysis between qad and qid on all levels is presented (semantics, functional use, selection properties and level of configuration (EPP)). Also, it introduces the particle qid in AA as it was never investigated before.

Citation

Alhaider, S.M. (2021), "The syntax of the particle qad in standard Arabic and Asiri Arabic", Saudi Journal of Language Studies, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 81-94. https://doi.org/10.1108/SJLS-08-2021-0014

Introduction

This study focuses on the semantic and syntactic distribution of qad/qid between standard Arabic (AA) and Asiri Arabic (AA). Although the particle qad has been studied, it is in need of further investigation. In contrast, qid in AA has not been examined previously. AA is a dialect of the Asiri people in the Asir region in the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia; the capital is the city of Abha, located 6,000 feet above sea level. There are two theories behind the origin of Asir. One hypothesis is that the name is based on the area's harsh geographic terrain; the region is mountainous, and Asir means “hard” or “difficult” in Arabic. The second theory is that the name refers to a resident, i.e. an Adnanian (Alneami, 1999, p. 16; see also Alhamed, 2005; Alneami, 1999; Jaris, 1994). Saudi Arabia comprises five regions: northern, eastern, middle, western and southern; Asir is located in the last of these. This paper is based on work conducted on the Asir region; the study is limited to the Asiri dialect. The people of Asir are known for pronouncing the <sh>/ʃ/ sound at the end of a word when addressing a woman. For example, “keif halish” or “How are you?” (feminine singular). This linguistic phenomenon is called “kaš kaš ah” [kaʃ.ka.ʃə] (Al-Azraqi, 2007) (see Figure 1).

This study is based on prior research on qad and compares qad in SA and qid in AA, with a focus on the following aspects: semantics, function, selection properties and tree structures, with various examples provided.

Qad in SA expresses the perfective mood and can be used in the present, past, or even future perfect tense. In this case, qad may be optional to the meaning of the sentence, as the tense of the verb is shown in the main verb in the sentence, and qad indicates the aspect of the verb. Usually, in Arabic, there is no overt copula; instead, the imperfective yakuːnu (“to be” in English) can be inserted into the sentence, along with the perfective mood of the main verb. In this case, qad is optional and can be inserted to fulfill the perfective meaning (Comrie, 1976).

The imperfective yaku:nu/ta-ku:nu :

(1) qad ta-kuunu Salmaa katab-a-t risaalat-an may Fem-be.IMPERF Salma write- PERF-Fem letter-ACC “Salma may have written a letter” (Bahloul, 2016, p. 264)

The perfective kaanat/kaan:

(2) qad kaan-a-t Salmaa katab-a-t risaalat-an qad be-PERF-Fem Salma write-PERF-Fem letter-ACC “Salma had written a letter” (Bahloul, 2016, p. 265)

No previous research has explored the syntactic structure of qid in AA; hence, this study reveals the syntactic structure of qid in terms of meaning, function and selection.

Sometimes, in SA, certain prefixed particles can be added to the particle qad to indicate a slight addition to the meaning, but not to the function. The prefixed particles are fa-, wa- and la-. The first, fa-, is a coordinating conjunction particle that denotes sharing the main action with consecutiveness. The second, wa-, is a coordinating conjunction particle that signals sharing the main verb as well, and that the two parties are equal. The third, la-, is a prefixed particle that is only attached to qad and not to the main verb, such as la- + qad (Bahloul, 2008). Laqad has two meanings: (1) it emphasizes the adverb and (2) it serves as the perfective of the verb's action. In the latter case, the verb's action has recently been completed (Al-Aswad, 1983; Wright, 1967). Examples are given below.

(3) Nahadh alwaladu sabaha fa-akala Woke up DEF-boy morning fa-ate “The boy woke up in the morning and ate”

(4) Nahadh alwaladu sabaha wa-akala Woke up DEF-boy morning wa-ate “The boy woke up in the morning and ate”

(5) La-qad qaraʔ-tu haaðaa al-kitaab La-qad read.Pf-ls this the-book “I have (now) read this book.” (Bahloul, 2008, p. 75)

In the former case of laqad as an emphatic adverb, an example is presented from Bahloul (2008):

(6) La-qad faʕal-a La-qad do.Pf-3s.m “He (really) did (it)/or He DID (it)” (Bahloul, 2008, p.76)

In the case of qid, the prefixed particles la- and fa-do not work. Only the prefixed particle wa− + qid can be syntactically correct.

(7) (*La/fa) (Wa) qid akala alwaladu al-tufahat-a. waqid eaten-PERF DEF-boy-NOM DEF-apple- ACC “The boy had eaten the apple.”

Therefore, the present study investigates the previously unexamined syntactic structure of qid in AA and compares qad in SA to qid in AA, identifying the differences and similarities. In light of these two objectives, the following two questions were addressed:

• What is the syntactic approach of qid in AA?

• How is qad in SA different from/similar to qid in AA?

Literature review

Few studies have been conducted on the particle qad in general, which has been examined from two perspectives: semantic and functional. From a semantic perspective, qad in SA aims to naturalize discourse. On the other hand, from a functional standpoint, qad has no exact equivalent in English. Therefore, many studies have suggested different approaches for tackling qad; these include the syntactic filler approach (Ghazali, 2005; Ryding, 2005) and the temporal, aspectual (Al-Mansouri, 2002; Fassi Fehri, 2012; Fayyadh, 1997; Noureddine, 1980; Wright, 1967) and emphatic approaches (Hassan, 1990; Ryding, 2005). Some research has combined the temporal and aspectual, emphatic and assertive approaches. Bahloul (2016) discussed all previous methods and concluded that the assertive approach is a good fit for qad.

Research analyzing qad using the syntactic filler approach found it to be semantically empty. This research argues that qad is merely a filler that makes no semantic addition to a sentence. Based on syntactic representation, Bahloul (2016) regarded different levels of configuration as an applicable solution to fill the extended projection principle (EPP) and to use the correct word order with qad.

The optionality of qad depends on the tense and aspect of the main verb in a sentence. For instance, Bahloul (2016) probed two cases of usage: (1) mandatory and (2) optional. He found that when qad is used as mandatory in a sentence, it functions to indicate modality. In contrast, in the optional case, qad refers to the tense of the verb by underscoring the completion of an action in the past. This study investigates the obligatory and optional uses of qad. After addressing the latter, this study verifies the assumption that qad is an adverb.

Previous studies have reached a consensus on the functional use of qad as perfective and imperfective. Once qad conveys the perfective aspect, it indicates the simple past or present perfect tense. When it conveys the imperfective mode, it indicates possibility/probability. The latter falls into the category of modal/auxiliary verbs (i.e. may, might). As Salamah (2019) stated, “when it [is combined] with non-past verb forms, it typically indicates modality (i.e. possibility or probability)” (p. 56). Salamah focused on the meaning and use of qad by implementing the two-component theory of aspect (Smith, 1997): (1) viewpoint and (2) situation type. The viewpoint element, according to Smith (1997), has three forms: (1) perfective, (2) imperfective and (3) neutral. Situation types, however, entail the verb and its arguments as a group and apply certain features, but that is not the focus of this study.

In sum, research on qad shows that qad implies a sense of completion (i.e. the English auxiliary) in the perfective mood in SA. The novelty of this study is that it shows that in AA, qid can have the same meaning and usage in the same perfective mood.

Ibn Hishaam (1964), Azmi (1988), Ryding (2005), Abu-Chacra (2007) and Najm (2018) explored the emphatic properties of qad and found it to be akin to the English adverbs already, indeed and really. Examples are taken from Ryding (2005) and Abu-Chacra (2007):

(8) qad-i rtakab-a haadhihi l-jariimat-amunfarid-an. “Indeed, he committed/has committed this crime on his own.” (Ryding, 2005, p. 450)

(9) qad šariba l-ḥalība. He did drink the milk. He has already drunk the milk (Abu-Chacra, 2007, p. 82).

Farghal (2019) investigated qad using the temporal approach, according to which qad expresses tense. Tense and aspect have roughly the same meaning; however they indicate two different views of an action, an event-external view of the relative time when it occurs (tense), and an event-internal view of how the event occurred or the action was performed (aspect) (Comrie, 1976, p. 3; Comrie, 1985, p. 6). Qad—in this case in SA—“usually expresses a completed action in the present time” (Al-Aswad, 1983, p. 47). Even in translation, qad is subject to such a preference. Farghal (2019) found that translators opt to use qad or a preverbal particle (i.e. qad, waqad, laqad and faqad; Farghal, 2019, p. 715) for two reasons: (1) grammatical cohesion, as a substitute for perfectiveness in English; and (2) personal preference. In Arabic syntactic literature, qid has never been investigated; it is new to the field. As such, there remains much to be done and explored in this area. Qid, introduced earlier, is a dialectical particle that is parallel to qad in SA, but they are not the same. Both versions have different syntactic approaches, as explained in this paper.

Methodology

The current study is a descriptive study based on data from two sources: (1) a selection of examples of the particle qad from past research and (2) some constructions of qad/qid by the researcher, who is a native speaker of Arabic and an Asiri dialect practitioner in origin. The methodology section starts with the syntactic approach to qad and moves on to the syntactic approach to qid. The analytical framework consists of the semantic indication, selection properties, the functional use of the examined particles and syntactic representation. Syntactic representation is embodied in the tree structures to display the EPP. Prior research has examined the unification and multiplication of syntactic configurations, but further research is needed that this paper provides. It has been proposed to generate XP wherever the syntactic representation requires. This paper proposes some solutions regarding EPP conditions for problematic projections. The data display a comparison between the two versions of qad. It is essential to mention that, in this study, we compare a language to a dialect in the use of one particle—qad—with a different meaning and phonetics in the AA dialect.

The syntactic approach of the particle qad in SA

Qad as a modal and an auxiliary verb in SA

Qad only appears in SA as a modal with the meaning of “may.” Qad indicates an action in the near future (see (10)). As an auxiliary verb, qad supports the main verb in a sentence. In this case, it has the meaning of the completion of the action and expresses a sense of perfective (see 12).

(10) Qad ya'kul Ahmed-u al-tufahat-a May eat.IMPERF Ahmed-NOM DEF-apple- ACC “Ahmed may eat the apple.”

(11) Ahmed-u Qad ya'kul al-tufahat-a Ahmed-NOM may eat.IMPERF DEF-apple-ACC “Ahmed may eat the apple.”

(12) Qad akala Ahmed-u al-tufahat-a Has eaten.PERF Ahmed-NOM DEF-apple-ACC “Ahmed has eaten the apple.”

In the above examples, the selection properties reveal that qad only selects verbal sentences. In (10), we have qad as a modal verb, “may.” To draw the tree for the example, we face a problem whereby the position of the T is filled with the main verb ya'kul “eat.” The main verb ya'kul “eat” is base-generated in the big V, then moves to the little v and finally lands in the T to be in front of the subject Ahmed. The movement of the verb from V to T satisfies the EPP requirement in a head-to-head configuration (Aoun et al., 2010). The subject does not have to move to spec,TP for EPP. The problem is that we do not have an empty position for qad in T. Thus, we have to create a new projection called the modal phrase, as we are dealing with a modal here.

Likewise, in (11), qad follows the proper noun Ahmed and is still grammatical. In fact, it has the same meaning as in (10), where qad is a modal.

Turning to (12), syntactically, we have another type of qad, which is an auxiliary verb. For that reason, in the tree structure we can deal with it as we did the first qad (modal) to solve the problem of the T position being occupied by the verb akala “eaten.” The solution is the same as that proposed above to obtain a new projection, AuxP (auxiliary phrase). Semantically, qad here acts as an auxiliary verb meaning “has,” indicating the perfective aspect. Further, as a modal/auxiliary, qad occupies the same position as a negative Arabic particle (lam, lan and maa). Some examples are given below:

(13) (Lan/Lam) yaʔti al-rajjul-a. Neg. come-IMPERF DEF-man-ACC “The man will not come.”

(14) (*Lan/*Lam) qad yaʔti al-rajjul-a Neg. may come-IMPERF DEF-man-ACC Intended meaning: “The man will not come.”

(15) (*qad) Lan/Lam yaʔti al-rajjul-a. may Neg. come-IMPERF DEF-man-ACC Intended meaning: “The man may not come.”

Here are further examples of the perfective aspect, along with the negation particle (maa):

(16) maa aʔta al-rajjul-a Neg. came-PERF DEF-man-ACC “The man did not come.”

(17) (*maa) qad aʔta al-rajjul-a. Neg. has come-PERF DEF-man-ACC Intended meaning: “The man has not come.”

(18) (*qad) maa aʔta al-rajjul-a has Neg. come-PERF DEF-man-ACC Intended meaning: “The man has not come.’

In the above examples, the modal, auxiliary and negative particles do not occur simultaneously. Since they all occupy the same position in the tree (see Figure 2), only one particle can appear at a time in the SA sentences. Any structure can occupy the newly proposed projection structure, whether ModP(qad), AuxP(qad), NegP(Lam/Lan/Maa), or EmphP(laqad).

Qad in SA as an emphatic particle

Ibn Hishaam (1359) was a syntactician who declared that qad can function to express a kind of emphasis; in SA, this emphasis is called daxalat litawkiidi alɦada􏰃θi (Ibn Hishaam, 1359, p. 297), which means the stress of “the occurrence of the event.” The stress of the action using qad can be in the past or the present perfect tense (Ryding, 2005). The equivalent of qad in English is “did.” Likewise, Er-Rayyaan mentioned that qad “denotes the factual completion of a situation” (1986, p. 149). Diver (1964) and Hassaan (1979) reinforced this notion of qad as an equivalent of the emphatic do/does/did in English. Bahloul (2008) added that, in this context, qad “expresses a degree of ‘certainty’ that comes nearest to factual assertion” (p. 97). In addition, qad is depicted as “an assertive particle expressing assertive modality” (Messaoudi, 1985, p. 166). When qad is attached to the prefix la-, it becomes laqad (Moutaouakil, 2011). Laqad provides emphasis, which is not the case with qid in AA. Moreover, laqad only appears with perfective verbs to highlight completion of the action and never with the imperfective, as seen in (20). For instance:

(19) Laqad akal Ahmed-u al-tufahat-a Did.EMPH eaten.PERF Ahmed-NOM DEF-apple-ACC “Ahmed did eat the apple.”

(20) * Laqad ya'kul Ahmed-u al-tufahat-a does.EMPH eat.IMPERF Ahmed-NOM DEF-apple-ACC Intended meaning: “Ahmed does eat the apple.”

(21) * Akal Laqad Ahmed-u al-tufahat-a. eaten.PERF did.EMPH Ahmed-NOM DEF-apple-ACC Intended meaning: “Ahmed did eat the apple.”

(22) * akal Ahmed-u Laqad al-tufahat-a ate Ahmed-NOM did.EMPH DEF-apple-ACC Intended meaning: “Ahmed did eat the apple” (see Figure 3).

See Figure 4 for the structure of (19). Laqad is placed in the T node since it is empty. When qad is attached to la-, laqad is treated as an emphatic particle and placed in T. However, we encounter a problem in spec,TP, which is still empty in violation of EPP requirements, as well as the case-checking filter. Hence, another analysis is proposed that works for laqad as an emphatic verb.

In this tree, we encounter a problem

1. EPP is not satisfied.

2. If we move the subject “Ahmed” to spec,TP we get the wrong word order for the sentence (19).

Next, we must create another projection that goes above the verb akal “eat”, starting at the bottom of the tree, selecting the complement al-tufahat-a “the apple” and checking the ACC case. After that, the verb akal “eat” moves to little v and then lands in T. Ahmed moves from spec,VP to spec,vP and stays there. The movement of the verb from big V to little v satisfies EPP. Figure 5 shows the modified tree for (19).

The syntactic approach of the particle qid in AA

Qid as an auxiliary

In AA, qid in serves as an auxiliary—not as the modal “may,” but rather as the perfective. The illustrations show that qid selects both verbal and nominal sentences. Examples are given below.

(23) Qid akal Ahmed al-tufahat Has eaten.PERF Ahmed DEF-apple “Ahmed has eaten the apple.”

(24) Qid Ahmed akal al-tufahat Has Ahmed eaten.PERF DEF-apple “Ahmed has eaten the apple.”

In (23), qid selects a verbal sentence, whereas in (24) it selects a nominal sentence. Both sentences are grammatically and syntactically correct in AA. The meaning of qid in (23) and (24) is the same, reflected in the fact that the English translation does not change. This implies that the action has already been completed. From a syntactic perspective, a syntactic tree structure is drawn to fully capture the different configurations (see Figure 6). It is proposed that the position of AuxP in SA is different from that of AuxP in AA. The AuxP in SA has the same level of configuration as where the negative particle lam/lan/maa occurs. In AA, the negative particle appears above AuxP as NegP.

(25) Maa qid akal Ahmed al-tufahat Neg. has eaten.PERF Ahmed DEF-apple. “Ahmed has not eaten the apple”

(26) Maa qid Ahmed akal al-tufahat Neg. has Ahmed eaten.PERF DEF-apple “Ahmed has not eaten the apple”

In the tree of (25), from the bottom up, we have the verb akal “eaten”, which is base-generated in the V and selects a DP, al-tufahat “apple”, as a complement. Then, the large V moves to the little v and moves to land in T. We only have one movement, which is the raising of the verb. This movement, as mentioned before, satisfies the EPP requirement. This means that we no longer have to move the subject Ahmed to spec,TP for EPP. We only move the subject in one case, if we want the subject to precede the verb akal “eaten,” as in (26). In this case, we have two movements: (1) verb raising (V-to-T) and (2) subject movement (spec,vP to spec,TP). The two new projections here are the AuxP for qid “has” and the NegP for maa “not”, occur in two different configurations. They are not on the same level, as the previous tree in (19) in SA.

In some cases, the subject can precede the particle qid, as in (27) below and remain grammatical. This also occurs in SA.

(27) Ahmed qid akal al-tufahat Ahmed has eaten.PERF DEF-apple. “Ahmed has eaten the apple.”.

The subject is here proposed to move cyclically from spec,vP to spec,TP (for the EPP requirement) and then lands in spec, AuxP (see the tree in (27)) (see Figure 7).

Qid as a copula

In AA, qid has the meaning of the copula was/became.

(28) Qid Ahmed rajjaal Became Ahmed man “Ahmed became a man.”

(29) Maa qid Ahmed rajjaal Neg.Became Ahmed man “Ahmed did not become a man.”

(30) Qid kum rejjaal Became.You.pl.M men “You (pl.m) became (responsible) men.”

(31) Maa qid kum rejjaal Neg.Became.You.Pl.M men “You (pl.m) did not become (responsible) men.”.

In the previous examples, qid is a copula because it has the features of a copula. It inflects and agrees with the subject, whether a noun or pronoun. Thus, it is proposed that qid is base-generated in V, then moves to v and finally lands in T. This movement of the verb qid satisfies the EPP requirement in a head-to-head configuration. In Figure 8, we only have one movement, which is that of the verb. In the case of the negation particle maa, it is above the TP as NegP. There is no auxiliary projection because we are dealing with copulas.

Results

Qad in SA differs from qid in AA. In SA, qad functions as a modal (may), an auxiliary verb (has/have) and an emphatic verb (did/does/do). In SA, qad cannot function as a copula on its own. Correspondingly, in AA, qid does not function as a modal (may) or an emphatic verb (did/does/do), but as an auxiliary verb (has/have/had) and a copula (was/became). The syntactic structure is depicted in terms of tree structure and EPP extension for the particle qad/qid. Further, qad in SA only selects verbal sentences, whereas qid in AA selects verbal and nominal sentences.

The proposal of qad as a modal appears in ModP, whereas qad, as an auxiliary verb, appears as AuxP in SA and laqad as an emphatic verb in EmphP. Additionally, in SA, ModP, AuxP and NegP all occur at the same level of projection above the TP. In AA, the proposal of qid as an auxiliary verb occurs in AuxP. The position of AuxP in AA is different from that in SA, because AuxP in AA occurs below NegP in a lower configuration.

The EPP requirement in AA is satisfied by the verb movement to T as in a head-head configuration, or by the subject movement to spec, TP in a spec-head configuration. For the copula, qid is base-generated as a verb and moves to T. It did not move to the AuxP.

Overall, qad in SA has three meanings: (1) probability (may/might), (2) perfectiveness (have/has/had) and (3) emphasis (did/does/do). Further, it has three syntactic functions: (1) modal, (2) auxiliary and (3) emphatic verb. In contrast, qid has two different meanings in AA: (1) perfectiveness (have/has/had) and (2) copula (was/became). Moreover, it has two functions: (1) it serves as an auxiliary and (2) sometimes as a copula (see Table 1).

Discussion

Qad/qid as an adverb

We now know the main syntactic features of both versions of qad. There is still one possible analysis of qad. In AA, the particle qid has the meaning of the adverb ‘ever’ in questions like in (32). In this example, qid maybe is optional. The instance in (33) is grammatically correct with or without qid. Moreover, it does not inflect or show agreement with the subject (see (32)). The lack of inflection or agreement shown in qid, which serves as extra information in the sentence/question, is good evidence, thereby favoring the consideration of qid as an adverb in AA.

(32) (Qid) sabah Ahmed Ever swum.PERF Ahmed “Has Ahmed (ever) swum?”

(33) (Qid) sabah-u ? Ever swum.PERF-pl.M “Have they (ever) swum?”

However, there is another case in which qid does not have the same distribution as other adverbs, as in (34), (35), and (36).

(34) Badri ja al-rajjal Early came.PERF DEF-man “Early, the man came.”

(35) al-rajjal badri ja DEF-man early came.PERF *“The man early came.”

(36) al-rajjal ja badri DEF-man came.PERF early “The man came early.”

In (34), (35), and (36), which are in AA, the adverb badri “early” occurs in three different positions (initially, medially, and finally), whereas the particle qid only appears in the initial and medial positions. See the examples below for qid.

(37) qid ja al-rajjal? Ever come.PERF DEF-man *“Ever, has the man come?”

(38) al-rajjal qid ja? DEF-man ever come.PERF “Has the man ever come?”

(39) *al-rajjal ja qid DEF-man come.PERF ever “Has the man come ever?”

Example (39) shows that qid is not distributed as the adverb badri “early” in the final position. Hence, qid is not an adverb. This also applies to qad in SA. The following examples, taken from Bahloul (2008), show that no adverbial element or any other component of any sort can intervene between qad and the verb. Bahloul (2008) did not count qad as an adverb, as he provided other adverbs in the sentences below.

(40) Laqad (*musriʕan) (*baakiran) xaraž-a (musriʕan) (baakiran) Laqad (*quickly) (early) left-3s.m (quickly) (early) “He left (quickly) (early).”

(41) Laqad (*daaʔiman) kaan-a (daaʔiman) sadiiq-ii Laqad (*always) was-3s.m (always) friend-my “He has always been my friend.” (Bahloul, 2008, p. 86)

To sum up this debate, this study has given examples from AA where qid cannot be an adverb, although it shares some adverbial features (i.e. no inflection, no agreement, being extra information, optional). However, qid does not have the same adverbial distribution in a sentence (i.e. initially, medially and finally), but appears only initially and medially. On the other hand, in SA, in the quoted examples, qad attached to la- and adverbial words other than la- + qad are provided, thus not treating qad as an adverb. Thus, SA and AA both treat qad/qid as a non-adverbial element (see Table 2).

Conclusions

This study offers a syntactic, descriptive analysis of the particle qad in SA and a descriptive, exploratory analysis of the particle qid in AA, which has not been addressed before. The study draws a clear distinction between the two versions of qad and identified their differences in semantics and functional use. This study examines the discussion of qad in previous research and compares it to the new analysis of qid in AA. The functions of qad are perfective, imperfective, modal and emphatic, whereas the functions of qid are perfective and copula. Qad only chooses verbal sentences, whereas qid chooses both verbal and nominal sentences.

In AA, the syntactic tree structure of qid shows more freedom in creating new nodes to satisfy the EPP. In contrast, the qad structure only allows one configuration at a time; it can only be one of the nodes (ModP, NegP, AuxP and EmphP). Qid can have more than one projection at different levels of configuration, and they can all appear at the same time and be grammatically and syntactically correct in AA. The researcher rejected one analysis that views qad and qid as adverbs.

Some points are left for future investigations, which include that, in SA, qad can simultaneously accompany the copular particles saar, kaan and Asba'a and carry the same meaning (was/were/become). Qid has the same syntactic behavior. The problem is that we can have two particles referred to in the same way (i.e. the copula). In the examples below, the researcher has glossed qad/qid as ??.

(42) Qad kaan Ahmed rajulan SA ?? was Ahmed man “Ahmed was a (responsible) man.”

(43) Qid kaan alwalad s'ag'iir AA ?? was DEF-boy little “The boy was little.”

Figures

Figure 1

Map of Saudi Arabia showing the Asir region

Figure 2

The tree structure of example 10

Figure 3

The tree structure of example 19

Figure 4

The tree structure of example 19

Figure 5

The modified tree structure of example 19

Figure 6

The tree stucture of example 25

Figure 7

The tree structure of example 27

Figure 8

The tree structure of example 31 with negation (maa)

Table 1

Differences and similarities between qad and qid

Points of comparison	Qad in SA	Qid in AA
Semantics	Probability, perfectiveness, emphasis	Perfectiveness, becoming
Functional use	(may/might), (have/has/had), (did/does/do)	(have/has/had), copula (was/became)
Selection properties	Verbal sentences ONLY	Verbal and nominal sentences
Level of configuration in tree structure	ModP, AuxP, NegP, Emphp	AuxP, NegP

Note(s): For qad in SA, all nodes appear on the same level of projection above the TP. For qid in AA, each node appears on a different level of projection

Table 2

Comparison between qid and qad

Points of comparison	Qad in SA	Qid in AA
Share some adverb features	√ (no inflection - no agreement - extra information)	√ (no inflection - no agreement- extra information - optional)
Act as an adverb	Χ	Χ
Occurrence in the sentence	Initially - medially	Initially – medially
Attachment and meaning	La- + qad (emphatic)	Ma- + qid (negative)

AA	Asiri Arabic
ACC	Accusative
DEF	Definite
EMPH	Emphatic
Fem	Feminine
IMPERF	Imperfective
M	Masculine
Neg	Negative
NOM	Nominative
PEREF	Perfective
Pf	Perfect
Pl	Plural
S	Singular
SA	Standard Arabic